I woke up by 6:30 am everyone else was sleeping peacefully. I tried to move around without making a noise and went to the washroom and got ready for my morning walk. By the time I was out of the washroom Hannah was awake and she asked “Where are you going this early?”. I told her that I was going for a morning walk and we started to talk and this woke up Anjana also. She joined our conversation. Now everyone was awake Vipin told us that he would join us later as he needed to freshen up. Usually, when I tell people on my trip that I’m going for a morning walk nobody joins, But Hannah and Anjana were different they got ready in a few minutes and started our morning walk.

There were two options one was to climb up and another was to descend, We decided to go upwards and started to walk around. The village was already awake, we could see that the horses and their caretakers have started to descend to Pahalgam city where the tourist will hire them for site seeing. It was their way of making their daily bread.

Lidroo was a village that was fully relayed on tourism !!! The previous day we had gone sightseeing on horses and we covered almost 25km on horses that day. While on the horse I was wondering “Why didn’t the government make any roads to reach these places?” Now I know the answer to my question.

Almost every caretaker group asked us if we need to go sightseeing and we humbly denied all of them saying “We went sightseeing yesterday”. But one of the caretakers stick with us, He told us that he takes special trekking trips like Tulian Lake and provides homestay also. He gave us his phone number and we said thank you and started to descend. But he started to walk with us, At one point he saw Anjana taking pictures and he went and took the camera from Anjana’s hands and told her that he will take picture of us. I could see Anjana’s soul leave her body when he took the camera !!!

He took 2 photos and we told him that it is enough. Anjana got her camera back and we started to think of ways to ditch him. We stalled on the way but he was also waiting for us. Then we decided to walk off the road and went inside the pine forest and we were successful to get rid of him. We walked for a few minutes and got back to the main road. We walked down again capturing all the beauty that was on our way. 

Anjana saw a kid running on the trail above us and we were wondering how to get on that trail. We decided to walk further until we find a way to climb upwards and we soon found a way to it. One side of the trail was covered with a fence and we could see a board saying it was the Lidder Reserve forest area. Morning sun rays were coming through the trees which was an amazing view and we started to look for a way to get inside the forest. 

Then we saw a person walking inside the forest, we called him and asked him if we can come inside, He helped us trespass the fence. He told us his village is inside the forest and invited us for tea. We told him we will join him and started to explore the forest. There were so many spots to take photos and we spend time clicking photos of each other.

Now our next task was to reach our homestay and we started to climb up the hill. On the way, we saw the Lidroo primary school. Children were standing outside the school and playing, We waved our hands and they started to shy away but some cuties came forward. I asked them why they were standing outside. They said their teacher is absent today and they’re waiting for the substitute. I wanted to take a picture with all those kids, it was really an amazing moment to interact with the kids. One of the boys came and asked all of the children to go back to their classes. I guess he was the head boy of the school and everyone did what he said. We walked further and luckily a car came and we asked for a lift. The car owner happily dropped us at our homestay even if he was not going towards our homestay. That’s true hospitality, right?

After breakfast we started our sightseeing, we hired a cab to take us to Aru Valley and Betab Valley. Our first destination was Aru Valley and we were so much excited to visit one of the most beautiful valleys in the world. On the way, we could see many beautiful valleys and mountains. It was a treat to our eyes and cameras.

When we reached Aru Valley it was almost 3 pm and the driver asked us to come back within an hour. We were starving, I saw a bakery that had some kind of bread displayed and we went to check it out. It was only Rs.5 but we didn’t like it that much. We looked for a hotel to have lunch and ended up in a small shop where they had Maggi. We were happy to have Maggi and chai. We started to walk towards the base of Aru Valley and on the way, it started to rain. We took shelter in a shop by the time we reached the base it was almost an hour. 

We were approached by horse caretakers for taking us to the Aru Valley. Till then I thought where we were standing was Aru Valley and I said No to the caretaker. Hannah explained to us that we need to either hike or take the horse to reach Aru Valley. We finally agreed to go on the horse. By now I was familiarized with how to ride a horse and it was a pretty good ride compared to our previous day’s ride.

When we reached Aru Valley there was no one, most of the people who were there left when the rain started and we were lucky to have the whole valley to ourselves. I went and sat in the middle of the valley and used my shoes as a tripod for capturing the time-lapse of the moment. Everyone went to explore other parts of the valley. I sat there thinking how lucky I’m to be in the most beautiful valley in the world. After some time the caretakers came and told us that it was time, We decided to spend time in Aru Valley and cancel Betab Valley.

By the time when we reached our cab we had almost spent more than 3 hours in Aru Valley the cab driver was furious he told us that now we need to hire him for the entire day. We told him that we don’t need to go to Betab Valley. He said it’s anyways a day rent now and he took us to Betab Valley. On the way to Betab Valley, we stopped by a stream and spend time over there. It was a very calming place and we had a good time there. Anjana and Vipin started to collect stones from the stream.

