In the whole trip, we visited several places - Delhi, Chandigarh, Shimla, Kufri, Kullu and Manali
Day1 - 07/05/13 Wednesday
First
day of our 9 day trip! I am very excited of the whole trip and
expecting a lot out of the Kesari group. Morning, the day started
with a rush for getting ready and at 8:45 we boarded cab to the
airport. I was very excited. Completing all the formalities, we
boarded the flight which was a bit late. It took off at 11:45 and we
landed in Delhi at 1:40. We met the only other telugu family (Poorna
uncle and Santoshi aunty) in the trip. We waited with our group for
the bus. Some of them already introduced themselves to others while
some were still alone. We ate our packed lunch in the stationary bus
which was not really comfortable but I knew some sacrifices have to
be made. We started for Chandigarh at 3:20. When the bus started, for
the first time we heard the tour guide call for “Ganpati Bappa
Moriya, Mangal Murti Moriya Undir Mama Ki Jay”. All of us joined
our voices with full energy! This happened later on after every time
we got into the bus. The Delhi we saw was not very exciting because
it was the outskirts and not the main metropolitan area. Later, even
after two hours we were still in Delhi. I was amazed that there is
such a big city in India. We then paid the tax of Haryana to cross
the state border. We then stopped at the restaurant Haveli in the
Karnal town in the evening. I loved the look of the whole restaurant.
I also came to know that the area was named after Kunti's son Karna.
Drinking tea, we roamed in the various shops outside the restaurant.
We
then proceeded for Chandigarh. I made a new friend Devang, which is a
good thing of going in a group. We passed by Kurukshetra and had a
talk with our tour manager about the next day. We reached Chandigarh
after paying the Punjab tax. The Ambala-Chandigarh highway is very
nice. After a while, we reached our first hotel Shagun which was much
better than I had thought. The restaurant was good, the hotel was
good and the rooms were also well maintained. We ate dinner and
listened to the next day's plan - “OK Kesari group...”, unpacked
our suitcases and slept for another hectic day.
Day2 - 08/05/13 Thursday
We
were woken up in our hotel at around 5:45. This is the 'actual' first
day of our trip. We got ready and went for breakfast at 6:45. By 8:15
we started for Shimla – our first 'sightseeing'. Mom started
enjoying free chatting with her neighbour calling her aunty. This
time in the bus we saw Chandigarh much better. It is so well planned
and green that I was much more surprised than I was by Delhi. I also
got the information that it was the first planned city designed by a
French architect Le Corbusier and has sectors that look like blocks,
and declared recently as 'smoke free city' (!) This is the first time
I heard it in India. Our first stop was Pinjore gardens at 9:30. I
was really excited. It was designed by Aurangazeb's foster brother
Nawab Fidal Khan and
was made in the 17th
century. But later it was maintained by King Yadavindra. It had 7
levels just like the Brindavan garden in Mysore.
Later
we continued our journey. We took a new route made only 6 months ago.
We paid the Himachal tax at Parwanoo boarder and now the road is all
ghats! The view of the valley was really good and we saw a range of
flowers on the edge of the road. During this journey as we were
approaching Shimla we saw many houses built on the edges of
mountains. On the way, we were told about a toy train which travels
96km going through 863 curves, 107 tunnels and 24 bridges – the
Shimla-Kalka toy train. I was surprised to hear about this century
old train that still functions and later we saw tunnel no. 16. We had
a stop at hotel Sukh Sagar for lunch. I was surprised we were already
in Shimla. We went to the roof of the hotel to see the entire city of
Shimla around. All of us started noticing a cute girl Mohar, the
smallest member of the group. We slowly started interacting and
playing with her. She later became darling of all of us, especially
Poorna (Rao) uncle and Santoshi aunty!
Later,
we went to Mall road in several cars. We were expecting a lot to be
seen as we wanted to go to Shimla for a long time. There was nothing
great at Shimla other than the nice mall road. There are 3 levels in
the mall road – lower, middle and upper but we visited only middle
and upper in the time we had. We saw North India's second oldest
Church on the upper level and it was awesome inside. The surroundings
of the church were also very good.
