Tag / Wanderlust

by Aman Sharma

Chapter-4

The amazing rush

Date-23/06/19

Slightest of sunlight coming through my hotel room window wakes me up to this cheerful morning here in Solan. I get off my bed quickly and have a look outside of the window. Last night we talked to the receptionist about our today’s plan. He told us about the fair that is going to happen today. I glanced out from the window. Today there was more hustle and bustle in the city than the normal day but it was still not much to worry out. We planned our trip according to our schedule and decide to get ready on time. By the time we all ate our breakfast and got ready it was 11:00 am on the clock. The voice of the crowd outside suddenly started to increase and we just couldn’t believe our eyes, what we saw through our hotel’s main access. People covered almost every inch of space for this religious ceremony. It was simply beyond belief. I have been to Solan so many times but haven’t seen this much mass together.

People gathered on the road for the fest.

The people gathered around with a great enthusiasm. We came back to our rooms knowing that it wouldn’t be possible to get out at least for the next 2 hours. Our schedule for today was to go to the waterfall called the ‘Tiger waterfall’ or ‘Ashwani khad’. These two names were told us by the locals. It is situated at a distance of 7 kilometers from Solan. It will take us 20 min to reach to Salogra, and next 10 min to reach to the waterfall. The waterfall is situated below somewhere. But I can’t see us going out for the next couple of hours. My friends went back to the rooms to rest for some time. I and one of my friend has been seeing all the people enjoying out, through our Hotel lobby window. So, we decided to go out and join them. But it was only a matter of putting the foot outside, and then we didn’t know where the mass of people took us. A large wave of people came and took us along with them.

A band giving it’s performance on the street(s).

 Despite of this much crowd, there was no lack of enthusiasm in the people. The joy on the faces of the people was clearly showing for how long people wait for this festival. We are in the crowd, not knowing where we were going. The flock of the crowd was enough powerful to push the 10 trucks coming in row. If the crowded streets weren’t enough, you can simply look onto the windows or balconies of the roadside houses. Every one seeing this scene from their places and enjoying every single moment of it. It has been an hour in this crowd and it has started to move to its next stop, so it seems like we will be good to go in the next 30 minutes. We move back to our Hotel and start packing for the waterfall. After 45 minutes, our driver called us to tell that the road has now opened up and we can move to the place. We are in the cab moving towards our destination, in between we can still see the people on the road enjoying themselves. Eating the road side food and dancing on the regional music beats.

Inconsistent weather- on to the way of waterfalls

After a 15 minute short ride we have come halfway to the Water fall. Now from here we need to take the road that is going down.  We change our lane and are heading towards our destination. The view alongside the ride demands to stop by it, appreciate it in the most foremost way you can. The nature has shown its true colors here, greens and blues combining together to give your eyes a soothing. This is a perfect route for a short ride, a bliss.

View from Down the Lane.

Due to the heavy rain yesterday the gravel layer of the road has come out from some places, but that don’t seem to be bothering us. What I am actually concerned about is the walkway to the waterfall. The walkway to the waterfall is a little tricky one; we have reached the waterfall. On from here we have to go on our foot to reach the final point.

On the foot for rest of the Trek. The tricky part of the lane starts going down further.

As I was saying earlier, due to the rain there is just a little water deposit on the walkway. The walkway here is a tough one, so we need to watch our steps or else we fall. By falling it doesn’t mean threatening your life, you might scratch your arm or so. But anyways we all are going through the way slowly and steadily, it might be a tough trek but the surroundings around it are way bigger than the one’s own fear and not come here.

Way to Waterfall, You have go through this. But the end result is absolutely pleasing.

After a 7 min way down we have reached the waterfall, and words might fall short for what we saw there. The waterfall looks so alluring. Despite of heavy rain yesterday, the water level is normal. Birds chirping on the branches of tree, Sunlight cutting through the trees and laying it’s light on the rocks. The wind blowing and water falling from the fall and hitting the base, creating a harmonious atmosphere. I and my friends went into the water and enjoyed swimming for an hour or so. After that we just sat on the rocks, posing like doing some kind of meditation. Coming to places like these rejuvenates your soul and purifies your thoughts.  It helps in clarify your thoughts and one can focus onto the bigger things in life.

Two Visitors enjoying under the waterfall.

So now, we are done here and packing our bag packs to move back to our place.  We’ll be going back to Solan today as it’s the nearest place to stay and moreover our bodies has become Tired to carry out any journey.

~20 minutes pass by~

We are here in Solan again. Unloading our little bit of luggage from the cab, moving towards our Hotel room. One thing that absolutely loved about Solan is its – Weather. It might be a small town but everything has been planned accordingly. From the Historical temples to the modern civilization, from parks to the open recreational spaces, you will love everything about it. But now we just had finished our dinner, it’s 9:40 at night and we are heading back to our rooms. The streets still have the signs of today’s morning fest, most places still decorated with the fancy lighting and other materials. It was one the best day of the trip till now, but there is something special about tomorrow. You will get to know about that in the next chapter.

