Tirthan-Solang Valley trip was the family oriented multi activity long weekend for CATS this summer. With activities such as rock climbing, rappelling, river crossing, night trekking, bird watching, jungle trekking, fishing, paragliding, camping etc on the itinerary, we surely were set for a ball.
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DAY 1:
We preponed the departure by a couple of hours on a suggestion put forward by our dear CAT Ashish A, to ensure we have maximum fun in the jungle of Tirthan. CAT Shilpa was the first one to arrive, I was the second one to reach by dragging CAT Aman along. While CAT Ashish A and CAT Gopika went to pick up the sexy boy CAT Navpreet, CAT Joey arrived with his Pa, CAT Amit and eight of us hit the road by 6.45am.
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Tirthan... here we come :)
The two cars regrouped at Ropar where we had a quick tea/coffee. I paid later for having chosen Verka Badaam Milk since it did not agree with me :( CATS pounced upon the paranthas by the time we crossed Bilaspur as we were all famished... We are not to be blamed you see, it was 10.30am and our rumbling bellies had all the right to complain!
Soon after 1pm we reached Aut, where we took right from entering the Pandoh Tunnel to head towards our destination - village Banjar, at the feet of the Great Himalayan National Park. Since we were running ahead of our schedule, we could not resist the temptation of the Tirthan River running alongside the road. We made atleast two unscheduled stops to prance around in the inviting river and plucked plums from the trees along the road before reaching Banjar, where our guide Ankit was waiting for us.
Forget He-Man or Hanuman Ji bringing in the parbat for sanjivni booti... meet our new CAT Shilpa who's sole aim was to have pure unudultered and uninterrupted fun since this was her first break in four years (read, first break since having her little son Saachi 4yrs ago).
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Seen here holding a boulder above her shoulders, CAT Shilpa ensured that she did everything twice not just once, wet her twinkle feet whenever possible, dirty her hands in whichever activity was taking place, shoot everything along the way twice over (!!),
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This girl knows no fear... Aditi, you have met your match :)
Our German host, Helmut did not know quite what to make of CATS!
Since there was a little accident in the kitchen of the Berry Beery Good Cafe, it was going to take a little longer for the snacks to arrive. We took out our cardboard box full of snacks and drinks from the car to share and sooth the rumbling bellies. CAT Joey brought out the guitar to calm down our ruffled feathers whilst the Tirthan gurgled away a few feet away from us.
With food and guitar session over, it was time CAT Joey held a lecture on the science of music with CAT Gopika, CAT Ashish A and CAT Navpreet as his obedient pupils... 
Given the restless souls CATS are.... fun had to begin again ;-)
Don't even ask what these two are upto!
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Forget He-Man or Hanuman Ji bringing in the parbat for sanjivni booti... meet our new CAT Shilpa who's sole aim was to have pure unudultered and uninterrupted fun since this was her first break in four years (read, first break since having her little son Saachi 4yrs ago)..
Seen here holding a boulder above her shoulders, CAT Shilpa ensured that she did everything twice not just once, wet her twinkle feet whenever possible, dirty her hands in whichever activity was taking place, shoot everything along the way twice over (!!),
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This girl knows no fear... Aditi, you have met your match :)
Our German host, Helmut did not know quite what to make of CATS!
Since there was a little accident in the kitchen of the Berry Beery Good Cafe, it was going to take a little longer for the snacks to arrive. We took out our cardboard box full of snacks and drinks from the car to share and sooth the rumbling bellies. CAT Joey brought out the guitar to calm down our ruffled feathers whilst the Tirthan gurgled away a few feet away from us.
With food and guitar session over, it was time CAT Joey held a lecture on the science of music with CAT Gopika, CAT Ashish A and CAT Navpreet as his obedient pupils... CAT Amit dozed off with the spray from the river providing and instant and natural air conditioning service on that big rock, which later was re-christened as CATS H.Q.!!