When we reached Betab Valley it was too crowded and we decided to explore the nearby places and go back to the stream where we had stopped earlier. We ended our day with some Kashmiri-style Mutton curry and rice.

I woke up hearing my phone alarm, we had to leave for Pahalgam by 6. We all got up and got ready by 6:30. Hannah had called our taxi driver (Subair) and changed the timings to 6:30. When we vacated and got down there was a waiter who served me food yesterday smiling with a happy heart. He asked for a tip and I gave him some money. There was a helper who carried our bag and he also started to ask for a tip. I asked him how much do you need. He said “Whatever you give me with a happy heart is enough” (You’re going to hear this a lot if you’re in Kashmir). I gave him Rs.50 and he was like this is not enough I need more. I gave him fifty more and got into the cab.

By now it was 7 and most of the shops were still closed. It was a bit weird and we asked our driver if there was any strike or something. He told us that most of the Kashmiris wake up late and the shops only open by 10am. We still looked for some tea shops so that we could have breakfast. Pahalagam was at a distance of 90 km from Srinagar and it will take 2hrs to reach there. The road was pretty good with a view of snowy mountains all the way. You can spot an army person at every 1km on the road. There were a lot of cricket bat manufacturing factories on the way also.

I felt a bit of hesitation in Subair when we were talking in Malayalam amongst us. Only Hannah was asking him questions and talking to him then, So I started to talk to him and asked him about various things and all others started to interact with him more.

On the way we stopped in a small shop which was opening up and we were the first customers. We ordered coffee and wandered nearby to explore places. There was a garden opposite the shop which was closed at that time. But we could see many beautiful trees and flowers from outside. We went back to have coffee and by then a nearby shop also opened and they had maggie and we ordered maggie and waited.

I spotted some of the Kashmiris who were wearing pheran and were carrying kangri inside the pheran. The kangri is earthenware filled with glowing embers and encased in pretty handmade wicker baskets and is carried as a personal warmer. (I didn’t have a clue what they were carrying and got to know all these after inquiring to locals).

We started our journey back to Pahalgam and on the way there was a roadblock, sheeps were crossing the roads and we spotted that most of the sheeps were marked with different symbols and we asked Subair why it was marked. He told us that the shepherds are from Jammu and they collect sheeps from different people and to identify which sheep belongs to which owner they mark the sheeps.

We were approaching Pahalgam and we used google maps to identify our stay, then only we came to know that our stay was outside of pahalgam and it’s in a nearby village called Lidroo.

We started to see beautiful trees and valleys on the way to the village and we were so excited that we were going to stay in the village. (We booked this home stay as our last option, because most of the hotels in pahalgam were sold out). We were anxious to see the homestay, I was happy to stay in the village and didn’t care how the homestay will be. But when we reached the homestay we were blown out of our minds and it was out of our expectations. 

We started to discuss ourselves to extend our stay here for one more day as we didn’t have any booking for the next day. We asked our host Muneeb, “If we can extend our stay” and he said “Why not?”. Our next problem was how we would tell Subair, I had seen his bag. He was ready to stay here and take us back to pahalgam on the next day. When we told Munbeeb about this, He said they will arrange a cab back to Srinagar for us. Also we came to know that In Kashmir only local cabs are allowed to take us for local sightseeing (Remember this if you’re visiting Kashmir). So if you have hired a cab from a city, they will only be able to drop you at a certain point. When we talked about our extension for one more day, Subair said it’s okay and understandable. We paid him his rent and he left for Srinagar.

Muneeb said he will arrange the horse ride to see the viewpoints in Pahalgam, it consisted of 8 viewpoints and each one had to give Rs.2000 for the ride. The entire trip was 24km on horse. We all were excited, We waited at the common room as the rooms were not free by then. We got to know about our host. The family consisted of four people and they ran the homestay. Around 11 we went for the horse ride, Muneeb dropped us by the starting point and introduced us to the horse caretakers, they gave us each horse. It was pretty scary for me because I was thrown from a camel on my Rajasthan expedition(I know Rajasthan blog is pending, You will be able to read some amazing things I did in Rajasthan soon, I promise).

Horse riding was new to us and we soon found out how to ride a horse after a few stretches and I gained confidence after that, but still when we were going near cliffs it was pretty scary. We had our fun, scary moments with the horses. We stopped near a waterfall for lunch and we explored the waterfall for sometime. When we were having lunch (maggie) some of the locals came to us to sell pashmina shawls. I and Anjana tried our best to tell them that there is no use for us with shawls in Kerala. After some talking one of the locals understood what we were trying to say and  he made them understand our situation and the sellers went away. 

The caretakers were following their family tradition of raising horses and taking tourists for sightseeing. Most of them started this at the age of 15, They were speaking in mixed kashmiri and hindi. We saw many beautiful places on our way. Our main stop was at Baisaran Valley which is also called Mini Switzerland. Vipin went ahead for painting, Hannah and Anjana were busy taking pictures. There were a lot of tourists on the other side and I was looking for a place where I could be alone and then I spotted a gap between trees which looked like a gateway.  

