2 Nuts and a few loose Screws

The following is an account of a trip that me and my best friend Nirmal took, which resulted in one helluva adventure. Well before I begin the travelogue a couple of lines about Nirmal. Normal is Boring This is what holds true for Nirmal. Being serious about anything is a Crime! Laughs a minute is what you get when you are with Nirmal. I guess this basically sums up Nirmal, a great guy, who lives life to the fullest and has a unique ability to make you feel special. I was in Mohali for the weekend. Our Trip began on Sunday morning and ended on Monday evening. The log here is of Sunday.

22nd May, 8:45am, Mohali, The Confusion
It was a surprise that we were both awake at this time, considering the fact that we had gone to sleep at 1.30am. The previous night we were thinking about what to do and in the morning we had a hazy idea that we were thinking of going to Kasauli for the day.

Kasauli, situated 55 k.m. approx from Chandigarh, at 1927 meters is a quaint little town that seems to exists in a time wrap in an era that reminds one of the 19th century. Its colonial ambiance is reinforced by cobbled paths, quaint shops, gabled houses with charming facades and scores of neat little gardens and orchards. Kasauli is surrounded by a mixed forest of chir-pine, Himalyan oak and huge horse-chestnuts. Its narrow roads lither up and down the hillsides and offer some magnificent vistas.
Information as per himachaltourism.nic.in

Now the plan was to start somewhere around 9.30am. Reach Kasauli by 12.00pm, have lunch, trek around and be back by evening. "We will come back and cook dinner, save some money", was what Nirmal said.

22nd May, 9:45am, Mohali, The Start
Journey begins. Mode of transportation : Pulsar. Called City Beautiful, Chandigarh is no doubt the most planned city that I have seen. Broad roads, organised traffic and lot of trees on roadsides, offered good drive out of the city. Cruising at a comfortable speed we were soon out of Chandigarh, crossed Panchkula and reached Kalka. Beyond Kalka the climb starts. The weather had become pleasant, and the traffic was also thinning. A quick stop for a glass of Sugarcane juice and off we started again.

22nd May, 10:30am, Kalka, The Decision
I am a great admirer of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Among the achievements of the NDA government the one that I feel has directly affected all of us is the Golden Quadrilateral project. The National Highways have definitely become a lot better than they used to be. The other good thing is putting of boards indicating distances and directions to various places. It was on one such board that we saw Shimla 96kms. I read it out loud and I knew both of us were thinking the same thing when this fellow said, "Shall We!". The decision was made. Kasauli was off and Shimla was On. With a war cry of "YeeeeHaaaaaaaa!" he gunned the bike forward. After about 15 mins the practicality of our decision struck us. That we were going to Shimla and not Kasauli meant that we were not coming back that night. We were not prepared for an overnight stay. No change of clothes! One great thing about living in this age is "Plastic Money". As long as you have your cards (Debit/Credit), there is always an ATM around. On seeing the first ATM after our decision, we made a stop and withdrew some money. Next stop a garment shop. We bought T-Shirts and Windcheaters. It was only when I was paying the bill that I realised that we were very serious about our trip. Oh the fallacy of on the spur Decisions!! Or is it ??

22nd May, 11:15am, Kalka, Shimla Here we Come!
With a renewed energy and eagerness the journey continued. Both of us are good at quite a few things (I know this shows that modesty is not one of them) , but singing is not a talent in either of our resume. But when your friend is singing, even if it sounds awful, you still enjoy it. Feeling like Viru and Jay of Sholay, riding the bike, we too started screaming (that's not a mistake, our singing was more like screaming) Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Bhulenge...... Trading places every half an hour, our journey was slow and steady and very very enjoyable. I was driving at this point of time and we entered a town called Dharampur. We hadn't had anything in the morning, so we decided to stop somewhere and grab a bite. That's when I saw it!!!

22nd May, 12:30pm, Dharampur, Mocha or Latte?
Its a coincidence that my previous has been about my visit to Cafe Coffee Day. I was surprised to see a CCD here in this quaint little town. Without giving a second thought, I crossed the road and stopped the bike. Now this was going to be interesting. Hats off to guys of CCD to select such a picturesque location. Comfy sofa, Bryan Adams song playing and windows on three sides from which you see mountains and a valley, coffee never tasted better. Apart from a coffee pub on The Mall Darjeeling, this was the most exotic location that I had coffee. Relaxed and refreshed the pleasure trip resumed.

22nd May, 3:15pm, approx 5Kms from Shimla, The disappointment
The drive had been very pleasant, with lot of 2-5 mins stops to enjoy the scenery. As we had no plans of coming to Shimla in the first place, we had not bothered to pick up a camera. But as Nirmal said, "Keep these moments in your heart, they will last longer than a picture", we savored every moment. Shimla is actually visible from quite a far. What we saw did not appeal to either of us. Cluttered and crowded with lots of vehicles, it was not what we wanted. Both of us were brooding over this unexpected turn of event, we came across Himachal Tourism Information Office. Turning back was out of question and not in our nature. So what was left was to explore what laid ahead. For a change we came across a government official who was helpful. When we told him our predicament, he gave quite a few alternatives, places near to Shimla yet not very crowded. Among the places that he told us about, the one that appealed to us most was Fagu.

