IndiYeah!

India! It's more than just a country with diversity to me. It's a country that is one across the length and breadth and yet manages to be different in some way. It's a land where love is grown and treasured and smiles are given away. Indiyeah! That's my land.

I have traveled quite a few places in so far since childhood. Small towns, villages to large cities, I have lost my heart and soul to every part of this incredible country. Although I was born here and am still living here, every time I visit a new city it doesn't cease to astound me. Vibrant as it looks, India is a collage of cultures, cuisine, climate and citizens. I would love to share my experience as an avid traveler having traveled the most interesting places in this country.

The Mountains - Himachal/ Uttaranchal/ Jammu

SHIMLA - The Queen of Hills

I was in my tenth grade when I visited this stunning creation of god. Manali is amazingly beautiful. Everything about these mountains is spellbinding. We went to the mountains around November when winter starts to set foot. Shimla was our first halt. We took the Shatabdi Express from Delhi to Kalka and then a cab ride from Kalka to Shimla. In transit to Shimla we stopped by these roadside Dhabas (restaurants) and the food is typically Punjabi and filling at these places. You find a combination of vegetarian Indian as well as Non Vegetarian food here and for the hygiene conscious there are plenty of Hotels with an elaborate menu as well. But the fun of dining under shining stars is unparalleled.

In the freezing cold we left for Shimla after a filling dinner and touched Shimla at the break of dawn. It looked very ordinary in the dark like any hill station would be. We all went to bed hoping morning rays would warm us all. And I was right! Morning had brought a totally different picture of Shimla in front of our eyes. Shimla was indolent, charming and dreamy. The owners of the lodge we were in, made some steaming hot Aloo Pranthas for us and just got us up for the day. We walked down the winding roads of Shimla as that's really the best way to explore any small town. Vegetable vendors along the roadside and mist all around, felt like time stood still.

We walked down the mall road and it was Sunday and most of the shops were shut. People were sipping hot tea and coffee outside the descended shutters of shops selling merchandise. The smoke rising from the hot cups gradually vanished in the cold air and the mall road seemed endless. When our feet gave up we also took shelter on this walkway where a group of people were warming up beside a camp of fire. Just when we started to warm up a bunch of monkeys jumped and spilt our cup of tea. Shimla is full of monkeys and they are quite a menace I must say. We then took the toy train that moves around the town so slow that you could easily match up if you walked slightly faster. One thing I realized here was SLOW is the key to enjoying everything in Shimla. Since we had seen most of Shimla in that one day and a few locals also told us that Manali just had the seasons first snow fall, we decided to end our Shimla stay there and move ahead to Manali. We took the late night bus to Manali which takes about 10-12 hours to reach destination.

MANALI

Well somebody has rightly said, 'the journey is always better than the destination' and holds somewhat true for this drive to Manali. High raising mountains on one side and the loud noise of river Beas gushing on the other, the scenes get imprinted on your mind forever. Again we reached really early in the morning and roads then weren't really meant to travel in a public transport and we shook each and every bone on our back.

Next morning around 7am when I looked outside the huge French windows of our hotel I was seeing heaven literally. Snow caped mountains and endless pine and eucalyptus trees everywhere is just unbelievable at once. Had never seen snow before this and for me that first sight of snow is immaculately engraved on my mind. Unlike Shimla, Manali had a lot of life since it had snowed and that drew flocks towards the hills. Our first foot out was the mall road. Most of the hill stations have this mall road which is the hub of the city. So we strolled along the street to acclimatize and feed our faces we again had giant sized paranthas. They are all over it seems.

Manali by the night is even more mystic and romantic. I have always been drawn to mountains and my love for them was apparent because I was the only one going bonkers over it. It was biting cold and I was roaming around soaking up the misty moonlight and seeing flakes of snow sparkle under the moon. Next day we left for the Hadimba Devi Temple. This temple is situated on a top of a hill and the walk up is amidst pine trees winding around the hill. The shrine is surrounded by tall trees all around and just outside the temple are small shops selling stuff required for the temple. It's a tranquil surrounding and totally cuts you off from the world. The silence can be felt in your brain where you can actually hear the sounds of wind blowing through the bunch of hustling leaves, of migratory birds and the silent smile of those gigantic mountains sitting and watching you fall in love.

We then left to see an apple orchid, again a first time for me. This was a private orchid and my uncle knew this family who took us around their plantations along river Beas. I could hear the water rushing from a distance and the sight of rich red apples against plush green leaves. After a walk into the orchids I was drawn to the river like a magnet. Had been hearing those sounds ever since I came to Manali, but hadn't seen it yet. So when I first saw the heavy flow of Beas that carried chunks of snow that fell from the mountains it felt like a dream. The sun was setting down and I lay quietly on the grass simply sinking into the sounds of water. The sounds that I heard could easily make you slip into trance and were any day better than the sweetest lullaby. Just then my trance was broken by some cracker sounds. It was Diwali that night and the whole town had come out on that one narrow Mall road and was bursting crackers to celebrate Diwali. It was delightful to see how festivities had brought the entire town together and celebrations were in full swing. At that moment there was demarcation of caste, creed, race, and color or socio economic class for that matter. I could see everybody wishing everybody on the streets and even foreign tourists had joined in the celebrations.

