Kodaikanal to Munnar; Trekking Expedition

Kodaikanal to Munnar; Trekking Expedition

(18^th to 24^th December, 2014)

Back to treks & trails! Woohoo! I was so excited, as the scheduled day for trek was approaching near. This was my first with youth hostels, which I had to book, since I do not get a trekking partner among my close friends and family, for they hardly take any interest in climbing mountains, and moreover our schedule always clash. So, without giving a second thought I clicked the book button on YHAI’s site. And soon the day came.

Day- 1; Travel to Kodaikanal, the Base camp

(18^th Dec. 14)

The nearest airport to Kodaikanal is Madurai, which is around 135 kms from there. So, I had already booked return flight to Madurai, and guess which flight I would have booked? Yess, Spice jet, the same flight which had been going through a tumbling phase at that time, and had been cancelling and delaying flights every now and then at the very last moment. So, I decided if my flight gets cancelled, I would cancel the trek, for my budget also had the possibility of going out of balance. But I got no such news or intimation of cancellation of my flight, and with fingers crossed; I pre-booked a taxi to airport at 4:45 am as my flight was scheduled at 6:15 am.  But when I woke up at 4:00 am at the call of my alarm clock’ the first message on my mobile screen flashed of, was from spice jet, saying, ‘your flight has been delayed for one hour.’ Lol I called the taxi and postponed the pickup for another half an hour. And thank God, the flight took off at 7:30 am, and after half an hour’s halt at Chennai, it landed at Madurai at around 11:45 am. I hired a taxi to Bus station which was another 11-12 kms from airport. The same problem which I faced at Chennai last time, I had to face here also. The boards displayed were in Tamil only. People spoke in Tamil only. And I had to resort to sign language only. Lol As I didn’t have my breakfast, and spice jet also apologized for not being able to serve any food and beverage onboard at that time, I was feeling damn hungry. I thought it best to have coconut water with malai, which I saw just at the entrance of the bus station. Well, it quenched my thirst as well as satisfied my hunger. Sometimes, I think myself smarter than I really am. Uff. I thought the buses to Madurai would be frequent. So, when the taxi driver gestured towards a bus, which was about to leave and said,’Kodaikanal’ I just smiled back and thanked and turned my back to the bus to walk towards coconut water. And when I went to the bus enquiry counter, I learnt through gestures that the next bus will leave at 1:20 pm, and I had to wait for more than an hour. Lol. And again I thought that the bus will take hardly 2 hours,  and I will definitely reach before it gets dark, but once again my over smart assumption was wrong. Yes, the bus took more than 4 hours, as the drive after entering kodaikanal forest area became quite slow, due to upward and curvy hilly roads. The weather also became cloudy and started raining in between. But I was enjoying at every juncture as the dark greenery of Western Ghats had so much to offer to ones senses. The real apprehensive I became, when finally I reached Kodaikanal bus station and it became quite dark. I asked for direction to Greenland’ (Base camp) from locals, who said that it’s at a walking distance only. I took out my phone, but there was no network coverage. I put on the jacket, and walked faster than I would normally do. I kept walking.  There were few roadside shops and hotels, but no trace of Greenland. It was getting darker, and now I started getting apprehensive, as some of the guys on bikes and vans started staring and shouting, “want a ride, or shall we drop you somewhere?” I maintained my outside calm, and politely said to all of them, “No, thank you, I would love to walk.” Then eventually I reached a place, with no trace of human around, but the fogs. Few shops were there, but all closed. It was dark as fog had engulfed all around and the pin drop silence amidst the darkness reminded me of some horror movie. Lol.  I kept walking towards the end and instinctively turned right, when I saw the board, with the arrow marked over it as ‘Greenland’s’! I sighed and smiled and entered the gate. Finally I saw some movements and heard some noise, and assured myself, “Nawi, now chill, you have reached safely finally!” I encountered two girls, who smiled at me and said, “Hello!” I returned their “Hello” with a broader smile and walked towards reception. The moment I climbed the steps to the reporting area, I encountered, Vilas, one of the broker associated with my office. We both were shocked & surprised to see each other. Lol.  He introduced me to his group and to the two girls I met earlier, Rupa and Kalpna, from Bangalore, who became my good friends during the course of the trek. I thanked God for always sending angels before me to guide and guard me, who leaves me never alone and lonely.  At the registering counter, the fellow on duty asked me, “From which group are you?” I questioned back, “I don’t know, am I supposed to be in a group?” oh, later I came to know that all the people who had come there had come in groups or in pairs. I was the only one to come all alone, and when I told him that I am alone, he made a surprising gesture and grinned thoughtfully; either appreciating me to have the courage to come all the way to TN all alone, or thinking that I am an insane person to have done so. Whatever it was, for me all felt quite amusing. One big group formed 14 people from Gujarat, which comprised of 5 couples and 4 individuals, another group of which Vilas was also a member comprised 14 people, all from Mumbai, another group comprising of 2 couples were from Pune, Rupa and Kalpana from Bangalore was another group and lastly 1 family comprising of a couple and three kids formed another group. The above mentioned groups and some other people in total formed a trekking group of 52 people.

"If you ask me to read, I'll read it as 'Jalebi jalebi jalebi....." :P

Day-2; Trek to Vellagavi

(19^th Dec.14)

Early morning tea at 6:00 am! I went outside and a beautiful scenery around welcomed me; the view around was mesmerizing with full greenery and the rising clouds from below, playing with the mountains and trees, flirting and fleeting looked really magical. Though the trek was supposed to start at 9:30, but due to rain, it started at 10:00 am. As I didn’t have barsaati (sort of rain sheet) to protect myself from rain, Vilas and friends got one for me too. And for Lunch box and mug, which I didn’t know that we were supposed to get along, Devakrishan from TN got me a new set from market. All had been so helpful and supportive, and my sincere thanks to all of them. So, the trek started at around 10:15 am. Walking upwards through road for almost 1 km, we finally entered the real trek route through a narrow entrance towards forest area. The route was very narrow and sloppy and due to the rain, it had become very slippery as well. So care had to be taken at every step. For me, the trek was quite moderate and I felt strong enough to help the kids Alina and Ajab, who became the best company for whole trek. Walking with full concentration for an hour or half, we descended down and found a beautiful water stream. We relaxed our muscles for a while and trekked further. The whole trek was downhill and was around 7-8 kms and took us around 6 hours. The lush green narrow jungle full of rich flora, which has the privilege of being the only way to commute during 18^th century British India, treated us well.

"Hello Happiness!!"

