Dhauladhar range, a pleasant escape from work

Right now I am at Jallandhar, Punjab. There are some trial works of my new tractor was going on here. The weekend was ahead, but I was worried about something else. 

It was a day which is said to be the most disastrous day in the history of Orissa after the 1999 super cyclone. A cyclone storm called phailin was advancing towards the coast of Bay of Bengal. As the Durga puja is going on many people in Orissa would be praying to Maa Durga for her blessings to get over the storm. Many of my friends are calling me to know the wellbeing of my family in Orissa. Being away from the family I could not have done much except calling my mother. I was confused how to spend my weekend when the cyclone is going on there at my home place. I rang the phone to my mother again, she said the News is saying that the effect will be much lesser. The intensity had been reduced. It was a good news for Orissa and me. Being very near to Himachal Pradesh, I decided to move ahead to spend my weekend at the lap of Himalayas in the weekend. 

I heard a lot about Mc Leodganj and it was nearest of all, just 140 km from Adampur, Jallandhar, where I was working. I decided to move to Mc Leodganj for the 2 days of the weekend. After finishing he work at 1 PM, I decided to move to the nearest bus station, Hoshiarpur from where I can take a bus to Dharmashala. I had to reach there by the evening to enjoy the music and night life. But I did not get a direct bus to Dharmashala. So I took a bus which was going to Kangra Valley. Form there I had to take another bus to reach Dharmsala.

I was like braving my self in the afternoon like I know all the route. I talked to some of my friends to know what to do there. What are the best attractions there to enjoy the weekend.  It was a crowded bus and I was sitting on the front seat of the bus. After only 15-20 km the Punjab border ends and it starts the beautiful hilly road. The bus would take round and round turns to climb up the hill. Now from a distance I can see the the great Himalayan wall. As it was the month of October there was only a little snow over it. But never the less it always is the most beautiful place on the earth for me. Up the hill now I saw an incredible sunset. The sky was reddish and the black clouds over it giving it a dramatic look. I was feeling little tired after the day's work, so I slept for sometime as the evening was coming. The bus was about to reach Kangra Valley. The mile stone says it is just 8 km away when I woke up. The bus stopped. There was few people who were enchanting "Jai Mata Di" at the near by bus. Religion is the single cause on earth that binds the people in a thread together and god is greatest leader on earth to provide enthusiasm to its people. 

But I was worried now when the bus was not moving at all. I did not have my lunch during the day. And it is 7 O'clock in the evening now. I was feeling hungry. There was some problem on the narrow hill road ahead because of some construction work which was causing traffic problem. So the traffic was moving only in one way. The vehicles which were coming from the opposite direction were saying it will take 2 more hours to clear the traffic. I bought some snacks from the side by shop to munch for sometime. 

I called my mother to know about the cyclone and the Dashami tomorrow. My heart was saying to drink a chilled bear at some cafe at MacLeod Ganj and sleep for a long 10 hours. But god makes you wait to give you good things. It is 10 O'clock in the night when the bus finally reached the Dharmashala bus stop after I took another bus from Kangra to Dharmashala. The whole bus stand was empty and deserted. The small hill city perhaps sleeps very early in the night. There was no taxi outside the bus stop also. A sense of fear was there in my mind. I thought to take a hotel nearby and go to McLeod Ganj in the morning. But my heart was saying to go directly to Macleod Ganj. I asked a man where I can find a taxi. He showed me a dark stiff climb stairs going above. First I was confused but when I saw some noise from above I believed him and started to climb the stairs. I am not that athletic now to climb a stiff stairs without lunch in he day. I stopped for 3 times during the climb. When finally reached above, I saw some taxis over there and few taxi drivers drinking together. I fear which was gone away after seeing some people again started to come. I called a taxi driver and asked him to take me to a hotel at McLeod Ganj. The drunk taxi driver agreed to take me the hill top city of McLeod Ganj for 200 rupees. He took me to a hotel which did not have a name but it was good to charge me only 900 rupees a night. But there was again no food to eat in the night. I requested the hotel boy to arrange some food from anywhere as I am very much hungry. He made a egg bhurjee and 2 rotis by himself for me. That was a good enough dinner for a person who was hungry through out the day. 

