DAY 3
With sun shining mellow and a sway in the trees, our third morning arrived with loads of excitement for us. There was hardly any water running through the taps (and the flush!), evry CAT had to be washed or drycleaned, every single piece of luggage had to be packed away in the cars for an early departure towards Rohtang.
However, CATS took everything in their stride... half dressed dreamy eyed CATS could be spotted brushing their teeth or washing their faces at every possible tap around the dormitory....
I probably offended rather than befriended my CATS since I kept yelling, 'Be Quick, Pack Up - YOU ARE LATE!!' to every poor soul coming my way... I did not want us to be stuck in the traffic going up to Rohtang you see.. and I had to get my little CAT Aman dressed too, who's knees first had to be dressed by CAT Om and doing up his long hair used to be a joint venture between myself and CAT Jyoti. I would do the plaits and had sub-contracted out tying the 'joora' to her! Infact, CAT Shilpa pointed out in the morning, 'you spend more time in getting Aman ready than on yourself!'
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In all honesty, I would never have been able to bring the kids on any of the trips, had it not been for the active support of all the CATS, since the very inception. I guess that's what makes us special, we stand by each other rather than adopting a typical 'chalta hai' attitude :)
And we surprised our Guide Ankit, by being ready 'just' in time!!.
We were late by only 20mins as CAT Navpreet decided to tie his turban just before jumping into the car... the boy has to look sexy you see ;-)
CATS just before hitting the road towards Rohtang...
I think I must have died under a bridge or building one, for I can not help myself when I see one! Though Ankit was feeling exasperated due to the delay we were causing by making unscheduled halts, we assured him that this would be the last one; atleast for a while!!
The place we stopped for breakfast.. this place had put up enough posters around to keep his guests well entertained whilst he went to buy potatoes for the paranthas!
But apparently, the food was sumptuous as CATS could not stop eating!!
Yupp... that's me... knocked out by the deadly combination of fatigue and 2 Stemetils!I was so afraid of holding up my fellow CATS due to travel sickness in climbing the hills that I took 2 pills in quick succession, which ofcourse meant that I was either asleep or dazed at best through the day :(
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Best was that I was totally zonked at this stage that all I wanted to do was sleep, but every CAT of mine was so concerned about my state that they kept knocking on the car window pratically every few minutes to ask, 'Are you okay? Can we get you something?'
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Love you all :)
Round of Cheerful Cheery Cheers in one car :)
Snores galore in the other ;-)
Army came in handy for the water filled CATS; we had a quick loo-break at Gulaba (not at the monument ofcourse!!)
Sight where we blew our first flying kisses to Rohtang ;-)
Lovely terrace fields along the way to the top....
Snow covered Rohtang was getting closer by the mile... but we were really mesmerised by this lovely stream gushing down the hills...
Till we went a little further and traced the ORIGIN of this lovely gushing stream :(
This really was the end of the romance you know!
Vultures feasting over the carcass of a dead horse/mule...
Sight where we blew our first flying kisses to Rohtang ;-)
Lovely terrace fields along the way to the top....
Snow covered Rohtang was getting closer by the mile... but we were really mesmerised by this lovely stream gushing down the hills...
Till we went a little further and traced the ORIGIN of this lovely gushing stream :(This really was the end of the romance you know!
Vultures feasting over the carcass of a dead horse/mule... Lessons in hard and not so scenic realities of life!
But here is one lesson which cost us a bob. We made an error judgement and committed a mistake we do not want any of you ever to make.
However, we did not know about the fuel being adulterated at this stage and were simply deliriously happy at not just having reached Rohtang Pass despite being stuck in the traffic for 1.5hrs, but actually gone beyond a little to the Spiti side too...
The other two cars stopped behind at the start of Rohtang itself since CAT Paramjeet was also running low on fuel and CAT Ashish's car was suspected to have broken a shocker on the way up. Additionally, CAT Gopika had a severe headache and nausea due to altitude sickness which we took care of with Diamox prescribed by CAT Shakuntla before our Leh trip last year.
Mohtarma Madhvi in the meanwhile enjoying the sleigh ride...
CAT Joey and CAT Gauri 'tubing' down the snow... Aaachhhooooo!!
CAT Navpreet updating his facebook and his mates on the phone ;-)
CAT Aman enjoying his second brush with snow, first being at Shali Peak 18months previously.... He was more happy about the fact that he was able to reach Rohtang whilst his elder sister, CAT Amanat could not!!
But here is one lesson which cost us a bob. We made an error judgement and committed a mistake we do not want any of you ever to make.CAT Amit thought he did not have enough diesel in his car and just to be safe, a deal was struck with these army 'looking' guys whereby they purchased 20ltrs of diesel in black from these 3 people. Even though CAT Madhvi had slight concerns about the quality of the fuel, but Ankit was quite confident that armymen are honest and are known to help out people in distress all the time.