On reaching our camping site at the village, Vellagavi the first thing we were taught was that we weren’t supposed to walk in shoes near mandir premises, and to our wonder we found temples at every corner; every tree as well as rocks had been turned into temples, and in total there were around 300 temples in this small village with population around 50. And people here walked barefoot no matter what. This village still doesn’t have a road and people commute to kodaikanal and nearby cities to get essentials on foot, and wonder what they walk barefoot and so fast that it’s difficult to match their speed. ‘Bravo Vallagavians! For your undying faith, and purity of your love for whichever God you pray!’

"Yeh galian, Vellagavi ki. <3 "

From our camping site, we could have a glimpse of our base camp at Kodaikanal, which was at the top of the hill, and I felt so proud for myself as well as for the group, for covering that much distance on foot, for in total we had trekked through three hills, the demarcation being quite visible from there. (Sigh)

Day-3; Vellagavi--Kumbakarai--Kurangini

(20^th Dec. 14)

The trek route was wider and moderate 11 kms trek downhill till Kumbakarai, from where the YH buses picked us up and dropped us to Kurangini. The mind refreshing trek, amidst of thick green forest, full of coffee, cardamom and tamarind trees, was easier than the previous day’s trek, and we covered it in less than five hours. The weather at the initial phase was quite hazy as everywhere there were fogs and we had to struggle to see the route, and to speak the truth I felt as if I was inside deep ocean water, the feeling which later on Rupa also shared. Later on the weather became quite friendly with us and we had our share of fun walk; singing, talking and admiring the nature around for its abundance of beauty in various forms. The rich flora around was treat to our eyes, and rich fauna in the form of beautiful songs being sung by different birds (I can’t name them, for lack of knowledge) were treat to our ears, and together they would co-ordinate in such a lovely way that beautified our heart and enriched our soul.  As the trek was long, few of the group members felt losing their stamina for the next day trek and were making up minds to travel by road to Munnar and quit trekking in the middle. Hmm

 

'Breathe Nature & be Natural!"

Day-4; Trek to central Station

(21^st Dec. 14)

The trek for the day was for 11-12 kms. And it was the real trek as we had to go through some of the most challenging routes. Some of the group members, who didn’t want to trek further, including Azhar and family except Ajab, and two couples from Pune, left us at Kurangini to directly meet us at Munnar. The trek was moderate upward trek for first 7 kms, and then the 5 kms tough ascent through steep hills made every nerve squeeze. It was the toughest of all the days. The trek started with super shining sun above us. And after trekking through the roads and some open spaces, we finally felt relieved when we entered the forest. The track was wide and well defined. I was walking ahead with Ajab, Devakishan, Sougatha, Datta and father-son duo of Prasad and his father. Ajab and Devakrishnan were narrating stories to each other, while we enjoyed the same.  Thus the wide, moderate path led us smoothly, and at around 1:00 pm we reached a small village, which had a huge resting space under a huge banyan tree with a water tap nearby. We stopped there for lunch, and during lunchtime, we came to know that few of our group members, including the group leader, lost the way and taken some other way. We waited for them, but came to know that they might reach through the other way only which was a shortcut to central station.

 

"The journey gets easier and memorable if you have the best company around."

The after lunch trek was what we all call ‘the real trek’! It was so steep, with big disturbing holes cut through in between. We literally had to crawl and had to gasp for breath as well. As I along with Prasad & father, Mayuresh & Uncle, Dipen, Diganta, Ajab, Datta, Deva and Rupa had climbed quite far until we met a diversion of trail, we had to keep waiting for the other members and guide to reach who all were quite far down to hear and see us. When they came closer, at the gesture of the guide we followed the left path, which thinly led us parallel to the mountain range, though we had to go upward only. But, then the real tragedy happened. The trail ended in the middle of nowhere. The guide also seemed a little panicked. Some of us found adventure in that, while some others, esp the Gujarati group got real angry and started arguing with the guide and other members.  Turning backwards, we had to go through a path, which was fully covered with bushes and grasses, and in a slanting position, we had  to make way first by clearing the grasses with one foot, then putting another step we had to walk for a long distance till we reached the real trail. I held Ajab’s hand, who kept saying,”Didi, I am scared!”  Though it was really scary as one slip of the step, you can fall in the gorge, never to be found again, but I had no option but to be strong as I was holding one kid’s hand and giving her the assurance that all would be fine.  After covering that particular path, we reached at a safer side and sighing and smiling we maintained our pace towards central station.

"So, here I come home to Nature."

Day-5; Trek to Top Station

(22^nd Dec. 14)

It was our last day of trek that too was the shortest one, i.e. 5 kms. In order not to repeat the other days mistakes, it was decided to stay as close to the group and after every hour the group walking ahead to wait for the next group to catch up. The trek began at 9:30, and walking through the jungle amidst beauty of nature, we reached Top station at 12:30 pm. Oh, here we enter the road that is the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The name Top station is historic one, as during British rule a ropeway connecting Top station to central and bottom station was used to transport tea from Munnar to Kottagudi, which then were used to transport by train to other parts of country and England. As thousands of tourists throng this area every year, a view point area had been specifically made for that purpose, from where one can have a panoramic view of Western Ghats. We were so excited that we just had a cup of tea each, dropped our bags at the coffee shop only and ran towards the view point. The view seemed to have been really mesmerizing, but at that point of the day the looming clouds or say fogs had engulfed the whole valley with zero visibility down the valley, we had to be satisfied with the foggy valley only, which looked beautiful at its own place.

 

"To see & envy the peaks from below, and then reaching them and standing side by side them, the feeling I cannot express but feel..." Hmm

After walking a good length, we got back to the coffee shop. By then whole group had arrived, including the party who left us at Karangini the other day to catch us up at Munnar. Ajab was with me all the way, and when her family met her at Top station, they felt so proud of her for successfully completing the trek. I suggested to her father, to let her do the Mountaineering course that I also did last summer, as she was a great kid with all the potential of being a good mountaineer as well as a good human being. We had our lunch at the coffee shop only and by the time we finished, the YH jeeps also reached, which were to fetch us to Munnar, which was 35 kms from there.

"Top Station view; The kerala-Tamil Border area!"

The jeep drove us, and soon we were in Kerala, the lush green tea gardens on both sides of the road welcoming us with full warmth. We really were mesmerized and struggled to see through as the jeep drove fast through the bumpy and curvy mountain road. On the way, the driver stopped the jeep to let us have sightseeing view of few of the places like Kundala Dam, Echo point, Tribal village view etc.  Through our excited and happy gestures, one can make out that we were in ‘God’s own real country’! J

 

"The never ending Tea Gardens."