After a hectic night it was a pleasant sleep last night. The morning light has started to fall from the window glass. When I opened my window curtains the bright light flashed my eyes, but in front of me was something which I am going to cherish for rest of the day. The Himalayan Dhauladhar range was in front of me up close. The more I am going up the himalaya was getting more close to me. I need to take a bath immediately to go to see the place the city. 

The best Muesli at a Tibetan Restaurant 

I started from my room at 8 O' clock.I wanted to take a healthy breakfast in the morning to compensate my yesterday's hunger. I entered to a Tibetan restaurant. I preferred a muesli and omelet. Everyday I eat cornflakes or muesli in the home at Mumbai. But this was the best muesli I had after a long time. The honey and curd with fruits made it very special.

I wanted to see the city around, see some monasteries, enjoy some good food, as suggested by some of my friends. But every time the unclose view of the himalayas was grinding my mind. I want to go closer and closer to it. I asked some persons over there to go for trekking which should be a one day tour to spend a peaceful lone time. Some people said a night stay at Triund will be the best option.

But again hesitation came into my mind. What if I can not reach my work destination by tomorrow. Should I enjoy the city and keep the trekking for my next journey? I started to ask some travel agents. They recommended that if i will take a guide i will be able to get a good place to stay and also it will safe and hassle free. Finally I decide to take a guide. I was waiting for my guide at the travel agent's office. After half an hour a kid of around 15 years came inside the office.

The agent said he is your guide. I was surprised. But my destiny that day was fixed with him only. I took a taxi to Ghulla temple which is is the base camp for the trekking. We started the journey at 12 in the noon. After going some distance I was feeling terribly tired. It was because of the hunger of the yesterday and my acidic stomach. Walking was becoming difficult for me. My guide was a young boy with lean legs by which he was climbing effortlessly. My 6 kg backpack with loaded camera and equipment made me even more tired.

But one thing which was encouraging for me was that the zooming in of the Himalayas. As I was climbing the view was getting more clear and bigger. After completing the half way I took a plate of maggie as my lunch for the day.

The hungry time Maggie

Due to the drizzling i decided to have a cup of tea.  The view of Pong dam and Dharmasala city with the new stadium was beautiful. My guide saw me tired because of the bag. So he decided to carry my heavier bag and gave his lighter one to me. Finally after 3 hours we reached the top of Triund valley. The snowy Himalaya which I saw in the morning from my balcony was now right infront of me in few hundred meters away.  The mist of the clouds welcomed me. After sometime the sky again become clear. One thing you will love about this place is the mobile towers can not reach you. So I preferred to keep my mobile inside my bag, switched off. 

Amateur Photographers 

As I was having a guide there was not much for me to do to find a tent to stay in the night. The guide has previous contact with the forest department rest house. So he gave me a tent and a sleeping bag to stay. I roamed around the place. I helped some tourist to take there photographs. There were a lot of other photographers. Some were taking pictures by their phones, some were taking pictures by their DSLRs.All will upload their photographs in the social networks on the next day. But I was waiting for the evening to come to see the beautiful sunset. It is always a special feeling to see the sunset from a hill top. I took some best pictures of my life during the sunset.

The world was celebrating Dashera in the city below. The fire crackers started to blow in the evening. I was all alone. So I decided to stay inside the tent and write my day’s diary. But people who came with friends were enjoying outside. Drinking and singing. Beside my tent there were some girls who work in some IT company were staying. All the males who were here in the forest rest house were trying to impress them.

Finally I immersed myself inside the sleeping bag. I need to sleep now. It was a long tiring day. A good sleep will keep me healthy for tomorrow morning. Now it feels me that I made a good decision to come here at Triund  instead of roaming around the city. 

It was October and the cold wave had started. So in the night I could not sleep because of the cold. The sleeping bag alone was not able to sustain the cold below the open sky with only a tent. The drizzling rain made it even worse. At 1.30 AM I went to the caretaker to ask for a blanket. He managed to give me a blanket which he was using. After that I tried to sleep for sometime but 2 people started their after drink conversation beside my tent. I could not sleep for 2 hours though the cold was gone with the blanket. This made my early morning wake up late by half an hour. When I woke up the sky was already bright and the sun rays have started to come from behind the Dhauladhar mountain range. The pinkish look of the sky was making my mind crazy. I took a cup of tea to enjoy the sun warm sun rays after the cold night. The photographers started to take pictures of the sunrise which they did not want to miss. 

