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Hi friends, this is my first attempt at posting one of my travel experiences on this forum, If I make mistakes or any suggestions will make sure will correct that on next Travelogue.
I was planning to go to Himachal for quite a long time; finally planned out with my two of my friends (Shobhit and Nitish) from office to Mcleodganj than a trek to Triund. So planned our leaves for 4 days and started packing stuff required.
Journey begins.
We started at 3 am from Noida after office hrs (BPO night Shifts) in my Alto. Had our backpacks ready, tank full of gas and all possible stuff we could think of in the last evening itself as thought will be nice to loose the day time traffic if we start early. So as planned we left on time.
PS- We made up our mind earlier that we will not mix drinks with driving.
First Stop – Murthal (77 km) National Highway 1
We made our first stop at Murthal after an Hour. Had paranthas and tea and took some pics of ourselves and fun talk. We spend an hour there chatting and resting. Thought will take next stop after 150 km.
After leaving Murthal just after 10 km need to slow down from Cruising to Crawling as fog made visibility almost zero. All could to was turn on hazard lights and tail gate a car driving in front of us.
TIP– When tailgating a car in a fog remember to leave some stopping distance in case the guy ahead of you slams on breaks suddenly and also keep a eye on rear view mirror for as trucks and road transport buses can bring all sorts of chaos.
So plans to cover 150 km in 2 hours were changed to 3 hrs till we reached Ambala city. As we entered ambala city sun was shining which made it easy to drive so with a quick 10 minute break for tea and a smoke we started again to next stop Ropar.
Next Stop – ROPAR (309 km) National Highway 21
Second Long Stop at Ropar, Nice dhaba in middle of the fields was bit relaxing, as was driving for a long time (Made two stops in middle for 10 minutes each). Had paranthas again with lots of butter and relaxed for almost 45 minutes as felt car also needs some rest.
After we left Dhaba we started to maintain the course to Himachal and trust me guys Punjab roads are just awesome, paying Toll for such roads will not hurt at all, don’t have exact how much we paid for tolls as Nitish (navigator/ co driver/ Cigarette Lighter) was taking care of all that.
As we entered Himachal around 2 pm we were excited, we here I mean Me and Nitish, Shobhit was sleeping and snoring in the back seat by now, its okay as we were awake for almost 27 hours by now but thanks to Nitish who was there talking to me and cursing stupid drivers I was happily driving. Until we reached UNA.
Torture at Amb, Una district Road
We were enjoying the drive and sight seeing but thanks to GPS fastest road mapping which show shortest route possible but not the conditions of the road, the road was terrible and steep like 50 degrees. Practically It was not a road it was like bed of river stones (round stones) which made driving bumpy and crawling began again. Thanks to local people and Himachal RTC buses who were like icing on a cake in a situation like this. After 1 hour of horrible road we finally got nice view and roads drove for some where around 2 hr more we stopped at kangra not for tea or anything but to clean the windshields as it was all dusty and clicking with wiper again and again was not doing the job well
Tip – keeping a bottle of glass cleaner and separate cloth for glasses is a better idea when planning to go on a long Drive.
After a 15 minute stop we started again and by Shobhit woke up so now it was all about driving, chatting, music and awesome sight seeing, awesome combo.
Finally reached Destination Mcleodganj (510 km)
As we reached it was almost 5.30 pm we had plans to stay at Bhagsunag, so as we reached Bhagsunag it was already dark, so plan was book a hotel room and take food and drinks and back to room for the night sleep
As we reached hotel room we started waiting for food as the humble owner said food will take little time and he himself will deliver it us, Seriously people at himachal are soft spoken and amazing the owner himself delivered food and sat with us and chatting for a while over drinks. After few rounds of drinks and food we slept around 8pm.
Next morning I woke up early and started shouting on Shobhit and Nitish to wake up as the view outside was Awesome, So I grabbed my camera and starting clicking pics from the hotel's balcony.
After a usual breakfast bread omelette and tea we started our destination Triund, we started our trek at 9 am, it was just 3 km of hiking and i was already feeling the burn (As this was my first hiking and trekking experience) so stoppage was necessary, but looking every second of it.
As the trek began found lot many dogs and a pup they simply so cute and friendly.we we started the trekking started found my the place to be more awesome and was not able to stop myself capturing pics of almost every moment.
The trek was 13 km but for me it was like 30 km, I was stopping after every 15 to 20 minutes as was not able to breathe, I spend lot of time in gym but physical fitness was tested on the trekking. As for Nitish and Shobhit they have been on lot many treks so they had no problems.
Despite of tiredness and pain in muscles I had one thing on my mind I will reach on the top no matter what. That was the only thing which helped me to go on. For energy water and snickers proved to be absolute delight and booster.
We reached Magic View Cafe which is the oldest since 1984 and you must have read about it in almost all the travelogue about Triund trek
It was around 2 pm so it was decided that we will be staying in the guesthouse.
At around almost 4 pm I reached at Triund where Shobhit and Nitish were already waiting for me, believe it or not people I was dead tired while climbing but when I reached the top i was not able to sit for a minute. I was so happy and excited to see the view at the top, i always had seen this kind of view in pictures or surfing on google.
We had decided to stay camp instead of staying in the Guest house... so As the sun was setting up tent was set up.
We slept at around 7 pm as it was pitch dark in the Tent and sleeping bags which we got on rent for just 500 bucks from the dhaba guy.
It was an awesome trip and awesome time but surely changed something in myself and found some things
- Mountains Rock and can surely make you fall in Love with them
- Surely I need to give up smoking and work on fitness to get into shape for further treks
- Driving without drinks can be fun and it is believe me guys..