Day-6; Travel to Kollukkamalai Hills

(23^rd Dec. 14)

Well, done with the treks, now it was time for some ghumi-firi for sightseeing. The destination for the day was Kollukamalai peak, where the highest and oldest tea factory is located. It was about 37-38 kms from Munnar. The journey started on broad, well metalled and beautifully curved roads with awe inspiring views around for some distance, soon to enter the estate area with kacha, stony, bumpy, hilly curvy roads, where only strong tired jeeps can drive you. As we travelled, we were doing tandav nritya inside the jeep naturally, with no music at all, for the jeep wobbled in such a way that makes your entire system have a bubble boil. Our jeep broke down just at the entrance, and another jeep was called. My silly remark that ‘till now we trekked, and now jeep is trekking and we are the baggages on jeep’s shoulder having rock dancing movements that our bags would have had to undergo when we trekked,” made everyone laugh and agree to same. Lol We all were really tired by the time we reached up, but after reaching at the point, the soul captivating view of the Kollukkamali peak and Tamil hills and plains amidst misty haze suspended throughout, made us forget the tough journey we had to go through.

 

"You can also feel the yummy aroma of the fresh Kolukkumalai tea"

The highest tea factory made out of wood, which shows you the methods of processing of tea, is located so beautifully on the top that you won’t feel like going back. And the nearby outlet, from where you can sip the freshly flavored tea, welcomes you with most amazing, pure and fresh aroma spreading in the air around. My friends bought different types of tea to get to home, but I being lazy and slow in such things, kept myself contented with one cup of strong tea. We returned with lot of freshness in our minds and souls. The return journey was less tiring, as it was downward and the driver kept it slow and less jumpy. We stopped at many places for sightseeing, and in the evening visited Munnar Market, from where everybody did some shopping to take Munnar special things to their respective families and friends.

 

"Let the vehicle break down for a while, we have our own things to do. Dil Mangey more of Nature."

Day-7; Time to go back

(24^th Dec. 14)

I didn’t realize how one week had slipped away like a dream, and soon it was time to return to the real worldly world. I took 6:30 am morning bus from Munnar to Madurai, along with Mayuresh and his Uncle, two co-trekkers from Navi Mumbai. Kalpna, Rupa, Vilas and Ajay dada came to see us off till bus stop. Let me tell you one thing, that there is some magic in the air around of western Ghats that make you sleep while travelling even if you are sleep deprived; for every single person in the bus dozed off, which I observed during my first day of travel to Kodaikanal from Madurai. Cool, isn’t it? Lol We reached Madurai at 11:30 am, and after saying good bye to Mayuresh and uncle, who had their further plans to sight see, I hired an auto and reached airport at 12:00 pm. As my flight was at 4:00 pm, the security person suggested me to stay out for I’ll be bored. And I went out to an open coffee house, ordered a tea and pulled out my lunchbox, in which I had my last meal of the Youth hostels packed. I had already started missing everything and every moment of the trek. I was nostalgic at every bite of the paranthas I was eating at that time, with the hope of, and aspiring for next trek.

"Let me squeeze the moment & take it along for forever...Gonna miss ya...:-)

Overall, this trek trip was another A-Awesome of this year. With this, my tours, trips and treks for year 2014 ends.

"I don't know what 2015 has in store for me, but 2014, you have been amazing. Thank you so much for everything. I'll miss you and cherish you for lifetime. Good bye.""

Tirumala; the seven hills & Hyderabad; the city of Nawabs.

 Tirumala; the seven hills & Hyederabad; the city of  Nawabs.

(Amidst grand Hyderabadi wedding)(6^th to 9^th Dec.14)

The month of November had been a month of rest for me; I mean I did not take any outstation trip,  rather I spent my week days with full attendance in Office, and spent the weekends visiting friends, partying, going for movies, sleeping etc. In a nutshell; a full month break from travels & trips! ;-)

And then came December, when I came back to form, and the first opportunity came in the form of Rishika's (My Roomie cum friend) wedding. I along with Deepali, my friend cum travel partner, had already booked tickets, for how could we miss such a golden chance, bole to 'ek teer se 2 nishana'! :P The best part about Rishika's wedding was that her marriage ceremony was to be solemnized in Tirumala, as per her Mother-in-law's wish, and the reception was to be held in her home city, Hyderabad, the city of Nawabs. So, with all the tempting bonuses, here goes the account of our tour:-

Day: 1, Tirumala, Tirupati

(6^th December)

We flew by 6:30 am early morning flight to Chennai, which is the nearest Airport to Tirumala, from where we were supposed to take a road trip to Tirumala. We were already excited, and the magical sunrise, after 5-10 minutes taking off of the flight, from up above was real treat to our eyes. The deep Orange rays, breaking the early morning Grey below, held our gaze, till we lost sight of it. :-)

The blessing!

After almost 2 hours flight, we landed at Chennai at 8:30 am, and got out of the airport quickly. But then, it wasn't an easy job for us to get a cab, go to bus station and have a smooth travel to the dream destination. Oh, the language barrier! We checked at two of the nearby taxi booking counters, but they denied in Tamil, which we could read through their gestures only. Walking a little ahead we inquired from a security officer, about how to get a bus from Chennai to Tirupati, and he tried his best to explain to us, using Tamil and English, of which we could catch 1 words only 'CMBT' which we took for CMPT. We assumed that CMPT would be a place next to Tirupati and the bus would drop us at Tirupati. Later, after talking to 3-4 other Tamilians, we came to know that CMPT is CMBT (Chennai Moffussil Bus Station). LOL :P Finally we managed to board a Local bus (No. 80A), struggling through the crowd to CMBT, though we had to go standing. Hmm. Then from CMBT we got into Andhra Pradesh State Transport bus to Tirumala. Well, here we came to know that Tirumala is some 25 kms farther from Tirupati. (Andhere me teer maarne ki hamari aadat hai, we can't help it) Lol.  It took us around 3 hours to reach Tirumala, and by that time it was already 2:00 pm. We took a cab from where the bus dropped to the guest house. Rishika came to receive us at the gate, and there we saw the bride, all excited about her weeding, looking gorgeous in her Telugu avtaar; wearing a beautifully simple silk saree and accessories. She took us first for the lunch, introduced us to her parents and cousins and then showed us our room. Have you seen a bride, who is so busy running here and there on her own wedding day? Well, I have not. Lol, and indeed we teased her a lot for that,  but she was more concerned about our as well as her other friends' comforts that she was playing more the role of a hostess than a bride. Cute, isn't it? Of course, it is! ;-)

