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Contact
us for Hotel booking at Renuka Lake
Destination
:
NAHAN
Location
:
Himachal Pradesh
Discovered In : 1621 A.D.
Altitude : 932m.
Attractions : Bhawan Dwadshi
Best Time To Visit : December to
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*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.
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.
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
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