Narkanda... Paradise!!

navdeep · 27th December 2006, 16:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk1979

HPTDC, Home Page
this link has booking section but does not work. So I went to HPTDC office in Janpath, Delhi. Chandigarh also has a HPTDC office, and you can find address from the website

Here is the link :

HPTDC - Online Hotels Reservation System

GTO · 27th December 2006, 16:17

Damn, that is mind-boggling beauty! Good job with the pictures, TSK. If you know the right places in India, its futile to go abroad for "sight-seeing" and "romantic getaways".

tsk1979 · 27th December 2006, 16:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by navdeep

Here is the link :

HPTDC - Online Hotels Reservation System

It does not work.
The page frequently hangs at payment gateway stage. So I decided not to take the risk and go to their office.
I suggest you also do the same. This way you will get the off season discount too if its available instead of the fixed rate on website.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO

Damn, that is mind-boggling beauty! Good job with the pictures, TSK. If you know the right places in India, its futile to go abroad for "sight-seeing" and "romantic getaways".

The pictures actually do not do justice to the place. I don't think I have the skill to capture it in camera yet!
Interior himachal is truly a jewel. Luckily for wanderlust bitten bugs like us, these places are off the radar of most tourist.
There was nobody else on the bridge over satluj banks, and also on the road leading to Kotgarh. Moreover we did not encounter a single tourist near the church area. When we went on a short drive in the night, there was not a single vehicle on the roads. I have never been to such a quiet place. No sound, just wind through the pines and I dont think I have ever seen so many stars in the sky!

Samurai · 27th December 2006, 17:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk1979

The pictures actually do not do justice to the place. I don't think I have the skill to capture it in camera yet!

Agree with the former, but not with the latter. I think you just got lazy and decided to enjoy the view rather than put in the hard work behind the lens.

I am pretty sure you are already regretting it.

tsk1979 · 27th December 2006, 17:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO

Damn, that is mind-boggling beauty! Good job with the pictures, TSK. If you know the right places in India, its futile to go abroad for "sight-seeing" and "romantic getaways".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

Agree with the former, but not with the latter. I think you just got lazy and decided to enjoy the view rather than put in the hard work behind the lens.

I am pretty sure you are already regretting it.

hehe

. thats true for the night shots. A little more hard work(walking 100mts to a darker place and braving the cold) would have resulted in breathtaking night scenery, but It was too cold.
but for the day shots, I took 3 shots for each frame -2,0,+2 exposure composition. Many of the images you see turned out to be good because of the -2 EC.
The 161 pics in the gallery are the best of the 400 odd pics I took.
The nights and evenings are a different story. It was around 2 degrees!! and I was freezing.
As for the lens, I guess I need to put more hard work on Post processing. Most of these shots do not have contrast enhancement or Unsharp mask, which can drastically improve the quality!

ramkya1 · 27th December 2006, 18:09

Hai TSK,

That is a great account of snow, how I miss them...

Lovely Photographs too....

Maybe sometime I'd drive up there; will take guidance from you.

--Ramky

iraghava · 27th December 2006, 18:48

Fantastic pics & scenery Tanveer looks like you had a fabulous trip!!! I think it's about time I got the suspension job done on the old beast & took a hike to the mountains

And thanks for the detailed travelogue too!

Sideways · 27th December 2006, 19:21

Fantastic report, awesome pictures. Great stuff. Glad you had a good time.

29th December 2006, 20:45

Great report and nice travelouge.

May be some of these not frequently visited places still have their original pristine beauty of nature and serenity

khaadu75 · 5th January 2007, 13:48

tsk .. My phone was off as I lost my phone so had to get the card cancelled and get a new one -- if i dont pay my phone bill I get cut off from the world and that aint happening . And in Kotgarh all you had to do was ask where my house was , infact if I throw a stone from my balcony I can hit the churches roof . And the grpound in front of teh church is where I started on my lil cricketing career .. lol !!!

As for walking down to the river banks ..there were so many places, the picture with the bridge has plpaces to go and walk to teh river . Before this bridge came up , the old bridge had a pulley system where you sat i a lil crate and had to pull urself back and forth .

The snow definitely did add to the beauty of your trip ... but u guys with these fancy cameras really make me nostalgic ( havnt been home in 3 months now ) , and make our sleepy lil town look so damn sexy !!! The church in Kotgarh is the oldest Church in Northern India ... though not many know about this fact .

As for the road to Kotgarh that you guys took .... its bad for about 3 kms in teh middle and you have a pic posted from that stretch ( that turn leads into a 40 mtr straight into a slight left , slight right , staright again ;-) ) and the good road pic is when u crossed a lil house on teh right and goes straight into a right - straight - into a left followed by a right and into bad road again for 2 kms till you reach Kotgarh .

This road when getting metalled was opposed by a lot of us people , we wanted to keep the road as a dirt road ....u wonder why we so mad -- but the thing is that with newer cars and newer drivers , metalled roads wud lead to more accidents as ppl wud tenmd to drive faster and that is exactly what happened . We sit and pray that the road dis integrates quickly .

Anyways a good write up .. and guys if anyone wants a meet happening there ever , summers is a good time .

Aza@ Do I see you drooling allready and now you know why I prefer driving on dirt than tarmac , learnt driving on them roads and that too in a LHD willys jeep !!!

