Bundi- Reflections at the Nawal Sagar Lake, Rajasthan

The Bundi Palace (slightly up the Hill) and part of the Bundi City Reflected at the Nawal Sagar Lake

Dhankar Lake, Spiti

I still remember the day so clearly. Dhankar was our last stop on the Spiti Homestay Trek. And the place is magical. The Dhankar village in itself is so charming, our homestay was in a house next to the fort in ruins.The river Spiti flows by the village and the sunset was over magestic mountains which we watched from the roof of our home stay.

Flowers on the way to Dhankar Lake

I went to sleep with that day quite tired but sure that the next day I wanted to trek to the Dhankar Lake. Anjan came with me and Sesha and Dilip (my nephew) refused to wake up in the morning. And what views he missed!

Dhankar Lake, Spiti

We trekked for a little more than hour, all mildly uphill to reach the lake. And what a place it was. I consider another picture to be my best shot of Dhankar Lake but even these two pictures are no less. I was so happy to click all these reflections in the water!

Another View of Dhankar Lake, Spiti

And the best part was there were just three of us around. the lake It feels like such a long time ago (it was June 2007) yet I can remember so much about the day without any notes, just from memory. Like the flowers in the first shot, they were actually quite far away from the road and try as I might, I did not manage to get a decent shot of them. And that Anjan found my habit of stopping to take a picture of every flower on the way quite amusing. That a village heardsman stopped and insisted that I took a picture of him. That there were a lot of workers walking up hill with heavy pipes and great difficulty for some water work in progress. We ate que for dinner the night before that Dilip and Sesha did not like too much but I did!

Some of the Most Beautiful Lakes I have Seen in India

Two things prompted this post. One, a beautiful post on water bodies by Arun. Then we were discussing Lansdowne at Indiamike. We started discussing Bhulla Tal (Lake), a man made lake.Shashank and I were of the view that this Tal is not out of the ordinary. That is when I started thinking of the really beautiful lakes (all high altitude) I have seen in India.

Bhulla Tal, Lansdowne, Uttrakhand

Prashar Lake, Himachal Pradesh

Obviously one such lake is Prashar Lake and you have seen better pictures of it taken by Anil on my blog.

Changu Lake with Yak in Sikkim

This is Changu Lake in Sikkim. I clicked this picture on the way to Nathu-La and while coming back the fog was so thick the lake was not at all visible.

Dhankar Lake, Spiti

I got lucky when I took this picture in Dhankar, Spiti. It was 9.30-10 in the morning and there were a lot of clouds in the sky. But for a moment the sun came out and I got this perfect reflection.

Pangong Lake, Ladakh

Pangong Lake is such a beauty. This is one place that is even more beautiful than this picture suggests and Ladakh remains one of my all time favorite destinations.

I am Back from Prashar Lake

Prashar Lake, Himanchal Pradesh

I am back after spending a few days at Prashar Lake. Looking at the picture above can you blame me if I talk only about this visit for the next few days on this blog?

More Pictures from Ladakh

Yellow Flowers- Blooming in the Cracks, Ladakh

This picture was taken near Ganda-La base, when we were trying to trek the Markha Valley. I am partial to flowers and these two caught the eye all the more because of the bleak surroundings.

Sunset at Leh, Ladakh

This picture was taken from a height while the sun was going down. Now sitting in the concrete jungle of New Delhi this looks so exotic.

Kids at Pangong Lake, Ladakh

I met these two kids at the Pangong Lake. They posed for me quite willingly. I wish, we were closer to the lake when I took this photograph.

Spitok, Ladakh

The picture below is another one of my favorites and this was taken near Spitok, after we returned from our aborted trek. This is the viewfrom the tea stall where we sat to have a cup and wait for our pickup van to arrive.

Renuka Lake (Himanchal Pradesh) is a Beauty

The Kalka Railway Station

I would say that Himanchal Pradesh (HP) is one of the best-kept secrets of India. Parts of it are so beautiful and yet not visited by many. Renuka Lake is situated in HP and is one of such places.

Tourism has developed around a natural lake called Renuka (name of a goddess in Hindu mythology) and another one adjacent to it devoted to her son, Parshuram. Renuka Lake is the bigger of the two and having a circumference of 3214 meter. The lake is surrounded by small hills and lush green vegetation. It is an ideal spot for spending a quite vacation, and that is what my husband and I did.

Reaching Renuka Lake is not very straight forward task if you want to travel by state run buses but that is what we did. My starting point was New Delhi and from here we traveled to Kalka by rail and then took a bus to Nahan. From Nahan we took another bus that took us to Renuka Lake. The buses are very basic and leave a lot to be desired in comfort.

The Renuka Lake

We stayed at a place called DevicosPlaza (a place two kilometers from the lake in the village Dadahu) and it is a new and decent hotel. In off-season room rates are up for bargain. The hotel had basic comforts like hot water, nice bed and a TV. Food was provided at the hotel and it had a table tennis table to knock against after the day’s sight seeing.

Another View of the Renuka Lake

The scenery around the lake is beautiful with temples dotting the landscape. The walk around the lake is long and beautiful. It can also be done by car but that in my opinion is an offence to the beauty of the place. The smaller lake can be covered in a short time on foot but it has more ducks and fish that can be observed by sitting on the banks.

The Parashuram Temple (requires 10 km of walking, one way)

On the second day we took a walk (10 kilometers, ascending all the way) that is clearly marked (oops but in Hindi!) and leads to another temple. The task was not to visit the temple but simply to take the walk. Though I was not feeling equal to the task but my husband wanted to do it desperately, so we did that.

I climbed only up to 9 kilometers along a narrow cemented road and decided to wait for my husband there as the road was being constructed after that point. And anyway I was tired by then. That was a mistake. There was a gang of construction workers right ahead of me and as soon as my husband vanished out of site they started throwing verbal comments at me that were not very complimentary.

One sad experience and I breathed a sigh of relief when some 20 minutes later my husband walked back. He was unaware of all this but could see that I was upset. After we discussed it was decided that we would not do this again, me staying behind. Usually people are nice in hill states of India but I learned it through experience that not always and one should take caution. After spending a third quite day by the lake, we headed home for the crowds and the pollution!

A View of the Pangong Lake in Ladakh, India

Pangong Lake, Ladakh

The Pangong lake is 150 km away from Leh. One has to hire a taxi (preferably shared, as it reduces the cost) for this journey. One the way one crosses the mighty Changla pass, the second highest motor able road in the world at 17800 feet. The lake forms a border between India and China. One third of the lake is in India and the rest in China.

I can only wonder how the other lake in Ladakh , Tso Mo Ri Ri would be like? I could not visit it but I will go back someday.