Well, after the lunch and getting fresh, we left for exploring Tirumala. As far as darshan was concerned, we came to know that it's not possible to have one, due to so mush rush and all, and also we didn't have that much patience to stand in queue for hours to just have one glimpse of Lord Vishnu's statue inside. So not knowing where to go, we followed our own steps. We kept walking on the road, till a gate attracted our attention, and we said in unison,”Let's see what’s there.” And then what, we had already entered the premises of the Tirumala temple. It was so huge, and beautifully built and managed. Though there were  lacs of devotees around, who would have come from all over India, but amazing to see that the entire temple complex was neat and clean. So, we started taking parikarma of the temple, and got a chance to have darshan in on of the temples 'Varahmira Temple', though we had to stand in queue for half an hour. We had that much of patience and stamina at least. :) Then we went up the stairs, towards the area where we saw people lighting butter lamps and praying to the Lord. We bought one lamp and lighted it. The sun was at the verge of setting by then, and the entire area looked beautiful. After that we roamed around the shopping area, from where Deepali bought some bangles and stuffs, had our evening tea and then started our return walk. It was quite a memorable experience. Though we missed the darshan of main temple, but we were more than satisfied with the other awe-inspiring sights it gave us. It was really amazing to see people's faith in the Lord, inside Tirumala temple, for I have seen many people including men and women, who had shaved their hair and donated it to the temple, at the same time praying for the special wishes to be fulfilled  that they hold close to their hearts, and when the wish gets fulfilled at some point of time, they come back again to the temple to Thank the Lord.  'Jai Tirumala! Bless your devotees!'

The magnificent temple and two happy faces! 

Day: 2, The wedding day & Tirumala Hills

(7^th December)

We got up at 5:30 am, as the marriage was to be solemnized at 8:45 am, and Rishika had instructed us to be ready by 7:00 am. When we reached the marriage venue, the people had already assembled there, and the function, I mean the Pandit’s recitation of mantras for groom, in the accompaniment of some musical instruments, being played by a group, just at the entrance, had already started. We took our seats and sat there for a while, then went at the backstage to see Rishika, who was looking damn beautiful, in a green Hyderabadi silk saree with minimal make-up, unlike many of Indian brides, who hide their real selves behind huge bridal make-ups. Lol. As it was our first ever experience to be a part of Hyderabadi wedding occasion, it felt quite interesting and unique to us; the way the pandit was reciting mantras in Telugu with full energy, hooked everyone's attention, and two of us kept laughing when others were laughing, though we didn't understand a word of what was being said. But everything looked quite beautiful and fun-filled. We enjoyed a lot and didn't get bored even for a second, and were there throughout the marriage ceremony, for which later we got praises from Rishika and her parents, as she told when she came back to Mumbai. Cute us, I know! ;)

The unique Hyderabadi Shadi!

The wedding ceremony was over by 10: 15 am, and the couple left for the darshan, while we set out for our next exploration; this time taking the other direction of the road. We had tea at a nearby stall, and asked the tea vendor about the places to see around there, but he was like,”No english, no hindi, only Telugu.” We had no words, but to sip the tea quietly. Lol So, after finishing the tea, we left on our own, allowing our feet to take us wherever they wanted, and they took us towards a beautiful path, leading to the highest point of Tirumala hills, named Niyamagiri hills. We had no idea how far it would be, still we kept climbing. Suddenly, we found a Taxi wala, and asked about the hills, and he offered a package tour to show us 3 places; Shirivari Padalu, Rock garden and a temple. Though we wished to walk that stretch of 3 kms, but due to time constraint, as we had to be back by 12:30 pm, we decided to hire the cab. And glad that we took that decision, as those places were worth a visit, and we saved our time as well. At Shirivari padalu, we took darshan of Lord vishnu's foot-steps, around which a small temple had been built on hill top, and from there we could have a good view of entire Tirumala, including the temple. Then at rock garden, we took delight in watching different types of rocks, of different geological formations, and took our time to pose for photos. The 2500 million years old arch shaped rock, which claimed to be world famous looked quite intriguing, but we couldn't go near, as barricades had been formed around it, in order to protect it. But it looked beautiful. Hmm. Then, at descending down and down, we reached the small temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, paid our obeisance, and returned back to the guest house with beautiful memories.  We had our lunch, and as there was still some times left, we took our walk towards third direction, and walked on the beautiful road, which led us to the dam, the scenic beauty around which mesmerized our souls. 

Glad that we took the right path! 

As per schedule, we were to leave at 3:30 from Tirumala to Tirupati, from where we all would be traveling along to Hyderabad, which is an overnight train journey from Tirupati. So, we finished all our sight seeing on right time, and joined the wedding group for the memorable journey to Hyderabad. Memorable, cuz, it was my second train journey, that too after more than a year. So, I was excited as usual. So, here we said good bye to Tirumala; the magnificent temple, the beautiful 7 hills, and the meeting point of our country's very twin sisters 'western ghats and eastern ghats.  :-)

Day: 3, Hyderabad Darshan and the grand Reception

(8^th December)

We reached Secunderabad railway station at 7:00 am, from where the pre-booked bus took us to Hyderabad. As the reception was to be held after 7:30 pm in the evening, we had already planned to explore the city of Nawabs. But before that we had a warm welcome at Rishika's house by her parents for breakfast. It's so sweet of them to arrange for our comfortable stay and cab for our sight seeing. The warmth with which aunty ji put tilak on our foreheads, and gifted us suits, was quite touching and full of love. They took full care of us amidst of their busy schedule, for which we pay our full gratitude to them. God bless them!

Well, the city of Hyderabad like every other city, has its own charm. But let me tell you one thing, the city is overcrowded, there are buildings all over  spread over a large area, and the traffic, it was huge. We got stuck in traffic at every few interval.  Still, we were able to cover all the places, like Lumbini garden, Hussain sagar lake, Char Minar, Chohmalla Palace and Golconda fort on time.  All these places have their own attractions and history, mostly connected with the Deccani nawabs, the same nawabs about whom we had already read in our history text books. So, it was again like, history coming alive in front of our own eyes.

Nawabi sheher ki seher!

