Puneet and Vaibhav in Dalhousie - Khajjiar, a cool weekend with bikes and beers

With riding already in blood, Vaibhav suggested we do Baderwah - Chamba (BC road) on our bikes.

One fine Friday evening in March 2009 and we 4 guys left for the ride.

Day 1: Chandigarh - Pathankot - Banikhet

Vaibhav and I decided to go to Chamba, take a halt there, Yadav and his companion wanted to go to Kashmir so we rode together till Pathankot, from where they parted us for Kashmir.

At 1500 hrs sharp Vaibhav we left office, tied our packed bags and were outside Rail Vihar in Panchkula, it was sunny and Yadav kept us waiting for around 40 minutes. We even came back to Infy to say goodbye to a friend who wanted to see us before we leave.

Finally we left and reached Dasua in Punjab for our first stop.

"Yadav kahan hai", I called him after getting down from my bike and Vaibhav was sipping water at  the roadside. "Peeche reh gaya hoga wo", Vaibhav said.

"Bhai maine Dasua paar kar ke aage tumhari wait kar ra hoon". Wow, that was quick and unexpected from Yadav with a pillion, but Pulsar 200 scored over Bullet and CBZ Xtreme in the first leg :)

At 2000 Hrs, I again met Vaibhav at a ptrol pump before Pathankot and we decide to meet again at the diversion from Pathankot - Jammu highway for Chamba. This time Yadav took lot of time because highway was under construction and he had to ensure the comfort of his pillion rider.

And there he came, at 21:30 giving us enough time to feast upon fried boiled eggs and fish.

We exchanged a few wishes and told Yadav to stay somewhere in Pathankot as it was already late, but he said he will continue upto Jammu and will stay there. A final goodbye and Vaibhav and I left for Chamba.

It was already late and I was sleepy as I was in office from 6a.m. that day. We decided to take a halt at Banikhet and after searching for sometime, got a hotel room @ 300Rs for that night. After some usual chit chat we dozed off for the night.

Next morning at the hotel, we discussed about the BC road from the hotel owner but he told us that the road is closed due to construction of some bridge at some point 50 kms from Chamba.

It was not the kind of news any rider would like to hear. Ok, so we will stay in Dalhousie, go to Khajjiar, will have lot of beers and come back via Kangra.


Day 2 : Banikhet - Dalhousie - Khajjiar - Dalhousie


We woke up early and discussed our revised itinerary. In no time, we left for Dalhousie and got an awesome hotel room just for 200 Rs. The fare of that hotel in season was 1400 as told by the owner.


We rested for some time and then left for Khajjiar. The road to Khajjiar was beautiful, with pine trees around.  In Khajjiar people, families, couples everyone was there.

Khajjiar is surrounded by green meadows and dense forests. It is about 6500 ft. above sea level in the foothills of the Dhauladhar ranges of the Western Himalayas and snowy peaks can be seen in the distance.

Khajjiar at around 25 kms from Dalhousie can be reached by bus or private taxi. Activities at Khajjiar 

includes Horse riding, Zorbing, nature walks in between the trees. 

People were busy doing these things and while we were sitting at a bench, a man selling beers came to us. Well not a bad idea, we had one each there and then started back for Dalhousie.

Back in Dalhousie and we went to see Panchpulla, dedicated to some martyrs. From there we came back to our room and ordered beers. The chottu had a good time we gave him enough time to make him happy for a next few days at least :)

After having a good 5-6 beers each we slept, and next morning we went out to see a few of the local churches.

Day 3: Dalhousie - Kangra - Chandigarh


Last day, Sunday was a busy day. We just continued all the way upto Chandigarh with eating breaks in between.
Both of us were riding at our own pace and were enjoying riding the inner roads of Himachal.

Well, back to Chandigarh in the night, we had a good time and celebrated the end of another successful right with a few more beers at Vaibhav's place.

McleodGanj - Kangra - Palampur - Baijnath - Bir

In October 2008 after Sach Pass trip, I again wanted to do something different. We made a plan to hitchhike to Mcleodganj and come back in less than 499 Rs. But Sandeep and Vaibhav backed out at the last moment and I went there all alone but on a bus.

Again in January 2009, I was getting bored on one fine day and I suddenly decided to go to Mcleodganj and explore the nearby areas.

This time I chose buses, shared jeeps, trains and hitchhiking as mode of travel. I wanted to make it cheap and experience the way locals do things over there.



Day 1: Chandigarh - Macleodganj (By bus) : 


I catched a bus at 8:30 pm and was in Mcleodganj by early morning.
I was greeted by this view:

Took a room and slept there for sometime then came out and had lunch at some cafe. Kept walking to Bhagsunath, Dharamkot, local monastries and finally back in my room. Slept early and day 1 was a usual day of doing nothing in a hill station.