At a height of 2450 mtrs above Sea Level, Fagu is located 22kms from Shimla on Hindustan-Tibet Road. It has enchanting views of the Himalayas and offers a stay of solace and sojourn.

Taking a road map and information about the Himachal Tourism Hotel at Fagu, we made up our mind that 22 more kms were a piece of cake. We had one work in Shimla, to draw some money from an ATM, having been forewarned by the person at the Tourism office that phone connectivity is not so good at Fagu, our cards may not work there. On enquiring where the ATM was, one man told us its just above this particular junction! A typical hillstation direction. Above! Below!, not Beside, Ahead or Behind. Just Above turned out to be quite a climb. It took me exactly 15mins to reach the ATM. By the time I reached, I was huffing and puffing. Man am I out of Shape! With the monetary aspect taken care off, there was nothing else in Shimla that was holding us. A kick on the bike (A press of Ignition Switch to be more accurate) and off we were once again. The drive from Shimla to Fagu turned out to be a bit more steep than what we had encountered so far. Difficulties not withstanding, we went ahead. The weather had become pretty cold by this time and was time to use those newly purchased WindCheaters. Stopping intermediately, we reached Fagu at around 4.30 pm.

22nd May, 4:30pm, Fagu, The Problem
Reaching the Himachal Tourism Hotel at Fagu, we were very pleased. We had come almost 160 kms from Chandigarh in one piece and the Hotel was at a very pleasant location. Things going 100% perfect, now that must be happening only in Utopia! The lady at the receptions says, "Sorry Sir, We are full! You can come back tomorrow afternoon, there may be a room by then". Come back tomorrow afternoon!!! Where are we supposed to sleep tonight? On the mountains? Not that it was such a bad idea, but then we didn't want to push our luck anymore. So dejected, we came out of the hotel. We had seen boards of three hotels on our way. Two were located on top of a hill and one on the road. So we decided to try our luck in these hotels. Snow View Resort 1000 mtrs ahead, read one board. These 1000 mtrs turned out to be equivalent to around 3 kms on normal road. Winding up the mountain, this was the worst treatment that we had given to beloved Pulsar so far. When the Resort was still 400 mtrs ahead we came across a small tea shop. Stopping there we decided to have a cup of tea and get our bearings.

22nd May, 5:00pm, Fagu at height of 9000 ft, Trek 1
The tea shop was selling Maggie. We ordered two plates and it was the tastiest Maggiee that I have had. We asked the person as to how much would the room rates be in this Resort. When he told us that the starting rate is Rs 4000/- for a room, sleeping on the mountains became more of a possibility. There was a group of guys who were relaxing there. One of them heard of our conversation and approached. They were staying in Shimla and told us that we should drive back and stay in Shimla itself. Now this was not an option that we even wanted to think about and told him so. We had two more hotels to check, who knows one of them might fit in our range. These guys were about to trek for about an hour and then head back. He offered us to come along with them. Forgetting that we were yet to fix a place for the night, we took him up to his offer and joined the group. During the introductions, it turned out that they worked in a Gurgaon based company, in which I had couple of friends. The world is really a small place! The trek was absolutely breath-taking. I mean this both literally and figuratively. I was out of breath by doing the climbing! Finding a suitable place to rest and relax we took in our surroundings. Oh what a Wonderful World! The pine trees, the sun rays seeping in through the clouds and the forest, heaven must be a place like this! Though physically tired, mentally I was feeling very fresh. We climbed down back to the tea shop where our vehicles. These guys offered that they would check the remaining two hotels with us and if we didn't get an accommodation there we should drive back to Shimla with them. We finally got accommodation in the road side hotel. The room was nice with hot water and a balcony that opened to a view of terrace gardens. Incredible sight! Saying our goodbyes to the newly made friends, hastily ordering some food, we crashed on the beds.

22nd May, 7:30pm,Ras Resort Fagu, The Party
Woken by the waiter bringing our food, we refreshed a bit, had the food and went back to sleep. If you are thinking that our day had ended, as even I thought at that time, then think again. My sleep was disturbed by sound of Bhangra songs. I saw the time. It was 11:15 pm. I peaked out of the window and saw some kids dancing around a bornfire. Now I wasn't going to miss the chance of warming my toes over the bornfire. Waking my buddy, we went out to the verandah, where these kids were dancing and enjoying. Clapping our hands and shaking our legs to the tune of the music we warmed ourselves. Soon the kids who were on a school trip, went back in. Both of us sat beside the fire. It was a wonderful moment, I was able to think so clearly. There are certain things about which I am confused or not very sure, but sitting there I was able to logically reason them. Both of us shared our dreams and visions with each other. It was the best time of our trip.

The next day we woke up early and went on a trek again. After trekking till 10.30 am we came back to the hotel and started our trip back. The return trip back was equally exciting. This was a trip that bonded our friendship even more. This was a trip which made me mentally fresh and clear on certain things that had been on the back of my mind. As I didn't want that trip to end, so also I am in a dilema as to how to end this post. I guess the best way would be to reinstate the title, what the two Nuts , me and my friend did because of our few loose Screws :-)
Until Next Time
Cherio