SurprICE at Dalhousie
Now out of Amritsar, we knew the drive to Dalhousie was going to be long, more than six hours, and through the Ghats. So we took turns to shuffle the seats among us so that no one feels nausea. But still something happened, something really horrifying. Gaury started feeling weird and wanted to get out of the car and puke. We stopped somewhere in the middle of the mountains, where it was pitch dark. Manish and Gayatri were sitting along with Gauri in the back seat of the car, when she opened the door and stepped out to vomit. Manish and Gayatri continued with the talks with the front-seaters, when Manish heard a thud. He looked back and initially he couldn't see Gaury. He enlarged his iris and pierced his vision through the darkness. He saw her and screamed, 'Gaury gir gayi!' (Gaury fell down). He ran to her along with Gayatri and shook her. She didn't move. We were terrified to the core. The last thing we wanted was an unconscious girl, in the middle of the Ghats, with no one else around to help in the darkness of the night. Nanu splashed water on her face and she came back to her senses. We made her sit and asked her to stay there for a while, but Gaury, not aware of what had just happened, said 'Itni thandi me road pe bitha ke kyu rakha hai? (Why have you made me sit on road in this freezing weather?) Let me go back to the car.' We got her back in the car and continued our drive towards our second surprise. This was one story we kept bringing up throughout the rest of the trip.
Some 10-15 kms away from Dalhousie, we stopped our car to buy liquor. Santji knew a place where liquor was sold at less than the MRP. So he had advised us to buy the liquor from there instead of Dalhousie where they charge 10-20 percent over the MRP. We bought the liquor, went back to the car and Santji turned the keys to the car and the car refused to start. We tried jump-starting the car, but it didn't work. Then Manish came to the rescue. He shuffled some resisters here and there and asked Santji to try starting the car. The car started after a couple of failures. And off we went again. This time we told Santji 'No more stops until we reach Dalhousie'.
Approximately 5-6 kms away from Dalhousie we saw the road was sprinkled with some snow. Everyone in the car started screaming and singing, refreshed by the pleasant view outside the window. Some of us were seeing snow for the first time, which doubled our enthusiasm. Right then Santji stopped the car at a hotel. We asked whether we have reached and he said that we were 5 kms away from Dalhousie and the roads could be blocked. It was night then and hence he suggested going to Dalhousie in the morning. Now that was bullshit. We'd asked some local guys, at a tea stall on our way, whether the roads had opened and they'd confirmed that they were. We figured that Santji was either avoiding the uphill drive or wanted to save on gas. Either ways, we didn't care. We told him that we'd just started seeing snow on roads and that too in small quantities. It would not be that bad at Dalhousie. So let us ourselves go and see whether the roads are closed, and if they are, we can come back here. As I said in my previous blog, Santji was a cool-headed man and agreed to whatever we said.
Note: Whichever place you go, make it a point to stay close to the heart of the place and near the market area. That will give you the best exposure and experience of the local life and culture.
Secondly, alcohol is expensive at Dalhousie. So make sure to buy it before you reach there.
We reached Dalhousie and most of us were freezing to death. So we checked into the first hotel available, Hotel Raj Kumar. To our surprise, the rooms were cheap as compared to their size and interiors. We dumped our luggage in the rooms and came out again to enjoy the snow for a while. I have been waiting for ages to see snow and always wanted to feel the coldness right on my skin. And this was my moment. I walked outside the hotel and handed over my camera to Manish. Then took off my shirt and threw at Gayatri to hold on to, while I posed for a snap. :) It was a chilling experience. Soon after, Manish and Nanu too joined in to challenge their ability of resistance.
After a couple more snaps we walked back to our hotel, where we discovered that Gaury, the 'Trained to be Hopeless' girl [that's the title I gave her :)], dropped my stock of liquor on the floor. So I had to switch to rum. The weather was so freezing, we all had the drinks neat. That night was spent just drinking, hopping around in beds, and seven of us (except Roopali) trying to sleep on one bed. The bed had got so warm later on that none of us wanted to get out of that coziness.
The next day, we had planned to visit the Dalhousie market, Subhash Chowk and Gandhi chowk, all were 2 kms uphill where the roads were blocked for vehicles due to heavy snowfall the previous day. So we had to take a walk. But just in front of our hotel was the Dalhousie Club house. We don't know whether it was open, we don't know whether it was allowed to enter the premises, but what we saw was heaven. It was a huge flat area covered with at least 1-foot deep layer of snow. Virgin snow! No marks of footsteps in an around the place. And we, the haraami people, took it's virginity!
Next couple of hours were enjoyed with full hearts in snow fights!
Finally we started our walk uphill, but soon gave up realizing that we also had to leave for Dharamshala in a couple of hours. We could only cover the Dalhousie market. As I've said this earlier in my Noida blog, you will find Maggi noodles stalls everywhere in North, be it Delhi, Noida, Punjab, Uttarakhand or any other place. They are crazy about two things, Maggi and Parathas. We were hungry and could not find a good place to have lunch.
We stuffed our bellies with Maggi and omelet and we took off for Dharamshala ... continued in Part 3.
