Sunday, March 9, 2008

SIRMOUR - THE FORGOTTEN HIMACHAL























This southern most district of Himachal Pradesh is on the Shivalik Mountain Ranges. This part of the state is most neglected and started coming up in the tourist map very recently. As I am associated with the health profession, I went there to attend some medical camps. I was quite lucky to go thrice and seen a lot of that area and some of the quite remote places.These camps are arranged by a local farmers society - THE HATI KISAN SANGH and the only QUALIFIED SURGEON to come out of that place DR. SUPA RAM CHAUHAN , who is a renowned Surgical Spealist with ESI HOSPITAL ,NEW DELHI. Though the roads are not so good in some places to very bad roads in other areas, but now it is being replaced by good roads. The main tourist places are Poanta Sahib, Nahan, Haripurdhar, Churdhar, Renukaji Lake, Shillai, Tons , Minus.The Route which I took was- Delhi-Pipli-Jagadhri-Poanta Sahib-Shilai-Minus-Ronahat . By this road one can go to Shimla via the Pabbar Valley, which I really did in one of my earlier visits. The Pabbar Valley has got some most beautiful and breathtaking views which I have come across in my all these travelling years. The fruit orchards and the flowering valleys , the deep gorges of the Pabbar river .....its just haevenly. This time I went in some different direction. From Kafota I shoot off towards the Tons river Valley. This area is also till now uncharted by tourists. One can pitch a tent near the Tons river and have a grand time. There is no place to stay other than local villages. The people are very simple and friendly.
If someone wants to take a trip to this area ,should go with proper information and be prepared to stay a night or two under the moonlight.