"We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us."
Last week, I had taken my parents to Manali on a family adventure trip, 'Tryst With Beas', organized by Countrysideindia. Manali is one of my favorite hill stations mainly because I have fallen in love with the magnificent Beas river that flows through most of the place.
We have been planning the trip for almost a month and I was really excited about it. Here is a short note about the trip:
May 10th, 2014: We took a flight from Chennai to New Delhi and reached HPTDC office. It is an overnight journey to Manali and I fell asleep as soon as I boarded the bus, tired out by all the packing that we did the entire night. The bus was slowly moving through the city traffic.
May 11th, 2014: Morning came and the first rays of sun hit my face. I woke up and peered out the window to see a totally different scene. Surrounding us everywhere, there were mountains, snow-covered peaks and the Beas river flowing merrily down in the valley. We reached Manali and took a taxi to Solang. Solang is a quiet little valley situated away from all the hustle-bustle of the crowded city. We checked-in to our room at Hotel Iceland which was warm and cosy. The Beas was flowing just a little distance away and we could view it from our balcony. Unfortunately, the weather changed after some time and it started raining. So we couldn't go out anywhere. We spent the entire day in the hotel.
May 12th, 2014: The skies cleared up a bit and so we had a acclimatization trek to the nearby Shivlinga temple. The path was very rocky but everybody was enthusiastic since it was the first day. After a long walk, we reached the temple. The Shivlinga was at the top of a little slope which was fully covered with snow. So we had to climb through the slippery snow-laden slope. At the top was a waterfall and the cold water splashed all over the Linga. We were shivering there in the cold but still running here and there to click photos.
Afternoon, we planned to go on a small trek to the waterfall gorge in the nearby village. It was drizzling, yet we proceeded. There were many small bridges on the way and we hopped over rocks at some places of the river. Halfway though, the rain increased and the whole placed was covered with mist. Visibility was very poor and our hands and feet were all numb in the cold. We stopped after sometime and decided to turn back. I was disappointed that I couldn't see the waterfall. But still this was a different experience, trekking in the heavy rains and getting drenched from head to foot. It was like a monsoon trek, but in summer.
May 13th, 2014: Today again, the rains spoiled our plans for going to the campsite and we stayed in our room the whole day. Evening, we went for paragliding. We took the ropecar to a high point and sailed from there. Just looking at the ground view while flying so high is a really thrilling experience.
May 14th, 2014: Today, the weather was very sunny and so we started on our trek to the campsite at Dhundi. We all carried our ponchos with us, ready for any change in the weather. Last night, at teatime, while chatting about the weather, we had come up with a nice name for this weather, 'Designer Weather'. We followed the river for some time and then went by the road. There was a tricky spot where we had to cross the river and there were just a couple of logs laid out. We had to balance on it and get to the other side. The camping spot was located little uphill and we had to climb a lot. Nearby, there were lots of camps where trainees taking mountaineering courses were put up. We finally reached the camps and were welcomed with hot lemon water. The weather started changing again and skies became cloudy. As the sun set, it was becoming more and more cold. The temperature reached around 3 degrees Celsius. It was the first time in my life that I was experiencing such a low temperature. We were all wearing multiple layers of clothing, yet we felt shivering and numb. Sitting inside the tent was more colder as we needed to keep moving our bodies for warmth. The entire group went out and we were doing yoga stretches, jumping, dancing and singing, all in an effort to keep ourselves warm. Finally, after dinner and steaming hot chocolate, we went into our tents and cuddled into our sleeping bags.
May 15th, 2014: As per itinerary, we were going to trek to Beaskund today. Beaskund is the starting place where river Beas originates. The trek was slightly more harder as there were steep slopes where we needed to climb up and down. We crossed a glacier and at the edge, the water was gushing through at a tremendous speed. Close by, there was a steep slope which we needed to climb. One small wrong step could take you down to the underwater. Thanks, to the help of the local guide, who accompanied us, we all reached the other side safely. There was fresh snow surrounding us on all sides and it was difficult to walk. We followed the footsteps of the trainees team who went ahead of us. After about four hours of trekking, the snow got knee deep and we couldn't proceed further. We all sat down on the snow, opened our backpacks and had juice and chocolate chip cookies to energise us before descending down. The descent down was the most fun part of all. We spread our ponchos on the snow and slided down.. wheeee.. on the snow. On some places, where it was too dangerous to slide, we walked, but we kept slipping and falling down multiple times. After all the rolling, playing and sliding in the snow, we reached the campsite dog-tired. My whole body was aching after the numerous falls. The weather was not that bad and so we had a sound sleep.