Then
we had snacks and went back to get a car. This is where the catch
was. We had to wait for over an hour to get a car after going down
both the lifts. We got frustrated and bored. We finally got a car and
went back to our bus. After a while we were in Kufri – a wonderful
place. We went to the Kufri holiday resort which is very well built.
Their service is also good. We had a nice dinner, heard the plan
about how the next day would be - “OK Kesari group...” bedtime...
Day3 - 09/05/13 Friday
We
got up at around 7:00. We got ready and went for breakfast at 8:00.
Right after that, as we did not have time earlier because of journey,
we had a self-introduction session; the first opportunity to know
everyone in the group. It was not as easy as I thought. When it was
my family's turn I was wondering what to speak about! But finally, I
succeeded. The hotel is nicely built in multi levels with a lot of
space in the middle.
At
10:00, we started for Kufri-Himalyan zoo. We paid our entry fee and I
was really eager to see some animals not found in regular conditions
(I mean in central forests). We saw all mountain and snow animals –
Barking Deer, Himalayan Tahr, Brown Bear, Snow Leopard, Tibetan Wolf,
Sambhar and various birds including Monal – Himachal's state bird.
For the first time I saw a fluffy brown bear like a teddy bear! The
whole walking in the zoo was around 1 to 1½ km long. By 11:20 we
were out by another exit. We also did some photography inside the
zoo. Right when we exited we ended up at Chini Bungalow where Indira
Gandhi had some important meeting. We spent some time there and had
tea. Suddenly, I saw a new animal inviting me. A “Yak”! I saw one
for the first time in life. I couldn’t resist taking a ride and
paying for both ride and taking a photo with it. :-) I didn’t know
at that time that in the later part of the trip I would see a lot
more of this animal.
We
ate a bit, did some photography and were back in the hotel. We went
for lunch at 12:15 and started for Naldehra. It was only a 25km road
but we felt it much longer due to ghat road. The road was awfully
dangerous and we had several close calls. I was very scared where we
were going to be! We could see a golf course only from outside
because non-members cannot go inside. I was feeling sad about seeing
only from outside. At Naldehra, I did four adventurous acts –
Flying fox, Burma bridge, Bamboo bridge and holding a Python around
my neck! Mom freaked out at the thought of even touching a reptile. I
loved, meaning literally loved doing them all. Later, we played group
games such as “Kachi Papayi Pakki Papayi”, “Chota fish Bada
fish” (I bet people who are from our group reading this would still
be laughing).
While
returning, we saw Asia's deepest valley – Hasan valley at a depth
of 2400m. Although I was sad to know it so late that there were
indoor games in the hotel, I played a lot after I came to know. It
was a really good experience to play with newly made friends.
Again, while having a wonderful dinner, we heard about the next day - “OK Kesari group...” Now only sleep, sleep, sleep....zzzz to get up the next day at 5:00.
Day4 - 10/05/13 Saturday
Travel...Travel...Travel...
That's what I can say about that day. We woke up in the same hotel at
around 5:00. We ate our breakfast at 6:15 which is the same almost
everyday, everywhere in Himachal – Cereal, Toast with jam/butter,
Omlet/boiled eggs and Tea/coffee. We checked out of the hotel at 7:00
to go to Manali and I knew I would miss that hotel. It was again the
same road like to Naldehra but for some reason we did not feel it
dangerous this time. We passed through the Shimla city to see the
daily life on mountains!
We
passed through several small towns like Totu, Dharla Ghat and others.
We had a tea break at 10:15 in Chamagadipur because everyone was
looking tired and everyone wanted to get out of the bus. I was happy
about THAT. Later, we changed our route from NH88 to NH21 at a place
called Khagas. We had a game of Antakshari to 'entertain' ourselves.
Meanwhile, we saw the Sutlej river which flows through Punjab,
Himachal, Pakistan.
We
saw ACC cement factory at Burmana which needs mica found plenty in
the stones of Sutlej. Then, we saw Sutlej, Beas link at Salhapad and
it was awesome to see how the Sundarnagar canal of Beas river of 13
km length is artificially made to keep Sutlej never dry.
