Amidst the pine trees in Kasauli

“The place you know best is the one you live in”

Getting on the rocky road to Himachal Pradesh

Curious to experience snowfall and figure why people living in the mountains are happy people drove me to the hill stations of Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh, a quiet and hilly state of India is situated in the outer Himalayas (Shivlik Hills). The locals also known as the “Pahadis” ensure you get a good experience wherever you go!

My first stop was the charming Kasauli. Located at a distance of 65km from Chandigarh, my option was to either travel by a comfortable rented car or travel by the local bus. The car would drop me directly to Kasauli in 2 hours but the local bus would have its struggles which would include a 3+ hour ride from Chandigarh to Dharampur, a bus change, and then another 45 mins to Kasauli. The latter is fun but good for a one time experience if you are weak-hearted (crowded, many stops, late)!

Kasauli Market

Kasauli was developed by the British during their rule in India. Its narrow paths, beautiful valley views, scattered population and amazing weather might have appealed the British then. Good thing it has been retained today just as well. Kasauli is surrounded by pine trees and the air there is so pure, that it is recommended by doctors for those with respiratory problems. During winters the temperature can fall below 5deg C and the air can get extremely foggy.

Moving around Kasauli

On entering Kasauli I was greeted by a towering church called the Christ Church. It is probably the only dominating structure in all of Kasauli. Inaugurated and built during the 19th century it is a quaint little gothic construction with pretty stained glass work inside.

Christ Church

The other popular place of visit is the Manki Point (often referred to as Monkey Point). Manki in hindi stands for “From your Heart”. They say that when you visit the Hanuman Temple at Manki Point, you should make a wish and it will come true if wished from the heart. Located inside an Air Force area, all cameras and phones are banned. Moreover it is important to carry an ID proof if you want to get inside the area at all. Be ready to get intimidated by a strict officer who issues you a pass at the entrance. They only want to ensure that you are not breaking any rules while you are inside their zone, because the rest of the folks there are pretty much cool to talk to. And yes, you will be spied at secretly all the time!

Kasauli also has the famous Lawrence School in Sanawar – one of the best boarding schools in India. The school building nestled inside a thick forest of trees almost looks like a palace in a lost city.

Lawrence School in Sanawar

Where to stay in Kasauli

The hotels in Kasauli are very scattered, most of them are away at a distance of 3-6km. That is probably the reason why the main Mall area of Kasauli remains quiet and sparsely crowded at most times.

The HPTDC government hotel – Ros Common is a safe option for single or female travelers. Run by the Himachal Tourism, Ros Common is a colonial bungalow with only 6 rooms. Their upkeep still reflects of the older times but the overall experience of living there is very different. Almost like living in your own home in Kasauli. To stay in a more upscale place, Kasauli Resorts is also a good option.

Some of the other must dos at Kasauli –

Move around the quaint market place at the Mall. Most shops will be empty during winters because their owners will be away trying to get as much warmth as they can from the sun. Don’t worry; they will come running when they see you entering their shops.

A must try is the Tibetan food from the road stalls. Their dim sums and thukpas will give a lot of warmth during the winters.

You’ll find many dogs and monkeys around. The stray dogs are huge and furry and they will follow you around if you give them attention. Monkeys will snatch whatever you are holding in your hands.

Lastly walk a lot and avoid travelling by cars. You deserve the pure air!

Kasauli Market

Tibetian Food

Living a Royal Life in Chail

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.”

Chail is quietly nestled in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh. You will come across this quaint hill-station as you travel by road from Kasauli to Shimla. The sights along this road are beautiful with lots of deonar trees, mountains and deep valleys.

While travelling to Chail, the route to take is the one starting from Kasauli, passing through the pretty town of Solan and then Kandaghat. Kandaghat is the place from where you cut off from the highway and hit a narrow road towards Chail. There is a board clearly indicating the direction to Chail and it should take about 29 kms to reach from there.