After whole days fatafat-fatafat Hyderabad darshan, at night we attended the Grand Hyderabadi Wedding reception. We had been so punctual to reach every place on time, including the reception, for the Bride and Groom came over to stage after 5 mnts of our arrival at the hall. Unlike the wedding, in the reception, there were no limit to the people coming. There were flood of people around, coming and going, coming and going. And everybody lined up for their turn to go to the stage and wish and bless the newly wed couple. And the couple deserve all appraisal for their stamina to keep standing and greeting and receiving wishes from every single person, smiling at everyone, and posing with every group for pictures. I guess they had been standing like this for more than 3 hours, and I can never imagine myself in their position. Hats off to the beautiful couple for that, and here I leave my wishes and blessings to them for the new journey they are going to undertake in their life. :-P

The Grand Reception!

Day: 4, Ramoji Filmcity

(9^th December)

Our taxi was supposed to pick us up at 9:00 am, but it reached at 9:45. I guess, no fault of the driver, the traffic in Hyderabad was such that. We reached Ramoji at 10:30, which was around 40 kms from the main city. As its away from the main city, located at Anajpur village, it was a different world in itself. There was whole lot of tourists around, but no need to pull and push through the crowd, as it was very big, with full arrangement for buses at tourists’ disposal. They charged entry fee for Rs. 800/- each, and it was worth that. We had already heard a lot of words of praises of the film city from those friends who had visited it earlier, and yes they were all  right. It has a record in Guinness book of world records, for being the largest film-city in the world. The city would have been created from tourist point of view as well as from film-making point of view; smart Ramoji of course! It was Tuesday, not a holiday, still people in lacs were there with families and friends, not to speak of or guess how many tourists it attracts on a weekend. The bus dropped us at Eureka, from where our fun time started. Dome theater show, magicians show, stunt show, spirit of the Ramoji show, lights camera action in Hollywood style show, the 4D free fall at Ramoji tower and many more at Eureka, took us almost 4 hours to finish, though we were running from one point to another, as we wanted to cover the entire film city and also we didn’t want to miss our flight. Lol We two were the fata-fat girls out there!  Then we ran to the red bus, which would take us for sightseeing around the Film-city, which would take 1 hour to finish. The bus took us around, showing various make-shfit sets of films, replicas of Mughal gardens, mysore palace, vrindavan garden, gateway of india, airport, railway station etc. We were given chances to alight out of the bus and take walking tours of some beautiful gardens,like Japanese garden, hawa mahel, birds park, butterfly park, Budha's caves etc. 

The Ramoji fun!

We got free by 4:30 pm, and started our return journey with tummies full of exciting memories. Visiting the film-city, we felt we got back to our childhood, with the same fun, thrill and shrill, without caring for what the next person will think if we shout or chirp like kids, for here everyone becomes a kid himself. So, here I end the note, as it's already quarter past eleven, and I have to catch 6:00 o'clock early morning flight to Madurai for my next tour. Good night and God bless you all. Keep smiling."~ Nawi.

My friends visit to Mumbai and the instant refreshing outings!

My friends visit to Mumbai and the instant refreshing outings

(Diwali Special- Memorable Break)

This Diwali, I had got visitors to my work city, Mumbai. All my roommates had gone back to their homes, but I couldn't afford going home as I had exhausted almost all my leaves, and the 4 days continuous holidays wouldn't have sufficed for going home for me. But never mind, I had a fantastic Diwali. An environment of home away from home was created by my lovely friends, Nini and Monty, who came all the way from Delhi to my city just at one call. That’s what friends are for, right? Absolutely! So, I tried to make their visit as fruitful as it could be, and planned itinerary for visiting places, acting as their guide for the tour. Monty had been in Mumbai long back, so she was familiar with the city, but as it’s her first visit for Nini, we tried to cover as much places as possible. In a way, it was Mumbai-darshan dobara for me. To see places in Mumbai at first visit had been full of excitement and wonder; to see so much of crowd and unique places around, but to visit all the places from a perspective of a Mumbaikar, which now I have become, is entirely a different story. Lol

So, here we go by day wise outings, though I would keep it short. Don’t worry. :-P

Day-1; Kanheri Caves, Hanging Garden, Marine drive and gateway of India

(22^nd October)

It was the day, when in the morning at around 8 o’clock they arrived, and I took one day leave from office. I was so happy to see them after more than a year, and they were equally happy and excited. I don’t forget to thank God every now and then to bless me with the best people as my friends. So, after getting all fresh and ready, we set out for nearest destination, Kanheri caves. It was my fourth visit to the caves. As there are group of 108 caves, it’s quite difficult to cover all in one visit, so we have to skip so many caves. But for me, it’s like exploring a new cave every time with a new route. This time I could go into the hall, inside which there were so many little and dark chambers, which would have been used by monks for meditation purposes. As my friends are full of life and excitement, we could take the most challenging routes, like climbing on straight walls to make the shortest route to the top, and climbing on trees and posing like monkeys. And to add more fun to the trip, we met few guys from North-east, who also joined us in exploring the remotest corners of the park with more fun and laughter.

"The Kanheri caves @ Lungs of Mumbai"

After some adventure in and around the caves, we left for other places and covered Hanging garden, Marine drive, Gateway of India, along with our North-eastern friends. The day one ended with a dinner at Café Mondegar. I am not describing any details, as I had already noted down my experiences in earlier notes, when everything was new to me. ;-)

"Mumbai Darshan Dobara"

Day-2 ; Elephanta caves and Diwali at Kharghar

(23^rd October)

Our day was fully planned; visit Elephanta first, and then in the evening to visit our friend Tanzin and his wife Dimpi at Khargar with the intension of surprising them. Tanzin is Nini’s first cousin and mine and Monty’s friend. It’s with them that I went to Elephanta in 2012, when I was new to the city. We boarded ferry from Gateway of India and had a fun-filled ride.  As it was Nini’s first journey by a ferry, so I could feel the excitement she had been experiencing. The weather on both days, were quite hot, as October heat denied to spare us, thus piercing through our skin. But we didn’t mind the heat, as the feelings of togetherness and bonding were stronger than the heat itself. Hmm

"Elephanta fun; beating the October heat"

In the evening, when we reached Tanzin’s house, I went first while two of them kept going up-down in the lift. I entered as pre-informed and after a little while, Nini and Monty rang the doorbell. But strange, they were not surprised at all! The reason was that a moment before our arrival, Tanzin’s sister had called him and told him that he could expect some surprise guests along with me. Our entire surprise plan went into dust. Then again, never mind! We all were so happy to see each other, that too on an auspicious occasion like Diwali, when nobody would prefer to be alone, but with family and friends. So there we were, as a family, all ready to celebrate the Diwali.