We had lunch at hotel Valley View in Chakarmandi and indeed it was one of the buildings in which we had to climb stairs to get onto the road. Later, when we continued our journey, we saw the Pandoh dam where the Kullu valley starts. We passed the 2.86km Laraji tunnel which is the second longest in India! We could also see the runway of Bhuntar airport pass by, made on the top of a mountain. We saw a lot of step farming on the way.
At
Kullu, we saw the Beas, Parvati sangam and we got down the bus to go
to the Aar Kay Shawl factory. This is one more experience. I not only
got to see different wools like Pashmina goat wool, Rabbit wool,
Rabbit-Yak wool, Yak wool and Rabbit-Sheep wool but I also got to see
how shawls and stolls are made. We bought quite a few woollen stuff
there.
We
had a tea break over there and continued to the 6-floor Vaishnomata
mandir. We saw Vaishnomata in a cave on the third floor, Goddess
Durga on fourth, Goddess Saraswati on fifth and Lord Shiva in a cave
on sixth. We had to crawl in the cave to see Vaishnomata which is
another experience. Later, we played a food antakshari which I guess
became boring after a while. While playing, we came to know we
reached Manali. We checked into hotel Sterling Holiday Homes.
We
ate our dinner while listening to the next day's plan - “OK Kesari
group...go to sleep”
Day5 - 11/05/13 Sunday
Temples
today? What a bore. That's what I felt when I woke up at 7:00. We got
ready and had our breakfast in the same hotel at 8:30. We got into
our bus at 9:30 to go to our second temple of the whole trip. This
mandir which is called Gauri-Shankar Gayatri mandir is said to be
over 5000 years old built by the Pandavas. I was astonished but it
didn't look so. Then I came to know that it had had 2 renovations. I
learnt a tradition followed over there that when a mandir is
renovated, the oldest tree from the village is made to stand outside
the mandir. There were two! We couldn’t go into the mandir as some
pooja was going on at that time participated by many local people. We
also saw a 5000 year old tree which is said to have broken once and
grown up again.
At
10:30 we went to the Manali market also called the Manali mall road!!
It had various shops. People who wanted to shop shopped there. We
bought several dry fruits over there. Although the bus dropped us, it
couldn't stop there, so we went back in autos to our hotel. We ate
lunch at 1:30 and had some free time until 3:45. People did whatever
they wanted to -some strolled around, some did photography, some
played in the games room and some just went back to their rooms. At
3:45, we went to the Hadimba mandir in small cars as buses weren't
allowed. We heard that this temple is also several centuries old. We
saw skulls of sacrificed animals all around to know that many
ceremonies have taken place already. We saw that there is a small
cave inside where the statue is situated. There are a lot of huge and
beautiful Deodar trees around the mandir. We got to know that these
trees grow very slowly (3 inches per year). Hence their size
indicates their hundreds of years of age.
Then
we proceeded to our fourth and last mandir of the trip – Vashishta
mandir. It had had 3 renovations and according to local people, there
have been hot sulphur springs for ages. It is believed that
the hot water spring was created by Lakshmana for the benefit
of Vashisht muni. There are three mandirs in the whole place;
Vashishta, Shiva and Ram.
We
went back to our hotel. We rested for some time and then came to know
that there was a surprise campfire at 7:00. I requested tour manager
Nilesh dada secretly to plan for a cake cutting next day on the eve
of mother’s day which was the next day. At the campfire we had
songs, dance, games and jokes. This was a nice time for me to mingle
with all the other children. Then dinner was announced at 9:00. There
was a surprise cake cutting on the 29th wedding
anniversary of Patils! We had a short briefing about the next day. A
day to see snow finally! I slept thoroughly to get up next day at
4:45 (!).
Day6 - 12/05/13 Monday
We
woke up at 4:45 (!) We did not even have time to eat breakfast in the
hotel or we would be late. So, we were given packaged breakfast to be
eaten in the cars. We started for the snow point at 6:00. While
Rohtang pass was in the plan sadly we got to know that it was not
opened for tourists yet. So, we had to be content with another snow
point. I am happy that I am at least going to see snow. We had to
wear 3 layers of clothing to be ready to take the cold. We also
rented one more layer at the fur coat rent shop that would provide
full body protection with gum boots! After going uphill, we started
to see old snow mixed with mud all over the sides of the road. I
could see several layers of thickness running into several feet of
snow turned ice.
