Category Travel

It had been a great start to a much waited for and anticipated trip. All of us had enjoyed the outings on Day 1 and were looking forward to Day 2 with much anticipation. On Day 1 we had mostly been to places of importance within the Jodhpur city limits. The plan for Day 2 was to venture out a bit and hit the road. It was decided that the girls would pick us up from the hotel at 7 am. We have already arranged a cab (Innova) for this purpose. So on the 5th of December the girls were at our hotel reception on time! (The exclamation is on purpose :D). We had only been traveling for 15 minutes when everyone but me expressed a desire to have some tea. We stopped at a tea stall  and after everyone had had their morning tea we moved on...

This post has taken a long time coming. I had promised a few people to post about that trip as soon as I returned but unfortunately my professional commitments did not allow me to indulge my reflections of this amazing trip. So, apologies to all those who have waited. This has been a long time coming.

I had not been a on a vacation trip for a year now and my soul had been yearning for one for a long time now. My flatmates(Prem and Ajitesh) also had similar yearnings. We had been craving for trip for sometime. So when a very special friend invited us to Jodhpur, I readily agreed. I had not met her for sometime so there was that added motivation.

We had decided to leave from Old Delhi railway station by Mandor Express and we were at the railway station on time...

The next morning we woke up early to go to Auli, a very well known skiing destination. As we stepped outside our guesthouse we were greeted by the morning sun shining on the snow clad peaks giving them a golden hue. It was almost as if the mountains were wearing golden crowns.

Rajesh was there waiting for us with the cab and on time as always. Auli is a steep 17 km uphill climb from Joshimath that takes one from an elevation of 6500 feet above sea level to an elevation of 10200 feet above sea level. The road was narrow, steep and winding with sharp curves and bends. The drive takes one through the establishment of the Indian Army’s Ibex Brigade who are specialists in high altitude warfare. Men from this brigade did wonders in the Kargil war...

A trip to the Uttarakhand Himalayas had been in the offing for a long time. It was realized during the long Easter weekend(10th April to 13th April). The destination agreed upon was Auli, a well known skiing resort in the Garhwal Himalayas. The itinerary, the route and the mode of transport were agreed upon and arranged for before our departure from Noida. We left Delhi on the 10th of April by the Hazrat Nizamuddin –Dehradun AC Special at 11:55 pm. The train was on time and we alighted from the train at Haridwar at 4 am on the 11th. Our cab, a Tavera, and our driver, Rajesh, were waiting for us at the railway station. We bought some packets of potato chips and had a few slices of bread butter before we started on our 300 km journey to Joshimath.

Rajesh is an exprienced and seasoned vete...