Budget trip to North, A step into the unknown, A step towards finding oneself...!!!

We boarded the train “Sampark Kranti Express” (Rs. 770/per person) at 9:30am from Pune junction and reached Chandigarh railway station around 8:00pm on 17th Feb. (Carry lot of food and water bottles with you, for obvious reasons). Always remember to interact with people while you are travelling, they have some amazing stories to share. The evening is to be seated at the doors and admire the beauty of nature.

When you reach Chandigarh get straight towards highway (2mins walk from station), board a bus to main bus stand (sector 43). Trust me on this, here we tasted the best food in the world, which was amazingly delicious and guess what?? They are cheap and hygienic.

We then boarded bus to Amritsar the same night (Rs. 255/ per person). Make sure you FIND A COMFORTABLE SEAT . . . it’s a long journey.

We reached Amritsar at 4:00am. Alarm your clock at 3:00 am as there awaits a beautiful entrance architecture to Amritsar.

From the bus stand we took the “Tonga” to the Golden temple. Which has many accommodations in its surroundings (Book hotels via OYO Rooms, they have last minute deals and offers. Rooms should cost you around 600-750).

By 5:00am we freshened up and went to the golden temple.

The view was soothing to the eye it was absolutely magical. The bliss of being there as a matter of fact is a superb feeling one could ever experience. The fresh air, the atmosphere, the sight the temple, the weather is just what one would call “PEACE”.

By 3:00pm we left for Wagha border by shared auto. (Charges: 100 per person for a to and fro journey). Oh boy this place gives you just an idea of what every army officer serving our country might be feeling on each day of their life. A true feeling of patriotism, the feeling of you being a proud Indian, just rushes through every nerve of your body looking at the culture followed their EVERYDAY and not just on independence and republic day.

The music, the roar, the enthusiasm, the AURA just makes you feel so proud of being a citizen of such a beautiful country “India”.

The marching ceremony started around 4:30pm and ended by 6:00pm. Reach as early as possible so that you get a good seat to experience the ceremony.

Journey Amritsar to Naggar.

We left for Naggar, Himachal Pradesh around 11:00pm from Amritsar (Rs 7000/- for Ertiga 8 seater. There are also Government transport Available but I would suggest you to prefer cab (front seat!), as the journey is a whole different experience in itself.

Not forgetting to mention about the Spooky roads which is part of the journey almost throughout, but once you enter the Himalayan Ghats it’s a whole different story that makes the spooky roads a wonderful journey, when you find yourself nested in the beauty of the God gifted nature. The charm of the morning and the bliss of the cool breeze, breathing the freshness is just what one would ever want in life. Timing is all you need, we reached the right place at the right time.

We had booked a 4 day/3 night snow trek in advance. (19th to 22nd February)

We reached base camp around 10:00am which is at 2000-meter above the city Naggar, Himachal Pradesh. We had our lunch by 1:00PM and left for an acclamation trek, came back to our base camp around 4:30. We then gathered at the camp and had ice breaking games and fun sessions.

The view:

Oh the base camp, People use ‘Heaven’ as a metaphor to express how beautiful a place could be, but I would rather say if one wants to go to heaven it has to be the base camp.

Given a chance I would stayed there forever. Imagine nesting at a height of 2000 meter with majestic mountain views outside your rooms, mesmerizing isn’t it??

The mountains are covered with snow, standing tall making you feel “How small you and your worldly problems are” and makes you realize there is true happiness beyond it. A beautiful view which cannot be expressed in words, it is for everyone to go up there and experience it.

Just imagine, as the day passes by you are delighted by nature with its different shades of color blending in perfectly carrying you away in its beauty.

Every morning we woke up fresh as ever. One day we were woken up by heavy rainfall where as one day with snowfall. Imagine witnessing your 1st ever snowfall at the base camp. We got fresh had our breakfast and left for waterfall trek. We came back had our lunch and then left for exploring the Naggar City and not by road but by trekking down the steep mountain and that to in rain. It’s a fun in itself, down the trek one is slipping here and one there and while you are laughing at them out of nowhere you slip down too.

We visited the Nicholas Roerich museum and the Naggar castle at Nagar city. We had the best coffee and Maggie there.

Today was the day for what all we had planned this “1st ever Snow trek”

Always remember to be in front, not only you will witness the virgin traces but also find your way up all by yourself leading your friends to the top. The trek holds its own wilderness giving you answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask.

The destination (2600Meters) welcomed us with snowfall and a heavy one this time. This experience cannot be put into words just look down.

We visited the Vashisht Hot water spring and Hadimba Temple, in Manali 10km from Nagar. We booked our rooms in a hotel near the Hadimba temple and went shopping to the famous Manali MALL ROAD. we shopped for hours . . .

We visited the Monastery and national park at Manali. Wandered here and there as we had planned for solang valley which was closed due to heavy snowfall. (You can visit and experience snow sport activities at solang).The same day evening we left for Chandīgarh by bus (AC busses starting from 450/-). Reached Chandigarh around 3:00Am on 24th February

We decided to explore one of its kind and smartly planned city “Chandigarh”. We visited the Rock Garden and Rose Garden. We came back to hotel, rested and the same night by 3am we headed back to Pune.

The patriotic feel you get at the last defense line of INDIA to the feel of achievement on climbing the peaks of majestic Himalayas, experiencing the peace at golden temple to embracing the 1st ever snowfall of your life.

Believe me not once you have travelled, met and learned new things, it’s very hard to stop. . .you will keep looking forward for many such adventures.

A special thanks to Audrey Vyas who has helped me write this article.

Somewhere between reminiscing about the past and basking in the hope future, I found my true BLISS . . .!!!