I decided to go towards the gateway and it was a small hike. When I reached the top I was happy and excited. There were flowerbeds all around. I was feeling something which cannot be expressed in words, maybe it was pure happiness as some call it. I called Hannah and told her that there is a flower bed on top. Vipin was painting nearby and I went towards him after some time. Our caretaker came looking for us and when he saw Vipin painting he also sat with us waiting for Vipin to complete his painting.

It started to drizzle and we decided to continue our journey. There were steep hills on the way back and it was very scary at some moments. When we were almost near the base camp Anjana horse went rogue and was going to Jump from a cliff. Luckily the caretaker ran over and caught up with the horse and stopped it from happening. Anjana was pretty shaken up after that. When we reached the camp and as usual the caretakers started to ask for a tip. We gave them some money and decided to explore Pahalgam market.

We all were tired and hungry and decided to have something from the restaurants nearby. After our food we tried to look for cabs to take us back to our homestay. Most of them rejected it as it was nearby and those who agreed were asking us for Rs.1500 and more. I called our host Muneeb and told him about our situation. He told us to wait there. It started to rain while we were waiting and we took shelter in the nearby shops.

Muneeb came at last after two hours, I believe he had some purchasing for the homestay and it delayed our pickup. He asked us to wait in the car and went to buy chicken for dinner. It was raining heavily and on the way back we drove slowly as it was very hard to see the road. When we reached our homestay we were tired and we took comfort in warm clothes and blankets. For dinner we had delicious chapati and kashmiri style chicken curry. After some time we decided to call it a day and went to sleep. I had decided to go for a morning walk and set an alarm for 7.

I woke up hearing someone saying it was 5 am and the sun had risen, they were chatting nonstop about their morning trip towards their new destination, and guess what they were Malayalis and I was the only one in the dorm who was able to understand their rantings. I opened my curtain shade and looked outside and decided to go for a morning walk.

I pulled myself up by 6:30 am and started to explore nearby places. I could see many people jogging and doing exercise by the steps of Dal lake. There were many mountaineering cycles parked along the dal lake. One of the shops was open and some were having tea from there. I ordered a coffee and talked with the cyclists. When they heard I was from Kerala they loved me. After spending some time with them I said goodbye and walked to my stay. I needed to check out early as Hannah, Anjana and Vipin will be reaching by 9 (I haven’t met any of them in person till then). They had booked a stay in Lal chowk for the day which was an hour’s ride away from where I was staying.

On the way back I decided to take a shortcut as I saw many sheep in front of me. When I caught up with them I saw a boy in one of the trees and he was chopping off the branches so that the sheep would have their food. There were four shepherds. I had a little chat with the head of the shepherd and he told me he was from Jammu during the Summer they visit Kashmir for the food and in winter they go back to Jammu. They will walk all day trying to find food for the shepherds and stay wherever they feel like. Basically, they were like nomads, I couldn’t talk more to him as he was talking in a mixed Kashmiri and Hindi.

While walking back I figured out what was the issue of the system dependency and reaching my stay the first thing I did was to confirm my assumption and it was true. Now I know what was causing the issue. I got a call from Hannah saying that they had landed and were on their way to our stay. I said I would join them in an hour and went for a quick shower.

I was walking with my luggage towards the roads assuming I will get a cab from the road towards the Lal Chowk. Then I saw a person in his early 60’s smiling at me, I smiled back and asked him where to get a bus/cab to the Lal Chowk. He told me to wait there itself, he was also going towards Lal chowk. We started to talk while waiting for the bus. He had worked in Kerala for a decade. He was selling Kashmiri shawls and other artifacts in Kerala. We were talking nonstop and I thought to myself “How much I have improved since my first solo trip”. He gave me his contact number and asked me to call him If I needed anything in Srinagar. (The bus was only charging Rs. 15 towards Lal chowk and yesterday I paid Rs. 500 for the auto. Poor ME !!!)

I got down at Lal chowk and called Hannah. She told me the location of the hotel and I started towards the hotel. On the way, there were lots of street shops opening up. I could see the excitement in the eyes of the shop owners as I was a prospective customer. I told most of them that I will visit them back later and continued walking.

The room was on the fourth floor of the building and there was no lift. By the time I had reached the room, I was tired. Knocked on the door and heard Hannah’s voice saying that it was open. I opened the door and entered the room. Hannah was sitting on the bed and the others were standing on the small balcony of our room. We started to introduce ourselves. I was familiar with Vipin’s works as I was following him on Instagram. Anjana and I were from the same college but were meeting in Kashmir for the first time. How crazy is that? We were in college for almost the same years and have never seen each other in college. For Hannah, I felt like I knew her for a very long time although we were meeting for the first time. Hannah was a common friend for all of us and we were all connected through her.

