So, we'd just gotten off at Manali, in splendid weather. The sun was out and a gentle breeze greeted us as we alighted from the trax, paid our driver and cursorily hoped that he'd got some sleep before he ever set foot on that brake pedal ever again.
Now, we dint have the slightest idea of where we were going to stay for the next couple of days. So room hunting was the next item of action.
The tourist season was about a month away, so we found a reasonable room for 700 bucks a night. Since we were 7, we split into two groups. It was lunchtime so Chinmay, Sallu and myself went hunting for food, while Pulkit Malpani and the rest negotiating our room rent.
The three of us, walked into a medium sized restaurant and gorged on some amazing Butter Rotis and Dal Tadka.
When we got back to our hotel, these smart alecs had put all of us into one room. 7 of us in a single room!!. Of course, it worked out really economically, and at that point we were pretty happy after maybe a mouthful of abuse from me.
After a shower, we just got out and walked. Again, being economical meant that we couldn't really hire a car everyday so we walked.
After a while, the road split. One leading down to the river Beas below, and the other into the pine forests.
Up we went and at half past 5 in the evening, the dirt path narrowed down like the tail of a serpent getting smaller and smaller with each step we took. The skies turned to the color of velvet purple from the ashen shade it bore when we started off.
After an hour into the forest, the dirt track changed from brown to wild green and merged into thorny scrubs as the skies darkened further. That was our cue to turn back.
That trek should have been my favorite till date but something unexpected happened.
It was only then that we realized that sallu was gone. He'd been gone for a long time but we just realized.
We were pretty much the only humans in the forest, and we hurried back as fast as our feet carried us downhill. Someone remarked that he might have been carried away by a bear or a leopard.
Either way, after 20 odd minutes he called. Turned out he took the road going down into the river, and we were too deep in the forest so phones were unreachable.
The good thing about his endeavor was the fact that he ran into a place where we could river rappel.
For 50 bucks, it was an enthralling experience. You rappel from one bank of the Beas to the other, with the white waters of the river in all its turbulence beneath you.
Midway through the return, the rope is oscillated up and down until you're completely drenched in the river, and its icy cold water bites into your skin.
The next morning we walked again, but this time with more purpose. The destination being a hot sulphur spring with apparently healing properties. The climb was far more gentle than the previous day's and the weather turned out great.
Along the way, the scenes were those taken out of a postcard, with mountains, forests and rivers.
We reached the spring by mid-day and after a dip, we returned. After speaking to the locals, we heard that Rohtang pass at 15000 ft above sea level was in great weather, and having come this far we shouldn't miss out. So we decided to go.
That afternoon, we managed to find a Nescafe. Kasli, Pulkit and myself were sitting around having coffee and talking about the trip to be. That was when 4 asian girls showed up and occupied the table next to ours. We dint have a clue as to what they were saying, but there were definitely some glances which turned into stares between those two tables.
Somehow, the conversation steered from what route we were going to take, and moved to inviting the 4 asian girls along. The blame for that lies squarely on Pulkit again.
We'd booked a jeep which seated 7, and we were seven already. Now, the idea of inviting the four asian girls seemed absurd because, well we dint have seats.
Now, we had a second thought and looked around. It was Pulkit, Kasli and myself and 4 asian girls and that was seven. And Kasli jumps out and says "unko lite lo, ham teen jaenge inke saath" (Ditch the other 4 guys, lets go with these girls).
Pulkit vehemently agreed, and I nodded along. Back then I was in a relationship, so I looked at the whole thing in jest. In my head, none of this was going to happen because, we hadn't even asked them yet.
Before I knew it, Pulkit and Kasli were arguing as to who should ask them. The argument grew in intensity, and neither of those dimwits were ready to walk up to their table and ask. Kasli had a sudden attack of diarrhea out of nowhere, and he bolted out of there looking for a toilet.
Before Pulkit could say anything, I went to the other table, asked one of those girls if they wanted to go to Rohtang with us. One of them told me that they'd been there the previous day, and the weather was great and asked us to have a good time.
So that was that. Except for Pulkit who kept asking how I did it. Those two make a big deal out of the whole thing even today, adding more spice into each retold version. But that was it plain and simple.
Anyway, some of us wanted to have a drink that night, and we went to a bar+restaurant. After a couple of drink, Kasli (remember he had diarrhea) was out. We walked out on to what was probably the busiest traffic junction at Manali. Right about when we were crossing the street, the light changed from red to green. Kasli, understandably was moving slower than us. A frustrated motorist made the mistake of honking. Kasli let rip " Bh******, Ga***, Ma ke l***, Mooth doonga tere gaadi pe" (#Abuse#, I'll pee on your car).
At the next honk, he was on the verge of removing his footwear and hurling it at the approaching traffic before we intervened. A good 40 seconds after the lights had changed, we managed to get him across.
At the other end, a small girl no more than 5 years old had the misfortune of running into Kasli. Kasli, by now frustrated that he couldnt abuse the motorists more, promptly popped the little girls balloon.
Heaven knows how quick we got him out of there before her parents showed up.
That night, we had a conundrum to solve about how 7 of us were going to squeeze into a queen bed. The answer was that we couldn't. We managed 4, and with some difficulty 5 where Pulkit and Malpani took turns getting kicked.
It was Chinmay and Sallu who offered to sleep on the floor, and remembering how cold that night was, hats off to them.
We dint really get much sleep that night, since we had to depart for Rohtang pass at 4 the next morning.
We hired a jeep and some snow clothes along the way. At 7, we stopped for breakfast at a dhaba 14000 ft above sea level.
At temperatures, dropping below zero and icy winds biting into our skins, the aloo parathas and tea tasted even better.
The ride into Rohtang was splendid. A picturesque view, with snow as far as the eye could see, clouds that you could lay hands on, yaks, skis and the sun glistening off the snow.
A 14 hour journey beyond Rohtang lies Leh, and 20 hours beyond that is Siachen glacier, a destination I hope to reach some day.
A day out in snow was insane and just about when our feet could freeze no more, we descended down to Manali, checked out and got on the next bus to Chandigarh, for a return journey not half as eventful as the onward.
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