Deonar Trees in Chail

The Summer Capital of the Maharaja

Chail once served as a summer capital of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. History says, the Maharaja incurred the rage of Lord Kitchener which got him expelled from Shimla. He then decided to build his own summer capital which lead to the discovery of Chail. I also heard another different version about the Maharaja’s oust from Shimla, but thought it best to leave the real one to history.

We reached Chail by evening and headed straight to see “Kali Ka Tibba” or the Kali Devi Temple. Located on a high altitude, this temple stands on the tip of a hill giving a 360 degree view of the Shivlik range of mountains. The temple is beautifully built with marble and has a serene and spiritual surrounding. Winters has chilly winds making almost impossible to stand in the open temple courtyard for long.

Shivlik Mountains from Kali Ka Tibba

Living in Royalty

The next stop was to visit the Chail Palace Hotel built by the Maharaja in 1891. This palace is now maintained by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department and is considered a Premium Heritage Hotel. The rooms in the palace are rented to visitors at a cost. The Palace hotel is also open to non-resident guests who want to just explore the place.

The Chail Palace Hotel

A stay in the hotel gives you access to all luxuries which may have once been experienced by the royal. Large rooms, maze like corridors, antique furniture, well maintained lawns, billiards room and good Himachal food served straight from their royal kitchen. What was fascinating to see was, the door latches from the bygone era still used in the rooms.

Door Locks in the Chail Palace from 1891

That evening of landing at the hotel, the palace was empty with me and a friend being the only guests. We opted for an inexpensive room at the palace which took us down 2 storeys below the reception and the palace hall. Being the only residents of the palace that night, we felt isolated and a little bit scared I'd say. On sharing our concerns, the hotel promptly upgraded us to a room near the reception. The stay then on felt safe and comfortable but stirred my palace phobia!

Entering the Chail Palace Hotel

I must praise the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department hospitality though. They were helpful and co-operative and made sure we felt at home. They patiently showed us around the palace rooms including the lavishly done up rooms of the Maharaja and Maharani.

At the end of my trip, what really struck me about Chail was that it has managed to filter itself from the other touristy places in Himachal Pradesh! It’s quiet forests make for excellent treks providing a sense of peace. A visit to Chail is a must!

Some more interesting facts about Chail

Chail is spread over an area of 72 acres on 3 adjacent hills – the Rajgarh Hill where the Palace is built, the Pandava Hill where the British Resident once lived and the Siddh Tibba which has the temple of Baba Sidhnath.

Some of the other must visit places of Chail include the Chail Cricket Ground built in 1893. Although you are not allowed to move around the grounds, you can boast about standing on the highest cricket ground in the world (2,444m).

The Chail Military School is close to the Chail Cricket Ground and houses some really nice building with restricted entry.

Chail is also known to have some of the best treks in India. Give more time to this place and explore it completely!

Winter months November – February can be extremely cold with temperatures dropping to 1-2 deg C.

Sitting in the Chail Palace Hall

At the Highest Cricket Ground in the World

At the Highest Cricket Ground in the World

Chail Market

The Wild Mushrooms

Recently during a trek to Sagargad in the Western Ghats of India, we came across a wild species of mushrooms. Their white color looked spectacular against the brown mud and green grass. But in all their glory they looked lethal and not good to eat or even touch.

The village local guide trekking with us, picked on our curiosity and casually dug one out. We quickly surrounded him hoping to hear some information about the mushroom, but to our surprise, all he did was started nibbling on it.

It seems the gorgeous looking mushroom was infact edible and often picked up by the local boys around the area. He pointed out to us some non edible ones as well, but the white one was definitely eligible to be go into the “Guide for Surviving the Forests of Western India”.

He didn’t know the name of the variety of the fungi, so I came back and read a little on the internet. My reading suggests they could be the Termitomyces variety known to be a popular wild food wherever they occur, but I can’t say for sure. I’ll be glad to if someone can point me to a correct name if I am wrong.

We have a beautiful variety of flora and fauna around the western coast of India. These get even better during the monsoons. And there is always something new to learn when you head out to explore them.

