The Art of Cooking Up An Adventure
A basket full of cakes, doughnuts, chocolates, cheese, olives, bread, juice, rum and coke.
A car tank filled with fuel.
A heart set on adventure.
A mind taking rest from being practical.
The perfect ingredients to have a terrific time.
That’s how the last trip to the hills started. When you start on a trip you need a destination don’t you? The easiest way to decide on one is to get a list of probable destinations and do a random selection. Your lucky number, your pet’s date of birth or the number of helpings of ice cream you had last night are equally good numbers to choose from.
I though went with a more sedate method, I opened the book found the first place that was listed and firmly believing the first page of a book is the best place to begin headed towards Lansdowne.
A maniacal 7 hour drive from Delhi through Meerut, Bijnor and a host of small and big towns with nary a break found us in Kotdwar. The last town before the drive into the Pauri Garhwal hills began. Dusk had fallen and the first person that gave directions about the 42 km run to Landowne also warned of wild animals and a dangerous road advising an early morning ascent as a far more sensible idea.
Disappointment personified was he.
Thankfully some eavesdroppers (there are plenty around when a woman driver stops to ask for directions) vetoed the idea and said it was quite safe and the guy was merely paranoid.
Manna from heaven!!! Just the encouragement I needed to push on.
So up we went with a slowly rising moon in the horizon for company. Signs of human habitation quickly dropped from sight and a long stretch of winding roads shining like a silver string in the moonlight tempted me on.
Unlike other hill station routes this one was very deserted, the few trucks that had started the climb with me also turned away towards main Pauri town while I continued towards Landsdowne. Completely isolated from any other human and the mobile connection also beginning to fail the warning about wild animals played on the mind and I half wished and half feared meeting a bear or a tiger.
The hills shone in the moonlight like an image out of a dreamscape, no glimmer of man-made lights or fires disrupting the amazing serenity of the place. The climb went on being steeper and the road narrower at each turning.
Finally when I had started fearing that perhaps I had missed a turn somewhere in the darkness the twinkling lights of a township appeared in the distance.
The regimental headquarters of the Garhwal Rifles, Landsdowne is a typical cantonment township, orderly neat and small. The last was the reason that the three hotels the town had were all jammed with guests, apparently I wasn't the only one to open the book at the first page.
At 10.30 at night the only alternatives were either to sleep in the car or travel to a resort three kilometers away through a jungle dirt path, where not many guests go for fear of the road conditions and wild animals.
So post a cup of tea to sooth the now near-frayed nerves after a straight eight-hour drive off we went to look for this elusive destination. The dirt track started off the main road and within a few paces one would hardly believe that the town was merely a turn away so dark and overgrown with foliage the route looked in the dark.
A bumpy ride mostly on first and second gear with back wheels slipping once in a while at the turns and the route seeming unending I had to finally decide that a greater idiot than me would be very difficult to find.
Suddenly when I was despairing of ever finding the place and lacking the courage to turn back since the road hardly allowed for a u-turn I was faced with a fork in the road with no signs as to which led where. This was like hitting the bottom of a pebble filled pit.
There was nothing to do but get down from the car and search for some indication every moment dreading that some wild animal may yet be hungry and one would make for an excellent sumptuous meal.
Hurray!!!!!!!!!
Finally located a chalk mark sign saying the resort was to be found to the right.
So close to midnight I drive into a resort that mercifully had a room and food to offer.
Morning was when I actually discovered what a wonderful place it was and how lucky I was that the hotels in the town had been packed ensuring that I travel out to this place in the wilderness.
The picnic breakfast, the lazing around in the hills and the drive back through the sleepy township is something I will not tell you much about since the memories are far too precious to share.
However if you ever wish to travel to this beautiful place I can guide you to it and you can experience the beauty of seeing hills and mountains, rocks and boulders, trees and streams without the marks of human interference.
A car tank filled with fuel.
A heart set on adventure.
A mind taking rest from being practical.
The perfect ingredients to have a terrific time.
That’s how the last trip to the hills started. When you start on a trip you need a destination don’t you? The easiest way to decide on one is to get a list of probable destinations and do a random selection. Your lucky number, your pet’s date of birth or the number of helpings of ice cream you had last night are equally good numbers to choose from.
I though went with a more sedate method, I opened the book found the first place that was listed and firmly believing the first page of a book is the best place to begin headed towards Lansdowne.
A maniacal 7 hour drive from Delhi through Meerut, Bijnor and a host of small and big towns with nary a break found us in Kotdwar. The last town before the drive into the Pauri Garhwal hills began. Dusk had fallen and the first person that gave directions about the 42 km run to Landowne also warned of wild animals and a dangerous road advising an early morning ascent as a far more sensible idea.
Disappointment personified was he.
Thankfully some eavesdroppers (there are plenty around when a woman driver stops to ask for directions) vetoed the idea and said it was quite safe and the guy was merely paranoid.
Manna from heaven!!! Just the encouragement I needed to push on.
So up we went with a slowly rising moon in the horizon for company. Signs of human habitation quickly dropped from sight and a long stretch of winding roads shining like a silver string in the moonlight tempted me on.
Unlike other hill station routes this one was very deserted, the few trucks that had started the climb with me also turned away towards main Pauri town while I continued towards Landsdowne. Completely isolated from any other human and the mobile connection also beginning to fail the warning about wild animals played on the mind and I half wished and half feared meeting a bear or a tiger.
The hills shone in the moonlight like an image out of a dreamscape, no glimmer of man-made lights or fires disrupting the amazing serenity of the place. The climb went on being steeper and the road narrower at each turning.
Finally when I had started fearing that perhaps I had missed a turn somewhere in the darkness the twinkling lights of a township appeared in the distance.
The regimental headquarters of the Garhwal Rifles, Landsdowne is a typical cantonment township, orderly neat and small. The last was the reason that the three hotels the town had were all jammed with guests, apparently I wasn't the only one to open the book at the first page.
At 10.30 at night the only alternatives were either to sleep in the car or travel to a resort three kilometers away through a jungle dirt path, where not many guests go for fear of the road conditions and wild animals.
So post a cup of tea to sooth the now near-frayed nerves after a straight eight-hour drive off we went to look for this elusive destination. The dirt track started off the main road and within a few paces one would hardly believe that the town was merely a turn away so dark and overgrown with foliage the route looked in the dark.
A bumpy ride mostly on first and second gear with back wheels slipping once in a while at the turns and the route seeming unending I had to finally decide that a greater idiot than me would be very difficult to find.
Suddenly when I was despairing of ever finding the place and lacking the courage to turn back since the road hardly allowed for a u-turn I was faced with a fork in the road with no signs as to which led where. This was like hitting the bottom of a pebble filled pit.
There was nothing to do but get down from the car and search for some indication every moment dreading that some wild animal may yet be hungry and one would make for an excellent sumptuous meal.
Hurray!!!!!!!!!
Finally located a chalk mark sign saying the resort was to be found to the right.
So close to midnight I drive into a resort that mercifully had a room and food to offer.
Morning was when I actually discovered what a wonderful place it was and how lucky I was that the hotels in the town had been packed ensuring that I travel out to this place in the wilderness.
The picnic breakfast, the lazing around in the hills and the drive back through the sleepy township is something I will not tell you much about since the memories are far too precious to share.
However if you ever wish to travel to this beautiful place I can guide you to it and you can experience the beauty of seeing hills and mountains, rocks and boulders, trees and streams without the marks of human interference.
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