Delhi to Simla - It's all about food
The roads are smooth and smart. The car moves without many
hiccups other than stoppages for tolls. Driving from Delhi to
Parwanoo has become a pleasurable experience. It
used to be a pain earlier as driving through cities like Panipat, Ambala, Kalka
etc. meant driving along with cyclists, scooterists, cows and rickshaws. Now elevated roads takes us smoothly over the congested areas. Just a few
more bridges are left to be completed before the journey becomes seamless. Those who travel to Chandigarh often talk
about this improvement as their journey is now smoother and much faster. Compare this highway
with that going to UP and you will know the difference. Last year we suffered
enough while going to Nainital and Corbett national park.
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Our first break at Daana Pani, Karnal. It took 2 hours from Vasant Vihar to get there in morning. |
Puran Singh ka Dhaba was voted as India’s best dhaba for
many years. People used to be crazy about the chicken curry they served. But
now we sail over Ambala and just catch a glimpse of this eatery. His sales must
have dropped drastically. Many people now stop at Murthal beyond Sonepat. There are several eateries there like
Gulshan Ka Dhaba and Pehalwan ka Dhaba which serve those amazing paranthas.
They serve all kind of food but specialize in paranthas. Eat those early in the
morning with loads of butter and curd, and you will want to visit the place
again. But this time we gave Murthal a miss and had our breakfast at Daana Pani near Karni lake. This was basically
a food court with clean toilets. For the women, the clean toilets takes
precedence over food so this place had been selected. Some had dosas at Vaango and others paranthas from Chawla’s. A
cup of coffee at Costa Coffee and we moved further.
On the way back we stopped at a restaurant called
Haveli
nearby in Karnal itself. You get chaat,
kulfi, gajar ka halwa etc outside in the open. Inside you get the vegetarian Punjabi
food. For those who want burgers, there is a Burger king nearby. Food was good
and the restaurant had big pictures of Punjabi heroes like Milkha Singh,
Yuvraj, Dara Singh etc. For giving it a dhaba look they have a truck in the
corner. I didn’t check if it was real or
made of cardboard.
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The Truck inside Haveli. |
It is only the hilly
part which causes some delays. One doesn’t have to go through Pinjore and
congested Kalka to reach Parwanoo. A road from
Zirakpur takes you through the
new road made after cutting the mountains and you suddenly find yourself near Timber trail resort. Soon enough we reached Dharampur .
Dharampur is known for its proximity to Kasauli and for Giani ka Dhaba. The
dhaba was fully packed. The owner and waiters are not too welcoming but food is
good. The way we ordered and then polished off everything, it appeared as if we
had been hungry for several days.
Rising Mountains, dropping temperatures
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Fresh light snow flakes greeted us as soon as we reached Simla. |
Declared as the summer capital of British India in 1864, Simla is now the capital of the state of Himachal Pradesh. It has some very fine buildings of colonial era. The major attractions include the
Viceroy Lodge, the
Christ Church, the
Jakhoo Temple, the
Mall Road and
The Ridge which together form the city center. The
Kalka–Shimla Railway line built by the British a
UNESCO World Heritage Site is also a big attraction for tourists from all across the world.
We were driving to Simla to attend a function associated
with my cousin’s wedding. 20% of those were supposed to attend dropped out at
the last moment reading about the cold wave in the hills. Around 20 of us were
traveling in 5 cars. I was with cousins in the car and it was good Company with
good jokes , good music and loads of laughter. Whatsapp group bonded all the 5
cars and those family members who had not come for the trip. Nothing scares the people living on the plains
than the word ‘cold.’ But as we
approached Simla, we knew that predictions were right. Soon we were welcomed by
something that each tourist dreams of when visiting the hill station – Snow flakes!
The tree tops looked lovely and the cold breeze hit us as soon as we disembarked.
It was going to be a crisp and cold evening.
Walking the Mall & Ridge
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The Ridge is so crowded in summer that you can't walk here. It was nice to see it as open and wide. |
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The historical christ church in the background |
The energy level was high as we did not waste time relaxing
but decided to walk the Mall and the famous Ridge of Simla. Some of the old
world charm still remains. Many shops have become modernized but several old
ones remain. It was a Valentine’s day weekend therefore many young couples from
Chandigarh, Punjab and Himachal were on the Mall. The mountains looked very
pretty from the ridge as they were covered with fresh snow. There was a queue
in front of
Baljee’s for their famous
Gulab jamuns. Nothing better than samosas , Gulab Jamuns and hot tea on a cold evening. If you enter the
Krishna Bakery,
you smell the freshness of the newly baked bread but this bakery is also famous
for the
momo’s (Dim Sums) it serves. We wanted to sit down so the choice was
between
café Sol ( located in Hotel Combermere) and ‘Wake and bake café.’ The displayed pastries and
patties looked good at café Sol so we
sat there and ordered cookies, pastries, veg puff and chicken patties. It was
an hour of relaxation there over hot cups of cappuccino before we were ready to
walk further towards the renovated
Gaitey theatre and the famous
Town hall (under renovation now). As always it was nice to be on the ridge which has the lovely mountains and the
christ church ( The 2nd oldest church in North India) as backdrop. It was worth braving the icy cold winds.