Our room was not the same as what was shown on the website, it was totally different. We ordered additional beds and sheets like the ones which were there were dirty. They assured us that they will provide all the things by evening. Anjana was having issues with the mobile network and I told her to wait for some time and check again. I could see everyone was tired from the long journey and they decided to take a nap before going out to explore Srinagar. I told them I will be in a restaurant downstairs as I needed to have a call with my team and tell them about my findings. 

I ordered a bread toast and Kashmiri Kehwa and started my work and called Sravan to inform him about my findings. Sravan said he had found an alternative approach and he did a POC on that. We decided to go ahead with the new approach because when we fixed the system dependency, We found another system dependency that needed to be fixed. We were not sure how many dependencies we needed to install before it worked like a charm. We decided to complete the work by evening and connect back by night. In between Anjana and Vipin came and informed me that they were going out to explore the nearby places. I was happy that we found a new approach and I could enjoy my vacation now.

I went to the room to keep my laptop and that sound made Hannah wake up. She suddenly started to feel a leg cramp and let out a huge cry. I was familiar with the situation and made her stand and press her leg to the floor which will reduce the cramp. The pain got reduced in a while and we decided to go out to explore the places nearby. We called Anjana and asked about their whereabouts. We started our journey towards them and found them sketching in front of a cafe and there were lots of people admiring their works.

I and Hannah decide to go inside the cafe and see what they have. Vipin needed additional hours to complete the sketch and we decided to spend some time in the cafe itself till he completes it. We were hungry and ordered a chicken sandwich and white sauce pasta, the cafe had a perfect ambiance. We talked a lot and got to know each other during this time. Anjana and I were talking about our college and the common friends we had. After some time Vipin indicated that it is going to rain soon and we should head back. We were planning to go on a Shikara ride in the evening and it seemed like we had to drop that plan.

On the way back Anjana showed us the wild blackberries and we started to hunt them down like small children. It rained a little when we reached the hotel and we all were disappointed that we will need to stay at the hotel the rest of the day. After some time we decided to go to Dal lake and see it anyway. 

When we reached Dal lake there were Shikara rides and they were ready to take us for a ride. It will cost us Rs.2000 for four people and we got into the Shikara. As it was a rainy day with strong winds and currents they needed two people to row and we started our beautiful Shikara ride. It was an amazing experience with a slight drizzle and chilled winds. We did some shopping in the Meena bazaar and on our way back we ordered tikka from the Shikara itself. We ordered Mutton, Chicken, Mushrooms, and fish tikkas each. We all loved the fish tikka as it was the best.

We decided to walk around the dal lake and saw a local shop which was selling shawls and jackets, Vipin bought a jacket and I bought a shawl which was only Rs.100. We started to look for a place where we could have tea and found a place. There was a momos place also, we ordered fried and normal momos. There was a provisional store nearby that was issuing local sim cards for the tourist and we decided to buy local sim cards for our use as we didn’t have a proper network with our Vi sims. After a long wait, Anjana and I bought new sim cards and we left for our hotel. 

Our mind was full with Shikara ride memories and our tummy was full with all the good food we had.

When we reached the hotel I and Hannah asked for the settlement as we were going to check out early in the morning. Hannah told the manager that the room is not the same as shown on the website, they didn’t have anything to say and blamed the Oyo team for doing that. The next day we headed to our first destination, Pahalgam.

One day I got a message from Hannah asking if I wanted to join them on their Kashmir trip. I was searching for my next destination and this happened. It was like the Paulo Coelho quote “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” 

The trip date was so close and I needed to get leave approval from my client. I said I will get back to Hannah and messaged my client asking if we have any major releases on my trip dates. He said it was okay and asked me to go ahead. When he heard it was Kashmir, His first question was “Are you planning for Everest?”. I said no, But yes I have plans for the Annapurna Base camp trek. We started to discuss the places he can visit in India. I did all the bookings in the next few days. 

In between these days, I was added to a new project and sadly the release date came colliding with my trip date. On the day before the trip we found out that there was system dependency for the feature we were developing and it was blocking the release. We were trying to find a solution for it and I had to catch an early morning flight the next day. It was raining heavily outside and my flight was continuously rescheduled every hour. Also, we didn’t have any hotel bookings, Our plan was to go there and get a homestay. When Hannah checked booking.com, all the hotels were sold out. We panicked and started to look for hotels also.(Everything was going wrong for me on that day with an humongous amount of pressure)

 I told Hannah about my project situation and she took the responsibility of finding a hotel for the day they reach. I was reaching a day before them and had booked Zostel for that day. After rigorous searching, she booked a hotel for some days of our trip. We decided we will figure out the stays for the rest of the days after we reach there.

I was stuck with the work and did not find a solution for the issue, by then it was 5 am in the morning. Sravan and I decided we will stop for today as I had to leave for the airport in half an hour. We agreed to resume work in the evening and said goodbyes. I took a quick shower and grabbed whatever I found and left for the airport.

