A Paradise of Adventures(Skiing at Auli)
For a minute there, I lost my self...that's what happens when you reach the top of Auli. You will suddenly forget yourself to find yourself.Auli in winters feels like the angels descended and made the earth, heaven for us. Every new year I pray to start in the laps of nature. And this time it was- Auli where I landed. Though reaching Auli is quite a long journey by road, but trust me it's worth it. Those bums might hurt from all the sitting, but they will thank you later for dragging them to this place.
Travel Duration: 4 days 4 Nights (As it takes minimum for 15-18 Hrs to reach Auli from Delhi, keep some spare hours if you want to explore few other places around Auli.)
Travel Budget: INR 15000 per person (Includes everything) Travel Mode: Train + Road (Personal Hired Car)
We started looking for a good resort in October, and can you believe it the bookings were already full! Either they were too highly-priced or the place was too shady. We started looking for travel companies to help us with our bookings. After a lot of research, calling, TravelTriangle gave us the best package (pricing) we could ask for along with the resort of our choice (Blue Poppy, Auli).
#GOBTip- Do your booking 6 months in advance to grab best deals.
We booked an overnight train from Delhi to Haridwar from there Travel Triangle car picked us up, and we headed straight to Joshimath. The driver was very humble and friendly and the ride was pretty smooth. We started at 6 am and after a long journey, we reached Joshimath late in the evening and stayed the night at a hotel to relax. Also, the roads from Joshimath to Auli are closed in the evening due to snow/ snowfall on the roads. The driver told us to be ready early in the morning to reach Auli on time. After a good breakfast, we were all set to reach our final destination AULI!
After reaching Auli getting up to our resort, we had few hassles as cars couldn't go up to our resorts. We took the help of the resort staff and picked our luggage and trekked till our rooms. Which felt like a vertical walk on the hill with us wearing layers of winter clothing and luggage of a few days.
But all our sore muscles got rejuvenated as soon as we stepped in our hut for the next 2 days. Blue Poppy didn't disappoint us with its ambience and services. They gave us a family hut that had a double bed on the ground floor along with 2 bathrooms and 1 single and a double bed on the top floor which was more like an attic.
The hut was quite beautiful, felt like just came out a dream. They had provided us with an electric heater, along with electric heating blankets. Which made are nights quite cosy. The only difficulty we faced was that the water would freeze in pipes. So, using the bathrooms meant almost no water to flush. And the freezing temperature of the water made it difficult to wash our hands. The only time we got some hot water was in the morning when the boiler was switched on to freshen up. Later we would ask the help to give us a few buckets to keep us going through the day.
That day we relaxed our selves by having a good nap, exploring the resort, and enjoying in the room with some music. We had also brought games like UNO, Jenga etc. to play and pass the time in a fun way.
Later in the noon, we stepped out of the resort to try some local food that was there, some hot coffee, noodles, Maggi etc.As we saw the sun setting down, the weather started taking a turn from pleasant cold to 'making your spine shiver' cold. So we headed back to our room to get cosy.The resort staff came to inform us that they had organized a bonfire and DJ night as it was 31st Dec. So we packed ourselves in our warmest jackets and headed to welcome the new year in those chilly winds. It was a BYOB bonfire with snacks and DJ. We all danced and had fun click good pictures. Can't help it, we looked good + new years night + blog requirements 😉
After dinner in the main dining hut, we went back to our room tired and slept in those cosy heated blankets. The next day I woke up to this...
Loss of words right? If the picture is making you speechless what will you do when you get to see it? Now imagine waking up to it! Ain't it beautiful? You will be in total awe of it, just like me. I couldn't move to even go and pee. I thought if I moved all this will be gone and I didn't wanna leave it. But eventually, I had to pull myself out as we had planned to go skiing! 😉
To reach the top of Auli one can either take the Ropeway or the Ski Chair Lift. We checked out both and found the Ski Chair Lift as the better option, as you get to see Auli landscapes with a better view. We got some gumboots on rent only for INR 100 per person and snow gloves for INR 100 for the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkQth6JmTy8&t=20s
#GOBTip - Do wear gloves and a cap covering your head and ears when you venture out in the snow. Also, keep in mind either wear boots that are waterproof or get gumboots as we did. Or you can get frostbites. Trust me you don't wanna go through that.
As soon as you get down from the Ski Chair Lift, you will spot a few small shops serving Tea, Coffee, Maggi etc. As I stepped further I got wonderstruck looking at the white wonderland ahead of me.
At the horizon, I saw the snow kissing the blue skies. I couldn't move my eyes from looking at the rare sight I got to see. Further, we spotted many trainers ready for the tourists to teach them skiing, and a few other activities like sledging, the tyre pulling sledging etc.
We decided to head for the skiing training. The most difficult part was making the balance to stand on them, as the ski boots were quiet heavy and they grip your mid calves in a way that at first, you find it hard to make balance or even stand up properly. The trainers taught us how to make the stance, how to keep balance and other precautionary things. Now it was our turn to try, and the best part was every time we tried we fell on our asses! Yeah, you read that right I'm calling that as the best part because that was the time we had the most fun, every time we fell we rose back up again to do it right. In the determination to not fall.
And in the end, we did it right. Hell yeah!
By the end of it all, we were tired. So we headed to have some 'pahadon wali Maggi' and hot coffee. We sat there relaxing and enjoying the view once again.
We reached back to our resort by late noon and relaxed a bit more. Behind our hut we could spot a temple, upon asking the staff they told us it's a hanuman temple. So we decided to head there and do a little hike in the snow. Though the hike became a little difficult due cold and the altitude, it was worth the climb.
After a fun and tiring day, we had dinner at the resort. Even though being tired, we didn't want the night to end, as it was our last night at Auli. We decided to take in a little more of the cold weather and strolled around the resort. And as if nature also wanted us to stay it started SNOWING. It looked like from pitch dark black skies an angel was showering us with white snow as if to welcome us.
As we woke up we couldn't believe that our amazing trip was at an end and we had to head back home. So we packed our stuff and bid Goodbye to the Auli and to 2019.
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