After I missed my train I decide to go by bus and this time Sahil and Amit were also with me. So the ‘3 Idiots’, finally reached simla, and I felt as if I have opened the door of the freezer when I opened the door of the bus to step on the soil of Queen of mountains. Loki was there to welcome us but we couldn’t identify him initially because we mistook him as one of the guys who were continuously approaching us for rooms! I guess my Simla trip would have been the best if I were hit on by girls so many times! Despite this, we came to know that for the past 2 hours, they had been searching for a room; we joined them as well.
After much hit and trial, we finally found a room for Rs 600. But the room was pathetic by all standards. The smell of cigarette was as omnipresent in that room as god was everywhere else because even God couldn’t have tolerated that nauseating smell of that room and would have left it! The mattresses were so thin that you could almost feel the plywood of the bed and the owner bluntly refused to provide with any additional blanket. Everyone, but Amit and I, surrendered to circumstances and decided to take that room. We searched on and found a room which was a zillion times better than its predecessor. Then started a never ending series of phone calls of convincing and denial with the final result; maintain the status quo. Hence a group of 8, just formed, was destined to stay in rooms separated by a distance of 2 km or more. When I look back now, I think we didn’t do the right thing because it’s not the room that makes any experience good or bad but the closeness with the group you are in.
Next on the list was kufri. Since the water was too cold and there was no geyser in the bathroom, we decided not to risk our life and do a dry clean instead. So, five of us, ‘fake-bathers’, were standing at ISBT, negotiating the rates with the tour operators. Amit is champ in this subtle art; if they say 800, he’ll say 500! We were showing hands to passing cars as if they are call-centre cabs running between noida and Gurgaon and will charge 15-20 bucks and take us to kufri. But the trick worked! The driver quoted us 600 but Amit still managed to get a Rs. 50 off by making all of us his ‘Ad-hoc’ sons.
The way to kufri is a spiraling trip as if an Olympic ribbon dancer has carved it during her performance. You see the same magnificent view from different heights. Throughout the trip I was awestruck by the Scenery and the quality of the roads. I strongly recommend shielaji and mayawatiji to give their impending road contracts to the same organization! A traffic jam at a height of 9000 ft was waiting to welcome us. We got out of the car ahead of the parking space and from there, our hiking to Mahasu peak, the highest point of kufri began. The entire path was densely covered with, Snow? No……. Horse shit. Some was fresh but most of it was crushed, dried and powdered under the hooves of those pygmy-horses. I was thinking that the whole point behind coming to Simla was to inhale some fresh and clean air and here we were inhaling in the clouds of that shitty-sand that were all around us and choking us to death. I was missing Delhi a lot at that point of time. PETA guys must be very happy to know that the horses have the monopoly on that path and people who refused their ride are squeezed to a corner and that too is not safe; any horse can nudge you aside anytime. Two of my friends couldn’t bear it any longer and crashed out in the middle. We three carried on, hoping that there would be light at the end of the tunnel.
We clicked a few pics here and there in the backdrop of that scenic valley and annoyingly straight deodar, spruce and oak trees. If ‘straight’ is what they are, then every tree in delhi is ‘gay’!
We heaved heavily after reaching the top. The scene was totally different up there; hustling and bustling with a sea of people. Yaks were standing like dummies and people were getting themselves clicked wearing cowboy hats and holding toy guns.
Jairam Ramesh, our environment minister, got himself into hot soup when he held a python in Bhopal’s van vihar but there was no such media galore up there and 20 rupee note can fetch you a great pic with a sexy python. I didn’t miss that opportunity either and got myself clicked in different poses with the Rock Python like the sports Illustrated models; the only difference, I was wearing clothes!
At the highest point, we could see the indo-china border marked by snow capped mountains at a distance. A close-up with the help of telescope was also available but for 75 bucks/person; we preferred the landscape view ! After visiting the temple and praying for a snowfall, it was time to descend. Going down was a (dung) cake-walk. In 5 min we were down.
The next target was Himalayan nature park, the Abode to SNOW LEOPARD. There are two kinda people in this world; those who have seen the Snow Leopard and those who haven’t. Fortunately, I belong to the former category. He was marvelous; Sheer beauty. Those killer eyes just penetrated deep down my heart and I didn’t want to even blink my eyes to absorb this stupendous creature as much as I could. Viewing this highly endangered species was one of the most memorable moments of my life. But the fun had just begun. Just when we were going past the enclosure of the wolf, it emerged out doing the yawning and stretching thing we do in the morning before coming outa bed. His fur was beautiful and ultra soft (ya, I touched it!).
It was time to hit the road once again. We snuggled into the cab and got down at the Mall road, the most happening place of simla and hence under maximum surveillance as well! The atmosphere was buzzing with activity and glow of Christmas was still quite reminiscent. Beauty was all around us; beautiful shops, beautiful displays, beautiful scenery and beautiful girls. Simla didn’t disappoint us on any front (except the snowfall). For the next 4-5 hours on the Mall road, we did three things; we ate, we wandered and we ‘bird watched’. After a concluding sumptuous dinner it was time for drinks (I am a teetotaler!). And what better way there can be, to fend off the chill, than a few shots of rum. We were soon joined by Loki and Praveen and after the rum party was over we started with our card game. This went on for few hours till we couldn’t resist the inevitable craving of sleep. In one small room, it was 8 of us who were sleeping; 4 on the bed (hehe) and 4 on the floor and those who were on the floor didn’t have any rajai or blanket; only bed sheets and shawls were all they were having. Fortunately the room was sufficiently warm and everyone survived to see the dawn the next day.
[...] ‘dry-clean’ and we were at ISBT but only later I came to know that Amit was not going with us. The previous night, even I wasn’t sure of going to Manali but thought it would be fun with everyone going but now I [...]