I
was getting excited. At one point, the view was awesome that I did
not feel like taking my face off the window! Finally at 8:15 we
reached our spot known as Beas-nallah. Yay!! Snow! Snow! Already
hundreds of people are enjoying in the snow! We were led by Bhimsen
mama who was in contact with the Kesari's tour guides. The entry into
snow itself wasn't easy. We crossed shallow chilled water flow with a
lot of loose stones of several feet width without falling down before
I could finally touch snow. Soon I realized the place was very dirty
and the snow was brown and green all over with mud and yak shit! I
was not very happy, that was not what I wanted. I could get the feel
of snow but not the way I wanted. There were too many activities
going on simultaneously spoiling the ambience and polluting the
environment. There was smell of burning petrol and yak shit all over.
Soon I ignored everything and became part of the whole mess! :-) We
took an adventure sports package of Rs.650 and enjoyed some really
cool rides like snow bike, mountain bike, yak ride, tyre ride and
skiing. It was a cool experience to do some rides not possible
without snow. It was unbelievable to see a mountain bike just go over
anything and everything with ease.
After
all wonderful rides, I made a snowman sitting at the edge of water
from the bits of white snow found here and there. I couldn't play
serious snow fights because the snow was not clean. I was happy that
I could at least make a snowman although I couldn't play a serious
snow fight. At 10:30, we all sat back in our cars. Just when we were
about to start one of the cars of our group got stuck in mud and
couldn't come out. So, our car and another car were used to pull it
out. Surprisingly the drivers of those taxies were not equipped
enough for these simple problems. When we finally started there was
already a traffic jam and we got stuck in it for 2 hours. We were
really bored with cold body and aching feet in gum boots for so long.
After the jam was over, we were back in the hotel at around 2:30. We
all went for lunch as everyone was very hungry. After lunch we all
had free time to rest but everyone utilized it in his or her own way.
I came to know that there were indoor games in this hotel too. I
played air hockey with my mother. We got ready at 5:00. While waiting
for my parents to get ready I played snooker!
At 7:30, we went to the
orchestra planned for that night by Kesari. We heard a lot of songs
along with some synthesizer and electric drums. We were all compelled
to dance. At first I felt nervous but then we all enjoyed the dance
together. Then the orchestra entertained us more until dinner time.
They even sang 'Meri maa' of Taare zameen par on the occasion of
Mothers Day on my request!
We
went for dinner at 9:45, and as I and Nilesh dada had planned, the
planned cake cutting took place while some were still eating.
Surprisingly I was asked to cut the cake on behalf of all children
and mothers. We celebrated that day really well.
Next
we were told about the next day's plan “OK Kesari group...” now
bedtime...
Day7 - 13/05/13 Tuesday
That
day was another awesome day and sadly last day. We got up at 5:00 in
the same hotel. We went for breakfast at 6:15 but only another family
showed up. This was because only those going for paragliding had to
wake up early. Others had an extra hour of sleep! We got out at 7:00.
We reached our paragliding site in the Solang Valley at around 8:15.
There were amazing views of snow-capped mountains!
We
watched the paragliding for a moment. We started trekking to the
mountain top to do it ourselves. This is my first time so I am all
excited. That's why, out of us five, I reached the mountain top first
at around 8:35. Some of them were really scared so I went ahead for
wearing harness and took off first, ...zoom...... It was a wonderful
ride that lasted over a minute. Even my mom did the ride and she too
liked it. A
few people of another Kesari group staying at a different hotel
arrived late, so we had to wait. In the waiting, I went for a rolling
balloon ride which was also my first time experience.
It was wonderful. I kept rolling inside the balloon and I got
so excited that I felt like doing it over and over again.
