Skywatch - Sky from Himalayas - Mountain, Lake, Tree and The Sun... #Silhouette

Sunset clicked on the way from Dalhousie to Pathankot, tried Silhouette. Mountain, lake, sun and a tree :)

HAPPY SKY WATCHING!!!

Do check out the complete series on this trip of mine here. 

Hotel Review - Oak Valley Residency, Dalhousie...

As I shared in my previous post, it was our taxi driver who took us to Hotel Oak Valley Residency. It started snowing heavy when we reached Dalhousie and we didn't have option to look for other Hotel at night. The hotel is few steps from Dalhousie Bus Stand, taxi stand and Lhasa Market. Its a budget hotel, no great view, as the window opens towards the city. Few reviews about this hotel say, there is sewage line next to the hotel which makes the room foul, but during our stay, the temperature was very low and we hardly used the balcony.

Restaurant was not so great, ok kind of for budget. Room was quite clean, they have wooden flooring rather than carpets, which makes it tidy. Bathroom was clean as well. They don't have blower heater, but only coiled heaters, which you have to be in front of, to warm yourself. They don't have power back up as well, which makes it more difficult to stay with-out heater during winter.

The view from the room

Proximity to bus stand is the only reason you should look for at this place to stay. Being next to bus stand, this is the route which gets cleared first during snow fall, thats from our personal experience. I suggest this hotel only if you are looking for budget stay, else its a no, especially if you are visiting during winter.

Hotel tariff starts at Rs. 1200/- per night, with 1PM check-in and 12noon check- out.

Do check out the complete series on this trip of mine here. 

Chilling Snow and Steaming Momos at Dalhousie!!!

Continued from Journey from Amritsar to Dalhousie,

Next morning we woke up to find the ever beautiful sight, the snow capped trees, buildings and mountains. Its so much fun to find snow, but its more beautiful when you experience the snow fall. Usually its in December and January that most of the places get snow fall and we were lucky enough to experience it in March.

Our hotel was just few steps from Dalhousie bus stand, and we walked down only to realize  how tough it was to walk on the snow. We hired snow boots at a near by shop 'Sip and Bite', to wander around the town. The shop also has a snack center, where you get momos and noodles. That was our pass time spot for next two days to sip and bite, hot tea and Momos. The store owner was an elderly person and he used to share so much about Dalhousie on every visit of ours.

When I asked the uncle, I couldn't find anything on my way to the Hotel the previous night in dark, while there is a busy street during the day, he said, the city closes by 7 in the evening during winters. The life is so simple, yet so difficult in mountains where they get snow fall. The city literally hibernates during winters, but its the tourism which keeps these places going. Tourism brings life to the city. The snack centers, the porters all rely on tourists. As its rightly said the 'Grass is Greener on the other side', we love mountains while they love Metros like ours.

All the roads were snow flood and that disconnected Dalhousie from rest of the places. We wanted to drive to Khajiar but that route was blocked as well. We were told Dalhousie-Khajiar route is completely blocked during winters, and instead suggested us to drive via Chamba, once Dalhousie-Chamba route got cleared. But we instead opted for enjoying the snow in Dalhousie itself for next two days. We walked around, played with snow balls, made snowman, the road was all for ourselves, till it was cleared by snow removal truck.

Thats the Dalhousie Club, near Dalhousie Bus Station

Thats Tibetan Lhasamarket, closed due to snow fall.

Kiddo busy playing with the snow

Steaming hot Veg Momos with chutney

We had to cancel our visit to Dharamshala Mcleodganj, as kiddo fell sick. We drove back to Pathankot the second day evening.

Travel Info:

Dalhousie is a Hill station in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh. Dalhousie is around 54km from District headquarter Chamba, around 100km from Pathankot. The city is stretch over five hills Kathlog, Patreyn, Tehra, Bakrota, Balun.

How to reach

By Road: There are PUNBUS(Punjab Roadways), HPSRTC(Himachal Pradesh State Road Transport) and other privat buses which play between Dalhousie, Pathankot, Chamba and other near by places. You can also hire taxi from Pathankot, they charge Rs. 2500-3000 depending on the season.

By Train: Nearest railway station is in Pathankot around 100km from Dalhousie, which is connected to major cities of the country.

By Air: Nearest domestic airport is Pathankot Airport around 100km from Dalhousie.

Where to stay:

There are many budget and luxury hotels, bungalows and resorts in Dalhousie. We stayed at Oak View Residency near Bus stand, will review the hotel in upcoming post.

Food:

Most of the hotels serve all Indian food. When in Himalayan mountains, the best companion anytime is noodles and momos which are not to be missed.

Do check out the complete series on this trip of mine here. 

'Master Class with the Masters' @The Lalit Mumbai, #BNLF

BNLF(Blog Now Live Forever) was a much awaited event by the blogging community. Day 1, thats 30th of Nov, being the 5th Saturday of the month, I had office and didn't register for the event, while I had registered for the second day. My facebook timeline on 30th evening was full of BNLF updates by all my blogger friends. Harley Davidson motorcycles, Segways, rock-climbing wall and much more and that made me not to miss Day 2 event. 

I managed to be at The Lalit Mumbai, the venue for BNLF only by 2. Just as I reached, a group of bloggers were heading for the Master Class. I had registered for the Master Class as well and joined the group. 

Who don't like Tortellas, I just love them and when the event invite read the chef was about to prepare Tortellas, I didn't wanted to miss it. What better than trying your hands in making the pasta dough, sheeting fresh pastas and shaping your tortellas. Here is what the chef made for us,

 Dish

 Ricotta Spinach Filled Tortellini on the Bed of Mushrooms

Ingredients

Ricotta Cheese - 25gm

Baby Spinach - 50gm

Farina flour 00' - 50gm

Semolina - 15gm

Eggs - 1 nos.

*EVOO - 5ml

Button Mushrooms - 50gm

Onion - 25gm

Asparagus - 25gm

Sage Butter - 5gm

Sundried Tomato - 10gm

Pine nuts - 10gm

Chives - for garnish

Cherry Tomato - 1 no.            

Salt - To Taste

Cracked black peppers - 2gm

Method

1. Make a mixture of ricotta cheese and spinach with seasoning for pasta filling.

2. Make dough for pasta with Farina flour, whole eggs, salt and olive oil keep for resting. Sheet the pasta and fill with the spinach filling. Give a shape as described.

3. Chop mushrooms and saute with chopped onion in EVOO. Place it as a base for the pasta.

4. Blanch the pasta in salted water for 8 minutes.

5. Make a sauce with sage butter, add chopped onion, garlic. Cook it until translucent, add chopped sundried tomato and chopped pine nuts. Add chopped parsley and fresh sage. Toss the blanched pasta in the sauce. Place the blanced pasta on bed of mushroom.

6. Garnish with butter poached asparagus, balsamic reduction, chopped chives and sundried cherry tomato.

Executive Sous Chef Ravish Mishra and Chef Rajeev Kumar

Blogger trying hands on Pasta making

Fresh Herbs

Plating the dish

Chef with his dish

 Cookery tips:

1. Floating pastas are the indication of cooked pastas when boiling in the pots. 

2. You can give flavours of sage, rosemary or any Italian herb to butter.

2. You can replace eggs with potato starch for vegetarian pasta. 

3. Substitute for mushroom for bed could be Spinach, while you can choose other filling.

* EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil

After Master Class we headed to '7 Key Steps to blogging mastery' by Jeff Bullas, a workshop on blogging.

Thank you Indiblogger for the wonderful event, as always you people rocked. I badly missed the day 1 Clear Trip activities, hope to be part of the next #BNLF :)