Mystical-Spontaneous Trip of the Himalayas

by Apoorve Gaur (India)

A leap into the unknown India

This happened in August 2013. When I, Shashi & Raj decided to bunk our college hostel and have a night out in Jalandhar Region of Punjab, India. Without any bagpacks & just with slippers, Trousers, Wallet & Mobile phones . We went off and made out a spontaneous trip to so called 'Mini-Switzerland of India', Yes you heard it right!! This village in the 'Himachal Pradesh' state is called "Khajjiar" which is near Dalhousie City. For those who are not aware of it, Himachal is a state situated on the North of India, in the belt of Himalayan range, Built by Britishers, It used to be their Summer Hill station point, Beautifully crafted Roads, Tunnel makes a mesmerising view of the Himalayan range.We took a bus after having couple of drinks in a local bar from Jalandhar Bus station at around 11 p.m. Distance between Jalandhar to Dalhousie is 194 km by Road along with an aerial distance of 140 km. There are no direct flights or trains or buses between Jalandhar to Dalhousie. The convenient, fastest and cheapest way to reach from Jalandhar to Dalhousie is to take Tata Indica bus from Jalandhar to Dalhousie and that's what we did, It took around 6 hours to reach the rendezvous, We struggled a bit in bus due to zig-zag roads, I almost puked twice, but the journey was worth travelling, when we arrived around 5 am in a local village called as 'Banikhet' which is in the outer of Dalhousie, we were astonished to feel the air we breath, it was pure O2 we were inhaling, One could smell the scent of nature while breathing, my body was Charged 2X with what it usually feels like. There were some sort of mystical vibrations in the middle of the thick dense himalyan forest as it bewitched our souls and gave us an awestruck moment of our life. The cold wind blewing shivering down the bones of my body in hardly prepared attire, Suddenly, all the stressed out mind of mine felt relaxed, like there was nothing to worry about in life, be it my exams, my career or the thousand of such thoughts dwelling inside my overthinking mind. We quickly grabbed few things to eat from the nearby shops after we hiked for about 14kms towards our final destination i.e 'Dalhousie' Bus station from where we could reach 'Khajjiar'. I being a guy of empathy, could feel the vibes of local native people who were so welcoming and cheerful, there was a sense of peace at their mind which isn't a surprise to know that what made them so cool as a breeze. We reached "Khajjiar" front the local bus in 1 hour time and the native music was being played by the bus driver called as "Natti" unable to understand the language yet it was soothing and provided utmost cheerful state of mind. As read "Mini-Switzerland of India", Khajjiar got it's name by a Vice Counselor of Switzerland who visited the place in 1992 and put a sign board of the nick name himself, and it truly resembled took my breath away, I still have a picturesque abstract view of Khajjiar, Surrounded by a tiny lake in a big stadium size round shape plateau, it was so big, everything around was green lush dense Flora, specifically with cedar & pine trees around. We all walked down towards the centre of the region near the lake and simply lied down on the grass, there was pin drop silence, only the soothing sound of air breezing through the dense trees was heard and took me to trance. We stayed there for 4-5 hours, ate the fresh fruits from the native region. Activities available in Khajjiar are:- Horse riding, boating, Para gliding, Professional Photoshoots, visit Kalatop Animal sanctuary, Khajji Nag Temple. Folks, For me the experience of the enlightenment with the nature was truly blissful. Part of my soul still resides in the snowy mountains of Khajjiar Village. I would definitely recommend all the nature lovers to visit the place but yes it shall be a planned one unlike ours, we struggled with unnecessary shiverings due to lack of preparation but I don't regret it))