When I reached the airport, there was a long queue for the baggage drop as most of the flights were delayed. After the security check-in there was an hour left and I was sitting in the waiting area. I was sleep-deprived and I decided to buy the expensive crap coffee to keep me awake from the airport. It did work and I was awake. I was constantly worried about my connecting flight as I had to pick up my luggage and do all the security check-in at Delhi airport too. 

I was standing in the baggage drop queue in Delhi and was talking to the person next to me. He was from Srinagar and it was his first flight. I helped him with the airport process and made him comfortable. After sometime he asked the usual question “Are you in the army?”. I said I was not, I was fed up with the security check-in at the Delhi Airport. The police officers were constantly telling people to remove metal, electronic items from their hand luggage while screening, but still the people were ignorant. Luckily I was able to complete all this before the gate closes for my next flight.

Everything was sorted and I got a Masala tea within the flight with the Mountains backdrop view. It was a wonderful experience to see the snow-covered mountains from the flight. When the flight landed at Srinagar airport there was an announcement saying not to click photos of the airport as it was an army area. Still, some stupid people clicked photos outside the airport and got busted by the army officials, they were forced to delete the photos.

Hannah had informed me that only postpaid sims work in Srinagar, So I had changed my plan from prepaid to postpaid. When I landed in Srinagar I got a message saying welcome to Srinagar after that there was no network. Collected my luggage and went outside and on the way I saw a board having the details of the JKTDC bus schedule.

I went outside and went to the prepaid taxi center and showed them where I wanted to go. They told me it will be Rs. 1300 to go there. I said I don’t need it and started to walk away. There was no sign of any autos in my vicinity.  After walking a little I saw a man sitting near a minibus and I went and asked him about the Bus and showed him my destination. He said I need to get down at the last stop and catch another bus or auto from there and it only costs Rs. 80. 

On the way I spotted more army officials than the locals, after an hour I had reached my destination and was surrounded by auto walas and guides. They were disappointed knowing I already had a hotel booking and one auto rickshaw wala agreed to take me to my destination and charged Rs.500 (It was not needed, I could have taken a minibus which cost only Rs. 20). I was too tired to argue and got into the auto. 

On the way I saw the Dal lake and the mountains as backdrop, it was a view for my eyes. I was talking to the autorickshaw person and he was trying to impress me with his English. He told me he has never gone to school and learned English from tourists. He was speaking very good English and I was impressed. I asked him why I didn’t have a mobile network even though my sim is a postpaid one. He told me to restart the mobile and try again. He mentioned that there are jammers near the airport and you won’t get signals near the airport side. Luckily after switching on I got my own network and there was only a 3G network available.

On the way I saw a ghat and opposite to that there was the famous Mughal garden: Nishat Bhag. Within seconds I reached my destination and checked into the Zostel. It was a decent place with no rush of the city and a charming background of mountains. The bed was tempting and I needed a sleep, But my heart told me I could sleep later and I went along with it.I took a quick shower and went for a walk. I knew that the ghat which I saw was close by and I started towards that.

When I reached there I started straight towards the steps where the shikaras were tied up. I was amazed by the golden sunset rays which were giving me an enchanting sunset experience. I sat on the steps and waited for the sun to set.

I went to the nearby shack and ordered some kebabs, it had a different taste. There were a lot of snacks and I ordered a mixed plate of snacks. I decided to go back to my stay and start the pending work.

I found a spot near the reception area, where there was a good network and started to work. Most of the people who were staying in Zostel were from my field, they started to came and ask about my work. One person suggested not to work like this and I felt agreeing to him, But it was a commitment I made and I don’t go back on my word. Sadly we were not able to find a solution that day also and gave up for that day and went to sleep.

Have you ever thought that you will take pictures and it will be used for Laptop Wallpaper/Postcard/Home screen etc..? As a kid I had always admired the tulips in Windows XP (Which was taken in Skagit Valley, Washington, United States) and wondered to see those with my eyes one day. Yes one day I will be there too, But for now Let’s go back to my Spiti days.

It was our last day in Kaza, Previous night everyone was complaining that they’re not getting hot water after I take shower. I told them to have have shower first and I will take shower last and went to the common room. Our host had put on Tibetan Mantras. We talked about Tibetan music and shared playlists each other, He asked about Kerala and was trying to know if Kerala was near to Hubli, Karnataka. We packed our breakfast and said adieu to our hosts and left Kaza.

When we reached Key Monastery it was packed with people as there was religious function taking place at the monastery. We started to explore the monastery and started to search for the famous Key monastery photo spot. Some of us went in one direction and Myself, Krishan and Kirti went to another. We found a good spot of monastery and spend some time there. After some time the other group reached the hill above us. Myself and Krishnan climbed towards them and there was a alpha dog on our way. We tried to spend some time with the dog, but the dog was not interested.

After the photoshoots we went back to the monastery, On the way we found some wild berries which was very delicious. We left to Chicham bridge which is the highest bridge in Asia. When we reached Chicham bridge I had started to feel down as the trip was coming to an end. Some of us were shooting reels and I decided to spend some lone time there and started to walk alone, But Jyothi aunty tagged along and we talked about various things and then I saw one person flying his drone a hill and I also joined. It had a good view of Chicham bridge and I sat along the edges and enjoyed the view.

