Today was the easily the best day of the whole trip. The day started with a bang. While we were having our breakfast it rained. Once it stopped, the whole forest and the surrounding mountains looked like they just had a cleansing bath. The clouds moved past below us, beneath us as we had our morning coffee with mist.
We had a busy day. We started off by visiting the state run horticultural gardens which had around 100 different kinds of flora and fauna. S was again excited like a kid clicking snaps, asking the local guys about the plants and observing all the different flowers and fruits they had there. We could see bunches of apples hanging around trees, some even had fallen along the path. It was a nice sight for a change than what we see [apples neatly displayed and all] in our air conditioned super market chains.
We then proceeded to Shimla, the summer capital of the British raj. The drive was picturesque, but the town was shoddy to say the least. People were all over the place and the cars were parked left, right and centre. It resembled our very own old city. We headed to the Jaku temple there where people carry police lathi look-alike sticks to keep off the monkeys. The steepest road up there was worth the traffic jams we faced whilst on our way. The temple was of Lord Hanuman’s and they were building a new huge murthi of around 250 feet of Lord Hanuman which could be seen even from the Mall road in Shimla.
Once in the temple, I could see one of the best sights of my life. It rained. It wasn’t just normal rain but was a hailstone rain. For the very first time I saw pebbles of ice pelted down heavily along within the downpour which was a sight in itself. At that very moment I felt even if given a chance, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in this world other than where I was.
We then headed to the town where I could literally see the town being covered by the clouds slowly. It looked like one of those scenes straight out of one of those Roland Emmerich movies. Even though it wasn’t destructive in any way, I loved the way the whole town was masked off by the white clouds in a couple of minutes. We had a bad lunch in Shimla and headed to some shopping. We picked up some shawls and did all the touristy stuff for the rest of the day: Took the road to the Ridge, Snacked at the Indian Coffee House and were amazed to see a Barista and a Nike showroom there.
We were tired and since it was a No-vehicle zone, we headed back downhill walking to The Cecil where our car was waiting to take us back. It was probably the best decision by us to head towards the Cecil instead of the way we reached The Mall through a shoddy lift.
I remember it as it happened. S was having her Bhutti and I was gazing aimlessly. Suddenly I could spot it. There it was, the sight that lured me to do this trip. The sun was shining bright and the whole of the Mighty Himalayas was there to see. I was stunned. We were lucky. We just stood there staring for a good five minutes to just soak it in and frame it in our minds. Since two days I was waiting for this view and there it was in all its glory. I was in awe of it and all through our way back to the resort from Shimla, the great Himalayan view braced upon us. After such a hailstone rainy day, it was just about impossible and implausible to even dream of the Himalayan views. But that’s nature for you. From where we were till the whole way up to Himalayas, the sun was shining bright offering unbelievable views of the snow clad mountain range.
By the time we reached the resort it was well half past seven, but the sun wasn’t retired for the day. We rushed to the restaurant view point and we could see the snow clad Himalayas before us. We even managed to click a couple of great snaps. The icing on the cake was when we reached our room, opened the windows, we had an even better view.
I felt only one thing then: Life is good
The sun finally set and we went back to the better things money could buy you and enjoyed a relaxing Jacuzzi steam bath. I opted for the usual suspects: A single malt and S settled for a Mango mint drink which was quite minty. We winded up the day with an in-room dinner.
PS : All through the day it rained cats and dogs and the same day I experienced hailstone rain two more times.
Breakfast with rain
Naldehra golf course seen on our way
A bunch of apples
A local policewoman helps clear the traffic on our way upto Jaku temple
Clouds covering Shimla
A dog whizzes past my camera lens in the hailstone rain
The Mighty Himalayas
D
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