Narkanda,Shimla (HP) - One of the oldest Skii resort in India and a "mustvisitHimalayas" place!

Narkanda, just 65 km from Shimla, (HP) gives faaaAAAaaaarrr better experience of Himalayan beauty than shimla itself does!

Narkanda, this skii spot is just 500 mtrs trek from NH22 Highway!!

About the Place:

• Narkanda is a town and a nagar panchayat in Shimla.
• Hatu Peak which is at 3353 mtrs is 5 km from Narkanda.
• Kotgarh is 16 km from Narkanda and famous for apple orchards.
• The TanniJabbar Lake is an high altitude lake just 6 km from here.

Altitude from Sea level: 2,621 meters.

How to Reach: The town of Narkanda can be easily reached through a variety of modes, including flights, trains and buses. One can opt for buses from the nearby hill stations.

• The nearest broad gauge railway station is located in the town of Kalka, which lies at a distance of 125 kilometres from the town of Narkanda. Toy trains can be taken on the Kalka-Shimla route in order to reach Narkanda for fares ranging between Rs 30 to 280.     
• Buses are the locally preferred mode of travel and they are easily available in the town of Narkanda. Buses can be taken from many cities in and around the region, including New Delhi and Shimla. Buses can also be taken to Narkanda from Rampur and Kinnaur. The smaller regions of Kufri, Matiana, Theog and Fagu will also have government run buses to the town of Narkanda. Buses mainly ply through NH-22 and fares from Shimla will be lesser than Rs 50.

Best time to Visti: Round the year!!!

Itenerary:
Budget: INR 1200/- per traveller

• Friday, 2100hrs, 11th January 2013, Board train from Delhi - Kalka, Haryana.
• Saturday, 12th January 2013, Kalka - Shimla by Narrow gauge train, Shimla - Narkanda by local transport (Bus).
• Sunday, 13th January 2013, Narkanda - Shimla by Bus, Shimla - Delhi by Train.

Back to the travelogue:
This year (2013), the norther chill broke all the records and news of snowfall in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh were frequent from Last week of December,2012. Although being a regular traveller in the Himalayas, to my hard luck, I have never experienced the magic of snowfall. Therefore, to try my luck this time I planned for a trip to Shimla on 2nd weekend of January,2013.
I asked few of my friends for this nerve chillin in this chill!.. but no one turned up except 'the One' - Malkeet Singh the Hemkunt Saheb leading guy. He asked few of his friends as well and he got companionship of Prashant Gaur, Tarun Dua and Karam Vir Singh along with, ofcourse, me!.

Plan was to board the Delhi-Kalka Mail on friday, 11th January,2013, from Old Delhi railway station, which departs at 21:25 hrs. I took a half day leave on friday. We all 5, met at Rajiv Chowk metro Station, Delhi. To our disappointment, we reached the Railway station at 2100 hrs  just to hear the announcement that the train is late by around 4 hrs!!!!!. but.. a group of Five alway kicks off the time!!. Meanwhile, we had paranthas .. awesome Paranthas that Malkeet brought from home.... a truely Mother's Delight!!.   4 hrs vanished due to potentially dangerous company.. i.e., Malkeet and Karam Vir Singh and train arrived at 04:25. Its great  - boarding the train and you see the entire block is vacant! Drinking was never so Public!! want to believe??....

Cheers for Shimla! (I had fever throught the journey :(  )

The charming miscreant - Karam Vir Singh

As the train was delayed by 4 hrs, we reached at Kalka at 08:15 am. Here is a useful info: the Narrow Gauge train running from Kalka - Shimla does not departs on its schedule time. It always waits for the Delhi - Kalka train to arrive!! Good for us! :). It takes around 4-5 hrs for this train to do Kalka - Shimla...!

Sardaar Malkeet Singh & Karam Vir Singh...  a company worth for every jouney

Tarun Dua.. the youngest modelling apprentice I have ever met! 

In my opinion, Kalka - Shimla train is best suited for monsoon season. Although, it was not green but yes, it was scenic..

Kalka - Shimla train is on World Heritage sites list!!..  yes it should be...

One can enjoy the beauty and serenity on the stations inbetween:

Never thought.. a railway station could also be beautiful!!

Tarun Dua  .. the youngest modelling Apprentice

When we reached at Shimla, we came to learn from the locals that there is no chance for Snowfall over here this week.

Locals told us that If we are keen enough we need to go to Narkanda - 65 km from Shimla. Taxi can easily be hired from Shimla to Narkanda but I always prefer local Transport. Local Transport is like soul of a traveller. It gives an opportunity to interact with the locals and know more about the place you are going to visit. It takes around 2.5 hrs to reach Narkanda from Shimla.

We reached Narkanda at around 5:30 pm. We had our meal just after arriving at Narkanda. While we were in the restaurant, there was a sudden change in the weather and locals said we may experience snowfall right now..  we were more than happy to hear this.. and yes , we experienced some snow.. Deeeellllighted We!!!!!!!!!!!..

But.....  a mild Hailstorm :( :( :(    Locals told us that this is just a mild hilstorm. We might get lucky in the late night... but we never did :( and now, the right time is next year :(...  never mind...

We went to our room  ... room.. we were lucky enough to get a dormitory for only INR 100/- each!!!!! inspite of being so inexpensive.. view from the balcony of it was great!!..... :

Next morning we went to the skii spot at Narkanda.. Pics??  .. here you go...

Nothing beats  a cheers with friends at such a lovvveeellyyy place:

Time for a return ticket to Delhi:

Jatt Nikla .. Gadddiii Le Ke....!!!!!    ...Shimla - Kalka

Could not experience the Snowfall this time.. but I am sure that Narkanda has much more to offer. Therefore.. I have plans to visit this ammazingly beautiful place few more times..