Last minute adjustments, additions, dropouts, and the final list ...
- Abby (Abhijeet)
- Chavan (Abhijit)
- Kavi (Kavita)
- Me (Ajay)
- Zappy (Zaheer)
- Bhatti (Vikram)
After a month of planning, we came up with the final list of what we needed to accomplish our mission. By the weekend before we were scheduled to leave, we finished all procurements, some must-haves, some nice-to-haves, and some fun-to-haves.
- New tents
- New sleeping bags
- New radios
- GPS unit
- Medicines
The NRIs had arrived earlier in the week, and everyone was raring to go. Rendezvous was scheduled for the afternoon of 03-Aug at the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT), Kashmete Gate in Delhi. This was where we board the bus to Manali. Tickets for the bus were already procured through Ammy in Jaipur, who managed to pull some strings in Delhi and keep the tickets ready for us. Thanks buddy!!!
What would you know ... with all the excitement, people actually reached Delhi earlier than scheduled, and we were all at Delhi airport by 1600 hrs! Old friends meet, and it's the good ol' days again ...
We took a bus which went straight to ISBT and conveniently left my binoculars behind in the bus (A sort of premonition, considering the amount of stuff that we misplaced on the whole trip)! Well, it's the beginning of an exciting holiday, and such minor losses do not bother you at this point.
We decided to pick up the bus tickets first from an extremely helpful and courteous Mr. Ratan Lal who was waiting for us at the Rajasthan Roadways office. Bus tickets procured, we decided to take a ride on the shiny new Delhi Metro. Tickets taken to Connaught Place, a beautiful part of Delhi which blends British charm with new-age India.
We can't stop marveling at Delhi Metro, unanimously voted as a perfect use for citizen's tax-money. Just hope they can keep it maintained in it's current state! Extreme high security though, and a few grumpy cops in the generally cheerful lot. Had to open up all our bags and explain some contents, but that's not a big price to pay for your own safety! Got to Connaught Place, had a few beers in TGIF, picked up cash to last the trip, and rode the Metro back to the ISBT.
Mr. Ratan Lal was there waiting to show us to the bus we were to board. The volvo we were supposed to be traveling in had apparently crashed and not made it back from the previous trip, leaving us with a 'Tata-AC' bus to travel in. We did get a refund for travelling in the lesser-but-not-at-all-bad bus, and soon we were on our way.
First stop, dinner at Karnal - halfway to Chandigarh - where we had aloo parathas with makhan 'tikiyas' (slabs of butter - have all you can). No wonder people north of the Vindhyas grow so much larger than the people from the south! A pretty comfortable night ride with the AC switched off most of the while and the windows left open. So much for Tata-'AC'!!!
The video was functional though, and we watched 'Kudrat Ka Ajooba', a thoroughly entertaining movie involving the Yeti, his 10-year old girl human friend, local goondas, evil international scientists, all stitched together with Dada Kondke-esque dialogues like 'Tum mere upar kya kar rahi ho ...'!!! There was also a song that went 'Yeti I love you ... ' apparently a favorite with Kavi in her school going days!
Early morning breakfast stop at a place close to Bilaspur. Passable aloo parathas once again, one sooper cramped loo (still wonder how Zappy managed that one!), and lots of beautiful views. Next stop, scenic stop in the middle of nowhere, because our bus-driver - distracted by starring Bhatti and Chavan's home videos - kissed the side of a local gentleman's Maruti Alto. Everyone took the time to take pictures, while the local gentleman, the bus driver, and half a dozen mediators came to a settlement. That's Zappy at the crash site.
Onward again ... and an uneventful journey till Manali.
No comments:
Post a Comment