Taking a vacation is not only about ticking every touristy spot..
It's about getting rejuvenated and feeling the nature, closely..!!
Our trip to Palampur, Himanchal Pradesh, was a peaceful yet adventurous vacation, which gave us time to admire and enjoy everything around.
Let's began the journey
Trip Date: 15/02/2020
Gears before planning : DSLR (If you want to capture snow capped Dhauladhar Range), Trekking Shoes, Extra pair of socks (they might get wet, as we trekked all the time alongside river), woolens (cap, gloves etc), umbrella
Expense Details
Tariff Details :
Treebo SC Residency - INR 2226 (Including Breakfast)
The Solitude Camp - Wooden Cottage - INR 10,228 (Including Breakfast)
The Solitude Camp - Wooden Cottage with Attic - INR 13,127 (Including Breakfast)
The Solitude Camp - Luxury Swiss Tent - INR 10,464 (Including Breakfast)
NOTE - All the Solitude camp booking prices are for 3 nights
Additional Expense :
Fuel (Diesel for Thar & Petrol for Eco Sport) - INR 14,134
Food (At camp, at all the cafes and meals while travelling ) - INR 12000
NOTE - We divide all the expenses equally in our group
Day 0 (Trip Start)
We started our journey from Noida at around 7:30 in the evening & reached Zirakpur at 1:00 AM. Being aware with the traffic at Haryana border (due to Farmer's Rally), we booked our night stay at a Treebo Hotel (SC Residency)
This stay cost us just INR 2300 for 3 guests (with one extra bed including) and that too with a nicely spread breakfast buffet. Room of the hotel was well maintained and big.
Day 1
Next morning, we departed for Palampur at 8:00AM. For my gang, the worth of a road journey is equally proportional to the number of Chai-breaks we take.. this being the main reason, we reach every where a bit late :)
One has to pay a state road tax of INR 40 on entering Himanchal, which is valid for a week.
We all are big time foodies too.. and let me tell you about a eating stop, you dare not miss ;)
3-4 Kms after crossing Nangal, there is a huge complex - The Gulmohar Grand. You can't miss the amazing food of Fredd & Patts (it is in their food court). You will definitely be delighted to meet the beautiful & lively aunty and her grandson. She even came outside to see us off.
Must Try - Nutella Waffle with Vanilla, the veggie street burger (one of the best you can have), cheese maggi and everything else..!!
This road trip showed us every weather and road type. It also started raining as we approached Palampur.
Our Stay - The Solitude Adventure Camp
For this vacation, we wanted to have some time to live peacefully and interact closely with raw form of nature, along with our own adventure time.
This camp is located beyond the boundaries of a power plant (generally restricted area) and you can reach there by crossing a river. There are three bamboo bridges to cross the river and you have to park your vehicles before the barricading of the power plant.
Almost 2 kms of road before the camp is yet to be constructed (kuchcha road).
The camp has different stay options
Luxury Swiss Tents
Bamboo Cottage
Wooden Cottage
Wooden cottage with an attic
Mini Tents
They are expanding the number of stays by making a few more wooden cottages with attic, which might be more comfortable and will have a wider view of the river valley.
We reached at the parking spot at 7 in the evening. It was dark and raining. We called some of the guys to help us and guide the way towards the camp.
At this time and situation, the way to camp seemed so scary and long. We were new to this area.. we couldn't see the water body, but there was the sound of flowing river and water splashing against big boulders.. the bamboo bridges had some cracked pieces and all of it was slippery due to rain..!!
Finally after crossing all of it, we climbed a bamboo staircase to reach the camp on a flat hill..
The guys showed us our stays and brought some steaming cups of Tea & Fritters. Then, we were all happy and settled.
There were 7 of us and they have unoccupied mini tents, so we asked them arrange our dinner there. Everything we ordered was well cooked and nicely packed.. even the chapatis were warm, when we opened them (there kitchen was a bit far from our stay & it was raining too)
Day 2
This morning when we woke up, we actually saw the entire camp and around. The weather was clear and we hoped to see sunrise somewhere :)
We got ready and came down to the river spot. As we approached the second bamboo bridge, we witnessed a perfect scenery... there was a glimpse of mighty Dhauladhar range and sun was rising from the other side.
