Finally took my much awaited weekend break and went off to Kasauli, a tiny little mountain town, located in Himachal Pradesh India, approx 6 hours drive away from Delhi also well connected via trains (the nearest railway station being Kalka, from where u can take a cab, also from Chandigarh, 2 hrs away). I took the road, 'cuz I had heard a lot about the Himalayan Express Highway, and every word of what I had heard was true (clean roads, with rarely any potholes or rough stretch all this in the mountains!!! hats off). Stopped over in Dharampur, a small town at the outskirts of Kasauli and enjoyed a yummy meal at it's roadside diners.
I stayed at 'The Kasauli Resort', a lovely property
(also recommend The Kasauli Regency, with a rooftop open air bar and diner) both of them are 2-3 kms away from the main town Kasauli but very well connected via state transport. The main attractions of the trip for me were hiking through the countless trails in the valley, the scenery and of course the tiny little town of Kasauli, with it's stone cobbled streets and quiet life and The Live Guitar night at the Kasauli Regency.
For two days, I walked in the wonderland, surrounded by plush green valleys, watching the sun playing hide and seek with clouds over the tree covered mountains. I hiked through the valley, sometimes in silence, sometimes listening to the sound of wind, the birds singing, all the while drinking with hungry eyes of a drunkard the scenic greens of the valley, feeling delighted at discovering hidden tracks, stairways covered with carpets of green moss, corners hidden beyond the curtains of greens. Mersmerized by walls, trees covered with pearls of greens I walked surrounded by the mist, playing with the wisps of clouds, saw the sunset painting the sky orange while listening to the temple bells tolling far away, and spent the nights gazing at the star studded sky. Had impromptu conversations with locals, was baffled by a stray dog who adopted me and accompanied me all through my hike, I shall forever remember the look of kindness and affection that I had seen in the eyes of that tiny little animal.
I walked as if in a dream, letting the beauty of nature overwhelm my eyes, letting the peaceful calm silence the storm raging within me. I gazed longingly at the roads winding away beyond the curtain of the mist, wishing I could disappear around the next corner, to walk lost in the beautiful spectacle of nature surrounding me.
For two days I was a little girl walking in the wonderland of her dreams, wishing that the dream would never end and She would be left alone in her wonderland.
But all dreams end, and so I wished my wonderland adieu, with the promise to return again.
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| Green Green, Green every where |
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| The Valley |
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| View from my Balcony |
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| Cobbled street at the Heritage Market Kasauli |
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The road goes on and on and on
To whence it goes, knows not a soul
beckoning the wanderer within to follow. |
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'Neath the sun,
sleep the dead,
lives, that once were
now remain just
names entombed. |
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| the moss covered staircase, a cosy little place with sun and shade |
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| The Gardener, tending his beautiful little garden, toiling hard, to bring to our sight the joy and beauties of his tiny little garden. |
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| Artistic Recycling |
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| A souvenir shop, run by a man who's turned his hobby into a living. |
