DEODAR AND PINE FORESTS IN DALHOUSIE
THE LONG BOLES OF THE CHIR PINE KAIL PINE AND DEODAR
THE SKYLINE AS SEEN FROM KALATOP
HIMACHAL THE LAND OF MOUNTS AND VALES
Himachal Pradesh is the land of the himalayas: himachal meahing the lesser himalayas . A word about himalayas:an emerging chain of beautiful snow clad , meadowed stretch of peaks and valleys .
The gateways of the heaven open via Pathankot in Punjab and airport connectivity is through Jammu or Amritsar both of them lying at a distance of 188 kms. As your vehicle rushes throgh the snaking narrow roads ( either National highway 33 or National Highway 35 ) you feel the fresh air revitalising your innate energies . The trees around you have changed and the landscape is emerging like a phoenix . Welcome to the Deodar –Pine belt of India. Sometimes you climb up the road sometimes down the road as you see the mighty mountains which give a stark silhoutte against the flaky red setting sky . A few lights shine in those mountains indicating resthouses settlemenst or checkposts . The collage contrasts further as the deep valleys holding the dammed river Ravi touch your feet.
The lights have increased not only in number but also in intensity . Tin shacks tea stalls and the fragrance of a hill station-named after Lord Dalhousie the Viceroy of India who used this place as a summer retreat for his troops. You are now in a small hill town which has sufficient hospitality for you and great mix of natural and cultural heritage.
Entering the hotel you find the fragrance magnified-you realise the wood panelwork on the walls: the pine has its own aroma. You are reminded of the long boles of pine forest which spread their drooping arms filled with long needle like leaves. These forests are generally found above deodar forests and their wood has an oil which intersperses with the surrounding air . Burn the wood and you get a much magnified smell of the same. Imagine sitting around a campfire with logs of pine spreading fragrance all around you. Sometimes you stoke the fire with a half burnt log and if that does not suffice you try to blow really hard at the slowly dimming pieces of fire. The faded dimmed pieces turn red and intense and suddenly a flame or two reemerges from the logs.the long stands of pine and deodar silhoutted against the clear moonlight and some stars peeping at you from the carpet above.
Have you ever walked in a pine forest. Do it now. The slopes are covered in thick carpet of yellow green dried needles which prevent any grassy undergrowth . Sometimes a deodar emerges here and an other there . The difference : Deoadar has smaller needles and its arms are well spread out as if inviting you for an embrace . Rustling of the needles as you walk along the carpet disturbs the calmness of the serene environs . But never throw a burning matchstick on the floor as the leaves form an inflammable layer ( one of the causes of the forest fires in the temperate belts is the fact that fallen needles accumulate and don’t decompose soon enough and additionally the oily content of the leaves and the resinous canals of the wood provide enough incentive for an ignition.)
Just look over to the other slopes and you realise an otherwise yellowish green stretch scarred by barren brown patches. The anthropogenic interference that hits at nature makes you realise that there is need for protection of our natural heritage. The government has come forward with a unique timber distribution policy that takes into account the needs of the local people and maintaining the green.You walk across into the heights and realise that there is a beautifully built rest house in Kalatop. On the way don’t forget to check the vegetation some fallen trees some meadowed patches. You wish to sleep over the green carpet close your eyes and talk to the breeze that whispers into your ears the songs of the divine : budhists believe that winds when they blow pray to the almighty and that same prayer strikes your ears. Just a few metres across and you may have stepped onto the roof of a villager,s house. You realise this when you reach the edge and discover innocent little eyes looking at you with a strange welcome from below . Well the houses in hilly villages have a different construction : there is an overhanging porch over the open verandah on the uplifted groun anf with all wood construction the mostly two storeyed houses carry a charm to itself ;sometimes you observe tibetan prayers singing flags fluttering on the ropes in a pattern of colours aong a rope tied from the top of the ceiling to the ground.
But don’t forget to experience the unique scottish and victorian construction that is prevalent in the bungalows and churches in the locality.
Roads are well maintained and sometimes borderd by short walls that come straight out of a Robert Frost poem. A Himalayan Marten might be peeping behind this . Don’t adventure a lot as this creature can attack you . Just the sight of this beautifully painted shy creature should be enough excitement.
