Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, trust the strangers and lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
The cab came 7am sharp in the morning. We geared up ourselves with warm clothes as we didn’t want to rent clothes. By 8am, we were in the cab. The driver told us that we have to take rented clothes before going to Rohtang Pass which we refused. He made some excuses that it would be dangerous and he might have to face a penalty. But I was confident that all of us were fully dressed so it was decided not to rent those clothes. But then the driver refused to go. We said its absolutely fine with us, return the money paid as advance and you may go, which he did.
We then left for Manali in our car. We had another driver’s phone number and booked a Tata Sumo for 1700Rs while on the way. We also told him in advance that we won’t take those rented clothes. He was ok with that.
While on the way to Rohtang, the driver (Neelu) told us that his father belonged to Kharkhoda village near Rohtak. He told us his parent’s love story. For some reasons, I don’t believe his story. The road was in good condition for first 10-12kms with sharp turns. It was getting bad to worse as we were ascending. Manoj bought some liquor and snacks on the way up. Neelu told us many ‘stories’ like magnetic mountain and his friend’s Jeep that had fallen into the valley.
We reached Rohtang in about 2:30hrs after covering a distance of about 45kms. The weather was very pleasant. We were considering ourselves lucky that the weather was not bad and were very happy that we didn’t bring those rented clothes. The panoramic view of the mountains was awesome. We left Rohtang after having some breakfast and pics in the snow.
While coming back to Manali, I enquired about paragliding. Neelu told us that paragliding was happening at two places in Manali. One such place was Solang Valley. He was absolutely sure that paragliding was happening around. I myself saw some paragliders down in the valley while coming. We had a short break at ‘Vyas-Kund’ (river Beas is supposed to originate from there).
There I checked my cell for networks and found weak signals of Reliance GSM. So, I phoned Mr. Kaushik to enquire about the status of paragliding. He answered me negatively. He told me that our lunch was ready and he would make a final effort for our paragliding after our arrival. But by that time, I started suspecting him of his intensions.
After returning to Manali at around 3:30pm, we decided to visit Solang Valley to verify Mr. Kaushik’s claim. The distance was only 11kms. There I enquired about every story which Kaushik had told. There was no accident, no casualty and paragliders were flying in the sky. My call to his number was initially answered by Monu, I asked Mr. Kaushik to make arrangements for paragliding. He asked me to contact Mr. Vinay and gave me his phone number (9816162737).
Mr. Vinay told me that his pilots had left from there and for Camp Heaven’s customers the time for paragliding was before 12 noon. I, then, told him the whole story and how we were misguided by Mr. Kaushik. I told him that we came from Delhi to Manali only for paragliding not for river rafting. I also told him that I won’t make a full payment to Mr. Kaushik. After listening me patiently, Mr. Vinay asked me to give the phone to any of the pilot there. Without wasting a single minute, that pilot told us to climb a straight mountain cliff. All the pilots there knew Vinay. He seemed to be a well known and reputed person there. That pilot and his two co-pilots started climbing the cliff along with their parachutes and equipments. It was the most awaited moment for me. I was the first one to go down. Adrenaline was rushing through my veins. I enjoyed my first maiden flight. After landing, I was experiencing a sense of accomplishment. The hard work had finally paid us dearly.
7pm, we were at the camp. I asked Kaushik to make the bill as we were checking out. We refused the dinner. He added 1100Rs more in the bill as extra charges for the half day which we refused to pay as he himself was responsible for such delay. After having a long argument, we finally agreed to pay him 550Rs more. We finally checked out at 9pm and left for Delhi. We reached home at 3pm next day.
Now I’m ending this journey here as I can’t write more than this.
Keep Touring :-)
It was a nice sunny morning. The river, the camp and the mountains were presenting a very scenic view.
After breakfast, I asked Mr. Kaushik for our adventure activities. I told him that we came here especially for paragliding. We didn’t came here for river rafting as for river rafting, we would have gone to Rishikesh, only 250kms from Delhi. Then he told us that paragliding was not happening at Solang Valley due to windy weather. He also mentioned that there was an accident of a tourist lady while paragliding, only a few days back. But he assured us that he would do everything possible to make us fly. He then suggested us for river rafting as our first activity.
He also told us that if we want to go to Rohtang pass then we have to book a cab as private vehicles were not allowed during that period of time. The charges for the same were:
2400Rs for Alto, 2500Rs for Tata Sumo.
River: Beas
Rafting point: 10kms from Kullu towards Manali, shop no. 55, Gogi bhai.
Distance: 7kms
Duration: 70-80mins.
All of us were doing rafting for the first time. The water was ice-cold and giving us shivers. We enjoyed the ride a lot. During the last km of our ride, the water was a bit calm, so we decided to jump into the river. The water was so cold that my legs were getting numb within a few minutes. That was the ultimate fun I had during rafting. Though I enjoyed rafting but I didn’t find it adventurous as it was lacking the speed which I had expected in my mind.
Their jeep was waiting for us at the shore and dropped us at the starting point where our car was parked. After changing the clothes, I decided to have a coffee there.
