Experiences at Kasauli: A slice of heaven on Earth! Part 1- Introduction

Imagine yourself in a place overlooking hills, lush green forests of pine, oak and deodar trees, no unwanted or disturbing sounds, a pleasant "Nip in the air" atmosphere and some local beer and good food. That's exactly where we were and where we wanted to be on hubby's birthday!!! After doing a lot on R n D of the weekend getaways around, this not-so-commercial tourist place seemed like a treasure hunt for us when a friend recommended it's name. Kasauli falls in the Solan district of himachal pradesh and is a small town where everyone knows everyone. The people there are extremely humble and thankfully, the mindset is not like any other tourist destination locals.

A colonial hill station established by the British Raj in 1842, this cantonment still retains that architecture, and has a terrific old world charm. As much as road trips are fun, sitting by the window with the rays of sun falling on my lap, train journeys seem as exciting to enjoy the picturesque views outside. On the travelling day, while we were still waking up brushing the sleep from our eyes, the Sun God was already flaunting his brightness asking us to hurry to make it on time at the New Delhi railway station for the 7:40 am train. The taxi ride gave us some beautiful views of a father dropping a daughter to school on a sccoter, early office goers waiting for their public transport, cleaners brushing the dust off the road and with almost no traffic on the ever buzzing Delhi roads, we reached the station right on time!

The time in the train went in a jiffy as we were busy munching on the delicious breakfast served to us. From Kalka, we wanted to ride in the heritage toy train, but unfortunately it was already full. Ditching the taxi stand, we went to Dharmpur in a bus just to experience the local transport and we were not dissapointed. The bus was super packed and i made way to my seat climbing atop all boxes and bags. A very funny line i read written on the bus interior was :

Interior of the bus

And i jokingly commented to my husband - Check this, "As they say, men do, women don't ;)".

The bus ride

Well the small buses from Dharmpur to Kasauli are worth a ride. Loud punjabi music playing through the speakers, the locals chit-chatting, people savouring some "Chaat" (which i must say was spicy, tangy, crunchy... so flavourful), the ride was an experience! And the views....breathtaking!

The snack we had in the bus

After all this travel, all you need is a cosy room which makes you feel at home. Kasauli Regency provided just that! This is how our Deluxe room looked like:

WI-fi in the room (though, surfing internet was not on our priority list), calm surroundings, cleanliness and hygiene maintained and the USP of the hotel: Hangout, Roof top restaurant overlooking the Sanawar. We got the best corner seat for lunch and the food was lip-smacking too. After a little rest, we went for a small trek from the hotel to the market and the views didn't stop to fascinate us. Since it was hubby's birthday and we wanted to shake a leg, we went to their Saturday night party and we had to find a place to place a foot. Great music, great cocktails, this place is "the" place to be, if you want to groove to some music instead of watching tv in your room. 

And now comes the best part! Following European concept to cope with sound restrictions after 10 pm,this is the first Hotel in India to start "Silent parties" or "Headphone parties". Yes, you heard it right! So, you take a headphone and tune in to your favourite music (you have 3 options from trance, hindi bollywood and house music or hip hop) and you are the boss of the time! You can dance and party as late as you want to! We made some new friends there, as the second best policy they have of not allowing stags but only girls and couples. There were families sitting with babies grooving to the music and enjoying their dinner and there were couples getting cosy in the beautiful weather listening to some romantic songs! Doesn't this place sounds fun?

We also met the owner Rajesh Dogar who at the party who is an amazing human being, and so to say about his DJ brother Paras Sharma. Both are beautiful persons by heart and their warm friendship stole our heart. Hangout seemed like a family get together party, when we sat with strangers (now friends) chit chatting till 3 am in the morning.

This place is surely a must-visit for their amazing hospitality, good food, great music and out of the breath view. I joked asking the server whether he finds it funny seeing all people dance considering they hear no music, to which he laughed and said, "At first we used to find it funny, but now we have got used to". If you tend to sing along and get loud, they have these cardboard placards shown to you on which is written, "You are too loud" as a warning sign. 

Me and hubby enjoyed staying here, playing some pool, carrom and table tennis every evening and experiencing the relaxed atmosphere for 3 days....

My journey continues in Part 2....