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Going to Neverland
Year 2013 had been really blissful. Munsiyari in March, Central Himachal in July, Paangi Valley in August, Ladakh-Zanskar in September and then Garhwal in December to close what have been a travel-full year for me. Year 2014 started on equally good note. A dear friend and colleague belonging to Paonta Sahib was getting married on 26th January at Paonta Sahib. Paonta is a small little town in Sirmour District, Himachal, situated on the banks of River Yamuna. The river acts as a natural boundary between Himachal and Uttarakhand at Paonta. The town is otherwise famous for religiously important Gurudwara Paonta Sahib built in the memory of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Sikh Guru. These days Paonta is bustling with industrialization. I have another connect with this beautiful town as my Chacha has been living in Paonta since last 20 years and I had already visited Paonta few times.
I alongwith another colleague and a good friend [MENTION=23591]Aniruddha Jasu[/MENTION], a fellow BCMTian who has authored a block buster log of a week spent in Ladakh during winters http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/travelogues-north-india-f61/winter-leh-diary-15th-22nd-january-2014-a-t56980/ decided to leave a day and half early and extend our stay in Paonta by one day so that we can explore some of the offering of Sirmour District which is otherwise not much on the tourist map despite some very good options. We started from office early in the evening and after negotiating few jams enroute reached Karnal bye-pass by 5.30 pm. Next part of the journey till Ladwa via Indri was uninspiring. At Ladwa, we started to feel hungry and decided to take a break for light refreshments. We stopped at one bakery that had exhausted all it supplies of burgers and sandwiches. He recommended Golden Deluxe Dhaba which was just half a kilometer away. We entered the dhaba with a thought of munching one roti so that we may be able to join our friend at Paonta for dinner. The owner of the vegetarian dhaba pitched in for Kaleji Paneer (no kaleji involved) and Laccha paratha. Rest is history. We had to excuse ourselves while our friend with all his cousins and other friends gorged on the dinner served. A session of dance at mid-night followed the dinner and then, fully exhausted, we took to our beds.
Distance covered: around 275 kms
Time taken: 5.30 hours
Route Chart
I alongwith another colleague and a good friend [MENTION=23591]Aniruddha Jasu[/MENTION], a fellow BCMTian who has authored a block buster log of a week spent in Ladakh during winters http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/travelogues-north-india-f61/winter-leh-diary-15th-22nd-january-2014-a-t56980/ decided to leave a day and half early and extend our stay in Paonta by one day so that we can explore some of the offering of Sirmour District which is otherwise not much on the tourist map despite some very good options. We started from office early in the evening and after negotiating few jams enroute reached Karnal bye-pass by 5.30 pm. Next part of the journey till Ladwa via Indri was uninspiring. At Ladwa, we started to feel hungry and decided to take a break for light refreshments. We stopped at one bakery that had exhausted all it supplies of burgers and sandwiches. He recommended Golden Deluxe Dhaba which was just half a kilometer away. We entered the dhaba with a thought of munching one roti so that we may be able to join our friend at Paonta for dinner. The owner of the vegetarian dhaba pitched in for Kaleji Paneer (no kaleji involved) and Laccha paratha. Rest is history. We had to excuse ourselves while our friend with all his cousins and other friends gorged on the dinner served. A session of dance at mid-night followed the dinner and then, fully exhausted, we took to our beds.
Distance covered: around 275 kms
Time taken: 5.30 hours
Route Chart
