Chail is a
quiet hill station in Himachal Pradesh. The reason for choosing Chail for our
summer break was that it is conveniently located near many famous tourist spots
like Kasauli, Shimla, Solan etc. so most people flock to these known spots over
quieter places like Chail.
Chail is
around 370 km from Gurgaon, around 9 hours of drive with breaks. We did not
want to overexert KU so we decided to stop whenever it was enough driving for
her. With only this much planning and no prior reservations, we started our
road trip on a cloudy May afternoon. We were traveling on a weekday so we took
our chance with reservations. We left Gurgaon vowing NOT to stop at Murthal for
paranthas.
It was
drizzling by the time we reached Panchkula after around 5-6 hours of driving
and Panchkula seemed to be a very comfy place to take a break before driving
further. As we were sipping tea in the famous Aasma Revolving restaurant, we
decided to call it a day and checked into Ana Clarks Inn itself. Chail in one stretch
is easily doable from Gurgaon but we decided to spend the evening in Panchkula
as it looked so colorful from the restaurant top.The Choki
Dhani Resort was right across the road and it was a fun experience to spend
some time there.
We left for Chail
after breakfast the next day; it is around 100 km from Panchkula. As we drove
towards Chail, the wind turned cooler and mountains grew bigger. The road was
rugged most of the time. By the time we crossed the turn for Kasauli at
Dharampur , traffic began to fade. There were hardly any tourist cabs or even
local vehicles. We had begun to worry that Chail would be a crowded place – now
we were relieved. We reached Chail after 4 hours of relaxed driving.
Chail is a
little hamlet in the laps of nature surrounded by pines and deodars. We noticed
many newly constructed hotels in Chail but surprisingly we did not see any
tourists (I was really happy about it though). It could be because we were
there on a weekday.
As we were
traveling without reservations, we decided to check out some of the famous
hotels there. Chail Palace topped this list so we decided to go there for lunch
and see if we could get a room. We had heard a lot about Chail Palace- the
ambience was royal, the food was great too but the hotel rooms were a downer
for us. The rooms were damp and stunk. Disappointed with the rooms, we decided
to just enjoy our lunch there and left after that.
Our hunt for
hotel rooms ended as soon as we halted at the Ekant Retreat Resort. The location
was lovely, the rooms were comfortable and the food was yummy! It was very refreshing to sip our evening tea
in the balcony, overlooking the valley. Cool breeze washed away all the tiredness.
Our time here was totally chilled out. It was very rejuvenating to stroll
around the village and visit nearby places.
Places I visited:
Kufri: Kufri is just 30ish Km from Chail and
it took us around 1.5 hours to reach there. It is a cute little hill station perfect
for 1 day outing specially with kids. It was a lot of fun to walk around the
Kufri Zoo. We visited a few more places like Chini Bunglow , Tourist park etc.
Kids would definitely enjoy the yak and horse rides easily available in that
area.
Shimla: We visited Shimla just for old times’
sake. Chail to Shimla is almost 2 hours’ drive. We were told that we were lucky
to be there on a weekday as it gets really crowded on weekends. It was
nostalgic to walk down the famous mall road. We just had some coffee and came
back.
Janedghat Market: It is not a tourist spot as such but
a small village market that offers delicious local food. There are a couple of dhabas
that offer fresh food. Ideal place for rajma-chawal lovers!
Kali Ka Tibba: To me ‘Kali ka Tibba’ is the USP of
Chail. It is a temple situated at the hill top but to me this place has
something in store for every kind of traveler- A beautiful temple for the religious
ones, a thrilling place for the adventurous ones because of the 5km of awesome
trek to this temple, a first gear drive on the bumpy road for the daredevils
(specially in rainy season), a photographer’s paradise for the most amazing sunset
and breath taking views and above all it offers tranquility, that sense of
oneness with nature for all us solitude lovers for which we go to these offbeat
places. We witnessed one of the best uninterrupted sunsets at this place.
My 2 Cents:
1. Bag packers can stay in Junedghat as
well. There were many cheap bagpackerish hotels there and it would cost
peanuts.
2. It is important to reach Kali ka
Tibba before sunset to enjoy this place to the fullest.
3. Take out some time to visit Chail
palace, the cricket ground etc.
4. A toy train ride from Shimla is
highly recommended. It is an experience in itself.
