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| My interpretation of Khajjiar in Acrylic |
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| Valleys of Himachal Pradesh |
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| Districts of Himachal Pradesh |
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| Trip destinations |
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| Important landmarks of Chamba Valley. Please note that Mcleod Ganj and Dharamshala are in Kangra Valley. The Lower Himalayan range / Lesser Himalayan range / the Middle Himalayan range / the Himachal range passes through Chamba Valley. The Pir Panjal Range and Dhauladhar Range make up this stretch of the Himalayas. The highest peak of Pir Panjal is the Manimahesh Kailash Peak and the second highest pass of Pir Panjal is Chobia Pass |
Day 1
Our ten-day trip commenced from Delhi. Our first destination was Khajjar, which is known as the Mini Switzerland of India. However, I did not find it any close to that. Honestly, it's kind of overrated and crowded. Himachal has other prettier less explored places. I personally feel this could have been skipped. We stayed there for a day.
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| Places of interest in Khajjiar |
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| Mini Switzerland of Khajjiar, Khajjiar Lake, and Khajji Nag Temple |
Day 3
On the third day, we headed for Hadsar via Chamba.
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| Step farming or terrace farming is widely practiced in Chamba Valley |
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| Places of interest in Chamba |
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| The Confluence of the Ravi River and the Budhil River at Khadamukh on the way to Hadsar |
Day 4
On the fourth day, we stayed in Hadsar.
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| Places of interest in Bharmour and Hadsar |
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| Mahadev temple, Bharmour, a part of the Chaurasi (84) Temple Complex |
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| There were around 84 big and small temples in the Chaurasi temple complex |
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| The Changra Goats are famous for their cashmere wool - known as pashmina wool once woven. They are mostly found in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir |
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| Hadsar |
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| Hadsar waterfall |
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| Wild horse by the Dancho Khad River |
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| A Chamurthi horse that was on the verge of extinction, Conservation efforts helped to save these rare breeds |
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| A landslide on our way to Dalhousie |
Day 5
On the fifth day, we headed for Dalhousie.
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| Places of interest in Dalhousie |
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| A beautiful sunrise at Dalhousie |
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| The Dhauladar Range seen from our hotel balcony |
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| Dainkund Valley of Flowers |
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| Pohlani mata mandir, Dainkund |
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| Kali temple at Dainkund |
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| Dainkund means Witch Lake (Dain - witch, Kund - lake). The legend has it, that there was an evil witch who possessed the lake at Dain-kund preventing villagers from using its water. The villagers then built the Pohlani Mata mandir and prayed to her to protect and save them from the witch. The goddess, happy with the villagers, kills the witch and restores peace to the place which was then named Dainkund |
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| The yellow-billed blue magpie is a common bird in this area |
Day 8
On the eighth day, we started for Dharamshala.
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| Places of interest in Dharamshala and Mc.Leod Ganj |
Day 10
On the tenth day, we headed back to Delhi with a very short break at the Golden Temple, Amritsar.
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| The beautiful scenic drive along the Ravi River |