The evening deepens its dark cover and the stars come peeping out . The milky way flows right over you as you prepare to venture into the MALL road and most importantly the tibetan market.
The gateways of the heaven open via Pathankot in Punjab and airport connectivity is through Jammu or Amritsar both of them lying at a distance of 188 kms. As your vehicle rushes throgh the snaking narrow roads ( either National highway 33 or National Highway 35 ) you feel the fresh air revitalising your innate energies . The trees around you have changed and the landscape is emerging like a phoenix . Welcome to the Deodar –Pine belt of India. Sometimes you climb up the road sometimes down the road as you see the mighty mountains which give a stark silhoutte against the flaky red setting sky . A few lights shine in those mountains indicating resthouses settlemenst or checkposts . The collage contrasts further as the deep valleys holding the dammed river Ravi touch your feet.
The lights have increased not only in number but also in intensity . Tin shacks tea stalls and the fragrance of a hill station-named after Lord Dalhousie the Viceroy of India who used this place as a summer retreat for his troops. You are now in a small hill town which has sufficient hospitality for you and great mix of natural and cultural heritage.
Entering the hotel you find the fragrance magnified-you realise the wood panelwork on the walls: the pine has its own aroma. You are reminded of the long boles of pine forest which spread their drooping arms filled with long needle like leaves. These forests are generally found above deodar forests and their wood has an oil which intersperses with the surrounding air . Burn the wood and you get a much magnified smell of the same. Imagine sitting around a campfire with logs of pine spreading fragrance all around you. Sometimes you stoke the fire with a half burnt log and if that does not suffice you try to blow really hard at the slowly dimming pieces of fire. The faded dimmed pieces turn red and intense and suddenly a flame or two reemerges from the logs.the long stands of pine and deodar silhoutted against the clear moonlight and some stars peeping at you from the carpet above.
Have you ever walked in a pine forest. Do it now. The slopes are covered in thick carpet of yellow green dried needles which prevent any grassy undergrowth . Sometimes a deodar emerges here and an other there . The difference : Deoadar has smaller needles and its arms are well spread out as if inviting you for an embrace . Rustling of the needles as you walk along the carpet disturbs the calmness of the serene environs . But never throw a burning matchstick on the floor as the leaves form an inflammable layer ( one of the causes of the forest fires in the temperate belts is the fact that fallen needles accumulate and don’t decompose soon enough and additionally the oily content of the leaves and the resinous canals of the wood provide enough incentive for an ignition.)
Just look over to the other slopes and you realise an otherwise yellowish green stretch scarred by barren brown patches. The anthropogenic interference that hits at nature makes you realise that there is need for protection of our natural heritage. The government has come forward with a unique timber distribution policy that takes into account the needs of the local people and maintaining the green.You walk across into the heights and realise that there is a beautifully built rest house in Kalatop. On the way don’t forget to check the vegetation some fallen trees some meadowed patches. You wish to sleep over the green carpet close your eyes and talk to the breeze that whispers into your ears the songs of the divine : budhists believe that winds when they blow pray to the almighty and that same prayer strikes your ears. Just a few metres across and you may have stepped onto the roof of a villager,s house. You realise this when you reach the edge and discover innocent little eyes looking at you with a strange welcome from below . Well the houses in hilly villages have a different construction : there is an overhanging porch over the open verandah on the uplifted groun anf with all wood construction the mostly two storeyed houses carry a charm to itself ;sometimes you observe tibetan prayers singing flags fluttering on the ropes in a pattern of colours aong a rope tied from the top of the ceiling to the ground.
But don’t forget to experience the unique scottish and victorian construction that is prevalent in the bungalows and churches in the locality.
Roads are well maintained and sometimes borderd by short walls that come straight out of a Robert Frost poem. A Himalayan Marten might be peeping behind this . Don’t adventure a lot as this creature can attack you . Just the sight of this beautifully painted shy creature should be enough excitement.
The evening deepens its dark cover and the stars come peeping out . The milky way flows right over you as you prepare to venture into the MALL road and most importantly the tibetan market.
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