After watching ‘zindagi na milega dobara’, three friends wanted to do something like the movie as one of them was about to get married. Three places were not feasible for them to go, so they dialed down to one place, Mashobra near Shimla. The plan to go on a trip was instant, so booking of taxi or train was not possible. Thus, they decided to go in their own car.
They packed few clothes and other essentials, and started their journey next day with full excitement and joy. It was early morning at 5 am when they began their journey from Delhi.
Music was playing loud in the car along with karaoke singing by all of them. Riding on the GT Karnal road, first, they stopped at Sukhdev Dhaba. This outlet’s name is Dhaba, but in actual it is a multi-cuisine restaurant that has a capacity to feed thousands of people at a time. The Dhaba is famous for serving tasteful stuffed flattened bread aka parathas along with curd and pickle. The trio ordered that only to fill their bellies with a king size meal to start the day and journey.
After having a sumptuous breakfast, they headed to Chandigarh, which comes on the way to their destination. Luckily, the weather was quite pleasant that day, as it had rained heavily the previous day due to which breeze was blowing, making the journey much more pleasant.
After sometime karaoke was over, silence had pitched in, windows of the car were opened as blowing air was blissful and the lush green fields of Kharif crops on both sides of roads were greener than usual, whose credit goes to serendipitous early onset of monsoon that surged the beauty of the views.
I guess Nik Baker’s is everyone’s favorite stop by in Chandigarh. This bakery has multifarious food items to lure the taste buds. Then and there the three friends ordered juicy-lucy burgers, a pizza and shawarma (chicken roll) with a pitcher of PepsiCo sprite. They gobbled so much that it was hard to get up from the eatery’s chair by them. Anyhow, after relaxing for several minutes, they plied back on the road.
It took them 14 hours to reach the booked hotel at Mashobra as they stopped several times for several minutes on the way. It was already dark when they checked into the hotel tent room. Oh yes! It was a surprise for two mates as the one who had booked the stay had picked a quirky option. In place of booking a deluxe room at the same hotel, he booked a luxury tent room housed with all luxury facilities for the days. The tent room was hooked on a sprawling lawn near the swimming pool. The whole area was located on a hill facing the majestic Himalayan Mountains.
The next day, they started their excursion with Reserve forest sanctuary. Traversing through the jungle of the place and viewing a variety of flora and fauna gave a semblance of trekking experience to the naïve walkers, who barely trod on the concrete roads of the city.
They were awestruck by the calmness and serenity of the forest, where they were hearing echoed sounds of birds and animals. They were fortunate to have a glimpse of a leopard and few barking deer whilst ambling through the bio-reserve.
After having a wild experience, they turned to a restaurant in a hotel to have lunch of the day as so much walking drained their energy, which they were going to refill by eating some tasty food.
Next, they went to take a dip in hot springs at Tattapani River. A hot spa was much needed after so much walking that had made boys’ muscles sore, and a free hot spa was a lucky lottery for them. Keeping jibes apart, the hot spring of the river is believed to possess many medicinal properties that could cure many skin ailments and joint pains. So, it was worth taking a nice dip in the hot waters. In the evening, the surrounding became magical as the silence enabled to hear the sound of flowing water, and evening rays of the sun donned everything in ochre.
The boy squad came back to their hotel and had dinner there in the lawn with a bonfire and live music. Few others staying in the same hotel also joined them for the alfresco dining. In nutshell, the day was well spent by them.
The third day was reserved for another offbeat exploration of the glen. Chadwick waterfall is a wondrous cascading water stream falling from a staggering height. Located in a forest of deodar and pine trees, one could listen to the gush of falling water from far, which enthralled the boys while going towards the waterfall. It again started raining that day, but not heavily, which was good as otherwise, it would have become difficult to reach places like this with a heavy downpour. But, thankfully nature was working for their benefit and little rain amplified the beauty, and level of water got surged just enough that the air surrounding got damped, gave a cooling effect on the skin.
What was left for them? Of course, shopping at the Tibetan handicraft market. It was time to shop some woolen shawls for their mothers and aunts, who had permitted them to go on a trip in exchange for a paltry bribe, a nice Tibetan hand embroidered woolen cloth. Plus, they got the chance to have hot and spicy Tibetan food at the eatery kiosks abounding the market.
Unlike Shimla, Mashobra is really peaceful, not have so much of hustle and bustle. That is what captivated these boys who wanted to spend quality time together before one of their group members get martyred by marriage (just joking).
On the 4th day, they checked out from the hotel. Took the same route back to Delhi via Chandigarh.
End of the trip and snippet. Thank you so much for reading and cherishing. Don’t forget to like this blog.