Thank you & Good Bye.

by Aman Sharma

Chapter-3

A Trek down the road

Date-22/06/2019

It’s another beautiful morning in Solan. It’s our Second day here and its 10:00 in the morning and we are ready to get out of our Hotel. We booked a hotel onto the main road of the city. It’s a perfect place to stay as it’s near the main hub of the city, just a 5 min walk down the hill and you are into the main Hustle and bustle of the city. By 10:15 am we are out of the hotel and marching on the Mall road of Solan. It is the main hub of the Solan.

A view of mall road of Solan.

The road is crowded and one can see the locals marching towards their work and tourists seeking the views. The weather is pleasant today, although it’s sunny today but it didn’t bother us much.  As discussed earlier we are in Solan only for the day and will be going to explore some local places. But most importantly a good day can’t start without good food. So we are here at a local restaurant to feed us before we start our today’s journey. The smooth flowing of the cool breeze stirring onto the body demands for a chai (Tea) along with a parantha (parantha is a type of bread or roti stuffed with potatoes, onions, cheese etc.), that was our breakfast and it’s time to start moving. Try not to eat too much when you have to cover more distance on foot. We are out of the restaurant and now heading towards the main market, exploring local area is always a good idea. If you ever go somewhere don’t be reserved to see only the historic or famous places, try to go through the local area. It’s been 20 minutes or so since I am exploring the market and I have already come through so many different things such as spices, handicrafts and also the natives performing different dances, these things might look small but these are things that take you close to their culture and how they earn their livelihood. After spending a couple of hours of going through the local area it’s time to move on the next thing. The next place I am going is a mountain or shall I say a small hill where we can find different species of flowers. The hill is downwards to the area named Sunny side and from main road it will take around 25 minutes to reach there. You can reach there only by foot. Its 2:30 in the noon and my friends are calling for  food, but I have been drinking water constantly today so my stomach is not craving for the food at the moment. But just for their sake, we stop at a bakery to grab some snacks. Being a Punjabi guy, it is very disrespectful to sit on a table with a company of foodies and not to eat anything. It literally becomes a crime, so just not to do so I ordered a coffee. After 45 minutes of fueling up ourselves, we Marche down to our next stop. The way to the hill is quite good, despite you have to climb around 30-40 stairs and going through the tiny streets, but the view you get along is simply pleasing.

Way to the Hill.

We are now here at the hill, the first words spills out from the mouth is ‘YES, we are here’. It’s a tremendous place to be, surrounded by the flowers and trees and in front nature showing its magic and playing with clouds. It is such a beautiful place. Most of the city can be seen from here and it even becomes more beautiful when stars start to cover the sky, truly magic.

The way from where we came to the hill top.

We spent 1 hour in clicking the pictures and sitting there admiring the beauty. It’s around 5:30 in the evening, the clouds have started to become grey. The weather is always unpredictable in the mountains and we need to get back to the hotel before it starts raining. Coming down a slope is too easy but now when we are going back up the hill it suddenly becomes difficult for us to catch our breathe.

Unpredictable weather , Clouds turning grey.

The backpacks suddenly puts a terrible burden on us. These steep slopes check your real physicality. After 35 minutes of trekking up on the main road, it’s finally a plain straight road. Our bodies seems to be relaxed here. The weather is continually changing and it is showing the signs of thunderstorms with heavy rain. So without any further delay we head towards our hotel. Going through the market, we can see the shopkeepers preparing themselves for the coming storms. Say it our Luck or whatever, but as soon we step into our hotel there is a cracking sound, like a cloud burst and its starts heavily raining. We feel lucky enough to reach the hotel before the rain. We loosen up ourselves, freshen up and got ready for the dinner. We had dinner in our hotel room today. After the Dinner, we went to our hotel lobby. We sat there looking out of the window, it’s still raining but it has reduced what was before. We talked with our receptionist about our plans for tomorrow, we planned to visit Ashwani khad waterfalls near Chamba ghat, few kilometres from Solan. I have went there before and its situated in such a beautiful place that words can’t express. The receptionist told us there is a fair tomorrow that is held every year here. There will be a huge crowd in the city, so it will be difficult to leave in the morning. He told us it’s better to leave by 1:00 pm tomorrow.  Tomorrow is ‘Mata Shoolini Devi’ mela which is held in Solan every year. All other things will be decided tomorrow after seeing the situation. Today has been a good day and we all enjoyed every part of it, but our body demands rest now. We head back to our rooms to end this day with a peaceful sleep. To be continued…

Thank you

Next Chapter unfolds on next Saturday in which we went to the Waterfalls.