There are only two conclusions I can find:-
- Destination can be as beautiful as the journey.
- Company matters.
After excellent trips to kedarnath and mana we now have added another feather to our wandering explorations. This time to arguably one of the most beautiful spots in the nation – ‘ A U L I ‘ . Team was almost same as in case of kedarnath but for few substitutions. Captain Saif (our accounts were in his hands) and vigorous Gote (skiing champ) joined in this time. Rest of the squad was Shanky , Max, Rats( for all who don’t his nickname- it’s Rawat), Scientist, Tushar( The Photographer) and of course me. Bishal missed out again (sorry dude).
Our journey to heaven (it has nothing to do with our death but yes At least I can die for such a trip) began as usual on hiiiiggghh note. Last I can remember is taking tickets in Rishikesh before waking up suddenly to a bump near Karnaprayag. It was a break journey as there were no direct buses for Joshimath (Base point for Auli). Karnaprayag is like 80 kms from Joshimath. But this 80 kms was also split in to 2 parts. First from Karnaprayag to Chamoli (Where we had our lunch) - by bus and then Chamoli to Joshimath –by Cab. First glimpse of this paradise awe strucked us and we knew next couple of days goanna be awesome.
We reached Joshimath at around 5 0 clock in the evening. We stayed in a hotel near taxi stand. There Joined our 9TH Crime Partner- Sunil Baskey (My old friend from old college) .He is working in Joshimath. He informed us that ropeway to Auli is not working. It came as a bomb on us as it meant replanning next day all together (By the way hidden trouble was we lazy morons would have to now walk 12 kms up the hill to the Destination). However Sunil arranged a cab till 1/3rd of the way. 1/3rd because beyond it was too skity due to snow (A fall from that height would mean 30 seconds of flight to alaknanda and mala on our photo frames). That evening we just strolled around the town. This was mainly to acclimatize to the marathon that has now creped in unexpectedly and unwontedly to our plan. That was nice as it ended with a snow fight in which I was outnumbered by my 6 opponents. Further in that evening we had fantastic food. We called it our day at 830 pm, first time since we chose to be architects.
Next day we had to reach Sunil’s place at 8 30 am exactly and we reached at 9 30 am exactly. He had invited us for breakfast before we move. We got our food and few mouthfuls (Its hard handle a punctual, honest and sincere engineer). Cab dropped us at Sunil (Coincidently it’s also name of a place there). From Sunil we had to walk 8 kms. We started. Few turns and beautiful clicks away awaited the biggest surprise of the day. An icing on the cake yet to taste further in the day. Military trucks. I love Indian army( ITBP to be specific) . They always rescue us. We got lift and there started journey through the white desert ( it was not desert exactly – this is just to express how white it was with snow). 45 minutes down the lane we reached resort entry. No way out we had to walk last 1 km (blah blah blah – we are lazy – blah blah blah). We took a chair ropeway to the clifftop. By this time there was only one colour for earth which contrasted with green forest. Yellow Resorts Matched well with Saif’s Jacket and snow. The view was mesmerizing. Nature is so beautiful .What followed next was series of group Photography with Tushar jumping in occasionally with action-man poses and Sunil missing out every time. There was one time when Max was almost yanked by a skater (I don’t know what they are called so I made my own word . . .hehe ) . But he survived. Next on the Agenda was one of the attraction of the trip – Skiing. We Skied, We Fall , We Skied, We Fall , We Fall, We Fall ,We Skied, We Fall, We Fall, We Fall, We Skied , We Fall again and we Wrapped ( it was fun but definitely not our cup of tea). So we did what we were best at –“snow fight again”. And this time I was killed. I got some support in Saif and Shashank but I was killed (Later on I got my answer too – Saif and Shanky were only posing for Photographs). Hours of fun and we started moving back. We all were hungry and Booze-thirsty (sorry for another contribution to Beautiful Language of English). Saif, Gote and Tushar were not in the booze party (I am paid to write this part – joking). Wait, I am forgetting something … let me remember... Yes... We had photography for matrimonial too. Everybody’s pic is simply amazing. But Scientist wins the race marginally. He is really photogenic (Beware Girls... book your show now).
That evening we had an awesome drink session and amazing food. And against our wishes we started moving back. Few turns and beautiful clicks away luck struck us again. Military trucks. We got lift again. We reached Joshimath 1 hr later. Slept early again second time in the row. Waked up late again. Again did break journey. But this time were lucky to get lift from long lost brother of Sebastian vettel from Chamoli (Don’t get serious, he was just that fast). His kerosene-fuelled Sumo snaked down the Himalayas as fast as cheetah in the grassland or light in the space (exaggeration…. Heheh).
All in all days to remember for life. Guys thanks for making it special.
Ciao till the next time
Hector