Day 2: Mcleodganj - Kangra (hitchhiking on a scooter) - Palampur (train) - Baijnath (Hitchhike on a Bolero) - Bir (Shared jeep)


Day 2 was an exciting day. In the morning I came out from my room and met a guy at a tea stall. He was from Kangra and he invited me to his place. I had no other thing to do so I gladly accepted his offer and we reached Kangra. He had a small Dhaba in Kangra near to bus station, we had parathas, curd and tea there and then he suggested me to see the narrow gauge train and travel by it to Palampur. I had no fixed plans, but had heard of Palampur so I decided to travel by that train.

The train from Kangra to Palampur passes through beautiful landscapes, paddy fields on both the sides and view of snow clad mountain range.
Instead of going inside the town, I preferred to go to see the tea plantations at Palampur.

Then I met a driver at a tea stall with whom I hitchhiked to Baijnath in his Bolero.

Baijnath temple is an ancient Shiva temple.

Baijnath town was crowded and I really didn't wanted to stay there for the night. So I asked for directions for Bir and took a crowded local bus and reached Bir.

It was 8:30pm when I reached Bir, dark everywhere and couldn't find any guest house. Somehow, kept walking and found 1 house where an elderly couple gave me option of staying in their home, actually they were running a guest house with home stay option. Very neat room and I slept there. They charged me 500 for the night, but somehow I took the room as I had no other option. At this point of time, I realized the importance of a camp.


Day 4 : Bir - Deer park institue -  Suja(on tractor) - Battu (by feet) - Sherab Ling monastery


Just above village Bir is Billing which is famous for para-gliding. In the morning after having my breakfast, I started walking out of the village and met a Tibetan guy there. He told me about Deer park institute at around 20 minute walking institute and I set out towards the institute, first in India with a formal system of training for Buddhist studies.

Deer Park Institute is a centre for study of classical Indian wisdom traditions. Established in March 2006 on the campus of a former Buddhist institute, it is a project under Siddhartha's Intent Society.

There are a lot of monasteries in the area, I liked everything about the place. It was quite, uncommon, away from tourists and a very peaceful place.

Did I mention the beautiful monasteries out there? Ok, see for yourself, beautiful art work and design of monasteries can impress anyone.

After having lunch there I walked further ahead to attend evening prayers at Sherab Ling monastery.

Originally located in Kham, Eastern Tibet, the Sherab Ling Monastery has been rebuild near the town of Bir, according to principles of the ancient science.

Walked through Soja village to reach Sherab Ling: a monastery inside a jungle.

And from Sherab Ling I walked towards the other side of monastery, a bit in hills to reach village Battu. Took lift in Maruti 800 till Baijnath and an overnight bus to Chandigarh.

This was an amazing trip, I missed my bullet at many points but somehow enjoyed walking with people, eating with locals and hitchhiking.

And the best part about this trip was randomness, no planning at all. 

A little about village Bidholi

Update on 23rd April 2014:
UPES has added a lot of new courses, and there are talks going on to shift boys from campus hostel to another hostel in Kandoli (2kms from campus) and make campus hostel open for girls. Please contact collage administration if you want to stay in girls hostel in campus. 

Back in year 2009, when I got admission in University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, I did a google search about the place - Bidholi. And even now, I still can't see much information about Bidholi on internet.

Let me add some first hand information about village Bidholi where UPES campus is situated.

Location : Dehradun ISBT - Balliwala Chowk - IMA - Prem Nagar - Nanda ki chowki. (This whole stretch is a part of Chakrata road)

A right turn from Nanda ki Chowki and you will see huge campus of UPES after 9kms.

Public transport : Public transport is very good and cheap in Dehradun. Buses, shared autos are main source of transportation along with private autos and cabs. A bus or a shared auto known as vikram will take you to Prem Nagar. Find the tracker stand of Prem Nagar and ask anyone about Petroleum University or Bidholi and you can reach the main campus through a beautiful uphill road with jungles, farms and small villages all around.

Vikram

From Prem Nagar last tracker (Tata Magic) runs till 7:45 pm and from Bidholi to Prem Nagar the last one is till around 7 pm.

Local Bus

Tracker - tata magic

Accommodation : There are many options of staying in Bidholi. A shared room for 2 with basic electrical fittings, bedding and bathroom starts from 1500 per month to 65000 per year(for hostels).

I stayed in Gayatri Hostel and was charged 25000 per year for a room, luckily no roommate was there due to low occupancy, attached bathroom, electricity bill and Internet. All inclusive.

Eating options : Very limited simple food is available there. However, proper food joints are in Dehradun city at a distance of 16-18 kms from Bidholi.

Fun around Bidholi : Deep forests and trek to Mussorie. Village life, green fields, beautiful views, rains.
One can enjoy life in Bidholi away from chaotic city life. A beer can be enjoyed with green hills in the backdrop.
UPES in Bidholi is also a great place to hang around for friends, couples and whosoever not willing to attend the classes.
A bit ahead towards Rajewala, there is Tibetan settlement and we used to go there for momos.

A few pics of Bidholi and around:

I fully enjoyed my 2 year stay at Bidholi. Time for you to experience the nature now!

Cheers...