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If only. The fuel they bought was adulterated and cost us a day extra of the trip and Rs.25,000/- to get the car repaired.
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HARD LESSON: Make it a policy that you must always fill up your tanks at authorised fuel stations wherever you come across any, even if you feel that the tank is stil half full and your journey is shorter.
However, we did not know about the fuel being adulterated at this stage and were simply deliriously happy at not just having reached Rohtang Pass despite being stuck in the traffic for 1.5hrs, but actually gone beyond a little to the Spiti side too...The other two cars stopped behind at the start of Rohtang itself since CAT Paramjeet was also running low on fuel and CAT Ashish's car was suspected to have broken a shocker on the way up. Additionally, CAT Gopika had a severe headache and nausea due to altitude sickness which we took care of with Diamox prescribed by CAT Shakuntla before our Leh trip last year.
Mohtarma Madhvi in the meanwhile enjoying the sleigh ride...
CAT Joey and CAT Gauri 'tubing' down the snow... Aaachhhooooo!!
CAT Navpreet updating his facebook and his mates on the phone ;-)
CAT Aman enjoying his second brush with snow, first being at Shali Peak 18months previously.... He was more happy about the fact that he was able to reach Rohtang whilst his elder sister, CAT Amanat could not!!.
Kids!!!
He may be young, but the 'No Litter' policy of CATS has become well engrained in this young soul... Atleast he is learning one good thing in life and that is to respect his environment..
... and this is beautiful terrain that you missed guys!!!
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It is only a day's journey away from Chandigarh.. if only you could take out the time...
Some last minute photo shoots before we jumped back into the cars to head back towards Manali... All of us were very hungry since it was close to 4pm and we had not had our lunch!
CAT Navpreet chose an eatery away from the row of dhabas in Kothi for a late lunch.... This is where all the CATS finally got together.. Stories of tubing and sleighing and snow balls made the rest of us green with envy :(
Que Sera Sera.... Given the shortage of fuel and the damage to the other car, high altitude sickness and the brilliant hind sight, we still feel that we made the best decision by turning back after touching Rohtang, under those circumstances.
He may be young, but the 'No Litter' policy of CATS has become well engrained in this young soul... Atleast he is learning one good thing in life and that is to respect his environment..
... and this is beautiful terrain that you missed guys!!!.
It is only a day's journey away from Chandigarh.. if only you could take out the time...
Some last minute photo shoots before we jumped back into the cars to head back towards Manali... All of us were very hungry since it was close to 4pm and we had not had our lunch!Journey on the way down was also full of adventure. With one car low on fuel and second car with a suspect shocker, we had traffic jams and rain to keep us company. The car behind of CAT Amit actually fought its way through the snow blizzards and temperature of -3C to reach back.
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We shared whatever food, niblets, and drinks we had in the cars.. We even purchased some corn on cob on the way but we were missing having 'propah' food for sure.
CAT Navpreet chose an eatery away from the row of dhabas in Kothi for a late lunch.... This is where all the CATS finally got together.. Stories of tubing and sleighing and snow balls made the rest of us green with envy :(Que Sera Sera.... Given the shortage of fuel and the damage to the other car, high altitude sickness and the brilliant hind sight, we still feel that we made the best decision by turning back after touching Rohtang, under those circumstances.
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We reached Manali just as the sun went down. Our hotel was in the middle of the town. Ankit showed me the rooms which he had appointed for each sub-group of CATS. With minor readjustments, we had settled in the rooms of our choice. Another group of girls from YPS were also staying at the hotel who were facing a medical emergency. It caused concern to me since both CAT Aman and CAT Amanat are in YPS too. Our benevolent fellow CAT Om once again swung into action and advised the school teachers on taking care of the young girl in pain.
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We chose to skip dinner since we had stuffed ourselves with food during late lunch on the way back from Rohtang. Ankit once again told us to be ready by 7.30am the following morning to ensure we get a good chance to paraglide. I also handed over the baton of responsibility of waking everyone up the following morning. I was feeling tired by worrying about everything over the last few days and was still a little drugged from stemetils I kept stuffing myself with the whole day to keep the nausea in check. In my effort to ensure everyone enjoyed themselves throughout the trip and keeping the schedule intact proving a challenge, I had perhaps stretched myself beyond what my age permits! Perhaps I was looking towards my fellow CATS to be a little accommodating. I am getting old you see.
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Some of us decided to look at the local fair, others wanted to explore Old Manali, some wanted to sleep/rest and I wanted to wash CAT Aman. It was his third day without a bath!!! Honestly, it felt divine to have a hot bath.. Another sign that I am getting old :)
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A very CLEAN Good Night ;-)
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