Golden Triangle: Part 1 Haridwar

This trip would remain as one of the perfect trip in term of itinerary, I ever embarked upon. And the best part of it was that it was not planned. It might have been more than 4 years to this trip but it seems like yesterday when 5 college friends traveled through the nature enjoying each other's company. This trip had everything from uncertainty of the future to the command on the life, serenity of the nature to the adventure of the wild.

And then there were five

Let me start with mentioning the other adventurers accompanying me on the trip. Anuradha, Ashish, Harsh and Tulika were friends of mine from college's initial days. We were gangs of five who shared some good memories together. And when the idea of this trip was pitched, to be honest I don't exactly remember who it was, I was immediately on board. 

The first hiccup we faced when I reached hostel with my backpack and both of the boys were sleeping. You see, I was a day-scholar at that time and hadnever lived in hostel. So I had little idea how boys hostel work. Understanding that this was one of our many plans which was not meant to be executed, I grabbed the blanket and slept myself. But Tulika had already flaunted about the trip in her circles and she made everyone getup from their lazy asses and start the journey.

Being the budget travelers, we had little options for traveling. We took the Haryana Roadways(Bus) from Sonepat to Panipat. Where we switched to bus going directly to Haridwar. It was a 5 hours commute on UP's treacherous roads. Although it was April, time for one of the best weather in the North, we were pleasantly blown away with the weather in Uttrakhand.

Typical UP Transportation Bus

By the time we reached Haridwar it was already dark, therefore first thing we decided was to look for a cheap hotel near Harkipodi. Being an off-season it wasn't hard to find. After freshening up we went for a street food spree. Standing there late night with legs half dipped in cold and healing water of Ganga makes you forget everything and it kinds of soaks you into its serenity. The noise of Ganga flowing in its full intensity had so much calmness that you want time to stop there and want this experience to last forever.

Street food of Haridwar(Unfortunately I had fast that day)

We left for the Mansa Devi early next morning. The little trek presents you with some amazing views of the city and panoramic view of the Ganga. And where there is view, there are photos. And we did take a lot of photographs there.

Chilling morning of Haridwar

Next on the cards was to take a proper dip in the Ganga. Other benefit of going off-season is that you get to spend as much time you want in the holy water and we did enjoy it playing and swimming until we had to leave for the next adventure, i.e. Rishikesh.

Amazing view of the banks of Ganga from Mansa Devi

Birthdays and Me

Birthdays! The most joyful and happy day of the year for some. And for others, it is just an another day. People are generally over enthusiastic on this day. If they do not spend loads of money, drink themselves to death and party late night, they don't consider themselves special. In the age on social media, you can add "Uploading photograph of 3-4 b'day cakes" to that list.

But I fail to understand why would anyone want to celebrate their birthday. What is there to celebrate? It's not like you did something extraordinary by being born. More than 10 people complete the task of coming into the world every second. At the very least, you should feel unfortunate to be a part of the tragedy that began more than 10,000 years ago when humans were cursed with consciousness. It's not like you achieved something special by completing a year. More than 6 billion people hit that milestone. At the very least, you should feel helpless to be part of a race that thinks of itself as superior to all the other races and is adamant enough to the point of destroying everything it can lay its eyes on.

I also do not buy the arguments people present on celebrating their birthdays.
God gave you the opportunity to cherish the beauty of mother nature, but ask yourself haven't you violated your freedom?
You became wiser and more successful than the last year, but the real question is: has your wisdom and success been of any use to the others?

Lets be clear, I'm not against the celebration of the birthdays. I might never understand this ritual but I continue to respect their belief. What is ironic is that this class of people who are now one year wiser and tolerant, fails to accept the views of fellow beings who don't believe in this ritual.

A Typical Sunday

A typical Sunday in my life would be to getup late, hook up to unrealistic internet world, have a fine dining with my roommates and sleep early for a hectic week ahead.

But this Sunday was different. This Sunday started at as early as midnight itself when I went to my friend's home to borrow his bicycle, as me and my colleague had planned cycling to Nandi Hills. To my nightmare the rear Tyre didn't have any air in it. We tried filling the air in it with his small air pump but we couldn't fill even  half of it after 1 hour of desperate attempt. At that point I called my colleague disappointingly telling him that we have to postpone the trip, again. We had already postpone it twice, once because I was sick and other time it was raining. To give it a last shot I asked my friend if he could arrange another bicycle. He asked his friend who agreed to lend his cycle, but instead ending up filling the Tyre in 5 minutes. I guess it required expert hands :P.

I again called my colleague to give him the good news that we can start our trek. Packed with 2 bottles of water and 2 snickers we started our 72KM journey to Nandi Hills(144KM round trip) on our bicycles at 2:30 AM.

Never in my life I had appreciated the elevations so much. Every flyover was a new challenge. But giving your all in to climb up and ridding down in the cold wind is an experience one can never forget. In 2-2:30 hours we crossed our half way mark. Next 20 KM were really tough and that's when I came to know that I don't have the kind of stamina which is required for these kind of treks. Plus my neck was really killing me and I knew its going to get bad from here onwards. Good thing was that my colleague had brought a pain relief spray. The spay and 15 mins rest really helped for the next 10 KM of ride.

At 7:30 in the morning we reached the foothill of the Nandi Hills. We decided to have breakfast and some rest before starting our 7 KM  ascend to the hill.I also came to know that my bicycle had a puncture. I got it fixed there only.

After half an hour of break we started our ascend at 8:00 in the morning. The climb was really steep. Even at the lowest gayer I was finding it extremely difficult to ride. But regular encouragement form other cyclists, some as old as 65 years of age, kept me going. The last 3 KM of stretch was impossible for me to cover on the bicycle. So I decided to make the climb on foot while dragging my bicycle. This murderous climb took 1:30 hours to complete.

We rested for some time on the hill. And decided to start our journey at around   10:30 in the morning. Now was the time to get paid for the 1:30 hour climb we made.  I was no doubt the best and fastest stretch of the trek. It took us merely 15 Min to climb down the hill.

I rode continuously for next 30 KM. I was competing with other experienced cyclists.  It was fun.
I reached half way mark my 12:15 AM.  I decided to wait at the McDonalds for my colleague.
At around my colleague reached and he suggested to have lunch at a nearby restaurant.

After lunch and 1 hour of rest we again started our journey, Next 20 KM was the worst part of the journey.  Yes, worse than the climb itself. I was cursing myself to come on the trek. And there were times when I thought of getting some help from auto or motor-bikers. But next moment I rejected these ideas.

By 3:14 PM I entered Bangalore. For some reason I felt very confident and secure entering the city. I completed the next journey comparatively easy. I guess the energy from the lunch was kicking in now. At around 4:30 PM I returned the bicycle to my friend and took my motor-bike to go home.

I had not slept for past 29 Hours. But the day was still not over for me. My roommate decided to give his birthday party. I took a nice cold bath and got ready for the party.

Church Street Social# is a famous place for sizzlers. We got a waiting time of about half an hour. It started raining heavily and it made the waiting time worse as no one was ready to leave. At last after 1-1:30 of waiting we got the seat.

What should I say about the food. I have been to more than 20 restaurants in Bangalore. But it was one of the best. Each item was better than the previous. And "summer of 69" at full volume was cherry on the pie. This was the perfect ending I could ask for the hectic day.