The edible fungi

The edible fungi

The view on the way to the Sagargad Fort

Worship place along the way to Sagargad Fort

The French Summer in Paris and a Dance

The French summer of 2010 is marked in my memory with a travel to the beautiful and lighted city of Paris.

Paris enchanted me with its Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Notre Dame. The shopping was fantastic and so was the food. But my days there were never planned. I just moved around the streets without a map, discovering new things about the city that 'tourists' can never. I would recommend this method of travelling to anyone who loves a little adventure, because losing yourself in a new city leaves you with so many more opportunities to discover it.

Eiffel Tower in Paris

But the story is not about the things I saw in Paris, instead it is about a memory that will stay with me for a long time.

One early evening I was scouting for a place for dinner. As I walked along the Champs-Élysées I noticed that the summers in France brought in a lot of tourists. The cafes and the shopping places were always brimming with crowds. The city felt vibrant and lighted in every way!

The Champs-Élysées Avenue

While walking along the avenue, I came across a cafe called Cafe George V. They had an indoor seating arrangement which was full, but the tables set along the sidewalk had a couple of empty ones. I peeped around the tables to see whether the food at the tables interested me.

While still in the midst of contemplation, a waiter suddenly walked up to me and asked "How many?" to which I replied "Just one."! And within no time I was there sitting at a table and looking at the menu card.

Salmon Fillet at Cafe George V

I ordered for salmon fillet with herbed lemon sauce and steamed rice and vegetables. By the time the waiter had finished writing my order, he had introduced me to an experience that was fun but at the same time a little embarrassing.

But a little prelude before that -

"Foreigners are always exotic in the countries they visit. But if you are foreigner from the Indian subcontinent, you are sometimes mistaken to be a Mexican when in the US or Spanish when in Europe"

So the waiter asks me in Spanish -
"Nothing to drink with your dinner?"
I reply back with a "Just water!".
"Not even some Sangria. I'm sure you'd had a lot in Spain, try some here."
"Merci but No."

"Well in that case..." and he broke into a dance right in front of my table. I was taken by surprise and looked at him with wide eyes. Everyone from the other tables turned around and started clapping as he continued dancing for a couple of more minutes.

Finally he took a bow, got an applause from everyone and then turned to me and said "Some sangria now?".

A soda is what I really ended up with after all that!

After that evening I never had another experience of meeting anyone so friendly and pleasant while serving me food at a restaurant. But I'll always remember this incident because it is only once in a while where you meet someone who can handle the pressure of buzzing hungry crowds during a peak tourist season with such panache and good humor!

Munnar takes the Tea

The last leg of my Kerela travel ended with a heady entry into the greenest tea plantations I've ever seen anywhere in the world -Munnar. You know you are in Munnar when the whirling roads stop becoming a migraine and the views get so fantastic that they convince you that nothing in the world can be devoid of life!

The road at Munnar

After settling for a day, I knew for sure that I had to visit a Tea Estate. What's the point of visiting Munnar and not knowing their tea! I assumed it to be a very touristy affair, but nonetheless I was curious. After talking to a few local people, I settled for a visit to the Kolukkumalai Tea Estate. Visiting it came with some essentials though - a strong jeep to sustain the terribly bumpy road and a happy, informative and patient driver. I think I got it all because the visit was fantastic. A word of caution though, the ride is very uncomfortable and can leave you with an aching body so go for it only if you think you can handle it!

Kolukkumalai Tea Estate Info

The jeep ride to Kolukkumalai Tea Estate

Tea Plantations 

Some of the must do on the way to the tea estate -

• Stop by the plantation workers, borrow their gear and learn the art of leaf plucking. Their daily wages are very low (less than $1) and will be happy if you tip them for teaching you.

• Get out of the jeep and walk though the tea plantations or on the road. The plantations are on a slope so walking through them can be risky sometimes.

• Stop by the point from where you can see the mountain ranges separating Kerela from Tamil Nadu. It is a beautiful sight.