Then,
we started for the river water rafting site at 9:45 after everyone
finished their paragliding. I was even more excited for the rafting
as I had already done it once before when I had gone for a school
camp. We reached our rafting site at 11:00. Rafting in ever flowing
Beas river! The others from our hotel who woke up an hour later than
us already reached there and left in rafts when we had gone for
paragliding. While we waited for the other team also to arrive, we
went to the river. The water was chilly cold (Brrrr...)! We threw
some flat looking stones on the river making them do frog jumps and
picked up a few stones as samples (they contain mica and used as
Cement ore). When the other team arrived, a person explained all the
rules of safety and how to sit and conduct inside the raft. Dad was
asked to sit in the front and handle a paddle. I was denied one in
spite of repeated requests. I was jealous of dad. We were divided
into 2 groups, 8 and 7. We wore safety gear; a helmet and a life
jacket. Finally that moment has come. We sat in our raft but I was
still upset that I was not allowed to paddle the raft. I was even
more upset that I was asked to sit in the second row middle seat. I
started cheering up a little when one of the first chilly waves hit
our raft, bang... and we were all drenched. After some time seeing my
still upset mood mom asked the captain (the one actually doing the
main paddling) if I could be swapped with the aunty sitting in the
front middle seat. Wow!, thanks to mom and aunty, I am back in full
mood. 14km of rafting, the thought itself was quite exciting!
Continuously our raft was being hit by waves sometimes huge that they
drenched us fully and sometimes small which would just lift our raft.
It was very enjoyable and one of the best parts of our whole trip. I
do not have any photos for this act as we could not take the camera
into raft because of water. We took a total of 1 hour 15 minutes to
travel the whole stretch. Meanwhile the car that brought us already
reached the destination and waited for us with all our bags
containing change of clothes. We completed our ride and got ready
with changed clothes by 2:00 while others had snacks and tea/coffee.
While going back we realized the driver of our car was very
knowledgeable about the history of the place. He told us a lot about
the trees, earthquake resistant houses, climate, temples, the kings
of the place, their traditions, and much more and we were just
soaking the information. We reached our hotel at 3:45 and we had
become a hungry pack of wolves. We then had some free time to relax.
Dad spent some time photographing beautiful roses in the hotel garden
while mom was socializing with other group members and with her
“Manisha aunty” while I was playing a video game in games room.
We went to room for a short time to relax and get ready for the get
together party that ends the Manali stay. Then suddenly we started
hearing bang bang thud thud... I was wondering what was going on. I
was seeing the first hailstorm of my life. I was happy that although
I could not see a snowfall, I saw a hailstorm. The ice pieces were
falling like meteorites! At 6:00, when it subsided I went out and
joined the other children to play a ice fight.
We
got ready for the evening programme at 7:15. Surprisingly got to see
some Himachal local culture! We saw a Himachal folk dance “Nati”
and heard their songs in their language! Then we all joined in their
dance trying to make a few of their steps.
Then
we played Housie game and guess what, my mom won a prize for
finishing the first line the earliest! After that people shared their
experiences of the trip and thanked tour managers for how they
conducted the whole tour. We went for dinner at 10:00 and heard the
next day's plan - “OK Kesari group...”. I was surprised to know
that by starting an hour early we were going to see some places in
Chandigarh that are not part of plan! We also realized that the trip
has come to an end. Sadly, last bedtime in Manali...
Day8 - 14/05/13 Wednesday
It's
a journey day. Got to leave the beautiful place, very sad. We got up
at 5:00 and went for breakfast at 6:00. The earlier we start surely
we will reach Chandigarh before 6pm so that we can see some more of
the city. We checked out of the hotel by 7:00 and the bus started by
7.15!. In the journey, we could see some wonderful scenery out of the
window – the valley, dense Deodar forests, snow-capped mountains
for the last time. We got to see several old houses which were very
strong with layers of bricks and wood logs, mentioned by the driver
of our rafting trip car. We also saw some wonderful waterfalls due to
the melting of snow on mountains.