We stopped at a random village for lunch, the restaurant was packed with people and we had to wait, There were farms and some of us went to explore the farm. There was a calf and Krishnan started to pet it and it started to suck on his thumb. The calf was very hungry and started to sniff all of us thinking us as his mother. During lunch we met with two amazing ladies and there team who were doing Spiti expedition on electric scooter which was going to be a record.

On the way to Chandratal we stopped at Kunzum Pass, I was haunted by my past. I stepped down from the traveler and started to walk alone without waiting for anyone, I needed my lone time. The cold wind was giving me shivers throughout my body, I was feeling numb, Then I thought “Why am I holding down to my past, When I’m surrounded with good people at 14,931ft with the most amazing views and the wind that make me feel each part of my body alive. I was lad and thankful to where I have reached and moreover to the people who has left and stayed in my life.

We left to Chandratal and the road was empty mostly with landscapes changing every minute. When we reached Chandratal it was drizzling, We took our jackets, umbrella and jumped out of the traveler. As small groups we started to descend to the lake. There were many groups who were climbing up and they assured it won’t rain heavily. Jyothi aunty was taking her time to walk, I walked a few steps ahead of her making sure she is with me and encouraging her to walk.

We spend some time and started to climb back, some of them have already left and were walking slowly as the rain and wind decided to show it’s glory. I was switching umbrella from one hand to another in a minute as I didn’t had any gloves (I had frostbite due to this) . Wear proper layers if you’re going to a place like this and don’t be a idiot like me. As I climbed back to the traveler I was shivering and was mostly wet. We reached our camps and it was pitch dark and we couldn’t find a person who knew our camp.

After sometime roaming around we found our camps and got settled in. the first thing I did was to change the wet clothes and opened the Sula white wine gulped it down to stop the shivering, it was not working. We asked our host to put all the beds in one tent(We got two) and helped the host with moving of beds. Shivering was increasing and we decided to go to the common area where there was camp fire. We sat down the near the fire and calmed down.

After dinner we spend some time with other campers sharing old monk, local stories, playing games. It was very fun, there was a game in which who ever loses had to drink one peg and everyone was losing the game conciously to have a drink. We came back to our tent and started to plan the next trip everyone wanted to visit Kashmir. When I woke up the next day some of our room mates had already went to have breakfast. After breakfast, We took some camp photos and roamed around the camp.

It was a long day ahead we started our journey towards our last destination which was Manali. We reached Manali around 4pm via Atal Tunnel and was so tired and settled into the room. By 6:30 we went out and started to explore the nearby places in Naggarville. When we reached the market it was already closed and we cam back to our hostel. There was a cafe near to our hostel myself, Juhi and Sonali went to check if they had cheesecake. We sat at there rooftop restaurant having cheesecake and talking about our trips. I went to sleep early that day as I was waking up early for continous days.

The next day I woke up early and went for a morning walk, there were dogs accompanying me at each turn. The dogs made me feel like home and I had started to miss my tiger(my dog name) now. I walked around 5 km one way without knowing I had reached this much area. On the way back I fed the dogs which accompanied me. Juhi had already visited the Naggarville palace and she showed me and Jyothi aunty around the palace.

We checked out by 11 and went to Manali for shopping. I tried Paper roast from one of the restaurant in Manali it was not good. We got to bus station by 3pm there were many local apple vendors trying to sell apples. We got ourselves apples from one vendor and she was so happy and even shared her number to buy apples from her on our next visit to Manali. By 4pm we started our journey back to Delhi.

As usual, I woke up early and went for a walk to explore Kaza. Every side was covered with huge mountains and early sun rays were not reaching the place. The road was empty but full of dogs. There were two packs of dogs, I have never seen this many dogs in a pack. They were having their territory war, it was fun watching them chase one pack by the other. Both the pack of dogs were led by an Alpha dog, I have only seen in movies about the alpha wolf but didn’t know they existed with dogs also. I walked around capturing the beauty of the mountains and reached back at our stay.

Our hosts were awake by now and they offered me coffee. I sat in the common room where a song was playing. The song was so calming and I felt being in a trance. I asked our host about the song and he told me it is a Tibetan mantra song and shared with me the youtube link of that song (it’s one of my favorite songs now). By now one by one everyone was down at the common area. We parceled our breakfast and went for our expedition, There were many exciting places we were going to cover today.

Our first stop was at Dhankar Monastery (Dhang or dang means cliff, and kar or khar means fort. Hence Dhangkar means fort on a cliff), The monastery is situated at an elevation of 3,894 metres (12,774 feet) in the Spiti Valley above Dhankar Village, between the towns of Kaza and Tabo. Dhankar was the traditional capital of the Spiti Valley Kingdom during the 17th century and has some features dating back to the 12th century. It was the seat of the early rulers of Spiti, the Nonos, who had the right to cultivate the government lands nearby and were required to keep the fort in repair.

