How I unexpectedly ticked off some of my Bucket List : Parashar Lake

The journey to the point of trekking was a bumpy one taking 3 hours to reach the point where we had to start trekking as the road were supposedly closed.

There was a dhaba nearby from where you could buy stuff to trek for the 5 km trail.

The initial stages of the trek seemed pretty simple for me but not so much for one of my comrade as she had some sort of knee injury. We got through the first phase which were pretty much stairs to find snow cover at the top.

Seeing the snow a wanderlust was triggered in us and all the problems were forgotten all we could think of was the snow lying in touching distance from us which we had to reach to. We moved quickly towards it to embrace it.

After spending a good 15 minutes in the magnificent snow we set our eyes towards our destination: Parashar Lake.

We were making good progress now moving forward at a decent pace with Milli feeling more comfortable without a knee pad more than with it. Things were going smoothly. UNTIL !!

There were two routes ahead: one following the road and the other a steep climb.

"You can take that route if you want, we will meet you at the top" Milli said seeing my wanderlust calling to take the path with the steep climb.That is all what I needed my companions permitting me to venture the surroundings of the place on my own. (the solo trekking part)

The path was fully covered with snow with a more than decent elevation such that it exhausted me a little bit to reach the top. The view at the top was just mesmerizing something I thought my friends would definitely love to see when they reach the top.

I was now in an area almost fully surrounded by snow everywhere I looked.

The time had come to give them a shout and that is what I did. A reply came back that they are down there and will meet me at the top very soon.

I had a great time playing in the somewhat hardened snow, enjoying the snow at its fullest.

Half an hour had passed waiting for them still there was no sign of them. I called their names there was no response. No matter how many times I called for them there was no response.

Out in the path I had come from to this wide amount of snow I could see the group from IIT Roorkee whom I met in the bus. I asked them if they had any knowledge of the whereabouts of my two friends. The answer was a big no.

I was in the state of a dilemma I had two options one to hit the road by a slightly dangerous route and then ask people if they had seen them, the other tag along with the IIT Roorkee people reach Parashar Lake and then wait for them and ask for help if they don't arrive at sundown.

I chose the first option I somehow reached the bottom sliding in snow, walking really narrow paths still not at any time risking my safety I took every precaution using all of my brief trekking experience.

Numerous cars passed by none had any news of my interest I finally decided to hitchhike my way to Parashar.

Parashar was not more than three-four minutes away but it was long as long as any three-four minutes get.

Oh my I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them coming down from above. I breathed a sigh of relief at their sighting. I was delighted seeing them.

We just lied down in the snow I had my body energy drained a little bit from my adventure and they were tired from their trekking expedition. Three hours had passed since the time we first stepped on to start trekking. The time was 2:30 pm now.

As we laid down in the snow tales of both sides adventure followed. The discovery of Mini Parashar, Mayank lying down alongside MJ initials, them crying by name alot just like I did, faith in me to reach Parashar Lake safely.

We finally got up after 15 minutes to proceed towards the last phase of our journey to Parashar Lake we were their at this majestic site in a little more than five minutes.

The most unique thing about this place is the patch of grass in the middle of the lake which moves from one end to the other from Summer to Winter.

Laziness hit us when we reached the place of the person whom we had contacted our stay with. We lazily half sat half lied down on the ground waiting for the maggi and tea we ordered to come.Eventually the maggi came by, the maggi at that time seemed as the most amazing thing you would ever eat.

It was decision time now : Tent OR Cottage

In the end tent won.(costed us 500 per person with food same for cottage)

The decision was made it was sleep time now.

It was 5 pm when we woke up sunset was on us and I was not going to miss it for the dear world.

Me and my friends seperated again they took the route to the temple wherein I took the high route to climb the snow route to reach the top to witness the sunset. The sunset is the most beautiful thing to watch in the mountains, the sunset here was just no different its beauty was enhanced by the overlooking Venus(the evening star) at the top.

The night grew darker with me at the top without a flashlight I had to get down and what better way than to slide down from the top of the snowy hill.

The experience was something each and every person must take, it was just fabulous to say the very least.

It was pitch black now and our tummies were making all sorts of noises the time was 7 still an hour away from dinner.

We were lighting a fire to vanquish the cold when I saw the group of my friends of my university coming through. They were cold and tired by their night expedition.

Dinner time it was finally, the rice and the rajma felt like something that would come from your mother's kitchen.

After dinner I looked up to see the stars there were not many, I decided to give it another try by setting my alarm for 1 am.

How I saved some lives ?

My alarm rang with 1% battery in my phone. I looked out of the tent still not many stars. I really needed to use the washroom but as there wasn't any I needed to do it in the open. As I was looking for a spot to free myself of the agony I heard voices of help from the snow top I made the slide from. As I looked to the top I could see four people flashing their flashlights from the tree top. I called for help to the people whom we had booked our cottage from. They were rescued eventually to be saved from frost bite that they could have had.

The next day I made another slide down the slope. The next was the visit to the magnificent Parashar Temple which was followed by a little play time in the snow eventually bring our trip to an end. Not quite there was a little more adventure left.

We decided to take the bus to Chandigarh around midnight we were not going back so early. We had seven hours to spend but first we needed food.

The place we ate at was not the nicest because we was so hungry we jumped on the first place we saw. We decided to have a nice dinner from the best place in town.

The next spot was the market area where I searched around to buy the traditional cap that I was longing to get for a long time.

Still there was lot of time left when we saw the poster of "JOLLY LLB 2" and the decision to watch the movie was made.

The hall didn't seem that nice but we still decided to gutse it out and get in. "Don't take the Box Tickets" Milli said but Mayank still bought them. The box was creepy as hell we shared nervy looks Mayank and me while Milli was in disgust and she forced us to sit in the box and not to take the seats in front. As the movie progressed our nerves began to ease down and we started to enjoy the movie in that unusual environment. It was not in my bucket list to watch the movie in those circumstances but I enjoyed the experience the fullest.

We were hungry now and decided to visit the place we had promised to Rajmahal Palace.

Place to eat at-

Rajmahal Palace

It is situated next to the district court. The place has great ambiance and delicacies to savor.

This trip was unique in many ways as it ticked off things of my bucket list which I wasn't expecting: A solo trek(for a while), hitchhiking, rescuing people. Snow trek was the only expected thing I ticked from the bucket list.