May 16th, 2014: We trekked back to Solang and reached our hotel. The afternoon, we went to do rappelling. Rappelling is such an interesting adventure activity where you need to descend down a huge rock using a rope. A harness is secured around the waist for safety. Your legs need to be in a 90-degree position to the rock and you need to let go of the rope. And that is the tricky part. Letting go.. I was afraid to let go and just stood at the top. I made several attempts and finally let go of the rope and with that, it actually got easier. A few steps down, the fear goes away and I actually started enjoying it. Finally, reached the ground victorious.
May 17, 2014: The last day of our trip, we checked out of our rooms and went by van to Kullu. There we had white-water rafting activity on the river Beas. The whole ride was for 14 kms and lasted for more than an hour. There were lot of rapids along the line and it was very exciting. At one point, the guide stopped the boat and and said it was the jumping point. I immediately jumped into the water (we all had life jackets). The water was ice-cold and I couldn't stay for more than a couple of minutes. After the rafting ride, we reached the end of the tour. Our bus to Delhi was in the evening and from there we took a flight to Chennai.
It was a really a very memorable trip. Basically, I love travelling a lot. I think there are lot of insights and worldly wisdom that we gain from each trip. In this trip, I could just jot down the following:
- At times, even the most simple things in life can seem like a luxury. After the tiring journey from Chennai to Delhi, having a hot cup of chai and samosa from a local roadside vendor was very rejuvenating. I relished every bit of it.
- Always look at the bigger picture of things. Parasailing high above the mountains, I was just mesmerized over how beautiful the world is. The short ride changed my perspective. Down, on ground, we tend to focus on the negatives - the muddy ground, the open drainage, etc. But when we focus on the bigger picture, all these seem to disappear. Life too is like that. Whatever problems we face, however depressing the situations maybe, always learn to look at the bigger picture and feel gratitude for all that you have.
- Little, silly things actually prove to be most fun. Stop taking life too seriously and have more childlike fun. When we climbed up the snow slope to the Shivlinga, the waterfall was too cold and spraying all over. In the shivering cold, I spotted a bell near the Shivlinga right under the waterfall. Tempted by that, I ran, picked up the bell, rang it three-four times and ran back, and in the process, got fully drenched and cold. Yet, it was most enjoyable and fun.
- The journey is more important than the destination. When we trekked to the waterfall gorge, we couldn't reach it because of the rain and mist. I was disappointed. But still the trek was a very different experience which I highly enjoyed. Trekking through heavy rains with very less visibility was a challenging and memorable one.
- Turn every negative situation into a positive one and learn to laugh more. At the campsite, the temperature was very low and everyone of us were feeling numb. Instead of complaining and whining about the weather, we started enjoying that too. Looking at the temperature, every few minutes, we all were doing a countdown, 5 degrees, 4 degrees, 3 degrees.. Yay...
- Rappelling teaches you about the importance of letting go. To be the person that you want to be, you need to let go of the person that you are. Often, in life we tend to hold on to something and fear leaving it. We fail to realize that letting go can be actually be truly liberating and we actually gain more confidence from that.
- Step out of your comfort zone and take little risks in life. When the rafting guide announced that we had reached the jumping point in the river, many people got enthusiastic and jumped into the waters immediately. Some stayed back fearing it. Get rid of your fears and jump right into the adventure of life, after all you have a life jacket...
- Above all, trekking on the high mountains, surrounded by beautiful peaks on all sides, I felt a sense of oneness with nature. The mountains and trees were beckoning me to live life to the fullest. I felt gratitude for having the opportunity to witness all this in my life and thankful to meet all different kinds of people. Travelling broadens your mind and heart truly.