• Drink the tea prepared by locals at the estate. You will be convinced to buy some after trying it.

• Just stay calm and enjoy and beautiful views of the tea plantations. The green color is very calming and you will often see them freckled with sparkling butterflies.

The road is not as good as it looks!

Interacting with the tea plantation workers

Kerela and Tamil Nadu seen from the Kolukkumalai Peak

Drinking tea at the Kolukkumalai Tea Estate

The Kolukkumalai Tea Estate is one of the highest tea estates of the world. It is a long drive away from Munnar (over an hour) and actually falls in the Tamil Nadu region. The tea manufacturing process in Kolukkumalai is still done using the orthodox method. It is interesting to to see the green leaves go through different processes to turn into an aromatic black tea favored by people the world over.

Kolukkumalai Tea Factory

Withering Process of Tea Leaves

Fiber Extraction Process

Munnar has many other commercial places of visit such as the Anayirankal Dam and the Eravikulam National Park. I did not visit them. However while walking around the place I was staying, I did see a co-existence of orange and tea plantations which are great to walk through. I remember passing through these fenced orange tree areas and did something that I had always wanted to do. Yes, I entered a private property, jumped until I could grab a tree branch and plucked an orange off it. Some things we never enjoy living in cities!  

Oranges for sale

Munnar also has private estates where they grow spices in their own gardens. Kerela is known for it's spices and therefore it is recommended to visit these spice gardens because you learn a lot about how the spices grow. You can also purchase high quality spices at very reasonable rates from the same gardens.  Some of the spices you can purchase include cloves, pepper, cardamom and cinnamon all which go into daily Indian cooking.

The Spice Garden

The Spice Garden

Coffee beans

Pepper

Experience the rustic Kumarakom Life!

If you want to spend a few days away from everything urban, Kumarakom is the place to be! A very popular destination in Kerala with not much crowd around.

Kumarakom Map

Kumarakom is like a serene village where time stands still! It doesn't have the rich history and monumental buzz of Cochin. Nor does it have the soaring altitudes and lush green tea estates of Munnar. What it has is, abundance of nature, open spaces and quietness that lets you laze around lapping up the calm backwater views.

Vembanad Lake in Kumarakom

There are several well known hotels and resorts spread across Kumarakom but the one we chose was the KTDC WaterScapes Resort which is located right inside the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary. It is a simple resort built to be extremely eco-friendly offering fantastic views of the Vembanad Lake. It is also one of the only resorts in all of Kumarakom that has independent huts for accommodation build on top of stilts with water canals passing through them. The resort has no internet connectivity in rooms which makes life even more simpler.

Entrance to KTDC WaterScapes

The WaterScapes huts with canals

The best way to spend a day at Kumarakom is spot a free boat and paddle around in the maze of canals within the resort property, get on to the hammock under your hut and read as much as you like, take a dip in the resort pool, book yourself a therapeutic Kerela spa treatment, and when you are done with all that, just step out of the resort and walk around the quiet bird sanctuary!

The best time to walk around the sanctuary is early morning. The forest is quiet and the uneven path is like an adventurous trail expedition. It may feel a little too quiet at times, but the sanctuary is well managed by the resort and therefore safe. At the end of the sanctuary trail, you may spot a local fisherman with a canoe. It is safe to hire a canoe ride with him because he will take you around the Vembanad Lake showing you different bird varieties and help you in understanding the ecological significance of the area.

Early morning at the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary

The resort has a single restaurant that offers some of the fine dishes of Kerela. However, I was in favor of sampling home styled food. So I headed out away from the resort to a small shack outside the village. At the shack I ordered a vegetarian thali which was actually a smaller version of the traditional Sadya (an elaborate vegetarian meal eaten during festivals and important occasions in Kerela).

South Indians are known to have a staple diet consisting of rice and that is what dominated on the thali. The other dishes included rasam, thoran, avial, buttermilk, pickles and papad. The Indian bread (also known as Roti) was conspicuous by it's absence. The meal was very delicious and what made it better was the personal attention by the owner since we were the only guests there.

