Travel-Guide about how to reach Khajjiar/Chamba and top activities to do around Dalhousie region in Himalayan State of India
Lush green meadows, grazing sheeps, beautiful cottages, high deodars and high hills of Khajjiar makes it a popular destination for traveller, explorers and tourists from India & abroad. Khajjiar is also known as mini Switzerland of India. Khajjiar is located on the way from Dalhousie and Chamba. This Photo Journey shares more about the ways to reach Khajjiar and other interesting things to explore & do around Khajiar/Dalhousie.
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How to reach?
Here I am sharing details about reaching Khajjiar from Delhi and then will share some pointers about options from Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar etc.
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HRTC bus for Chamba starts from Delhi at 7pm. The link shares has more details about booking bus from Delhi to Dalhousie. The one which starts at 7pm is 2*2 AC bus. Apart from this 2 ordinary buses go from Delhi to Chamba/Dalhousie. Any of these buses can drop you at Dalhousie, which is closest main station near Khajjiar. Khajjir is just 22 kilometers from Dalhousie.
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Other option to reach Khajjiar is by taking a train from Delhi to Pathankot. From Pathankot, you can either hire a taxi or board local bus from Dalhousie. Please note that most of the buses going to Chamba can drop you at Dalhousie but there is rare possibility to find direct bus for Khajjiar. There are few buses from Dalhousie to Chamba which cross through Khajjiar. There is one which starts from Dalhousie at 9:15am. When I was staying in Dalhousie, I chose to take this bus to reach Khajjiar and then took 2:30pm bus to come back. Expect lot of passengers in these buses between Dalhousie and Khajjiar.
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If you are coming from other cities like Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Dharmshala or Shimla; there are various bus routes. Check HRTC, PRTC websites to know timings. Apart from these private buses are also available for Dalhousie. Hope these details are helpful. If not, please drop a comment with your specific question and I will try to share appropriate details.
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Let's talk about options to stay around Khajjiar.
Where to stay?
I have been to Khajjiar many times, but most of the times stayed in Dalhousie. I wish to spend a night around Khajjiar. There is one HPTDC hotel which faces Khajjiar lake (dry lake). Apart from this there is one forest guest house and a HPPWD guest house around Khajjiar. All of these beautiful properties are best located around lush green meadows of Khajjiar. Apart from these prime location properties, there are few resorts around Khajjiar, but they are not around the main lake. 3 options mentioned above offer brilliant views of lush green grounds of Khajjiar.
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During summers, it's hard to get booking in Khajjiar. The next good option is Dalhousie. Dalhousie has comparatively more hotels & resorts. But it's recommended to do advance booking if you are going to Khajjiar or Dalhousie in main tourist season.
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Activities at Khajjiar -
1. Paragliding - Now you can enjoy paragliding at Khajjiar. Like Solang nala, kids can also enjoy small flights within Khajjiar and adults can enjoy the longer flights from surrounding hills, which usually land in Khajjiar.
2. Horse riding - You can ride around the Khajjiar. There is a proper path defined for horses and this is one of the early & popular activity to enjoy at Khajjiar. The horse owners also tell you few tricks to ride the horse. On the halfway, you feel like controlling the horse on your own :). That's fun !
3. Zorbing - You would see zorbing balls rolling on other side of Khajjiar lake.
4. Photo shoot in Himachali dress - This is typical activity which is offered in most of the hill stations in Himachal and Kashmir. I think, I need not explain this more.
5. Interacting with rabbits and getting some photographs clicked - You would find few kids with rabbits. They allow you clicking photographs with these rabbits and charge 10 rs. During tourist season, they may ask 20 rs or so.
6. Enjoy local folk music - There is a gentleman, who sings local songs around the dry lake of Khajjiar. He sings brilliantly and you can find his videos on Youtube.
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You can carry your own stuff with you. Many times, we carry Badminton, frisbee, a football and picnic stuff. Khajjiar is appropriate place for picnic. Folks living in Dalhousie and Chamaba usually come to Khajjiar during sundays with friends and family.
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Main places to explore around Khajjiar -
I was there in Khajjiar again in August and it looks awesome in the month of August & September. It was a day out with my niece Urvi and enjoyed clicking her photographs.
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Above photograph shows deodar cones. August is the month when you can see all these cones on deodar trees. Khajjiar is surrounded by dense forest of high deodars.
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There is water in the middle of the lake. More than water, it's quicksand. This wooden pathway takes you to the water pond and this time I saw lot of fish in this. Although scene is not very interesting. Kids really enjoy to see fish in the pond. A gentleman sits around this place and sell some eatable for the fish. That's a good way for kids to interact with fish.
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Direct sunlight, fresh & cold breeze, lush green meadows, grazing sheep & cows, beautiful huts surrounded by dense forests of Deodar make Khajjiar a irrisistable place in Himachal Pradesh. Khajjiar is my favorite place around Dalhousie and Chamba regions of the himalayan state.
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Here is a panorama of Khajjiar. Notice the size of people walking around and try to imagine the size of this beautiful green meadow. It's huge. If you love walking, this is perfect place with appropriate weather. At times sun can be too harsh, so choose to walk around the edges with shade of deodars.
Hope this post would help you plan your trip to Khajjiar and by now you must have an idea about things to expect at Khajjiar. Please feel free to drop your comments for further questions or suggestions.
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If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -
1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter Use dustbins.
2. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
3. Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite