Holiday to Shimla | Sangla | Narkhanda | Mussorrie - June 2011

Had been planning a holiday for sometime and finally after a lot of mis-adventures finally managed to freeze on Shimla, Sangla, Narkhanda and Mussorrie. Bookings at Shimla and Mussorrie were done at the Club Mahindra Resorts and so the search started to a place to stay at Sangla and Narkhanda.

A quick search on the net revealed 2 places, Banjara Camps and Kinner Camps both of which looked really interesting. Though Banjara seemed more popular it was frightfully expensive compared to Kinner Camps where Mr. Pradeep Negi and Gauri really gave us a good deal. Gauri also helped us with booking for Narkhanda, at a place called Agyat Vas. This was a real "Agyat Vasa" (unknown / hidden place), but more of that later. So finally we were all set for our annual vacation.


We took the early morning flight to Delhi and an Innova (again booked through Gauri at Kinner Camps) was ready to pick us up. The drive to Shimla was a rather long one and we reached Whispering Pines the Club Mahindra resort at Mashorba, on the outskirts of Shimla, late in the afternoon.

Whispering Pines

Whispering Pines

We spent the next 2 days exploring Shimla and visiting the "must see" places there.

To be honest Shimla did not really catch my fancy. Its crowded and teaming with people.

This is a common site in Shimla city

Queen of the hills ?? Where are the hills ??

 The highlight of our visit was a trip to the Vice Regal Lodge of Shimla. The Viceregal Lodge of Shimla is a heritage building that is situated on the Observatory Hill of Shimla. This building originally used to be the dwelling hub of the then Viceroy of India Lord Dufferin. The building is also termed as the 'Rashtrapati Niwas'. It has a really beautiful garden and one can spend hours there just looking at the flower and butterflies.

Vice Regal Lodge

Flower in the garden of the Vice Regal Lodge

The other place I really loved with Annadale. Developed as the playground of Shimla, Annandale is 2–4 km from the Ridge at a height of 6,117 ft. It is a favourite spot for cricket, picnics and polo. There is a wonderful military museum there which is located in such picturesque surroundings that it is a must visit for tourist who go to Shimla.

Central Hall / Conference Room at Annadale

Military Museum

There is a beautiful golf course at Annadale, though I am not sure if it is open to the general public.

Golf Course at Annadale

Over the 2 days in Shimla, we witnessed some spectacular skies, especially in the evening.

For more images from Shimla visit my Picasa web album Pics from Shimla .

Our next stop was Sangla around 215 Kms from Shimla.  This leg of the trip really put the time required to travel in perspective. Normally 215Kms would take around 4-5 hours, but with the narrow curvy roads it took us more than 7 hours to reach Kinner Camps. So inspite of leaving Shimla at 9:00, it was nearly 16:00 hours when we reached Kinner Camps.

Kinner Camps Sangla is the only camp in the valley to be run by local professionals it is nestled amidst apple orchards on the banks of the Baspa river.  It provides 20 Swiss style luxury tents furnished with attached bath and all amenities, multi cuisine restaurant serving Indian,  Chinese and Continental food.

The location is really amazing ... the camp is situated a little more than half way down a hill with the flowing Baspa River a few yards below. The location was just perfect with a huge mountain at the back which protected us from the direct sun and snow clad mountains and the river in front. In hindsight I liked the location more than that of Banjara camps, which was situated on the rocky bank of the river.

Mere pictures can not do justice to the beauty of the place and one has to be there to really soak in the beauty and atmosphere of the place.

Tents at Kinner Camps

Snow Clad mountains - view from tent

River Baspa - Kinner Camps

Snow clad mountains above Kinner Camps

Mountains from Kinner Camps

Snow clad mountains from Kinner Camps

Another view of Kinner Camps

There are quite a few places to visit and a must visit place is Chitkul. Chittkul is the last inhabited village near the Indo-Tibet border; the Indian road ends here. During winters the place remains covered with the snow mostly & these people move to the lower areas of Himachal. Chittkulis the first village of the Baspa Valley and the last village on the old Hindustan-Tibet trade route. It is also the last point in India one can travel to without a permit. Of particular interest at Chitkul are its houses with either slate or wooden plank roofs, a Buddhist temple and a small tower. However, there has been an increased use of tin-roofs, especially the high school and the army/ITBP barracks.

Chikul - last village in India

Typical House in Chitkul

Chitkul Village

For those who wish to have a leisurely treck, there is a quaint little village across the river from Kinner Camps. Its a beautiful village having nice roads, apple orchards and a wonderful temple. The village is a 45 minute walk from the camp and is really worth visiting.

