After a little lie-in (much needed after the night bus!), we got up and headed for the bus station to see what time we needed to get our bus tomorrow to Haridwar. We then hailed a TukTuk and, after some negotiation, were on our way to the Rock Garden (thanks to Danny for his recommendation!).
Created in secret around 1957, The Rock Garden is a 20 acre outdoor exposition of government official Nek Chand’s sculptures. Made mostly from rubbish that he has collected, the garden is full of people, animals and abstract statues made from broken sinks, plates, bottle tops, bracelets, pots etc. It brought a whole new meaning to junk modelling!! The waterfalls were quite amazing to see and the labyrinth around the park was a contrast to the linear streets of the town.
Once we’d finished in the Rock Garden, we walked down the road to Sukhna lake. A 3km squared rain-fed lake was created in 1958. It was made by damming the river Sukhna Choe (a seasonal stream coming down from the Shivilak Hills) so that local people had somewhere to relax and enjoy. Went for a long walk around the edge of the lake, watching the birds fly around and spotting snakes in the water.
Decided to rent a paddle boat and, after that, we sat on the wall and people watched whilst trying to avoid being in people’s photographs – it seems that we had sat in the only place in the lake complex that was ideal to take a selfie or group photo!
Found a great meat friendly restaurant for dinner and then we shared some Indian sweets for desserts. Got asked if I was Jayne’s mother at the restaurant, so I clearly need my beauty sleep!!
Trans Travels 