Ah Chail !

I have been taking driving holidays from Delhi for the last 10 years now. Agreed, the frequency has come down off late, but i still love to get out of the mad rush and get into the hills. Was recently thinking of which place i have liked the most and its an impossible choice when you are talking about comparing more than 60 locations visited over the last 10 years.

Chail (near Shimla in HP, India) stands out for me - not because it was the best, but because it has managed to stay in my memory and for some reason makes me want to go back again.

Chail is different from most hill stations in India, firstly it has no crowds, no crowded mall road, no rubbish strewn on the streets, no jam packed town centre with diesel fume being the primary odor. Secondly, it has at least 7-8 lovely walks and mild treks, it has the world's highest ground (its beautiful - I can only imagine how much the cherry would swing in those conditions) and it has the lovely Chail Palace Hotel where we stayed.

While the Palace hotel is quite nice, and we quite liked it, only after staying there for a night I realised that it has a gem ! About a 1 Km brisk walk from the main Hotel are a couple of log huts that the Hotel controls. Almost in the middle of no where with a fantastic view and a steep fall right in front of the log huts.

I think it is that log hut and the absolute beauty of the surroundings that they are set in have made a permanent imprint on my mind ! Will i go there again, undoubtedly!