The view was everything I could've asked for and more.Īfter freshening up and having a bite to eat, we took off to explore the city.
![winter wonders 1.7 winter wonders 1.7](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j39a7aUwfLY/XkApIa6HgeI/AAAAAAAA84A/CeboFFMmCf4tn9ghb4zYgh8pYX2Fqcd5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/31.jpg)
Our resort was towards an extreme end and there were no more resorts or hotels after that. We finally reached the resort and checked in. We crossed Subhash Chowk which is a landmark of the city. We stopped at several other hotels and resorts to enquire about the stay on our way, but there was no luck. The resort was 1km away from the bus stand but we had to hike with our luggage and in snow so it took us around an hour to reach the resort. We finally decided on OYO 3153 Sagrika Resort which was under our budget after all the OYO discounts and the wizard membership. Eventually we again turned to the OYO app for booking another hotel. We started talking with the locals so that they could suggest us some decent places under budget. In Dalhousie we had our booking for the stay in Zostel but unfortunately due to heavy snowfall in the previous days the route till Zostel was closed and we had to cancel the booking. It took us about 20-25 minutes to reach Dalhousie bus stand. We crossed the Dalhousie Canntonment on our way. The drive of the valley till Dalhousie was breath taking, I had never seen something so beautiful before.
#WINTER WONDERS 1.7 DRIVERS#
We spoke to a few taxi drivers and one of them agreed to take us to Dalhousie bus stand for ₹250 per person, we shared the taxi with one other traveller going on the same route.
![winter wonders 1.7 winter wonders 1.7](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/7606fc2f-2dff-4d1a-b4fd-6d39ffe69db6_1.13ea09cb4c840103d5b21a44a80f712e.jpeg)
The next morning we checked out of the hotel, had breakfast at the same dhaba near the bus stand and started inquiring about how we can reach Dalhousie since the route had cleared up a bit. It's a very small village so we walked around a bit had an early dinner and came back to the hotel since it started getting dark pretty soon. I bought snow shoes from a local shop just for ₹280. The place was not fully covered in snow and was melting which made my sport shoes all wet and my feet started to freeze. After 5.30 pm we got up, got dressed and went out to explore Banikhet. We checked in the hotel and were so tired that we went off to sleep. Post lunch we booked a hotel through OYO (OYO 12442 Twilight Guest House). Since we were super hungry by then and it was 1 pm already, we went to a local dhaba near by and had lunch. The two of us decided to stay in Banikhet only that day and leave for Dalhousie the next day when the snow clears up a bit.
![winter wonders 1.7 winter wonders 1.7](https://www.ruru-berryz.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Web-Wonder-Festival-2021-Winter-Wonderful-Works-2.jpg)
Since the roads above Banikhet were blocked with snow, so the only way to reach Dalhousie was to walk the 7kms with luggage on our backs. Banikhet is another village in Chamba district located about 7 kms away from Dalhousie. The bus was on its way to Chamba and dropped us off at Banikhet bus stand. The four of us took our luggage and hopped on the HRTC.
#WINTER WONDERS 1.7 DRIVER#
The bus driver arranged for a local bus to take us to Dalhousie. We got off on a bridge near a small tea shop. Nainikhad is a small Village in Bhattiyat Tehsil in Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh which is 21kms away from Dalhousie. That caused our bus to drop us off at Nainikhad. We got to know that most of the roads on the upper region were covered with snow. The time we visited Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh was on high alert due to heavy snowfall.
![winter wonders 1.7 winter wonders 1.7](https://www.mikufan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/winterwonfes18_image.jpg)
The valleys started and we got closer to snow capped mountains. As soon as it took off we started spotting mountains from a distance. The bus took off from Pathankot railway station. It takes around 2.5-3 hours to reach Dalhousie from Pathankot. The bus halted at Pathankot railway station for half an hour for breakfast and bus cleaning. Almost everybody had gotten off the bus before reaching Pathankot apart from 2 other people travelling with us. The next morning we entered Pathankot district around 9:30 am.