We walked along side the river, over to the stones.. we sat there, enjoyed the cold breeze, watched and captured the glowing snow capped mountain.
Apart from this camp, there is also another cafe-cum-stay in this wilderness - NITYA Cafe. We caught a sight of it and trekked towards it. This place has such vibrant vibes with random decor and quotations all over the it. They gave us the best and most crispy butter toast possible with Tea. This was like warming up our tummies before the main breakfast.
After relaxing and catching our breath for sometime, we headed back to our camp for breakfast (which was included in the room tariff). We had Aalu paratha, omelette and Tea & let me tell you again.. they made such amazing aalu parathas, we ordered them on repeat mode. You can't miss them, however health-freak you might be.
Then some of us went back to sit beside the river, others played table tennis & cricket in the camp (they have all this available in the camp itself).
We didn't want to go in the main Palampur area (as it was too crowded) but 4-5 kms before our camp, were some nice cafes on silent streets. We wandered and got attracted by a lush green and mysterious spot - Cliffy's Cafe. This place is run by a young couple and believe me, we were so lucky to find it. They offer some amazing food (especially South Indian Cuisine). We tried so many items & all was too good.
Later that evening we enjoyed some games (we took with us- business board, cards, UNO) and the camp guys arranged bonfire for us.
We planned to do our dinners in the camp itself, to avoid roaming on the streets every time and getting tired. So, we enjoyed the amazing dinner again and chit chatted till late.
Day 3
Mornings here, are not to be missed and they are worth the sleep-sacrifice.
So we did the whole ritual of trekking alongside the river, watching sunrise, butter toast and tea at Nitya Cafe and returning back to our nest for some amazing full fledged breakfast.
When you come and visit Palampur, you can also plan a day's trip to Bir Billing (which was 36 kms from our stay) or to Dharamshala (which was 45 kms from our camp). Bir is famous for paragliding and Dharamshala is know for its cafes and much more. Some of us went to Bir on day3 and others stayed and relaxed at the camp itself.
Today while searching for a lunch option, firstly we came across a very scenic spot with deep valley and river in front. There was a colorful food truck, so we stopped again to warm-up our tummies and enjoyed some nice momos and veg noodles. I won't say it was perfect, but, sometimes...it's not only the food that gives you happiness... it is the company and some picturesque views.
We headed in search of a lunch place. We sorted some while googling, but they were closed. Finally we reached Coy's Cafe in Hotel Fresco (By The Way, the google pin point for this cafe is totally wrong, so we had to wander a lot). This place was very beautiful and has nice seating areas (both indoor and outdoor)
BUT... nothing from their menu was worth all the efforts. We were not that lucky today in terms of food :(
But, since we ordered so much, we had to push it in & then we headed back to our camp to enjoy some sunset time by the river.
We captured so many nice... funny... scenic... amazing pictures & videos and went up to our rooms for evening tea (visit our page - "picturesque gallery" for more pics)
For tonight's dinner, we asked the camp guys to cook some non-veg (mutton) for us. We enjoy our dinner in that cozy little tent and roamed around under the night sky.
Day 4 (Departure Day)
It was long way back and we wanted to stop at every good location, as we missed the best of it due to darkness and rain. So, after our early breakfast, we started our journey back to home.
We watched every visible mountain on our route and stopped at every possible location. We captured some wide pictures of the Dhauladhar range from empty spots. After Kangra, we took our Tea-break at a very nice and peaceful location, where we could literally walk inside the river stream.
We thought of visiting Bhakra Nangal Dam, but as usual we were running back on schedule (it closes for visits at 3:30PM). We weren't disappointed at all because the target of our return journey was to have lunch at Fredd & Pratts again. This time, we ate a lot more than the first time ;)
And returned back with Happy Tummy & Smiling Faces
NOTE - Please drop us a query in Contact section for any other information required and get a glimpse of the trip on our YouTube Channel.
Love
RovitaS
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