Walking into the village

This dog adopted us and followed us all around

Carving on temple

 Even now when I look at the pictures from Kinner, I just wish I could have spent more time there

Baspa River

Baspa River from Kinner Camps

Under the pines

Snow clad mountains from Kinner

We really had a wonderful time at Kinner and desperately wanted to spend some more time there. Mr Vijay Negi and his team really made us feel at home. The tents were nice and clean, the home cooked food amazing and the service impeccable.  I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who goes to Sangla.

For more images from Kinner Camps visit my album Awesome Kinner.

From Kinner we were off to Narkhanda to a place called Agyaat Vas. ....

More from my trip in the next post ..... 

Panchgani - A travalogue

We travelled to Panchgani from the 26th to the 30th of October 2008. An overnight train from Ahmedabad to Pune, saw us reach Pune at around 5:00 AM on the 26th and after a short halt we were off to Panchgani which is around 100Kms from Pune.



The route to Panchgani is a very scenic one with a lot of greenery and the flowers along the road were a sight to behold. A 2 hour drive and we were all ready to check-in to the “Blue Country Resort”, where we had booked our stay through ‘Club Mahindra Holidays’. Blue Country is a Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) property where ‘Club Mahindra’ have some rooms booked on a permanent basis. There are some horror stories about the resort floating around the net, but our stay there was quite pleasant and uneventful. Though the restaurant as reported is pretty small and so it gets full really fast and you need to be early to be able to get a seat for breakfast or lunch. Dinner is usually served outside on the lawns and so it’s a much better experience. Any yeah the room service, especially if you order something just before lunch or dinner time sucks . . .
Okay so having got all that out of the way, the property itself is quite beautiful with a Dolphin embossed Swimming Pool, a room for table tennis and carom and a small children’s park to keep them happy.



Legend has it that Panchgani is named after the five hills that surround it. These were settlements of the natives and hence the town came to be called Panchgani, panch meaning five and gani meaning settlement. The town was founded by John Chesson in 1854, who developed it with a grant from the Governor of Bombay. Soon it came to be the home of a number of Christians and Parsis, and a getaway from the heat of the plains.
Panchgani is at an altitude of 1334 m, it is just 38 m below Mahabaleshwar. These 38 m translate themselves into a breathtaking 18 km approach, that swoops around and bends with abandon, offering splendid views of the river Krishna on one side, and the coastal plains, on the other. Panchgani is the quintessential hill station. It can be seen in the architecture of the old British buildings, the Parsi houses, and the boarding schools that have been around for a century or more.



The five hills surrounding Panchgani are topped by a volcanic plateau, which is the second highest in Asia after the Tibetan plateau. These plateaus, alternatively known as "table land", are a part of the Deccan Plateau and they were raised by pressure between the earth plates. The area has high seismic activity, with an epicenter near Koynānagar where the Koynanagar Dam and a hydroelectric power plant have been built. Another place you must visit is Mahableshwar which is just 20Kms from Panchgani and a well known hill station



There are many tourist points in and around Panchgani, most of them offering breathtaking views of the valley below. There are various sightseeing hill destinations points in Panchgani such as Sydney point, Table land, Parsi point, devil's kichen, Dhoom dam, the lingmala falls and Rajapuri caves. The Sydney point is placed on small hillock facing the Krishna valley. We can see the glittering waters of the Dhom Dam and Pandavgad and Mandhardeo from here. Table land is situated around 60 mts high and second largest natural mountains in Asia. From here we can easily see devil's kitchen. Parsi point is a windy road situated on the Mahabaleshwar way overlooks the Krishna valley and the blue mirror like waters of the Dhom Dam. Doom dam is a beautiful boating spot, which is situated 21 kms from the panchgani. Scooter boats and Speed boats one can enjoy here. Rajapuri caves is placed about 10 kms from the town. It has a religious importance as there is a temple of Lord Karthikeya, (Lord Shiva's son).



When in Panchgani don’t miss Sherbaug (http://www.sherbaug.com/). This is an amazing theme park and you can easily spend over half a day here strolling through the amazing gardnen, eating a traditional Maharashtrian meal or just lazing around on the many swings and beds scattered around the place. Sherbaug also boasts of a beautiful fossil and semi-precious stone collection and some dinosaur eggs.



A genteel place, Panchgani doesn't really pander to commercial tastes, as does Mahabaleshwar. Here, holiday pastimes include walking, riding on one of the numerous ponies that canter around town, or simply unwinding at home in the cool of the veranda or drinking tea on the lawns. And if you feel energetic, amble down to the bazaar to shop for very reasonably priced shoes and slippers, preserves and squashes made from fresh strawberries and raspberries. You can also visit the MAPRO outlets and stuff yourself with all the free samples that they give. Note: After a few, they all taste the same and you will be as confused as ever 

Panchgani has some amazing flora and fauna and I had a great time taking photographs there.


So after 4 pleasant days and our bags full with a variety of syrups, jams and pickles we headed back to Pune on the 30th to catch our train back to Ahmedabad.