After Dimpi, Tanzin’s wife, lighted the lamps and did some puja, we all went out and burst some fuljhadis as Shgun, though we all were against crackers; the bigger ones and the noisy ones. Then we put on some songs on tv; old and new, and danced crazily; laughing, shouting, running, rolling on floor etc. We had full fledged fun till we were tired and it was too late. So, this Diwali had been quite memorable and rocking one.

"A home away from home; Diwali fun"

Day 3-4; Lonavala & Khandala)

(24-25^th October)

We got back to Malad from Kharghar in the morning, and got our stuffs packed including the instant cooked pulao for lunch. We left by 12 o,clock and waited for Bus at Pushpa park bus stop at Malad (E). But at that point of the time, private buses were not available, and also state transport buses were less frequent, and whichever bus came, it came fully occupied as well. After waiting for almost an hour, we decided to go to the origin point of Bus, i.e. Borivali Bus station, where we got one bus after 20 minutes. We made the right decision, and were glad of our decision, for when we reached Malad, the bus got full again. We would not have got seats again, if we hadn’t gone there. Lol

Thus our journey started. It’s my first ever visit to Lonavala, though I had passed through it on many occasions. The drive through Pune-Mumbai expressway has always kept me captivated. The broad roads and the surrounding beauty of Western Ghats combine to give the best of the best to the travelers.

We reached Lonavala at around 4 o’clock, and went searching for the best located hotel, away from the commotion of the city centre, and successful we were in the quest, though the rates were quite high given to the weekend holidays.  We got fresh, ate the pulao we carried along and by 5:00 pm we left to explore the Lonavala city. Roaming through the streets, crossing the market centre, we finally stopped at Kumar resort, which is quite famous in Lonavala for water sports. It has one famous restaurant, the Kebab restaurant, which has live ghazal performances in it. We roamed around the park, did some fun stuffs and when it started getting dark, we started walking towards our hotel. One thing which I found everywhere i.e. on every shop is ‘Chikki’ shop; yeah Lonavala is famous for chikkis! ;p

"Let's explore a bit of the new city" ;)

The next morning, which was the main day of the tour, we booked a cab for the day @ Rs. 1500/-, which promised to cover almost all the important points of Lonavala and Khandala.

Our tour started with Narayani dham, a temple dedicated to Goddess Naryani, which is quite big and beautiful, and it has the facility of rooms as well. We paid a quick visit to the main shrine and paid our obeisance, and as her blessings Goddess Narayani sent drizzles from the sky; yeah it kept drizzling throughout our tour, thus adding to the beauty of already beautiful Lonavla hills.

"Let's take the blessings first; @ The Narayani Dham"

Then we moved on, driving through the winding roads, to our second destination for the day; the Karla caves, another Buddhist caves dating back to 2^nd century. Have you realized that I am visiting more of caves this year than anything else? Hell, there should be something in it, isn’t it? Hmm … These caves are also associated with Buddhism, and to some extent I found it similar to Kanheri caves, especially the main shrine hall.

"Why the heck, the caves keep inviting me?" :P

Our third destination was ‘Lion’s point/Shooting point’ which became the highlight of the trip. Even the drive towards it, was one of the best; hills, greenery, rain-drizzle and we on the road, just loved it. The zigzag roads seemed like dancing with smooth moves, while on one side the Monsoon green waved and on other side autumn yellow danced. The wind produced the best loud music for all. And three of us with perfect moods, were all into that perfect trip. We passed through many dried waterfalls, aftermath of monsoon, Bhushi dam and Lonavla lake on the way, which all added to the surrounding beauty. After reaching at Lions point, the moment we got out of the car, the sudden gush of the wind welcomed us, making us all go wild. We ran, jumped, sang, and danced out of pure joy at the accompaniment of chilly wind music. We felt that at any moment we will be swept away by the forceful wind, but still we loved it, and went towards there, where the fastest gush blew. Nini and Monty later danced while I became the cameraman. Lol it was really something different and exciting. We felt alive. ;)

"The wind therapy, just loved it!"

Then we drove towards city and stopped at Wax Museum, where wax statues of many famous people were kept. Some of the statues really looked like real, while some were otherwise. Why do we need to go to Madam Taussads, when we have our own museum here in India? Lol

"O yeah, they are just wax statues!" 

At khandala, which was our last destination, first we went to Rajamachi, where the wind speed was even greater and faster. We tried to stand near the railings and pose, but we were not able to. All our clothes felt like tearing apart and we felt as if our hair would soon be blown away from our heads, thus leaving us bald for life. Such was the speed of wind that Nini’s scarf blew away of her head and got stuck at the branches of a nearby tree. But she didn’t want to part with it, so after shouting for a while, when she insisted on climbing up the tree which itself was moving harshly, someone came to help. The gentleman, who helped in getting Nini’s scarf down, later requested to have a photo with us; given to our Mangolian features, they thought us to be unique creatures to be clicked along. Lol

"Dear windy wind, plzzz spare our hair atleast!" Lol

"Nini's scarf being saved; by some superman!" Lol

We went to a nearby temple, and then went walking towards sun-set point, from where is visible the famous dukes nose. There also the wind blew like anything. The roadside vendors, who were selling corns and pani puri etc complained of their money being blown away with the wind. They had to be so careful with their holds on things, lest soon shall they be left with nothing. This was our last point of sightseeing. We relished some hot bhuttas and bhel puri, protecting them hard from the forceful wind, and with stomachs full of excitement, we started for Bus stand, from where we boarded a bus to Mumbai for our return journey.

"The sun-set point; see dukes nose!"

Catching a bus was also a big thing, due to huge crowds of Mumbaikar assembled there, who came for the weekend refreshment and now heading their journey home. It was almost like Mumbai local; pushing and pulling going on with continuous shouting. Lol

We reached Navi Mumbai in one and half hours, and got down at Kharghar, as per promise to stay at Tanzin’s place.

Day-5; Kharghar hills/ Pandav Kada

(26^th October)

Day fifth, we left everything on Tanzin, asking him to take us wherever he wanted. And guess where he took us? Panadav kada, in kharghar hills, where I visited this monsoon with Deepali and had a blast amidst enchanting waterfalls and sexy green surroundings. Now, the scenario was completely different; the waterfall being dried, greenery giving way to autumn yellow fading grasses and trees, and there were lesser people as compared to Monsoon rush, so lesser noise. That’s the best thing when you visit a place off-season, when very few people go, for then you feel the peace prevailing there, and your soul connects to that particular place, and you have an inner conversation with nature’s every aspect that leaves a mark in your soul.  That’s what I believe and I felt there too, like many other places I’ve visited. So I recommend you to visit a place on-season, when you want to have fun with your friends and loved ones, and visit it off-season to find your own self.

