Chakrata is a place in Uttaranchal. It is a military base, so not too many people go there and I believe for non-Indian nationals you need special permission.
It overlooks some spectacular mountainside of the Dehradun valley. There were loadsa trees around when we went in the month of March - like Deodar and timber. The snow was still melting so in a lot of the pictures we were wading through at least 4 inches of snow. And with normal sneakers on, that is not an easy experience.
The scenes from Chakrata are beautiful. We trekked up to a place called Deoban - forest of the Gods. There were four of us, and we'd pre-booked the forest guest house at Chakrata. Though very basic accomodation, it did have a very cosy atmosphere and had a quaint colonial air. After trekking ofcourse, any and all forms of food taste good.
A small gurudwara is there in Chakrata as you walk around. We went and did darshan there and attended the evening gurbani. Little shops dot the path as you walk around - a typical little hill station in that way. We didn't do much shopping as I recall.
On the way to Chakrata we stopped by a town called Kalsi. Kalsi is known for its Asokan rock edict that enunciates some of Asoka's key doctrines. It's been nicely maintained by the ASI and is quite interesting to see. For me it brought to life some of the dreary history I'd gone through while studying for the Civil Services.
Deoban was beautiful. It was a plain hilltop with breezy meadows. The flowers hadn't started to bloom yet, but walking around and just breathing in the pure air was wonderful. Our guide and us sat and shared an improvised picnic... and we all managed to catch a quick snooze before we headed back down again.
The whole trip was impromptu. My sister called me up saying that the accomodation had been booked, and asked if I could join. I called up my boss and requested a day's leave, booked my ticket to Dehradun online and then called up one of my friends to ask if she could join us. We all met up in Dehradun and took a car up.
It's these kinds of trips that make life a little bit more challenging. :) I know that one of the key reasons we could do this because all four of us are still young and unmarried, but I would like to think that later on when this status does change, (though I believe that we will always be forever young), we can still do things like this!!
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