BE A KING FOR A DAY AT CHAIL

Horse Safaris, Rajasthan

Amid the havelis of Shekhawati, the fort at Nawalgarh is the base for Shekhawati Brigade Horse Safaris. A well-oiled operation brings you the best of riding experiences: 22 Marwari, Kathiawadi and Sindhi horses can take you cross-country in unspoilt terrain. A team of one outrider, an ex-army cooks, a camp in charge, and folk musicians escort you through semi-desert terrain, forests, salt lakes, marshes and flat grasslands. Camp is a luxurious affair, though you must bring your own chaps, helmet and boots. Confident riders best enjoy this holiday, though there’s no bar against beginners; you’ll cover 25-40 km a day. In November, you can join the Pushkar Fair Horse Safari (3-17 November, 8N/9D).
www.aonetrip.com
State Himachal Pradesh,India.
Location a wooded retreat at 7,054 ft, 89km from Kalka and 351 km N of Delhi Route from Delhi NH1 to Ambala via Panipat and Karnal; NH22 to Kandaghat via Panchkula, Kalka and Dharampur; state road to Chail via Sadhupul. Tiny Chail does not rival the colonial grandeur of Shimla, but it does give you a feel of how the summer capital of the Raj must have looked before its salubrious environs were chopped down to make way for smug imperial edifices. Chail, of course, boasts of another arrogance, born out of a snub. The town was built after Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of the princely state of Patiala, a handsome ladies’ man, was banned from Shimla for life by the British, following charges of his making immoral overtures to an Englishwoman. According to historians, the lady in question was Commander-in-Chief Lord Kitchener’s daughter, hence the collective moral affront. But the Maharaja got his own back when he built his very own hill station, Chail, at a higher altitude than Shimla. Chail became accessible to tourists after the Patiala royals handed over the 75-acre Chail Palace to the government in 1972.
Its chief attraction is the Palace Hotel, where honeymooning couples and Punjabi businessmen hop in for a day or two of princely excitement. At the height of summer, it is almost impossible to get a foothold here, with tourists, cars, buses and innumerable troops of monkeys roving aggressively around the property.
The rest of the year, one can enjoy the place as the royals’ felt it.

Best all years round

GETTING THERE
Rail Nearest railhead: Kalka (89 km/2hrs). Taxi charges about $40 return fare to Chail
Road from Delhi take NH1 to Ambala, then NH via Zirakpur to Panchkula. Take the Solan bypass and turn right at Kandaghat to Chail, 29 km away.

Cricket grounds
The famed cricket grounds laid down by the Maharaja of Patiala – some say the highest in the world at 7,218 ft – is situated in cantonment and as such, is out of bounds to civilians.

Walk the walk
Chail is all about walking in pairs, with sticks and hands otherwise empty – that is, if you wish to avoid the marauding monkeys, who are not averse to attacking walkers on a whim. Treks to Shimla and Kandaghat take you along village shortcuts over the cedar-forested hills.