We reached the entrance which is situated at the new monastery and got down. The old monastery was closed as the lamas had come to the new monastery for prayer. Niharika went ahead and talked to the monks and got us an opportunity to see the old monastery. Two young monks accompanied and took us to the old monastery. They were very energetic and showed us inside the monastery. Only 20 people were allowed at a time into the monastery due to the earthquake which happened earlier destroyed and made unstable most parts of the old monastery. We got a chance to meditate inside the monastery and Niharika helped us to feel the energy there. We all left with that energy to our next destination.

We reached Komic Monastery but it was closed and we continued our Journey towards Langza. It was drizzling when we reached Langza. We could see the back of the statue. I was looking towards visiting the statue for a long time. One fact I came to know later is that the village in which the statue is situated only has 3 houses and it has the highest voting both also.

Our next destination was Hikkim and I have already collected the addresses of my friends and colleagues. Hikkim has the highest post in the world. We had to hike down, to reach the post office and got postcards from the postmaster. The postmaster is being stationed therefrom 1983. We wrote down our thoughts in a hurry as the post office was going to close.

Our actual plan was to visit Key Monastery also, but we changed our plans and went back to Kaza as it was already late. On the way, stopped and spend some time on the road as it had a beautiful view of Spiti valley.

We went shopping at Kaza when we reached. Some of us went to buy a cake. We were throwing a surprise birthday party for Sonali by midnight.

Someone was knocking at the door for some time with half-open eyes I opened the door. Avinash was there dressed asking “Why are you guys not ready?”. I tried to open my eyes and walked towards the washroom to get ready. I was not feeling well and I could feel something running inside my stomach. My mind was telling me to vomit it out, Somehow I got ready and went downstairs to have breakfast. Some part of me knew that I would be okay if I eat something. I tried to take a bite of sandwich and started to chew it. But my mind was keep telling me to vomit it out. At last I stopped trying to eat and went back to my room.

Karthik and Krishan came asking me what happened and I told them that I’m not feeling well. Karthick made me energy drink and asked me to stay hydrated. I took the energy drink with me and got into the Traveler. Krishan came with lemons and asked me to suck on it till I feel better. I did that for sometime and in between I fell asleep (I’m thankful for having this caring people on my trip).

I woke up when the traveler stopped and got to know that we have reached Nako Monastery our first stop towards Kaza. I was better compared to morning, I was not able walk around. Krishan and Kirti went ahead to explore the monastery and others roamed in front of the monastery. I walked outside the monastery and stared at the mountains. Juhi came and asked “Do you feel like a ant, when you see the mountains?” I said “yes” and we stood there admiring the view.

We all got back to the traveler when Krishan came back from the monastery. Apparently there was a Lake inside the monastery and he spend some time over there. He told it was peaceful sitting there alone. We continued our journey towards Kaza and I dozed off again.

When I woke up next, we were reaching Gue Monastery and I could see the monastery ahead. When we reached it seemed like the monastery was under renovation. Niharika got down and asked around and got to know that the mummy is transferred to a temporary building nearby and we can visit that.

Gue Monastery is located near a small village around 35 Kms from Tabo Monastery and is famous for 500 year old mummy of Sangha Tenzin, a Buddhist monk who is believed to have started his mummification process while he was still alive. The monastery is located very near the Indo Tibetan border and is surrounded on all side by mountains. This is a very rare example of natural mummification as most mummies we read about are mummified by embalming and then being wrapped in linen cloth. The natural process of mummification is used by monks by slow process of starvation in a seated position. The dead body is then placed in underground chamber for 3 years to continue the drying process. Only 30 such mummies have been found till date and most on them in Japan. The mummy of Sangha Tenzin is remarkably well preserved with skin and hair intact.

We stopped nearby a restaurant in Gue village and had lunch and then resumed our journey towards Tabo Monastery. Tabo monastery had a different vibe, Above the monastery there are a number of caves carved into the cliff face and used by monks for meditation. There were young monks who were playing around football and kabadi. I bought Spiti Shawl, Tibetan flags from a local shop. We played with the young monks and talked to them. Some of them wanted to see the oustside world and play games on mobile phones.

We continoued our journey towards Kaza and reached by 7 or 8pm. After Dinner some of us went for a walk and ended up visiting the nearby Zostel. They allowed us to use the common area. Myself and Karthick had a round of carroms and he won. Then we all played Bluff. I ordered Sea buckthorn tea (Must try) as it was famous and it is very refreshing.

We went back to our hotel and played bluff and Dumb Charades. Most of the movie names were in hindi. I got to act the move “Sanam teri Kasam”. Luckily on my second act, Kirti guessed the name correctly and we won the match.

I woke before my alarm and took a shower. We were leaving for Chitkul by 8 am. Before that, I had to find the waterfall which was calling to me. I got ready by 5:30 am and put on a jacket and woke up Karthik saying that I’m heading out. No one was awake at the hotel, I went past the gate and took a left, and walked towards the direction of the water roars that I heard on the previous day.