Lots to tell and lots of pics to upload will do soon
I was planning to go to Himachal for quite a long time; finally planned out with my two of my friends (Shobhit and Nitish) from office to Mcleodganj than a trek to Triund. So planned our leaves for 4 days and started packing stuff required.
Journey begins.
We started at 3 am from Noida after office hrs (BPO night Shifts) in my Alto. Had our backpacks ready, tank full of gas and all possible stuff we could think of in the last evening itself as thought will be nice to loose the day time traffic if we start early. So as planned we left on time.
PS- We made up our mind earlier that we will not mix drinks with driving.
First Stop – Murthal (77 km) National Highway 1
We made our first stop at Murthal after an Hour. Had paranthas and tea and took some pics of ourselves and fun talk. We spend an hour there chatting and resting. Thought will take next stop after 150 km.
After leaving Murthal just after 10 km need to slow down from Cruising to Crawling as fog made visibility almost zero. All could to was turn on hazard lights and tail gate a car driving in front of us.
TIP– When tailgating a car in a fog remember to leave some stopping distance in case the guy ahead of you slams on breaks suddenly and also keep a eye on rear view mirror for as trucks and road transport buses can bring all sorts of chaos.
So plans to cover 150 km in 2 hours were changed to 3 hrs till we reached Ambala city. As we entered ambala city sun was shining which made it easy to drive so with a quick 10 minute break for tea and a smoke we started again to next stop Ropar.
Next Stop – ROPAR (309 km) National Highway 21
Second Long Stop at Ropar, Nice dhaba in middle of the fields was bit relaxing, as was driving for a long time (Made two stops in middle for 10 minutes each). Had paranthas again with lots of butter and relaxed for almost 45 minutes as felt car also needs some rest.
After we left Dhaba we started to maintain the course to Himachal and trust me guys Punjab roads are just awesome, paying Toll for such roads will not hurt at all, don’t have exact how much we paid for tolls as Nitish (navigator/ co driver/ Cigarette Lighter) was taking care of all that.
As we entered Himachal around 2 pm we were excited, we here I mean Me and Nitish, Shobhit was sleeping and snoring in the back seat by now, its okay as we were awake for almost 27 hours by now but thanks to Nitish who was there talking to me and cursing stupid drivers I was happily driving. Until we reached UNA.
Torture at Amb, Una district Road
We were enjoying the drive and sight seeing but thanks to GPS fastest road mapping which show shortest route possible but not the conditions of the road, the road was terrible and steep like 50 degrees. Practically It was not a road it was like bed of river stones (round stones) which made driving bumpy and crawling began again. Thanks to local people and Himachal RTC buses who were like icing on a cake in a situation like this. After 1 hour of horrible road we finally got nice view and roads drove for some where around 2 hr more we stopped at kangra not for tea or anything but to clean the windshields as it was all dusty and clicking with wiper again and again was not doing the job well
Tip – keeping a bottle of glass cleaner and separate cloth for glasses is a better idea when planning to go on a long Drive.
After a 15 minute stop we started again and by Shobhit woke up so now it was all about driving, chatting, music and awesome sight seeing, awesome combo.
Finally reached Destination Mcleodganj (510 km)
As we reached it was almost 5.30 pm we had plans to stay at Bhagsunag, so as we reached Bhagsunag it was already dark, so plan was book a hotel room and take food and drinks and back to room for the night sleep
As we reached hotel room we started waiting for food as the humble owner said food will take little time and he himself will deliver it us, Seriously people at himachal are soft spoken and amazing the owner himself delivered food and sat with us and chatting for a while over drinks. After few rounds of drinks and food we slept around 8pm.
Next morning I woke up early and started shouting on Shobhit and Nitish to wake up as the view outside was Awesome, So I grabbed my camera and starting clicking pics from the hotel's balcony.
After a usual breakfast bread omelette and tea we started our destination Triund, we started our trek at 9 am, it was just 3 km of hiking and i was already feeling the burn (As this was my first hiking and trekking experience) so stoppage was necessary, but looking every second of it.
As the trek began found lot many dogs and a pup they simply so cute and friendly.we we started the trekking started found my the place to be more awesome and was not able to stop myself capturing pics of almost every moment.
The trek was 13 km but for me it was like 30 km, I was stopping after every 15 to 20 minutes as was not able to breathe, I spend lot of time in gym but physical fitness was tested on the trekking. As for Nitish and Shobhit they have been on lot many treks so they had no problems.
Despite of tiredness and pain in muscles I had one thing on my mind I will reach on the top no matter what. That was the only thing which helped me to go on. For energy water and snickers proved to be absolute delight and booster.
We reached Magic View Cafe which is the oldest since 1984 and you must have read about it in almost all the travelogue about Triund trek
It was around 2 pm so it was decided that we will be staying in the guesthouse.
At around almost 4 pm I reached at Triund where Shobhit and Nitish were already waiting for me, believe it or not people I was dead tired while climbing but when I reached the top i was not able to sit for a minute. I was so happy and excited to see the view at the top, i always had seen this kind of view in pictures or surfing on google.
We had decided to stay camp instead of staying in the Guest house... so As the sun was setting up tent was set up.
We slept at around 7 pm as it was pitch dark in the Tent and sleeping bags which we got on rent for just 500 bucks from the dhaba guy.
It was an awesome trip and awesome time but surely changed something in myself and found some things
- Mountains Rock and can surely make you fall in Love with them
- Surely I need to give up smoking and work on fitness to get into shape for further treks
- Driving without drinks can be fun and it is believe me guys..
Lots to tell and lots of pics to upload will do soon
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