Chail Travel Guide

Chail is situated in Himachal Pradesh, India. Chail hill station at a higher altitude then Shimla. Chail became accessible to tourists after the Patiala royals handed over the 75 acre chail tourist palace. Chail is a honeymooners’ paradise. It turns you poetic, transforms your honeymoon into dream and a piece of land on earth into paradise.

Where honeymooning couples hop in for a day or tow of princely excitement. At the height of summer, it is almost impossible to get a foothold here, with tourists, cars, buses and unnumerable troops of monkeys roving aggressively around the property.

Chail doesn’t have a mall just a few shops. Its best offers are leisurely walks in summer and autumn and fun in the poder snow in winters. Spread over three hills Pandhawa, Rajgarh and Siddh Tibba chail is also ideal for picnics and hikes.

Pilgrims Progress

Faith has three faces in Chail. The most important in this former dominion of Patiala is the Gurudawara Sahib, built in 1907. Located 1km above Chail’s bazaar on Pandhawa Hill, the yellow distempercovered gurudwara is a small building with a tiny courtyard. The tow towers like structures fitted into the façade flanking the main entrance enhance the air of austerity, which is reminiscent of some of the churches in Goa.

Siddh Baba ka Mandir is situated on the hill sandwiched by Rajgarh and Pandhawa. Set in the army cantonment area, the temple sits next to the cricket agounds currently being used by the Army. It is a simple, traditional structure that bears witness to this holy ascetic of legend.

The third temple is the Kali ka Tibba, located on the top of the hill named after the Rajmatas cottage, Blossom, One can see the Chur Chandni Peak and the Shivalik Range from here. It’s an easy 6 km trek from the bazaar via the Gauda Road.

Born to be Wild

Stretching from the Krishna River to Giriganga is a small wildlife sanctuary, which includes roughtly 200 small villages besides the wild langur, leopards, Indian brown bear, hogs, deer ghoral, sambhar, goats and wild pheasant.

Trekking

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 short cuts over the cedar forested hills.

Angling

Head for the Giriganga River 29 km from Chail on the Gauda Road for a spot of angling but be prepared for small catch only. Keen anglers also not that the trout is only an occasional visitor here.