H2O stay ( June 18 – 19 ) at Chaminoo - Part I

We stopped over at a nice joint for our tea break after leaving Pathankot, on the way to Dalhousie. We headed for Dalhousie after the good afternoon siesta we had till we reached this joint and with fresh energy. I had heard a lot about Dalhousie, but we were not to stay there but in a remotely unheard of place in the Chamba Valley. Luckily all of us shy away from the maddening crowds of cities and hill stations. So the selection of the place was a conscious choice, no doubt, but I for one never imagined it would be so far away from Dalhousie. We were told not to take Dalhousie road, but head for Sultanpur after Banikhet. So far so good till we reached Banikhet. We thought now our place is only a stone throw distance away because Dalhousie was only 8 KM away from Banikhet. Hence I thought our destination would be almost same distance from this junction, but on a road bypassing Dalhousie. That’s the way normally it is to avoid traffic and crowd in cities and such big towns. Hence this was a safe bet to avoid the maddening crowds, & still near the big town, I thought. How very grossly mistaken I was?

We stopped over at a Point to take pictures of Chamera Lake & the dam. 

Then we drove for eternity. It almost took about 1 ½ hours to reach Sultanpur – Sarol bypass Junction. It was almost pitch dark by then. We were tired & exhausted. Anvaya was in constant touch with the manager Vicky of the resort. Every time our driver got confused, he either stopped over to seek guidance from some persons / vehicle found on the lonely road at that hour or Anvaya contacted Vicky and handed over the phone to the driver to get directions. We were getting restless and exasperated by minute as we were so near but still so far. Vicky’s remarks that everyone else reaches the spot with the help of Google map without any difficulty added fuel to our frustrations. Finally the driver gave up and told us to call him or his person. Probably the night factor was a big hurdle. I wondered then that like Columbus, sailing Westward got to a destination, albeit wrong, as he wanted to reach Indies ( Asia ), we too might finally reach somewhere else, like the explorer. That would have been the biggest tragedy. Fortunately for us the two people came on a scooter and took us to our destination. I feel the owner of H₂O should think of Putting Fluorescent Signboards from the Sultanpur – Sarol Bypass Road at each Y – T – or square Junction on the road, till the last point. It is Convenience at negligible cost.

We were escorted to the resort in dim torch lights. Our baggage followed. Anvaya had intelligently foreseen the problems much in advance and had asked Vicky if our dinner could be arranged by him. We freshened up and relaxed. The dinner was ready. The Dining place was lovely. The hot fulkas, rice and vegetables & curry tasted great, not just because we were hungry but because of the preparation and also the ambiance.

We could not figure out what the surroundings looked like as it was really dark. We just wanted to retire ASAP. We did that and left everything else for the morrow.