Next morning when the celebrations died down, we left early for there was more snow to be seen infact to be touched this time. Rohtang Pass was our next and last stop. We drove up in a cab from Manali to Rohtang Pass, which is the 2^nd highest point in the Himalayas. I perhaps do not need to mention how cold it would be up there some 10,000 ft above sea level. The drive was picture perfect. I particularly remember this one spot where there was a huge mountain up ahead and a deep gorge where the river flowed from under a heavy iron bridge. This bridge connected two plains, the one that we came from to the one that would go ahead to mix into the mountains caped with snow all over. As we neared Rohtang I could feel blood rushing to my head not only because I was terribly excited but also because it was getting really cold up there. We had to buy fur coats and gum boots to protect our lives but that was of little help. Like I said I had never seen snow before in my life and I was going to die of excitement very soon. We reached Rohtang and even before the jeep could stop I opened the door and ran out into the mountains. Kilos, heaps, piles, tones and all that of snow. Sadly I was only wearing on coat with just one layer of thermal wear with ordinary shoes and I did not realize it was cold because I was excited. We played in that snow which was then 10 days old, for hours. From noon to sun down we made snow men, snow castles and everything that could possibly be done on snow. There were hundreds of people like us who were ice skating and having a blast. The valley was awesomely beautiful. From the top we could see the Himalayan range and the sun going down on us. As it went down it spread a golden hue in the sky and the canvas lit with colors that nature had painted glowed the valley. Colors of blue, brown, yellow, white and green merged to create an unbelievable site in the sky.

Then suddenly I realize my feet were swollen due to extreme cold I had to move out of snow. There were shacks a few meters away where a lady was making piping hot tea and some grub. We had enough to warm us from inside to get on with the backward journey. Our car wouldn't start because the diesel had gone cold. Worse was another bus full of college girls got jammed and the diesel had frozen in the tank. The foolish driver had burnt pieces of log under the fuel tank to melt the frozen diesel and we were all having a good laugh watching all the fun. But my uncle wanted to play angel and went to help them. We waited for 2.5 hours until the bus finally struck ignition. By then my feet had frozen to double the size both vertically and horizontally. I had to dip my feet into warm water to bring them to normal. I loved every bit of it. We were all so tired that I could hear every bone in the body crackling and every human snoring in the room. When we got up it was time for us to leave. Ofcourse I dint want to leave so early and just to say bye-bye I decided to walk down Mall road again to fill my senses with the freshness of that docile town. When I was traveling back to Delhi I was seeing all the pictures of Manali and was stunned at this amazing creation of God. Just wished it stays away from commercialization forever to remain as virgin as it was when god must have made it first.

Nainital

Placid, serene and really really lazy. That's how I can describe Nainital. I was told it is the honeymooner's paradise and when I landed I understood why. There is absolutely no urgency in the town and people walk around, sit and chat and do nothing for hours. I had gone on my school trip to Nainital with around 60-70 odd students from my school. Our journey from Delhi to Nainital is roughly around 12-14 hours. We left Delhi at 9pm and reached Nainital early in the morning. The drive up in a bus can be scary and nauseating for people who have altitude sickness so do not forget to carry medication.

We were singing and dancing all throughout and hardly had time to look out of the window. But very late in the night when the drives asked us to calm down and stay put in our seats is when I looked out to see we were passing through the dense Jim Corbett National park. Our Hotel was not the greatest and we did not care either. We went to Naini Jheel after freshening up. Nainital is full of beautiful lakes. The town was named after Goddess Naini and the biggest lake was also named after her, hence the names Nainitaal & Naini Jheel respectively. The lake did not have much activity then. There was boating only and we all chose our boats and decided to do what most honeymooners' do, that is romance with nature! Our rower was an amazing singer and the value of the boat ride went up many times just because he was singing songs for us. We all felt like we were in Venice riding a Gondola and the rower singing romantic songs for us. The town is full of British architecture and the old houses are a reminiscence of the long gone era. Nainital was a summer escapade for the British evidently.

Our next stop was the ever green mall road. No prizes for guessing it was a stretch of road where you buy loads and loads of local art and merchandise to take back home. Nainital has some beautiful shops for Candles and wooden artifacts I would strongly recommend these. The Naina Peak also known as the China peak is roughly 8500 ft above sea level and is the highest point in Nainital. It's a popular tourist point as you can see the China border from there and also see a fantastic view of the Himalayas. Its best to have a guide around here or else you will keep looking everywhere to see the China border and will return home looking at a cloud line and assuming it was the Border. For the ones who want to have a brid's eye view of Nainital can also visit Tiffin Top which is oddly 2000 ft above sea level. Nothing too great about this place but just a quiet place to spend time alone.

Bhimtal is huge. It's named after the epic character Bhim from Mahabharata, and I don't know why. There are boating options everywhere in Nainital and Bhimtal is no different. There are plenty of farmhouses and resorts here.

