As our custom, me and my family go to the mountains to relax and trek. This time we decided to go to Arki. It is not a much heard hill station. Therefore it is a rare to spot a tourist. It is a completely separate area away from Solan and Dharampur.
We started at around ten O' clock. We would stay there for three days and two nights. The journey was beautiful if not so eventful. That particular area was even less developed than the others so there was much greenery. As we went on we passed through a town which was right in the middle of a huge valley. For some time it felt as if we were back in the plains. It was quite a big town with many homes and shops.
After about 4 kilometers we came by a huge government degree college. Imagine! We found out later that there were very few students in that college. Soon after we came to Arki. It was a nice little town with a fort. That fort was built 1700. It was captured in 1701 and then recaptured in 1706. In 1816 It was captured by the British. We were not able to visit it because it was shut down for the mourning of the death of its owner. He died just eight days ago.
We were to live in a beautiful and comfortable guesthouse. The town had a sense of tremendous peace and calm. It was very quiet. We went to the market that day and found that there was very little to sell.
Next day we decided to go to Lutru Mahadev by foot. Finally, some trekking! Lutru Mahadev was a temple built inside a cave by a King in whose dreams Lord Shiva appeared and ordered him to built the temple. The trek was short, of only one hour, but the view would be terrific. As we moved on in our trekking we came to a spot where we cold see both the T.V. towers of Kausali and Shimla. We could see nearly the entire lower Himalayas. It was a beautiful sight. We could see Lutru mahadev from there. When we reached there the view was amazing. As for the temple, well it was a very small one built in see through cave. After staying there for twenty minutes we started back. The return was much quicker as we stopped a bit less. My parents were very tired. We went to our hotel and slept. Well, they slept. I was watching a movie and in the evening we read some books.
The next day we left early and after one hour we had our usual noise of cars, people etc. Our visit was small but fun, and I am looking foward to visit Arki again.