A new set of CATS joined us crazy 8 at this point in the evening... CAT Om, his wife CAT Jyoti and their darling daughter CAT Gauri... We were 11 now :)
Given the restless souls CATS are.... fun had to begin again ;-)...and if you think CAT Gopika is going bonkers, then do look at the next picture!
Don't even ask what these two are upto!.
With CAT Aman being the youngest at 7yrs and CAT Amit and CAT Om competing for the top slot, now add two teenagers in a group of 13.. and with the rest of the adults going questionably insane ...any wonder that Ankit and Helmut having trouble in figuring out what CATS are about ;-)
Food however is serious business and we respect what is served to us...
Food however is serious business and we respect what is served to us... CATS finally getting their Pakoras and Pasta at 7.30pm..
Since it has been a hot day and the fizz-addicted CATS had gone without a pop for a whole day, we requested for Nimbu-Pani (fresh lime) to be served to us after the snacks. As we sat in anticipation of a chilled Nimbu Pani to served to us, it was quite naural for a fresh lime addict like me to be hugely disappointed as the lime they served us was Boiling HOT!!! Apparently nimbu pani is always served hot to the trekkers in the jungle.
To ensure CAT Om got batptised into the CATS family properly, CAT Aman obliged by scraping both his knees and CAT Om and CAT Jyoti promptly took out their first aid kit to do the needful. CAT Gopika follwed suit and had a deep gash on the back of her knee. By this time we had run out of guages and we used paper tissues to keep the medicine in place for her.
Despite a bit of blood shed towards the end of the first day, all was put right by both the doctors in no time :)
Since it has been a hot day and the fizz-addicted CATS had gone without a pop for a whole day, we requested for Nimbu-Pani (fresh lime) to be served to us after the snacks. As we sat in anticipation of a chilled Nimbu Pani to served to us, it was quite naural for a fresh lime addict like me to be hugely disappointed as the lime they served us was Boiling HOT!!! Apparently nimbu pani is always served hot to the trekkers in the jungle..
Seeing my face drop off our yet another new CAT Om chipped in, 'Arre kya ho gya yaar.. apne apne glaas uthayo aur chalo nadi kinare.' We literally dipped our glasses in the river... lo and behold... chilled nimbu pani was ready for us :)
To ensure CAT Om got batptised into the CATS family properly, CAT Aman obliged by scraping both his knees and CAT Om and CAT Jyoti promptly took out their first aid kit to do the needful. CAT Gopika follwed suit and had a deep gash on the back of her knee. By this time we had run out of guages and we used paper tissues to keep the medicine in place for her. Despite a bit of blood shed towards the end of the first day, all was put right by both the doctors in no time :)
...CAT Rajpal - it would have been nice to have you with us!
By the way, this was our washroom with a curtain for the door... The agreement between CATS was that since we could not 'knock' on the door, we would yell out to check incase someone was inside before lifting the curtain..
By the way, this was our washroom with a curtain for the door... The agreement between CATS was that since we could not 'knock' on the door, we would yell out to check incase someone was inside before lifting the curtain..Parde mein rehne do.... parda na uthaayo ;-)
After indulging in a spot of night trekking after dinner, CAT Ashish A, CAT Navpreet and CAT Gopika disappeared whilst rest of us made way towards our tents by the riverside...
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CAT Amit and I decided that we would get up by 5am to lugg the first set of CATS towards the washrooms. The idea was to ensure that each one of the 11 CATS was cleaned, brushed and dry cleaned by 7.30am latest so that we could for for bird watching in the jungle.
After indulging in a spot of night trekking after dinner, CAT Ashish A, CAT Navpreet and CAT Gopika disappeared whilst rest of us made way towards our tents by the riverside....
CAT Amit and I decided that we would get up by 5am to lugg the first set of CATS towards the washrooms. The idea was to ensure that each one of the 11 CATS was cleaned, brushed and dry cleaned by 7.30am latest so that we could for for bird watching in the jungle.
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The river singing by your side and the stars above you, the tiredness from a long day took over the dreamy eyes soon. GOOD NIGHT and see you tomorrow :)
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