Nainital was actually filled with lot of 'just married' couples who had come for a peaceful honeymoon secluded from the noise of big town. Owing to its proximity to Delhi, lot of newly weds from Delhi are a regular here. I don't have any particularly amazing memory to take back from Nainital apart from all the fun we had together. Had it not been for those classmates, I would have been utterly bored here. But yes I would still rate 3 stars to this tranquil hill station for a cheap getaway.

Dehradoon/Mussoorie

Am in love with mountains and is proved by how much I have traveled in the snowy valleys. But that's beyond the point. Mussoorie was our New Year destination. Few friends got together and decided every new year' eve we shall all go out to some place and celebrate. That way we get to cut down our traveling costs and also meet up regularly. Dehradoon/Mussoorie was our first destination and reason being my friend has a house there, hotel cost eliminated! His aunt would cook for us, food cost down and he had a vehicle so commuting cost down!

We were supposed to board a fast train from Delhi but missed by a minute so we took a cab from Delhi to Dehradoon which took us around Rs. 1200. The drive was comfortable. We left Delhi around 12 in the noon and reached Dehradoon at midnight. It took us long because we stopped by at almost every eatery. My friend had reached before us and had prepared super hot food us and we had dinner and slept. Next morning was a pleasant surprise. The town was exactly like they show in the movies, like a hill station should be! Their house had a huge lawn n the front and mist had settled down on the grass. It was a lazy morning as obviously it was winter. We could sense the lousiness in the air to get rid of it we walked around the town to get a hang of it. We relaxed totally for a day in Dehradoon and saw nothing!

Next day we left for Mussoorie by local state transport bus. It was the ride of my life more thrilling than a roller coaster. We were unfortunately on the last seat of the bus and we jumped sky high everytime the bus hit a bump on the road. Everything we ate that morning was getting mixed in our stomach and boy what a ride it was. We had changed 5 seats automatically and when the bus stopped for a loo break we were all piled on top of each other. The valley is very-very steep and roads were curvy enough to put any curvious thing to shame. We were all relieved when the bus finally reached Mussoorie. It looks like it's based on the tip of a hill because everything outside of it is Hills and when you look down you can see Dehradoon. It had also snowed a bit in here and we could see scanty snow dumps here and there. Was a lot to excite my friend who saw snow for the first time and I could remember how foolish I must have looked in Manali. We took up room in a hotel for Rs. 1200 and four of us shared the room. There are plenty of cheaper options but its better to spend a bit more and live comfortably. All we did for 2 days was roam around the Mall road, observe people, shop eat and drink. The second day we went to this peak in a cable car which is approximately 7000 ft above sea level and it wasn't amusing because you could naturally see all of the valley. But then Mussoorie was definitely more scenic than I thought and much more romantic than Nainital. Mussoorie would surely rate 4 out of 5 on my list.

Vaishno Devi

This is one experience which is difficult to put into words. It's a shrine that millions visit every year and they say 'you visit this shrine only when your time comes and the goddess wants you to see her'. It is actually true. I have seen so many people, including myself, who planned Vaishno Devi trips a zillion times and something or the other happened so plans got cancelled. And when my cal had come I was totally not expecting it. It was the last day of my internal exams and my aunt asked me if I'd be able to join them and I jumped out of joy and said yes. Least did I expect what was going to come along. We took Pooja express from Delhi. Then we had to board a bus to Katra which is the base of Vaishno Devi. It's not surprising to see thousands of people around here. Everybody chanting 'Jai Mata Dii' and the energy of the place is infectious. The moment you start climbing you feel this sudden rush of blood, excitement and when everybody who passes by chants 'Jai Mata Dii' it becomes all the more worthwhile to exude that energy. We started climbing in the evening and reached the top around midnight. Although there are enough stoppages and places to eat on the way, you don't feel hungry. But once you reach the top the scene is reversed. We were hungry, tired and sleepy. It was September and retreating monsoon made the weather chilly. It also rained for a while during the climb so it was a bit cold in the night. We had to wake up really early if we had to be the early birds in the line. So we got up at 4am and had a hot water bath. We headed straight to the shrine and even at 5am we weren't even close to the shrine. I consider myself very lucky because exactly from where we were standing the line was broken into two and we began the other line which meant I get to go in sooner. Finally I reached the cave and eventually the shrine. I was in there for almost 5 mins and considering the amount of time other people get to spend there and the way they are shooed away from there I was really blessed to have had all that time without any interference. The shrine is basically three stones inside which means three different faces of the goddess. I was trhilled to have spent so much time. When we walked out is when I actually looked around the valley. It was beautiful and I could see tiny houses with colored roofs all over. It was drizzling and that added to the romance of the valley. Shades of green and brown had people wearing different colored raincoats was breath taking. When one goes to Vaishno Devi I believe there is nothing that your mind sees before you visit and nothing that your minds wants to see after you've visited the shrine. It's overwhelming, the whole climb, the walk down and the way back.

More to come... i am yet to update you about the plains, the rough terrains, the seas, the villages, the history.... you haven't seen anything yet...