Cheers

tsk1979 · 5th January 2007, 15:23

Khaadu.. will keep your tips in mind next time I go that side.
As for the road, the good part was that we did not see a single vehicle in that stretch. It was so peaceful.
The realy beauty of HP is in these tucked away placer, and not really in busy hill stations

It would be a good idea to have a TBHP meet on the banks of satluj in summer!

iraghava · 5th January 2007, 15:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk1979

It would be a good idea to have a TBHP meet on the banks of satluj in summer!

Hmmm... now that's a good idea!! How many people are interested? Hands up please!!

aZa · 5th January 2007, 15:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by khaadu75

Anyways a good write up .. and guys if anyone wants a meet happening there ever , summers is a good time .

Aza@ Do I see you drooling allready and now you know why I prefer driving on dirt than tarmac , learnt driving on them roads and that too in a LHD willys jeep !!!

Cheers

Khaadu after reading and seeing the photos off bunnypunia and tsk's trips to narkanda, i really wanna go there too. will keep you updated

khaadu75 · 5th January 2007, 20:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by aZa

Khaadu after reading and seeing the photos off bunnypunia and tsk's trips to narkanda, i really wanna go there too. will keep you updated

Anytime dude ... but unlike tsk who booked in the Guest House , you are more than welcome to stay at my place as long as someone is there . I told tsk also but he had booked bythen ... and he refused to cancel !!!

Summers is a good time near the river but only after 7 pm as before that its as hot as delhi if not worse ... !!!

Anytime guys .....

27th December 2006, 16:17	#17
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 70,501 Thanked: 300,598 Times View My Garage	Damn, that is mind-boggling beauty! Good job with the pictures, TSK. If you know the right places in India, its futile to go abroad for "sight-seeing" and "romantic getaways".
	() Thanks

27th December 2006, 18:09	#21
ramkya1 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Palakkad, Keral Posts: 1,826 Thanked: 431 Times View My Garage	Great Account And Photos Hai TSK, That is a great account of snow, how I miss them... Lovely Photographs too.... Maybe sometime I'd drive up there; will take guidance from you. --Ramky
	() Thanks

27th December 2006, 18:48	#22
iraghava Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bhaiyyaland Posts: 8,033 Thanked: 265 Times View My Garage	Fantastic pics & scenery Tanveer looks like you had a fabulous trip!!! I think it's about time I got the suspension job done on the old beast & took a hike to the mountains And thanks for the detailed travelogue too!
	() Thanks

27th December 2006, 19:21	#23
Sideways BHPian Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Madras - India Posts: 641 Thanked: 31 Times View My Garage	Fantastic report, awesome pictures. Great stuff. Glad you had a good time.
	() Thanks

29th December 2006, 20:45	#24
Suryam Posts: n/a	Great report and nice travelouge. May be some of these not frequently visited places still have their original pristine beauty of nature and serenity
	() Thanks

5th January 2007, 13:48	#25
khaadu75 BANNED Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: same as the proposed venue for F1 ;-) Posts: 1,156 Thanked: 16 Times View My Garage	tsk .. My phone was off as I lost my phone so had to get the card cancelled and get a new one -- if i dont pay my phone bill I get cut off from the world and that aint happening . And in Kotgarh all you had to do was ask where my house was , infact if I throw a stone from my balcony I can hit the churches roof . And the grpound in front of teh church is where I started on my lil cricketing career .. lol !!! As for walking down to the river banks ..there were so many places, the picture with the bridge has plpaces to go and walk to teh river . Before this bridge came up , the old bridge had a pulley system where you sat i a lil crate and had to pull urself back and forth . The snow definitely did add to the beauty of your trip ... but u guys with these fancy cameras really make me nostalgic ( havnt been home in 3 months now ) , and make our sleepy lil town look so damn sexy !!! The church in Kotgarh is the oldest Church in Northern India ... though not many know about this fact . As for the road to Kotgarh that you guys took .... its bad for about 3 kms in teh middle and you have a pic posted from that stretch ( that turn leads into a 40 mtr straight into a slight left , slight right , staright again ;-) ) and the good road pic is when u crossed a lil house on teh right and goes straight into a right - straight - into a left followed by a right and into bad road again for 2 kms till you reach Kotgarh . This road when getting metalled was opposed by a lot of us people , we wanted to keep the road as a dirt road ....u wonder why we so mad -- but the thing is that with newer cars and newer drivers , metalled roads wud lead to more accidents as ppl wud tenmd to drive faster and that is exactly what happened . We sit and pray that the road dis integrates quickly . Anyways a good write up .. and guys if anyone wants a meet happening there ever , summers is a good time . Aza@ Do I see you drooling allready and now you know why I prefer driving on dirt than tarmac , learnt driving on them roads and that too in a LHD willys jeep !!! Cheers
	() Thanks

5th January 2007, 15:23	#26
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,717 Thanked: 22,825 Times View My Garage	Khaadu.. will keep your tips in mind next time I go that side. As for the road, the good part was that we did not see a single vehicle in that stretch. It was so peaceful. The realy beauty of HP is in these tucked away placer, and not really in busy hill stations It would be a good idea to have a TBHP meet on the banks of satluj in summer!
	() Thanks