"Quite an adventurous day, indeed!" ;-)

Here also we, five of us got ample time to be in our own respective thoughts, along with the fun part we had. We walked through the boulders of the dried stream, for quite a long stretch. There was a water pool, in which we, the girls got in and had loads of fun. When we finally reached the top, we all were quite tired and thirsty, so after staying there for 15-20 minutes, we turned to return. On our way back also, Nini, Monty and Dimpi insisted on going into the water, where they had extra fun, whereas Tanzin and I walked ahead and sat on a clean surface, eating almonds and listening to kinnauri songs on phone, while waiting for them.

In the evening we got back to Malad, as it was Monday the next day, and my holidays were over. It was so painful and heavy to go back to office, especially after five full days’ fun and masti with friends. The next two days, Nini and Monty roamed around on their own; shopping in Bandra, visiting the places like, Haji ali and Juhu. I hope they had fun!

"Two beautiful souls"

And on 29^th evening, they left for Delhi, carrying hoards of memories from here and leaving beautiful memories behind, for me to cherish. I thank God once again for the wonderful friends I have. Amen! J

This Diwali had really been “A-Awesome”

Autumn Fourteen; I had good things in store for me!

Autumn Fourteen; I had good things in store for me! 

(A refreshing trip to home with instant tours to few beautiful places)

Travel, travel and travel! My autumn has always been sweet to me, by giving me chances to do the things I love. For I love traveling the most, it made me travel and travel, while taking its own chance to unravel its own beauty very smartly. Hmm

I will try to keep this note as short as possible, for time now is becoming a concern. (Sigh)

Well, I took leave of complete 2 weeks from work on the eve of Dusshehra, and flew to Chandigarh (my base camp- lol) on 27^th September.  Two of my elder sisters, Sonam and Zangmo were already there. Aji Sonam works as a lecturer in Kasauli, a small hill town in Himachal, and she came to Chandigarh so that we could travel back home to Kinnaur together. And Aji Zangmo was there for some routine check up as she hadn’t been keeping well for quite a long time.  As per plan, Aji Sonam and I were to travel to Kinnaur by Bus at night on 28^th of October. And we both were ready by 4:00 pm on 28^th, when suddenly I thought of calling Dad. And good that I called, as he was on his way to Chandigarh from Kinnaur, for some work which would take him a good 3 days. What then? My mind started cooking its own thing, which later on came as a sudden change of plan i.e. wait for Dad to finish his work and we shall travel together to home by his car. Well, it was agreed and I offered both my sisters a tempting quick little trip to Kullu Valley. And soon all three of us were ready. We caught 8:30 pm Bus to Kullu and reached Kullu at 7:00 am in the morning. One thing which we all would never forget in our lifetimes,  was the way Aji Zangmo stopped the bus at 4:00 am, making every single person on the bus wake up and look around in wonder, which she repeated on our return journey too, with the same reaction from the other passengers. LOL! We kept teasing her throughout, even after the trip ended. LOL

Part-1: Brief Kullu Diary:

After getting fresh and having our breakfast at Aji Sonam’s friend’s place at Bhuntar, we left for Bijli Mahadev, our long aspired destination. You can take shared taxis as well as buses to Bijli Mahadev, quite frequent from Kullu Bus stand. We boarded a bus, which took around 2 hours to reach Chansari, from where we have to trek upto 3 kms to reach the main shrine, located at the hilltop at an altitude of 2460 m.

"That Memorable Trek"

The trek was quite moderate, as well defined tracks had been laid. Moreover as Sister Zangmo is quite slow in walking, we would rest at every short interval, finally reaching the top at around 1 o’clock. But once we reached the top, she was the one to walk faster as she was thrilled by the beauty of the lush green forest surrounding the meadows, which obviously attracted her pace. We sighed in joy, all at once! J

"We came face to face with the beauty" 

The story behind this beautiful shrine which intrigued us is the belief that the priest of the temple, has to restore the Shiva linga placed inside the temple using butter and sattoo after every lightning as it shatters to pieces with flash of lightning. And true it seemed when we had a closer look on the linga after paying our obeisance. There was something divine in the surrounding of the small temple, which felt quite peaceful and magical, irrespective of the noises of children playing around, along which the loud taps of footsteps on the wooden floor. The cold wind blew from the other side of the temple, carrying cold breezes of the river valley below to the top of the mountain. Forcefully magical!

"Divinity leaves its proof too"

We took full round of the temple and then found a cozy surface, facing Kullu valley, to sit and rest. We stayed there for a good 2 hours; eating, playing with the dogs around and relishing the beautiful view of Kullu and Parvati Valley.

"From Parvati Valley blew the magical wind"

"In the lap of nature, you feel the peace and the joy"

We started descending at 3:00 pm and reached down at 4:00. As the trek was satisfactorily tiring to sister Zangmo, we went back to Aji Sonam’s friend’s place and stayed there for the night.

The next morning (30^th Oct), we first went to Dechen Chhokey Monastery at Sharabai at just few minutes’ walk from the place we were staying in. well, let me tell you, I had no clue of this monastery till Shantanoo, one of my friends, texted while we were traveling to kullu, saying, “If you are going to Kullu, go to this Monastery at Bhuntar.” His aunt lives near the monastery itself. So on his recommendation; we went walking towards the monastery, which was quite big and beautiful. As we tried to ascend through a short cut, through some bushes, we lost our way and reached someone’s house instead, who later guided us the way for the Monastery. Lol. But that’s alright, for we reached the Monastery finally. One of Shantanoo’s cousins, Lucky showed us around, and later, he took us to Aunty’s house, who gave us a warm welcome.

"The DC Monastary; Peacefully located and beautifully made"

"Lucky showing us around" :-)

We sat there for quite long sipping tea and chatting, and then left for destination next. The next destination we set for the day was Naggar. It’s here that the famous art gallery of Sir Nicholas Roerich is situated. Nicholas Roerich was the great artist, who travelled all the way from Russia to India, later settling down at Naggar and creating magic through his paintings, which mostly had been inspired from the Himalayas. We took a shared taxi from Patlikuhl to Naggar which was around 12 kms drive. The taxi stopped at the centre of the town, from where the gallery was another 2 kms. There were taxis available for that stretch also, but we preferred to walk. As I am addictive to walking, my sisters had to give in too. So in less than an hour, walking through the Naggar town, taking every possible short cut by asking to the locals, we reached the gallery.