We
stopped for lunch break in the same Valley View hotel at 11:00 in
which we stopped during onward journey. By 12:00, we were back on our
course to Chandigarh. Everyone entertained themselves in their own
ways – some chatted, some slept... Later Nilesh dada talked a lot
about his experiences, about Shivaji maharaj, Rana Pratap singh, some
Marati stage plays, about the places coming on the way, some jokes
and entertained us. We had a tea/coffee break at a dhaba on our way
at around 2:40. We were back on the route by 3:05. On the way, far
away we could see a lake. It is the Govind Sagar lake formed from the
backwaters of Bakra Nangal dam, the tallest concrete dam of our
country. Later, we entered Punjab. We went through many familiar
places and also Kiratpur and other villages. We then saw the Sutlej
irregation canal from the Bakra Nangal dam. Now we were out of the
Ghat road and the roads started becoming wider. We saw several Poplar
trees which are used for making matchsticks! We also saw several
sunflower fields. I was seeing the sunflower also for the first time.
We passed through the city of Mohali famous for its cricket ground.
Then we turned left in Kurrali to take a short-cut to enter the city
of Chandigarh. This time we really felt that we were entering a
foreign country. Then we reached our first Chandigarh sightseeing
place at 5:35, well in time – the famous Rock garden built by Nek
Chand. Inside, everything is amazingly made of waste – broken
porcelain mugs, bottle caps, pieces of bangles, broken tiles, broken
electrical bulb holders etc. all turned to animal and human figures.
There are three phases of the garden. We did not see phase 3.
We
were out of the garden at 6:25 and five minutes later, we were at
Sukhna lake. Apparently the site was earlier a dump site and later
converted to a big beautiful artificial lake! We did not go for
boating as there was no sufficient time. I did jumping on a
trampoline with tied ropes. Then, we had snacks over there and back
in the bus.
After
a while, we were in Rose Gardens. I was surprised to know that it was
spread across 42 acres, has 32500 plants, 825 varieties of roses and
is the largest garden in Asia! Sadly by the time we entered into it,
it was already dark. Anyways there weren't any roses as it was not
the season, so we enjoyed the fountains and some nice sugar cane
juice outside and were back in the bus. As I have mentioned earlier,
indeed Chandigarh is a really green city and well-planned city. At
around 8:45, we reached Hotel Shagun again where we had stayed on the
first day of the trip. We went for dinner at 9:30 and heard the next
day's plan “OK Kesari group...” now sleep...
Day9 - 15/05/13 Thursday
Sob...Sob...Last
day! We woke up at 7:00. We got ready and went for breakfast at 8:00.
By 9:15, we checked out of our hotel for going to Delhi airport. When
we got into the bus, for the last time we heard the tour guide call
for “Ganpati Bappa Moriya, Mangal Murti Moriya Undir Mama Ki Jay”.
We did not again go through core Chandigarh but this time through the
outskirts. We again saw several sunflower fields and other flower
plants too. At this point of time, all of us children went to the
back seats to chat for a while. Who knows – may be we are meeting
for the last time! Later we started playing Dumb Charades. We played
Dumb Charades for a long time to entertain ourselves from getting
bored. Meanwhile we passed through Panipet. We got down for lunch at
a different Haveli restaurant at Sonepat. The restaurant is very
nice, especially the toilets are huge and super clean!
Then
we were back on course we reached the outskirts of Delhi by 3:00.
This time, we saw the main Delhi mega-city and some elevated track,
possibly the famous Delhi metro. Finally, we reached the airport at
4:30. When we unloaded the luggage, we were given instruction about
the airport and for the last time. Now we heard every one say “OK
Kesari group...” :-). As soon as going into the airport, we
completed all the formalities so that we could sit free for 3 hours!
We children all roamed around the airport to look around and it was
actually like a mega-mall. All of us enjoyed with cute Mohar for the
last time. We got to see how a modern toddler looks!
Now
it was my last chance to talk to friends that I made during the trip.
At around 7:30, everyone either ate in pizza hut or KFC. We ate in
pizza hut. The flight started at 8:50. I had a terrible ear pain
after the flight started so I couldn't talk to anyone and I slept. At
11:20, we reached Pune. We said good-bye to all the friends we had
made during the trip. We reached home just before 12:00 in the night.
I was both sad and happy. Sad because I had to leave all my friends
and also that the trip was over but happy because finally I could
sleep in my comfortable bed.
Our trip was a success! The nature helped us complete it successfully!
Suhas
24/5/13
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