3pm , we had lunch at our camp and left for Manali.
We visited Hidimba Devi’s temple, mall road, had some shopping and booked a cab (Maruti’s Eeco) for 5-people to Rohtang pass for 1500Rs only. I told the driver to come to our camp at 7am and gave him 200Rs as advance.
At the camp, I again told Mr. Kaushik to do something about paragliding. He asked me to phone him while returning from Rohtang pass. He would then update us for the same.
At night, all of my friends were high on alcohol. They emptied two full bottles of RS-whisky. They were without shirts and drinking in the open while shouting and laughing in full volume. I made a 20-minutes long video over my cell phone to enjoy those moments later as well.
At 1am, we stopped at a roadside Dhabha for dinner near Thanesar, Haryana.
We were again in the car at 1.45am.
As always, I was getting directions using Google maps on my Blackberry Bold’s GPS. The GPS unit of BB works excellent. It gets locked with satellites in a minute or two with an accuracy of 3-meters.
We reached Ambala at 3am.
We paid the toll at Shambhu Barrier toll booth.
After paying the toll, when we checked our GPS, we realized that we were on the wrong highway. My attention also got diverted towards the phone and suddenly a big stone came in front of the car. I applied the brakes but couldn't stop it from hitting the stone. I pulled the car roadside to check for damages. It looked perfect until we checked its bottom. The radiator was leaking coolant. The steel plate supporting the radiator had been ruptured. But the car was in driving condition so I drove it back to a Petrol pump and decided to wait there till morning to get it repaired.
Keshav and Manoj were the only guys who were enjoying the few hours we spend there. They started bonfire using some card boards, played some classical songs on their mobile and emptied half bottle of the Royal Stag whisky. I decided to take a quick nap in the car.
While waiting for the dawn, I phoned my college friend Gurpreet Singh (posted at Ambala in Tata Docomo). He came around 8am. It was good to see a close friend in an unknown city.
The mechanic Binder took around 2-hours to repair the car. His workshop was looking like the man-eater’s house in the movie ‘Wrong Turn’.
In the mean time, we had breakfast. We filled up our car’s petrol tank there (cheapest petrol on that route after Delhi) and left at 11.45am.
After that incident, I was driving with my full concentration & asked my friends to co-operate with me. We had lost one full day due to that. The road was flat and wide till Rupnagar or around 350kms from Delhi. After that stretch, I spotted a Truck Chassis going at a fast speed in my direction. I decided to follow that Chassis as it was wide enough to cover me, it was not blocking my view of road and it was travelling at a descent but chase able speed. It was like a video game for my friends. Only a few cars managed to overtake it. He was driving fast not rash. After chasing him for more than 100kms, it stopped at some Panwari’s shop to have some Biri that too only for a minute or two. There I asked him, where he was heading for. He answered me only after I told him that we were following him in our car. He said he would escort us till Mandi, HP. The Truck Chassis he was driving belonged to Himachal Govt. We Chased him for over 150kms with only one stop in between.
At 6pm we were at Mandi, HP. It was dark at that time. There I cleaned the car’s windscreen for better visibility during dark.
8.15pm Kullu, HP.
9pm After paying a green tax of 200Rs, we entered Manali .
By 9.15pm, we were at our camp site, Camp Heaven.
The camp was located on the other side of river Beas. We crossed the river using a suspension bridge. The staff consists of only two persons Mr. Kaushik and Monu, a teenaged boy. The whole campus was looking beautiful and the best thing was that it was very close to nature. The sound of flowing water of the river could be heard very easily even inside our tents.
The dinner was delicious and served well in the reception-cum-dining room.
Everything was according to the plan till 3.30pm when Sanjay's father denied for the Scorpio. At that time our trip was in real danger. Sanjay switched off his phone as he was blaming himself for all this. But I managed to contact him with the help of a friend & told him that we still have the option for ‘MS A-Star’. We would go to Rewari, Haryana and bring the car. We also lessened one person from the friends list.
4.30pm, we left for Rewari on bike,
8.15pm, returned back with the car.
Finally at 9pm, all 5-friends met each other. It was very difficult for me to keep them updated. After a brief meeting, we headed towards NH-1 via Outer Ring Road, Delhi. That car was equipped with a very fine music system but at the cost of space. Traffic was smooth at that time & it didn’t take much time to reach Karnal Bypass.
During my college days, I had trips with my college-mates. Those trips were awesome & gave me the moments which I cherish for life-time. Being a hosteller, going on a week long trip was not a big deal for us & we had plenty of them.
After my 12th class I have not been on any trip with my school friends. I missed them a lot. So lately, I decided my next trip would be with my school friends.
& hence the touring
begins today, to Manali for paragliding & other adventure activities.
Persons going- Sanjay, Manoj, Keshav, Arun & two others.
We’ve planned the following things:
Depart from Delhi – 6pm
Arrive at Bhakra Dam- 6-7am
Arrive at Manali- 12pm
Stay there for 8th & 9th.
Leave for Delhi on 10th.
