Snowfall In Himachal - A First For Us

We started off from Kolkata, taking the Kalka express train which took about 38 hours to reach it's destination. It was freezing cold and to top it off, rain accompanied us. Managing our way, we got on the Sivalik mountain train, which was just around in another platform. That was one of the best train rides i've ever taken. Beautiful!

The mesmerizing 4 hour train ride ended too soon for us. After reaching Shimla, we searched for hotels as we hadn't pre-booked and we got a good deal. The view from our rooms made it all the more worthwhile. A hearty lunch and some good sack time ensured that we were up for a stroll in the evening in the mall area (i prefer the one in Gangtok).

I won't forget the next morning. IT WAS SNOWING. My first time seeing snowfall. The roofs and trees were completely snow laden. It was a moment of immense excitement which brought out the child in us.

After capturing Shimla and Kufri, we started our journey to Manali. It was a 7 hour drive with several stops to admire the beauty. We had booked a hotel already after several days of browsing travel websites. After checking into our rooms at around 9.00 pm, we were famished which only the lovely Aloo parathas we had could justify. We couldn't see much out of our balcony because it was night but we did see huge chunks of snow just beneath our windows. We understood that the next morning is gonna bring some great scenery. And, it did!

We had heard a lot about Solang valley and how skying was hugely popular there. We didn't sky but making-snowballs-and-throwing-at-each-other was immensely fun.

Like every traveller says, it was sad returning from the hills. After a not so comfortable journey from Manali to Delhi, it was time to return to home, Kolkata.