any village near shimla

meetsamir

i have three full days in shimla

i would like to visit any near by village where i can enjoy HP's rural life.

vasuki

Head for Thanedhar. 71 km from Shimla. Staying options are the Banjara Orchard Retreat / Sun Shine guest house or the PWD rest house

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The_Wanderer

If going immediately, you will also get to see and eat, the tasty apples of the region.

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meetsamir

great !! how do i get there, bus? train?

vasuki

No trains available, Shimla onwards. Buses are available from Shimla and leave from Rivoli Bus station as per following timings

1) Delhi - Thanedhar - 7 am
2)Shimla - Bhutti - 8.45 am
3)Shimla - Bhutti - 12.10 pm (private bus)
4)Shimla - Bitthal - 1.10 pm
5)Chandigarh - Bhutti - 2 pm

All these buses cross Thanedhar. Shimla to Thanedhar is a 4 hours drive.

Taxis will cost around 1500/ for a drop though it can be negotiated.

Number for Banjara Retreat is 01782 - 222265

Will post the number for Sun Shine guest house and the SDO PWD rest house tomorrow.

rishabh6296

You can also try kharapathar and stay there in giriganga resort.

Balvar

Thandedar would be awesome, as it would include Narkanda, Hatu peak,
Also Vasuki Plz confirm me the name of the temple with pond in front of it,i think its a nag temple, between Hatu & Thandear. Also there is a very old school in Thandear, Est 1887.If Possible confirm the naoe of the school also

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vasuki

The temple/pond is called Tanjubbar. The school was established by Satyanand Stokes.

vasuki

Number for Sun Shine Guest House: 01782 - 221715 and cell number is +91-9418095835

Number for SDO- PWD Rest House is 01782-222252. Speak to Suresh Kumar here as he looks after the reservations of the rest house. Charges are 250/ per night plus 20/ for blankets extra. You will have to call here during office hours IST 10 am - 5 pm

khaadu75

Vasuki @ I wonder which school are you referring to that got started by Stokes ???

And Thanedar is 80 kms from Simla .. and not 71 kms !!!

vasuki

My mistake here. I remember the distance as Shimla - Narkanda 64 km and Narkanda - Thanedhar 17 km and the total distance is 81 km. By mistake I wrote 71 km

The Gorton Mission school at Kotgarh was started in 1843 by the missionaries. The Barubag school now at Thanedhar and known as Govt. High School was started by Satyanand Stokes in 1900.

khaadu75

Vasuki @ nothing personal but your facts seem slightly out of place .... and you shouldnt be giving dates when you not sure . Stokes only landed in India in 1904 in Bombay so how could he have started a school in 1900 ??

As for as the story of him being the missionary that he was and how he distributed the apple trees to locals which in turn lead them to earn is all false according to me .... he didn't ditribute any of his own free will , instead people stole them from his orchards . Unfortunately , there is no one aliove from that era now to confirm either way !!

Im one of the guys who feel that he didnt do anything ... nor was he as great as hes made out to be !!

vasuki

Hi Khadu

May be I am missing out on the dates here but regarding Stokes Sahib's contribution, I would like to differ. True, he may not have distributed the entire nursery to all the people just walking into his farm but he did gave out the saplings. He made locals work in his farm and learn about apple farming and also gave it to the people. My orchard is entirely from his nursery and it none of the saplings were stolen

My great grandfather, who worked in his farm and used to eat at his place, was made outcast from the community as in those times local people did not allowed mixing with a 'white man.' The primary reason being that Stokes sahib used bon china crockery and the local high caste people used brass utensils. The irony was such that the great grandfather could not enter the kitchen in his own house otherwise the entire family risked the ire of the locals. My grandfather was a friend of sons of Stokes sahib and he had many stories to share of the family. Though he is no more alive now.

kullukid

More about Stokes & His apples;
(Apples) ignorance??

Alone in the woods

Really sorry to know about ur theory on Satayanand Stokes...
Lets make it simple buddy...If not for Stoke's visionary work you would have just been carrying a kilta in ur farms and just laying eggs there...
Common yaar acknowledge sincerely Stoke's gr8 contribution to our area !!!