Its Ok to Have No Plans

Story/Blog

Its was a cold day of February of 2022, we were travelling to Manali . Me my sister and my friend ,the trio. Despite being raised in a nuclear family with all the comforts, travel was never a part of our lives. As if travelling was the part of our life. This made me and my sister frustrated and longing for exploration. My sister and I were craving to go somewhere and see the beautiful country we live in, India. Luckily, I was living in New Delhi and working from home. One fine day, my sister visited me. I introduced her to my friend who is also my neighbor, and they felt comfortable with each other after just one meeting. After long chats over Maggie, coffee, and Kurkure, we all decided that we must go somewhere nearby for a change of scenery.

After a lengthy discussion, we settled on Rishikesh. We went to rent a car from Sachin Bhaiya Travel Company (who turned out to be a fraud, but that’s another story). The guy suggested that we should go to Manali as his clients frequently visit there. He gave us two options: Jaisalmer and Manali. Although the decision was tough, we chose Manali as our destination. February was the perfect month for travel due to the high chances of snowfall, despite the distance from Delhi. We packed our huge bags — three trekking bags, pillows, a water boiler, jackets, sweaters, shawls, beanies, and essentials like Boroplus and Vaseline.

“Everything was going well so far; we were all set and happy, but a little bit tense as it was our first time traveling long distances. Finally, our car arrived at 10 pm sharp with a driver named Guddu. He was a bit non-talkative, and when he did speak, it seemed rude to us—maybe it was just our perception, but it was a bit amusing. We bid adieu to Delhi and started our long journey. I was happy that we had only heard about this place Manali from our teasing relatives who used to tease us with their travel stories or seen it in movies like ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ which was shot there in Manali. “Kya jannat jagah hogi yaar…”.

On our way, we stopped at Chandigarh to rest our backs. We slept there for five hours and then continued our journey to Manali at 9 am. The route to Manali is iconic, with the big Himalayan mountains, creeks, rivers, and trees. We couldn’t even blink our eyes, afraid to miss a single view. A few roads were under construction. So after a long day, we reached Manali Mall Road. We were all exhausted and hungry. We found a beautiful hotel with a mountain view and settled in for the night. After having our dinner, we went to sleep. It was a cold night; the temperature was 1 degree Celsius.

It was a sunny day. The next day, we were pumped to see Manali. All three of us were dancing out of excitement, and we got ready and had our breakfast. Our driver was familiar with Manali, and he took us to Solang Valley. The valley had picturesque views and offered many fun activities such as mountain biking, paragliding, skiing, snow trekking, snowboarding, camping, horse riding, snow scooter rides, and more. Soon we met our first bummer moment!!! The valley was beautiful, but the snow was old, which made the ice black and very slippery. Many times, I slipped and almost broke my head and hips. Oh God, the experience was very bad. We came back feeling down because everything was crowded, the vendors were rude, and everything was expensive. I had many bruises on my hands and legs, and I caught a severe cold. I was shivering and had a fever.

I asked our driver about the next day, and he informed us that both the Atal Tunnel and Rohtang Pass were closed due to heavy snowfall. Disappointment sank in, leaving us with only one option: visiting Hadimba Devi Temple. With a heavy heart, I set out for a morning walk, trying to shake off the disappointment. My friend followed me along, there he met a random man who told us about “Hamta Pass”.The guy was an experienced local driver and told us about his charges. Despite having no specific plans, we decided that instead of staying idle in our room with coffee, we should explore the area. After some typical Indian-style negotiations, we agreed to his terms.

He came with an old Maruti 800 model car, What!!!! This khatara car will take us to an high altitude pass. One does what one must to survive, we s