an unplanned trip and its enriching experiences

“Travel creates memories that last a lifetime”

It was the evening of 7th of February, when I was on the way to Old Delhi Railway Station as I had to catch the train to my hometown. My ticket was booked in ‘Tatkal quota’ and it was around 8:45pm, when I got a message from Indian Railways that my ticket got cancelled as it was in waiting. Although my ticket was lastly on first waiting but when the passenger chart was prepared, it didn’t get confirm. It was a bit disappointing to me as my family was awaiting me. It was around 9:30 pm, and I was sitting on stairs being saddened about what had happened. Suddenly an idea floated in my mind that I should use this opportunity to pursue my interest to travel to hills. Being a travel enthusiast, I was persuaded by that idea and went searching the online tickets to Dehradun, as it was the nearest place I have to reach to travel to the queen of hills, Mussoorie. But certainly, there were no tickets available as it was too late to search for it. A few days back I randomly went through a few vlogs about people travelling to Mussoorie to see snow. It reminded me that I can get inter-state bus to Dehradun from ISBT Kashmiri Gate. Then, instantly I booked an auto rickshaw to Kashmiri gate bus terminal and reached there at around 10:30 pm. Fortunately, I got a ticket in a seater bus to Dehradun that was about to depart. Till then, I had made myself adamant about this trip even though I was not having enough money to make this trip happen successfully. I was on the way to Dehradun when I got a call from my parents who were expecting me with them, the next day. I was rebuked by them to be on this random trip as our parents don’t want us to face any difficulty.

I was dropped at Dehradun at about 5 early morning and was very much curious to see the snow. I asked the bus conductor about where would I experience the snow then and he replied. “ In Dhanaulti you will definitely get to see it”. I decided to visit to Dhanaulti but I was not having enough warm clothes to bear the chilly weather there. I was just having a sweater and a single jacket that I was wearing. But then it reminded me a well-known proverb “Where there is a will, there's a way”. I took a bus which was going to Dhanaulti via Mussoorie and then I commenced my journey in the hills, that mesmerizing view I can never forget. It was around 6, just before the dawn, when the beautiful rays were penetrating the clouds there, and the bus was smoothly going up on the hills. In around one and half hour, we halted at the Mussoorie bus stand. I thought in my mind to visit Dhanaulti first in order to see the snow , and to stay in Mussoorie later in the evening. The roads to Dhanaulti were a bit narrow and were quite dangerous, if the vehicle was not limited to a certain slower speed. At around 9:30 am , we were just 7 kms away from Dhanaulti and got struck to certain place because of heavy snow afterwards. The roads and even the roofs of few of the shops were heavily covered with snow. The Bus conductor told us that bus will not move further and will get back to Dehradun from here only in the afternoon. We were given the option to reach to Dhanaulti on foot or to go back to Mussoorie or Dehradun from the same bus. I encountered that chilly weather with an enchanting view of hills and valleys that were jacketed with snow. I had to sate my hunger with 'maggie' and a cup of tea and gave myself an enthusiastic start. It was so chilly there, that I had borrowed a pair of gloves from a fellow traveller for a while. I clicked so many snapshots there. I was on a solo trip so I was the only one who had to manage everything on his own. After a couple of hours, I went back in the bus and get departed towards Mussoorie. I was dropped at Mussoorie at 2 in the afternoon. I was quite tired and wanted to had some rest as spending my whole night in a seater bus didn’t let me to sleep well. There I searched for my stay, they were overpriced because it was the last phase of winters and as Uttarakhand mostly experience snowfall in winters from January to March so as expected, there was huge crowd to see snowfall . After roaming for a couple of hours on the mall road, searching for my accommodation, I finally found a room there on the mall road that was not only affordable but also it had a Dehradun valley view from window. I took a nap for an hour there and then again I went to visit the mall road. It was around 6 in the evening, the time for sunset in Mussoorie. But certainly, the weather was so cloudy and chilly that I was shivering , I struggled to cope up with it but had to buy a sweater to make myself warmer. Evening walk at the mall road was quite awesome. While roaming on the streets, I went into a shop that was really affordable and there I had my dinner. ‘Stuffed Parantha’ with a cup of tea was quite a good combination . While returning back to my room I saw a shop where there were people enjoying hot chocolate, I enjoyed that too a lot in that frigid atmosphere and I could say that it was the best hot chocolate I had until now . At around 10:00 pm, I went to my room and had a sound sleep. I randomly woke up at 3:30 am, and then my sleep was almost over. I sat at the window facing towards the Dehradun valley, it was silent but one of the most beautiful view watching those lights in the valley that were much far and looking like a blanket of stars. At about 5:30 in the morning, I left my room to experience the sunrise in that chilly weather. On the same day, I had to leave for Delhi in the evening as I was not left with enough money to stay for more days to enjoy this awesome experience. I decided to cover the famous places in Mussoorie like Kempty falls, Dalai hills and company garden in one go. I went to taxi stand near library , and had a conversation with a group who was standing near by and wanted to visit the same destinations. I visited all the three places in the sharing taxi with the same group of people and those experiences at the places were much captivating. In the afternoon, I went back to the mall road, had my lunch there and decided to have a trek to gun hills. I went to gun hills on foot, it was the most tiring but quite charming experience as well.In the evening, I took a bus to Dehradun, and then did my overnight journey from Dehradun to Delhi.

It was really an awesome experience there, even being on the solo trip. The memories and the experiences that I learnt in this unplanned trip will be everlasting. It is rightly said that “Unplanned trips are the best ”.