Kerela Thali

Every city in Kerela has something unique to offer and Kumarakom is no different. Leaving Kumarakom after a two days stay was fine because there is very little to do there, but a longer visit with the intention of just doing nothing can also be fantastic.

Early morning canoe ride

Some interesting facts about Kumarakom -

• Kumarakom got a global appeal after Arundhati Roy's book "The God of Small Things" mentioned a bordering village in the same Kottayam district as Kumarakom. 

• November to February is the best time to see the migratory birds at the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary especially the Siberian cranes. The other popular birds are the egrets, kingfisher, water ducks, herons and more. 

• Karimeen is a popular fish and a delicacy. This fish is especially found in the backwaters of Kerela and should be tried if you enjoy seafood.  

• Fill your self up with a lot of coconut water. Not only is it healthy but also available in abundance.

If you have read this article and have also visited Kumarakom, please share your experience because I'd love to hear!

Munroe Island and the Kerela Fish Curry

My journey to Kerela is difficult to describe in words. It was one of those travels which can only be experienced not written about. And the calmness you feel living there is almost close to nirvana.

My journey started in a small town called Ashtamudi. Ashtamudi means "Eight Coned", and is called so because the Ashtamudi's lake topography consists of multiple branches.

Ashtamudi Map

During my stay in Ashtamudi, we made it a point to visit the Munroe Island. Munroe Island is a cluster of 8 tiny islands surrounded by the Kallada River and the Ashtamudi Lake. There are daily village tours that take you around the narrow backwaters in a small canoe allowing you to experience the village life at close quarters. Fishing, coir making, boat making, vegetable growing and goat herding are some of the experiences you get at the village.

Women haggling with local fish vendors

The highlights included small children running out of their houses asking you to gift them pens. Apparently, the children use chalk for writing in schools, so pens are a novelty item which they get only from tourists. Another experience is being a witness to serious haggling of village women with their own local fish vendors. We also manged to get ourselves invited to a village home and learn about their living, specifically their traditional kitchens and open bathrooms.

Coir making process

The best part of the trip was this soft sacred hymn from the island temple interspersed with the light sounds of the water hitting the shores that echoed throughout the island. It gave an very good feel to the village visit which can never be forgotten.

My visit to Ashtamudi cannot be complete without the mention of food.

After spending half a day at Munroe island, we asked our driver to take us to any local place for a traditional Kerela fish curry meal. He was hesitant at first and suggested we go back to the resort for lunch, but after insisting, he took us to a small local food joint for the traditional meal. The restaurant was called City Hotel and was very simple and non fussy. Most of the customers eating there were the villagers, so we felt like outsiders with our western clothes. The restaurant had long granite tables with chairs lined up, and most customers sharing tables with strangers. We sat down on an empty table and ordered our Kerela fish curry with fried fish.

The waiters first set the banana leaf as a base for the rest of the food. The next was two types of achars (pickles), followed by dollops of white boiled rice, a vegetable curry and crispy papads (papadums). The spicy fish curry and the fried fish were served separately in bowls.

As they say, when in Rome do what the Romans do, and that's how we ate our meals. We used our hand to mix the rice with the curries and the taste was fantastic. The spoons were set aside and never used.
The food quantity and quality was very good. The rice and the vegetarian gravy were unlimited but ordering more fish came at a cost. The fried fish (not sure about the variety used) was perfectly cooked with simple flavors, but the curry was a little hot for my palate.

Kerela Fish Curry with Fried fish, Rice, Vegetable Gravy, Pickles and Papads

I was not expecting the presenatation of food to be fancy, but was happy to know the cleanliness standards they maintained while serving food. And they probably paid more attention to us since we guests from outside the city.

So on a concluding note, I would say "when in Ashtamudi, sink into the local flavours, both with travelling and with food!" I'll write more about my next Kerela adventure in the following post.