Kalatop

• Private vehicles are not allowed. Park at the army barricade and walk the scenic mile to the pristine Kalatop.
• Kalatop is a halt on the way of the famous Dalhousie - Chamba trek in case you are a trekking enthusiast. The other halt on this trek is Khajjiar.
• There is no staying facility. Either go back to Dalhousie or drive ahead to Chamba town via Khajjiar. There is a canteen which serves delicious parathas.

We were staying in Dalhousie Club, courtesy Piyush, and decided to go for Kalatop as a one day excursion. It proved to be a helluva trip beyond what we were expecting. An egress on way from Dalhousie to Khajjiar goes to Kalatop. The name is because of barren black rock of hilltop which opens up a windy window to the Himalayas.

A view from Kalatop

The place is 10 miles from Dalhousie part of which is covered by vehicle. The last 2 miles are to be walked in thick jungle before one reaches the army establishment at Kalatop. It is open for any nature lover.

Thick forest on way to Kalatop

We packed three cans of beer to help ourselves on the way. The walk was smooth. We stopped at a tree house made for rest and opened our first can. A guy appeared from the bushes and asked us if we are interested in rappelling. We were ready by all means  with a can of beer already under our throats.

Food @ Kalatop

Rappeling was fun for us first-timers. It was cheap also at 200 apiece. We moved further to Kalatop and settled at a table surrounded by trees. The nearby restaurant was serving hot parathas and maggi. We ordered for both.

Resting @ Kalatop

Cool breezy weather, glorious sunshine and parathas, maggi & beer available made it a day for us. We finished off everything and started off for return trip through the jungle before 5 PM as it would get dark and lonely there soon.