Renuka Lake (Himanchal Pradesh, India) is Worth Visiting
Written: Jul 17 '05 (Updated Jul 17 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Beautiful Lake, not too crowded.
Cons: If you want a night life this is not the place.
The Bottom Line: Beautiful serene place, ideal for spending three to five days.
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| mridula's Full Review: Renuka Lake |
*If you have been to India and you are asked to describe the country in a few lines, most will go for crowded, hot and full of pestering touts or beggars! But I would say that Himanchal Pradesh (HP) is one of the best-kept secrets of India, maybe not all of it but certainly parts of it are so beautiful and yet not visited by many. Renuka lake is situated in HP and is one of such places.
The place is only 672 meters from sea level, so winter is mild and summer somewhat hot. So I guess winter months are a better time to visit. Also in summer almost all the people plan a vacation because schools being closed (holidays seem to be much more a family activity in India than couples chilling out). So everything will be full and cost much more. Remember the objective is to escape the crowds.
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.
The first day we took a walk around both the lakes. The water is quite clear and one can spot fish swimming with naked eyes. Along this walk is situated a mini zoo that has lions, black bear and many type of deer among others. But I enjoyed it less than watching fish and ducks moving freely in and around the lake (of course only ducks around the lake). If one would take away this mini zoo I feel it will not do any harm to the charms of the place. Monkeys abound all over the place, but they leave the humans well alone. 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.
Boating is available on the lake. But as it is also a pilgrimage site for Hindus, you will be asked to remove your shoes. The boats are paddle boats and creak a lot. You are also required to wear life jackets if you want to enter the lake. Not exactly world class and if you want just give it a miss. Cost is minimal, Rupees 60 for two hours (rates may change, also one dollar is equal to 50 rupees roughly). Though we did it and enjoyed it all the same.
There is a restaurant cum hotel run by the state government right beside the lake. We did not stay in this hotel but used the restaurant. It serves mostly the Indian fare but omelet and such simple stuff can be acquired. Deciding not to stay here might turn out to be a good choice as most people look out for it and it can become crowded in weekends in any season. Remember again, we were trying to escape the crowds.
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 up to the final kilometer 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. It is not so safe when other people are around. We had done this before but then there was not a soul to bother me at that time. Leaving that incident behind, the walk is a bit challenging and has beautiful scenery along the way. One can view the lake from a height and look at other peaks nearby. We climbed back without any incident. When the villagers met us on the way they would greet us the traditional way and children would feel shy seeing the two of us, city folks among them. 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!
We stayed at a place called Devicos Plaza (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. We got a very good bargain on it. 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 days sight seeing.
Reaching Renuka lake is not very straight forward task if you want to travel by state run buses but that is what we did. The starting point is the capital of India, New Delhi and from here one can travel up to Chandigarh or Kalka by rail and then take various buses running on the route to a place called Nahan. From Nahan one has to change to a bus that will take you to Renuka. The buses are very basic and leave a lot to be desired in comfort.
To sum up the place is high on natural beauty and low on crowds and pollution. But it is very quite. After the sun goes down, there is not much to do, no nightlife so to say. I guess the description above is sure to sound challenging to many of you reading this review in the other parts of the world. But if you plan to visit India make sure to reach HP, and there are so many places to choose from apart from Renuka lake. A good introductory place to look for them is
http://www.himachaltourism.nic.in/welcome.htm
* Earlier, this review was posted under general category, India. I requested SurgRN911 (many thanks Di) to add the destination and now I have moved my review to the proper place.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Dec - Feb
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Epinions.com ID:
mridula
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Location: India
Reviews written: 121
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About Me:
So Little Time, So Many Places to Visit!
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