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Simla has many bakeries and cafes. Cafe Sol at hotel Combermere serves excellent food. |
It's extremely cold- so let's party in the open !
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The Bonfires kept us warm. With Aman (our host) and Avin |
Our hosts had organized a welcome dinner for us in their
house. Panic set in as realization hit that the dinner was in open. The
temperature at 8 PM showed 1 deg C. Woolen caps, gloves and extra clothing was
taken out of suitcase. But these were not enough to fight the bitter cold. It
was the bonfire and scotch which provided the warmth. Seeing our condition, Aman (the bride’s brother) was gracious enough to set up another bonfire. We
stuck to it through the evening.
New day - different weather
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Simla bathed in morning sunshine. Not an inch of mountain can be seen as houses and hotels have cropped up due to unregulated construction. |
The next morning was bright & sunny. Entire Simla seemed
bright and fresh. We drove to
Mashobra as my cousin Avin's family's summer house is located there. The water bottle left inside the car overnight was frozen. Avin had several agenda's lined up for us and the main two were to show us his magnificent house overlooking the valley ; and for us to eat at his favourite restaurant located in Gables hotel which has now been taken over by Club Mahindra. He was extremely pleased when all of us went gaga over the house and the views it offered. But his disappointment was evident when everyone vetoed his suggestion of eating at his favourite restaurant. Nevertheless he is hopeful that we will accompany him again to Mashobra so we could have a holiday together in his house and we could eat at
Club Mahindra a few times.
Fun at Chalets, Naldera
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Chalets boasts of revolving restaurant and a heated pool. |
The sun felt good as we further drove to
Naldera golf course. While Simla and surroundings look like an overgrown slum with every inch
of each mountain occupied, places around Mashobra and Naldera look very pretty.
The houses in Valley looked nice and bright and reminded me of the houses we
saw in Bergen, Norway.
Snow time at Kufri
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Driving through Kufri. |
Kufri is just a few kilometres from Mashobra. If you wish to go to Chail from Simla, you have to go through Kufri. Luckily due to recent snowfall, the entire area had some nice fresh snow and we saw many sikh and punjabi gentlemen being very happy about it as they must have travelled from Chandigarh
for touching the snow. Many parked cars had music at full volume as turbans went up and down as
these Punjabi’s danced away to the rhythm of Bhangra. Yes, they were very happy.
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Our photo op with the snow. Rahul, me Kunaal and Amit |
The pre-marriage function
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I am here with Amit, Pooja (bride to be), Aditya (groom to be), Jyoti, Kunaal and Avin |
The main function for which we had travelled was held at
Marina
Hotel. I had stayed in this hotel 40 years ago and it was difficult to
recognize it now as it had become very plush . Our hosts had been living in
Simla for many years so the entire Simla population seems to have converged
here . The downstairs hall was covered and was full of women and old people who
did not want to brave the 0 deg chill. The terrace upstairs was magnificent
and huge and was partly covered where the food was served. My cousins and I
found it even difficult to hold the whisky glasses . It seemed that hands would
freeze. We discussed ways to fight this cold. Whisky did not taste good as it
refused to warm us. We decided to switch
to boiling hot water instead of normal water. Now whisky tasted good & this
suddenly made us warm and energetic. The guzzling started, the conversations
became more fun. We met some very fine people. Our knowledge about Himachal,
its hidden holiday spots and people increased as we talked to the locals. Many ideas
were given to us about future holidays to the state which hopefully I will utilize. The younger cousins were trying to make conversation with some pretty young ladies from the city but failed to get their full attention. The bride and groom mixed around with the people and getting photographed by all and sundry.
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Getting ready for some serious photography session |
The main function
photographer was an enthusiastic gentleman who used actions to explain the kind
of photograph setting he wanted. He had no choice as he happened to be deaf and
dumb. His smiling face made others smile.
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The official photographer and his infectious smile. |
Then the scene shifted downstairs and it was DJ and dancing. A big
roar went up when the DJ played a Himachali song. We all danced in Himachali
style as the bride’s mother guided us through.
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Everyone in a good mood. |
A walk to remember
At around 2 AM, the four of us cousins ( Kunaal, Amit, Avin & I) found ourselves
walking on the Mall walking back towards our hotel. We missed Rahul as he had left earlier. Actually all others from family had left earlier. I had never seen the Mall so quiet and
peaceful. No one could be seen anywhere. The fluorescent halogen lights gave it
a lovely and serene look . The lights twinkled from several homes on the spread out mountains. We were oblivious to the temperature being minus 3
deg C as cousin Avin regaled us with stories. His enthusiasm had been infectious through the trip. Every few yards we would try out
a
‘selfie.’
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Selfie at 2 AM on the Mall. Temperature -2 deg C |
None of us wanted this walk to end even though we had to
drive back to Delhi early next morning. Sadly, this short but a wonderful trip was coming to an end.
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Here is most of our group. There are several missing as they had gone sightseeing elsewhere. |
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