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Hatu Peak |
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Hatu Peak |
Hotel Hatu a HPTDC hotel and View from Lawns of the hotel
A cold breeze caressing my face woke me up. Tommy Singh was standing near the open window of our room 112 at Hotel Peterhof, Shimla looking at the rising Sun. I joined behind him wrapping myself with a bed sheet. The Sun was emerging from a distant forested hill , red and big. In between was an unusual conifer tree dead with it's naked branches, Sun depicting a new life after death, the tree failing to hide the glory of the rising morning Sun!
The effect on both of us was stupendous! A great day! We looked at each other, smiled and raised both of our thumbs up. Two thumbs fresh!
By 9 AM we were out to our next destination-NARKANDA, a 3hrs drive towards north and at the height of 7500 ft, famous for for it's skiing slopes during January and February. Leaving the beautiful, albeit, aging queen Shimla behind with the sweet memories of my enchanting walks, hikes and her heritage buildings was like something that sank within my heart and before tears could fill my eyes, diverted my attention towards the passing landscape of towering deodars and Himalayan oaks.
We crossed Sanjoli, a suburb of Shimla and then to Fagu at 22 km , a village that rest astride a mountain overlooking a deep valley of Giri with it's tiny hamlets, orchards and neatly terraced fields. Wow! What a sight!
Theog was a town on the way with market and lots of activity. perhaps a center for forest timber? The winding road finally took us near to our destination, Narkanda. I could see the strategic location of our place-Hotel Hatu (a HPTDC establishment) nestled on the top of a hill to our right. We crossed the market and the bus stand, took a steep climb of about 100 meters on a forested metal path entering into a beautiful lawn of the hotel. The lawn and the building was on an oval plateau surrounded by dark and deep woods. Towards south was a deep valley and the road by which we had arrived. A perfect picture post! Even at 12 noon the breeze had a chill. Tommy Singh was tempted to go for beer finding out that the hotel has a bar, eventually we settled for a steaming pot of Kangra-tea, a local specialty.
To taste the local flavor, we headed towards small market near bus stand. Found a Dhaba ( road side eating joint) run presumably by a Tibetan couple and ordered Himachuli Kadi-Chawal (gram flour dumplings in spicy yoghurt's curry with rice) for me while Tommy settled with Chicken curry and roti (Indian bread) with a liberal spread of butter.
It was on the way to Thanadhar, an apple town, 16 km from Narkanda that we tumbled upon a sign board-'TANNIJUBAR LAKE' and 'THE WILDERNESS RESORT' and we decided to explore it, remembering vaguely somebody mentioning it in Shimla. It was a steep 'U' turn. The car coughed, struggled in the lower gear and took on the climb. And then it was there. A small beautiful lake (something of a large pond), surrounded by thick woods and with a temple at the other end. Great sight! On the right there was an uneven road going up to about 60 meters. Then we saw the roof of a bungalow like structure at the top, supposedly of the resort. So we walked up.I collided with Tommy Singh who was walking ahead and had suddenly stopped still.
I looked up and my jaw dropped.
The view was a wild and a dazzling performance of nature!
My Goodness! What a delight!
A wonder at the height of 9000 ft above the sea level!
It was a breathtaking view of a deep and forested valley with the rising snow peaks of Pirpanjal range of the mighty Himalayas! Incredible!
It was a love at first sight!
The resort 'The wilderness' , though not even 4 star, had cozy rooms and some cottages on the terraced slopes.
I started dreaming the snow falling on the window pans of my room in the winter, moonlit nights, the campfire, the fog engulfing the mountains and the paths during rains and my loved one in my arm!
We talked to the caretaker of the property and were disappointed to know that there was no instant booking for the rooms. It's done from Chandigarh where the owner lives. Too bad. We couldn't extend our stay and shift!
Okay, I thought. Next time. A must.
The entire region of Thanedhar is known as a "Fruit Bowl" of India. It an an apple country. The region also is a reverence for an American missionary who headed to this region in 1904 and transformed this area. Samuel Stokes or later known as with his Indian name, Satyanand is a legend here. His planted apple trees 100 years back still yield a rich harvest. Mind blowing!'THE TANNIJUBBAR LAKE' has a legend behind it .
Many years ago some workers involved in the cleaning of the lake, it says, were sucked into a hole at the bottom of the lake, which was the natural source of water and disappeared! Later on their bodies were found and fished out from the great river SATLUJ which flows 4000 ft below the town of Thanedhar, situated at 4 km away from the lake! They were cremated after performing rites and a temple was constructed at the lake!It was a grand evening at the Hotel Hatu at Narkanda.A camp fire was arranged by the staff on the request of some young guests. We fought the November cold with the liberal shots of vodka squeezing lime into our steel glasses, as requested by the young guests with a logic of not seeing how much we drank, had mouth watering Chicken Tikka (boneless cubes of chicken marinated in yogurt with spices, grilled in an earthen oven and buttered), joining finally the young crowd in swinging our hips and singing the Bollywood songs to an ecstasy!
Back to our room, laughing wildly to silly things, we hit our beds without realizing what was in for tomorrow.
That the next day was going to be blessedly shocking and fantastically unique in our lives!!
HOTELS:Hotel Hatu, Narkanda, Shimla Region
web site: http://hptdc.nic.in/
The Wilderness-A lake View Resort
Tannijubar, Narkanda, Shimla Hills, IndiaE mail: thewilderness1000@yahoo.com
Contact person: Mr.Rajesh Mukhyan
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