Two shades of Khajjiar

Mountains called!

Thanks to our cancelled plan to coastal Karnataka road trip (somehow road trip plans always fall apart), we headed for the mountains. With only 3 to 4 days in hand, we shortlisted the long awaited Khajjiar. As my sister and I were visiting our maternal house in Agra and paternal house in Jammu, Khajjiar seemed perfect. Researched a bit, booked hotel and tickets just a week ahead and packed our bags.

Along with two cousins, our journey began in 11449 Jabalpur - Katra Express. It was winters and as usual due to the fog, our train was super-duper delayed. We reached Pathankot 4-5 hours late. Got a taxi from the station and the driver was a local Dalhousie boy which turned out to be a boon. We hired his services for the next 3 days to show us around. On our way to Khajjiar, we crossed Dalhousie and it's as difficult to avoid Dalhousie while going to Khajjiar as avoiding aloo in samosas! It was already too late to roam around, being in hills, in winters and a small town. The choice of hotel (Country Resort, Khajjiar Road) was horrible (geyser, bedsheets, blankets, hot water, service... us being extremely adaptive and non-complaining guests, it was surely below par) and I take the whole blame for not researching and reading the reviews. The next morning we were ready to leave when our driver suggested we carry all your bags in the car as we may not be able to return. He said it casually, yet we believed him- and thank god we did!

Our first stop- Khajjiar Lake- breathtakingly gorgeous meadow, surrounded by deodars, lush green grass, oval shaped lake right in the centre. It was like a painting that came to life. It was raining a little but it did not matter, beauty personified. We spent about a couple of hours there. Then headed for our day trip to Dalhousie. 

As we were on our way, we saw some soft cotton balls hitting the windshield of the car. To our surprise, it has started to snow. It was the first experience of snowfall for all of us. We started to click pictures and videos without realising that it was going to get difficult to get to Dalhousie or to go back to our hotel. A bus got stuck ahead followed by three cars then us. We stopped and it started to snow heavily. We were mesmerised, happy and excited with more emotions ready to follow- hunger and fear. We were stranded for another two hours and by that time, the road, the car and the surroundings had turned white; reminded me of the movie Frozen! From all green, it had become all white. Our driver then told us that the only way we could reach Dalhousie was via Chamba as going back to the hotel was useless, we could be stuck for days. With absolute turn of events, we then started for Chamba. It was indeed a beautiful scenic ride but the fear was instilled. Somehow got out of the snow zone, we halted at two places for lunch and snacks, took some photos here and there and managed to reach Dalhousie and it was already dark. As the car was being parked, it started to snow.... and it did not stop until the next day (or till we left). We stayed at a small hotel (unfortunately cannot remember the name but with impeccable service, I wish I had noted down the name, it was near Dalhousie bus stop). 

We checked out the next morning, it was still snowing. The car could not come to the hotel so we carried our luggage and walked about 2 km in sheets of snow. Our socks and shoes were completely drenched (we did not come prepared to walk in the snow). On request, our driver dropped us in Jammu (about 2 hours journey).

It truly sounds like a trip gone wrong but not one of us felt like it did. It was incidentally the first snow of the season, so just before the snow took over, the roads were still open, the pines were still green, the meadows still scenic. We saw the lush green grass, the tall deodars, walked in snow and made memories.  We were extremely lucky to have witnessed the two shades of Khajjiar- green and white!