After a good breakfast of Alu paratha, me and my guide came down the hill. The coming down the hill was as easy as it was difficult to climb. We came down the hill without stopping in just 1 hour and 40 mins where as we took 3 hours to climb. My adventure trekking of Macleod Ganj came to an end. 

The mobile network came again to my mobile. I saw how many people missed me even on a Sunday. The work started.Telework. 

Contact Persons for the Triund Valley Forest Rest house

Manjeet- 09805439165 (Caretaker)

You do not have to contact to travel agent for a guide, you can contact a guide directly. It will cost you less. 

Shakti- 09805310684 (Guide)

Chandan

With the Dolphins, An unexpected Journey

Olive Ridley Turtel

A dream Journey that failed

It is thursday evening I read a notification from the chief minister’s news board at social park saying mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtle has been started at the coast of Bay of Bengal. This was like a sudden wow moment to stop my destiny there. I took sometime there to gaze the notice board and think about the past. It was in the year 2009 when I went as a young curious traveler to the coast of Bay of Bengal at the Rushikulya River mouth, Ganjam to see the Olive Ridley Turtles laying egg. It feels like you are inside the nature’s lap and all the thing happening as it should happen very far from the mankind. The total night stay that day at the beach, walking down the sandy surface,  tireless excitation, talking to the like minded people over there, everything about that night was magical. At every few meters an innocent animal called Olive Ridley turtle was coming, digging its hole in the sand, laying eggs, again fill the hole with sand and walk away to the sea as if they know all the route. The animal is light sensitive. So all the villages around will be dark. So walking in the night was completely in the dark, Night without Light. I wanted to go there again. But I need a friend. I approached some of my friend to come along with me. But everybody refused. Finally I called a friend called Indresh. I explained him the story and gave him a adventure feeling for exploration. He agreed. We fixed the plan to go on the next day morning and stay the night over there.  Then come back the day after that. I was so excited that I was not able to sleep properly in the night. After days it will be a travel story again, it will be an adventure again. I researched some contacts from the internet and slept for the night. 

It is morning now. I woke up and called the first person over telephone whose no I have saved as Turtle Rabi.  It was a bad news. He said you can come along roam and go. But there is no turtle at all right now. Mass nesting is already over. Call me after 19th or 20th and then come. I called to Indresh and mentioned the situation. He said we will go somewhere else. This is how my dream journey of Olive Ridley turtle failed. I was bracing myself for another journey. The best thing to have a friend in the journeys is they help you to come over the let downs. 

So we did not cancel the trip, instead it was a another trip to the east to the greatest lake of Orissa, Chilka. It will be beautiful if we can take a boat ride in Chilka, watch some siberian birds. By the time We started our journey to Chilka it was 2 O’clock in the afternoon. We reached there and had a meal of Chilka special crab, prawn and Roti. It made our stomach full. It was one a crab meal long after I left Orissa. I was feeling good. 

Now We searched for a boat to go into the lake. Few people were playing cards to pass their time. They were the owners of the boat a man told. As the season was off and there were very few tourist they had nothing to do except playing cards there. When they came to know that we are interested going in to the lake, a man came with a  menu card and showed us the rates for the different plans and site scene. The price was varying from1000 to 1500. And it was on hourly basis. Because we had time constraints he gave us a plan for 2 hours for 1200 rupees. We bargained it down to 500 directly. Because it was off season and the sun was also setting down. After a long discussion he agreed us to a price of 600. The trip was to see the Dolphins and some birds inside the lake. 

With Indresh Kumar 

After a 15 min of ride, we saw a herd of birds eating on the sea weeds. I took a beautiful photograph of them. But I was always curious how the small birds were walking on the water surface with their tiny feet.  Sleeping on the boat facing the sky is a beautiful feeling when the boat sails with out the noise of the engine. The boat person woke me up and told me look there are the dolphins. I saw 2 of the small dolphins popped out of the water and started swimming along with our boat. Then another 3 of them, total 5. It seems very unusual to see dolphins at Orissa as as they do not seem to be the native of the place. But It was like a fun event for them. They were happy giving us a glimpse of them.  We followed them to their direction to so see them more and more. 15 minutes we did like that then we set off for the coast again. We saw the magnificent sun set at the west of the lake. 

Lessons from the last trip- “There is something somewhere always beautiful waiting for you, just do not stop. Let the wheel run”