"Naggar ki galion me, chalo chalein"

It was Sir Roerich’s big white wooden house which had been turned to a museum now. No photography was allowed inside the room where original paintings of the great artist were displayed. Every piece of his work; from the mountain tops, from snowy tops to bare tops, sun-reflected tops, sun shadowed tops to the valleys to gaddi girl, all had something deep within them. Every piece seemed to be coming out of the paint, just alive and fresh in front of our very eyes. My great admiration goes to this man for feeling deeply the love of nature and expressing them through his paintings. We visited his son Svetsolav Roerich’s memorial, who equally was a great artist. His deep piercing eyes seemed quite intriguing and he seemed to have required no words to utter, for his eyes themselves were story teller.

"The great house/gallery of the great Sir Roerich" 

Then we took a round of Roerich house, which was kept intact and clean, located at the best location, surrounded by lush green trees and from the terrace of which we could have a good view of Naggar town.

And then we went to Urusvati Himalayan Folk & Art Museum, which was a 100 m trek up from the art gallery. 'Uruswati' is a Sanskrit word, which means 'Light of the Morning Star'. It houses some of the interesting paintings of Sir Roerich and his Russian followers, as well as the traditional costumes of Himalayan belt. Though I have very less understanding of art, but they all were worth admiration.  It took us around 2 hours to explore the galleries.

"Himalayan art Museum"

As both my sisters insisted on taking bath in hot sulpher water, we decided to stay for the night at Kalath, where is located one of the natural hot water spring, where people in large numbers come to take bath with the hope of getting rid of their bodily diseases. We booked a room in a hotel, which has its own private connection of hot spring water. My sisters went twice for the dip, but I preferred to take bath in normal bathroom water. My laziness! Lol

"The enchanting river Beas"

With hoards of memories we left for our return journey to Chandigarh on 1^st October.

Part-2: Road Trip to Home (Kinnaur)

As dad had one more days work at Chandigarh, we took rest on 2^nd, while in the evening went for Bang Bang, the Hrithik Roshan Movie. And next day i.e. 3^rd Oct early morning, we left for Kinnaur. The drive with Dad is always fun, and though I hardly get the chance to travel with him for our schedules clashing every time, I enjoy to the fullest whenever I get the chance.

Driving leisurely through Himalayan expressway and National Highway-05, we reached Rampur at 2:00 pm. But as Dad had some work at Rampur, we stayed there for the night, and travelled next day to home, which was still about 200 kms away. As the roads there are not smooth, being a hilly mountainous road, bumps, curves, turns, upward, downward, the drive gets quite slow and adventurous. People travel from home to other places, but I travel from other places to home. Earlier studies and now job, have kept me far from home. And I hardly get to travel frequently, but once a year, that too for a short duration of one or two days. So every time I travel, it’s like traveling to a new place, as mountain roads keep changing, affecting the landscapes around. Every time I travel home, there would be some different road diverting here and there as the old roads would have been damaged beyond repair. The work on the Kinnaur roads is a forever thing. People’s construction v/s nature’s deconstruction game go side by side, making the travelers wonder and sigh during long intervals of wait over some blocked road and traffic jam. But the people living there had formed a habit of such troublesome journey keeping their faith and hope in midst of despair. Hmm

"The Road leading to my home; A memorable drive with Pa and Di"

"Intrigued me; Its like a devil at the verge of gulping some helpless creature, when suddenly a light shone on the other side of the mountain, making the devil go awestruck, who then forgot to close his mouth." :P

Thus travelling through those majestic roads, we reached home at around 7:00 pm.  And guess what! Everyone was happy to see me healthy this time. Yes I have put on 5 kgs of good and healthy weight. (Wink) Mom was happiest to see me this way, as she had always been complaining of my lean body with protruding bones over my shoulder. Lol

My life is never planned. Surprises knock at my heart’s door every now and then with tempting and irresistible offers. Something like this happened the next morning. I went to the Altar of the house to pay my obeisance, when suddenly one of my brother, Tsewang, who’s settled in Tabo, at Lahaul Spiti and who came to attend a marriage ceremony at Chango the previous night, came, and directly said,”Get ready, I am taking you to Tabo!”  What else would I want; I, who always look for excuses to go and travel, got ready quickly with my sister. And then, traveling through the barren mountainous roads with blue sky with tinges of white cumulus above and serpent like Spiti River flowing beautifully along, we headed for Tabo.

"Journey amidst the Autumn Magic!"

I am not going to stretch it long, but the trip has been amazing, as this time I covered some caves on the mountains along with the famous and magnificent Tabo Monastry, which is well known to every traveler, Indian or foreigner.

"Perfect_Caves_Natural"

"Tabo Monastery"

"No caption required, when the picture speaks for itself"

We returned to Chango the same evening and had momo party at sister Tsering’s house, refreshing thousands of old memories and reached home quite late when everybody was asleep. So late for a village night, huh. J

Next two-three days I stayed at home, did a lot of peeling of fresh almonds, the season being on full swing and during free time played with my nephew, who considers me a friend, given to my short height and childlike nature. He was damn shocked when his mother (my sis-in-law) said, “You know, bua (aunt) is an officer!” He was like,”Hain, sachi me, you are lying!” Lol I treasured each little thing and moment till I was there and had a memorable stay at home, though shorter. J

 

"My best friends at home; Maa and Anam (nephew)"

Part-3 : Return journey to Chandigarh via Shimla

I spent a good autumn break of 3-4 days with my family at my village, and then started the return journey to Chandigarh on 8^th October. Kesang, my brother came to drive me and Aji Sonam to Chandigarh as a good brother. As we were stuck in traffic at one of the diversion at cholling for more than 4 hours, we halted at Rampur, and traveled next morning. I had made prior appointments with my friend Annie and friend cum brother Ishan at Shimla, so I got down at Shimla. We all were so happy to see each other after such a long time. We talked, shared, walked, teased each other and relived the good olden days at Mall road.

"Re-lived the Fursat ke din for one day"

On 10^th Oct. I reached back to Chandigarh, and spent 2 days with my sisters, brother, nephews and friends. The time felt like slipping away and I tried to make most of it, and yes I did. I squeezed those few days on my own way and lived each and every moment with my loved ones.

"The last day and night of the freedom" :-)

And soon, it was 12^th, the day my return flight to my work place, Mumbai had been booked. But no worries, as I was more than satisfied with my autumn break. Now back to Mumbai, the autumn heat over here which is full of sweaty moments, is incomparable to the autumn I had at Himachal and Chandigarh, which was heavenly. But I have no complaints, for I have lived my part of good life in a good way. Thank you Autumn_14 for being so good to me. J