Day 1 - Reaching & Walking Around. We had just crossed above 5000 feet and the winding road took us through thick foliage as it climbed steadily towards Dalhousie. I wound down the window and felt the cool fresh mountain air fill up the car and refreshed our lungs. Our association with Dalhousie goes back to 1997 when we stayed here till 2001. It was a memorable stay and this quaint town in the foot hills of Himalayas soon quickly earned a special place in our hearts. As we drove up We wondered why we hadn't made this nostalgic drive earlier than waiting for years. We reached Dalhousie after a 11 hr drive from Noida around 2pm, and checked into our hotel JK Clarks exotica. Good Parking in hill stations in India is a luxury. This hotel dedicated the whole first floor for parking. The room had a wonderful view of the vast valley below which ended with magnificent white peaks of Dhauladhar Ranges. This view I could sit & watch all day. Exploring the Town - Thandi Sadak &
Crazy; seriously?; ridiculous. come one, who travels by train for 30 hrs for fun? These were the reactions when we disclosed the plan to family and friends. I had to visit my home town Tenali from Delhi on personal work & decided to go by train this time. It takes 30 hrs for the direct train GT express and only 2 hrs by a flight, But where is the fun in flying. In my childhood train was the only option to travel to my home town during summer holidays.. but this time it was by choice, Not by compulsion My cousin joined me for the journey. He flew from Bangalore to Delhi just for the train journey with me and flew back to Bangalore from Tenali. Yes you read it right. We are that crazy about train travel . If you know me, this is not the craziest thing we have done. We also drove down by car all the 2000km more than once; also attempted end-to-end ride on India’s longest train journey. The start - Day 1 - 29th April 2023 At 3 pm we were at the New