Now out of Amritsar, we knew the drive to Dalhousie was going to be long, more than six hours, and through the Ghats. So we took turns to shuffle the seats among us so that no one feels nausea. But still something happened, something really horrifying. Gaury started feeling weird and wanted to get out of the car and puke. We stopped somewhere in the middle of the mountains, where it was pitch dark. Manish and Gayatri were sitting along with Gauri in the back seat of the car, when she opened the door and stepped out to vomit. Manish and Gayatri continued with the talks with the front-seaters, when Manish heard a thud. He looked back and initially he couldn't see Gaury. He enlarged his iris and pierced his vision through the darkness. He saw her and screamed, 'Gaury gir gayi!' (Gaury fell down). He ran to her along with Gayatri and shook her. She didn't move. We were terrified to the core. The last thing we wanted was an unconscious girl, in the middle of the Ghats, with no one else around to help in the darkness of the night. Nanu splashed water on her face and she came back to her senses. We made her sit and asked her to stay there for a while, but Gaury, not aware of what had just happened, said 'Itni thandi me road pe bitha ke kyu rakha hai? (Why have you made me sit on road in this freezing weather?) Let me go back to the car.' We got her back in the car and continued our drive towards our second surprise. This was one story we kept bringing up throughout the rest of the trip.
Some 10-15 kms away from Dalhousie, we stopped our car to buy liquor. Santji knew a place where liquor was sold at less than the MRP. So he had advised us to buy the liquor from there instead of Dalhousie where they charge 10-20 percent over the MRP. We bought the liquor, went back to the car and Santji turned the keys to the car and the car refused to start. We tried jump-starting the car, but it didn't work. Then Manish came to the rescue. He shuffled some resisters here and there and asked Santji to try starting the car. The car started after a couple of failures. And off we went again. This time we told Santji 'No more stops until we reach Dalhousie'.
Approximately 5-6 kms away from Dalhousie we saw the road was sprinkled with some snow. Everyone in the car started screaming and singing, refreshed by the pleasant view outside the window. Some of us were seeing snow for the first time, which doubled our enthusiasm. Right then Santji stopped the car at a hotel. We asked whether we have reached and he said that we were 5 kms away from Dalhousie and the roads could be blocked. It was night then and hence he suggested going to Dalhousie in the morning. Now that was bullshit. We'd asked some local guys, at a tea stall on our way, whether the roads had opened and they'd confirmed that they were. We figured that Santji was either avoiding the uphill drive or wanted to save on gas. Either ways, we didn't care. We told him that we'd just started seeing snow on roads and that too in small quantities. It would not be that bad at Dalhousie. So let us ourselves go and see whether the roads are closed, and if they are, we can come back here. As I said in my previous blog, Santji was a cool-headed man and agreed to whatever we said.
Note: Whichever place you go, make it a point to stay close to the heart of the place and near the market area. That will give you the best exposure and experience of the local life and culture.
Secondly, alcohol is expensive at Dalhousie. So make sure to buy it before you reach there.
We reached Dalhousie and most of us were freezing to death. So we checked into the first hotel available, Hotel Raj Kumar. To our surprise, the rooms were cheap as compared to their size and interiors. We dumped our luggage in the rooms and came out again to enjoy the snow for a while. I have been waiting for ages to see snow and always wanted to feel the coldness right on my skin. And this was my moment. I walked outside the hotel and handed over my camera to Manish. Then took off my shirt and threw at Gayatri to hold on to, while I posed for a snap. :) It was a chilling experience. Soon after, Manish and Nanu too joined in to challenge their ability of resistance.
After a couple more snaps we walked back to our hotel, where we discovered that Gaury, the 'Trained to be Hopeless' girl [that's the title I gave her :)], dropped my stock of liquor on the floor. So I had to switch to rum. The weather was so freezing, we all had the drinks neat. That night was spent just drinking, hopping around in beds, and seven of us (except Roopali) trying to sleep on one bed. The bed had got so warm later on that none of us wanted to get out of that coziness.
The next day, we had planned to visit the Dalhousie market, Subhash Chowk and Gandhi chowk, all were 2 kms uphill where the roads were blocked for vehicles due to heavy snowfall the previous day. So we had to take a walk. But just in front of our hotel was the Dalhousie Club house. We don't know whether it was open, we don't know whether it was allowed to enter the premises, but what we saw was heaven. It was a huge flat area covered with at least 1-foot deep layer of snow. Virgin snow! No marks of footsteps in an around the place. And we, the haraami people, took it's virginity!
Next couple of hours were enjoyed with full hearts in snow fights!
Finally we started our walk uphill, but soon gave up realizing that we also had to leave for Dharamshala in a couple of hours. We could only cover the Dalhousie market. As I've said this earlier in my Noida blog, you will find Maggi noodles stalls everywhere in North, be it Delhi, Noida, Punjab, Uttarakhand or any other place. They are crazy about two things, Maggi and Parathas. We were hungry and could not find a good place to have lunch.
We stuffed our bellies with Maggi and omelet and we took off for Dharamshala ... continued in Part 3.
3:46 PM |
Category:
Dalhousie,
friends,
Ice,
Market,
Snow,
Snow fight,
Snowfall,
Subhash Chowk,
Trip
|
1 comments
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Comments (1)
Well :) Sorry for dropping your stock...But wat to do numb hands and weather were partners in crime with me.. :)