Road Trip - Apna Time Aagaya

Road Trip – Apna Time Aagay

“Tujhse na ho payega, Tujshe na ho payega...."

If you have been thinking, talking and discussing about a road
trip with friends (Just Friends i.e. without family) for over 20
years and not able to do, you start believing that the above
line was written for you.

However, if you hold on to your dreams, then you will realise
that the entire song was written for you and you can proudly
say…Apna Time Aagya.

3S – Scepticism, Surprise and Shock!!

It all started with my routine stopover at Rishi’s place and as
usual after a couple of drinks we travelled the globe, little
realising that only this time Rishi was serious. However, I
did not shared his enthusiasm, not until he shared his flight
tickets from Bangalore to Delhi. So the first step was taken
and we started planning our itinerary to Kalpa Valley which
is approx. 570 kms from Delhi. A whatsapp group was made
and the idea floated, few friends dropped out because of
various reasons and only three of us were left who had a far
bigger hurdle to cross. Convince our wives and seek their
permission. The trip details were shared with our better
halves and barrage of questions were unleashed.

From initial scepticism (they have been privy to our discussion
over drinks) to surprise and shock, we endured it all and
smoked the peace pipe by negotiating to go to a place not
as far as Kalpa. So we narrowed down to Barot (approx. 500km)

from Delhi. We also agreed to share our location. This was
much like RFID tagged pigeons, being set out free by the owner
who knows that by evening they will come back home,
but still wants to track their movement.

Finally the D –Day arrived and Rishi arrived from Bangalore a
day before and we all sat with families to share the final details
of our travel with them. And except for the destination to share,
we had no other detail to share. No hotel details, no pit stop
plans, what to do in Barot..nothing. We had not planned
anything and decided to do this journey as it plays out.
That night we were as excited, if not more, as a teenager
going on his first date.

We were supposed to leave at 5am but anyone who knows
Rishi, will know how much margin to add. However, Sachin
who has known Rishi for more than 20 years was still a victim
of his own habit and was ready and waiting for us at 5am. I only
managed to pull Rishi and reach Sachin’s place by 6 am.

The die was cast and no looking back.

Murthul was the first stop and Gulshan Dhaba’s parantha
along with butter were awesome. A cup of hot tea was
what we needed and we headed to our destination. The NH-8
was crowded and journey till Panipat was much like driving
within Delhi. However, beyond Panipat it was a smooth ride
and took Chandigarh Bye Pass and refuelled ourselves
at Café Coffee Day at Kharar.

Crossing Chandigarh or Punjab without getting booked by a
Traffic cop is an achievement. And we failed against that parameter.
9 out of 10 times, I have been booked for offence – all different.
I am planning to read a copy of their offence book and do a
checklist before I leave Delhi. Sachin came here to my rescue and
after the ‘ritual’, he was given a 'tattoo' mark, which was probably

the code for that day. For the rest of the trip, he was our ‘Teja’.

We took the Kirathpur turn and after a few kilometres, we
were on the hilly terrain. Some part of the stretch is still
under repair and construction, but was a smooth ride till
Bilaspur, where we pulled over for lunch.

The Lake View Restaurant of HPTDC is a nice, clean place
with beautiful view. We were told that after a good monsoon,
the view from the restaurant is excellent. There is a
temple near the lake and a few half submerged as well.
But we were not on a religious / spiritual journey..
or so we thought.

A nice hearty meal of Chicken and Dal with Salad and
Tawa Roti, charged us up for our further ascent.

While we were waiting for our food, we were exploring our
options of breaking our journey either at Mandi or somewhere
close to it. Sachin, in the meantime was having a discussion
with the manager at the restaurant and he suggested that
we go to Rewalsar instead. And before we finished our meal,
our destination for that day become Rewalsar.  

We took a detour from Bilaspur and went off the
National Highway. The road was quite good and no traffic.
The weather also was quite kind and we had a few showers
before we reached Rewalsar. The HPTDC hotel at Rewalsar
was probably the only good hotel there, actually may be a
couple more. The accommodation was pretty decent,
clean beds and clean toilets and that’s what you want we go
to the hills. A small balcony opened towards the market and
the valley. Sitting there, sipping our cup of tea, we jumped with
joy as little kids when we saw the beautiful rainbow appear out

of nowhere.

We did a small walk around the lake in the evening and saw
fireflies illuminating the shores of the lake. We planned our
day for next day. Get up at 5 am, visit monastery and then
by 8 am leave for Barot.

As usual, alarms went on all our phones but Sachin was already
awake and Rishi was the last to get out of his bed. I and Sachin
did a short walk in the morning and came back to get Rishi out of
the bed. We went to the Monastery and the small temple at the
Rewalsar Lake. The prasadam was blissful and we requested
the priest for some more. The Buddhist temple is beautiful,
serene and calm.

 

We enquired about the ‘best’ egg paranthas that we can get
in the town and someone suggested ‘Paalu’s’ dhaba at the
bus stand. It’s a small shop just enough for a seating of two
people. Paalu, (don’t know if I have got the spelling right!)
himself is quite an interesting person. Full of life and humour
and passion. All his personality was reflected in the egg paranthas
he makes and serves with curd, pickle or chickpeas. Not to miss
such paranthas and the conversation with him if you happen
to be in Rewalasar.

If fact, it was Paalu who suggested that we should visit
Naina Devi Temple and also Kunti Lake, about 25-30 kms further
up Rewalasar. So there we were, supposed to leave for Barot
but changed our plans and headed for Naina Devi’s Temple.

The road was quite narrow at some places and we had to
reverse our car on couple of occasions to make way for the
incoming trucks and buses. Other sites worth visiting is the
Buddhist Cave and the Kunti Lake (it is believed that Kunti, mother
of Pandavas, was feeling thirsty, so Arjun with his arrow created the lake)

After paying homage to Naina Devi we started our journey
towards Barot through Mandi. It took us about 4 hours to
reach Barot. The roads are not all that great and one must
exercise patience and give the local drivers the right of way,
cause they really drive very fast.

Barot, is very much like Manali and for those who haven’t
been to Manali, Barot is a beautiful valley with river flowing
right through it. Mesmerising view of Deodhar trees standing
tall on all sides. Fields planted with potatoes and maize.
River breeding farms, small locals shops serving the famous
trout fish.

 

Pretty adventurous, considering it was the peak season!!
Our first stop didn’t look the best and as we had thought but
luckily for us, we got a wonderful accommodation in
‘Wild Hills Cottage’ which was pretty close. The Tents were
new and the owners – Puneet and Pankaj, had started their
operations a year back. Our tents were overlooking the river,
about 30m away from it. The sound of river was overwhelming
and slowly it became part of our lives. We arrived there around
3.30 – 4 pm and were very hungry. We had a wonderful Maggi
and hot cup of tea and after taking rest for a while we headed
towards the market and bit of exploring the small town of Barot.

The dinner was the famous trout fish and it was indeed very tasty.
We were extremely tired and hit the bed by about midnight.
A wonderful, eventful day came to an end.

Next morning the same ritual happened. Alarms came on again,
Sachin was already awake, Rishi was sleeping and kept sleeping.
The only change, I and Sachin went for a long walk till the market
hoping to have our cup of tea. We walked through the fields of
potatoes and maize. Villagers starting their day early, ploughing
their fields and trying to earn their living. That’s when we realised
how tough it is to be a farmer. We came back to our tents by
about 7.30 am. Rishi was still sleeping. We ordered tea and
chalked out our plan for the day with the help of Pankaj.

The Breakfast was a quite a revelation, a five eggs omelette
was so deliciously tempting that it was difficult to make out
whether it’s a pizza or an omelette. After polishing off two such
omelettes between three of us and sipping our tea and coffee,
we headed for a small trek to the waterfall. Pankaj had given us
perfect directions and we followed the suit.  The initial trek was
a climb of stairs about 200 if not more and I must admit it was an
eye opener and was an instant health check report. Sachin was
the fittest of all, climbing like a gazelle, Rishi did tried to match him
earlier but then settled to climb at my pace, which was basically
two minutes of climb and five minutes of rest.

The fleet of stairs opened to wide open area which
gave a panoramic view of the valley on one side and
waterfall on the other. I wasn’t too keen to move ahead,
for obvious reasons. Sachin pushed us and we were
grateful to him.

The walk was downhill and the experience of soaking your
feet in the ice cold water of the river was completely amazing.
In our first attempt we missed the waterfall and landed at
its mouth. After soaking ourselves in the experience, we
followed a group to the fall area. It was beautiful. They told
us that they took a different route and we decided that
we will take the other route on our way back. We hired
a guide for INR 500 and followed him like people followed
Moses. The sequence of our position was the same.
Sachin way ahead, Rishi doing good in the beginning but
then was matching my steps. The trek was wonderful
and challenging and at one point, the path was less than
a foot wide. But we survived the trek and also the rains.
As soon as we reached the Tents, at about 3 pm,
the clouds opened their gates and I guess they forgot to
shut them till about mid night. Rains, River side,
hot steaming Maggi, Pakoras and Black Coffee,
Playlist of our times – what more can one ask for!!

In the evening, we had another speciality of that place.
Another wonderful day came to an end.

Next morning, the ritual was same, but Rishi was quick
to get out of the bed and we bid adieu to the beautiful
place of Barot to head back to Delhi.

We did checked quite a few boxes of our bucket list.
The unchecked boxes are still many, but all of us
were happy that a beginning has been made and
we will keep the momentum going.

Such trips help you discover yourselves and one
and another. Sachin and Rishi also discovered
a beautiful song, albeit with my help. A beautiful song,
written by Gulzar, composed by R D Burman,
Song by Bhupinder Singh. Ek hi khwab dekha hain

As always these trips never end without promises of now
making this an annual affair….

Cheers to that and Cheers to all of us for showing the
commitment and enthusiasm for making this happen.