Some of the villagers were also walking in the same direction, I was so thrilled to see the beautiful mountains which surrounded me. I put on my hoodie and kept my hands in my pockets to keep it warm. I was capturing each and every detail of the mountains. Some were covered with snow, some were covered with trees, some were getting the first rays of sunlight.

After each step, I could hear the roaring sound getting closer, then I saw the bridge and the river flowing ahead of me. Water was so white that it seemed like milk. I stood at the bridge having a soul orgasm (The river, its roaring sound, first rays of sunlight at mountains, wind chill). 

There was a narrow trail to climb ahead along the river bed and the next thing I did was climb those tracks for some time and reached a place where there was only a river and thick trees all around. I went and sat down on a boulder. I was so happy that I took this trip, I thanked God by saying a prayer. I don’t know how much time I spent there, the time just went by.

When I climbed down, I saw some bikers standing on the bridge and Karthik posing on their bikes. The bikers were doing a Spiti expedition on bikes and were on their way to Chitkul. By now it was around 8 am and Karthik suggested heading back to our hotel and we did that.

On the way, we could see trees covered with hay and were wondering if it is something of a ritual. When we reached the hotel our host was standing out and we enquired about it to him. He said it is not a ritual and people are drying the hay for winter. During the winter the entire area will be covered with snow and they won’t be able to get out of the house for months. When we asked about the hotel, He said during winter the hotel will remain closed only.

After breakfast, I was standing outside the hotel and decided to take a small walk, and this time I took a right. There were several small children playing around. The house’s architecture was completely different from what we see in Kerala. Then a shepherd went past me with cows. I was admiring the houses and suddenly heard shouting. The shepherd was making the cows climb the mountain with his sound and the cows were climbing very well. 

I went back to our hotel, By now everyone was down and getting into the traveler. Our next destination was Chitkul but my mind was still at the waterfall I found. On our way to Chitkul, We could see beautiful places alongside the Baspa river. Chitkul is the last village on the Hindustan-Tibet border. We tried to take a reel at the border and it was a flop. Then we headed back to the Chitkul village. From the village, we could trek down to the Baspa river and we all started to descend.

There was something about that place, The view we had was amazing, everyone was taking pictures, Some went along the river bed and spent some time walking and taking photos. Everyone was having their own alone time and it was amazing to spend time with people who don’t ruin your lone time. I was blessed with amazing co-travelers.

The trek up was a bit difficult for everyone, after reaching the top everyone was trying to catch their breaths. After taking some rest we took a tour of the village and resumed our journey to our next destination Kalpa. We stopped at Reckong Peo for lunch which is the capital of the Kinnaur District. After lunch, we resumed our Journey our next destination was Suicide Point, Roghi. We went to the village and decided to walk back to Suicide Point which was like a 1km walk.

On our small walk to suicide point, Sonali and Avinash were energetically talking about the Kedarnath trek. I asked Juhi about her Meghalaya trip and especially about the Nongriat village and Rainbow falls which is my favorite place in Meghalaya. Apparently, she covered both places in one day itself. Spending some time at the suicide point we left for our Hotel in Kalpa. When we reached the hotel it was sunset time. From the hotel, we could see the last rays of sun hitting the mountain. It was a view worth living for and we could see Kinnaur Kailash from the hotel.

We reached Shimla by 7 in the morning we waited for our traveler. Our plan was to get freshen up from the ISBT, New bus stand. But our driver suggested that we are already late and we can get freshen up on our way to Sangla.

After an hour’s drive, we stopped at a restaurant to freshen up and have lunch. The backside of the restaurant had an amazing view and It was mesmerizing.

During our Breakfast, We had a proper Introduction of everyone, Everyone was going on the Spiti expedition for the first time and was thrilled. After breakfast, we continued our journey to Sangla. The view on the way was changing rapidly and then we started to see Apple farms everywhere. We were going through a place called Theog and suddenly the traveler stopped. Some of them were getting down, I asked what was happening and they said they were just going to look around the apple farms. I also got down as I haven’t seen an apple farm in my entire life. It was something thrilling.

It was apple harvesting season and some were harvesting on top of a hill, We couldn’t see who they were. We climbed up to have a good view. A puppy came along with us and Juhi was afraid of the puppy. Puppy followed me and reached the top. there was a small steak step in ahead of us. Karthik climbed up first and a guard dog started to bark, we could only hear the barking. The people who were harvesting told us it is okay and we can come forward. I climbed up and went to the place where they were harvesting. I had a small chat with them and asked if my friends can also come to this point, they replied “why not, it is perfectly fine” I signaled my friends to come over. We asked for some apples, they told me to pick from the basket which they have collected. I took 2-3 apples and started to walk back. Then the girl who was plucking asked me to stop and asked to take more. She asked if we have a bag to carry apples and I said “No, We will put apples in our pockets and hands”.

We thanked them and left, But my hands and heart were full of the love and affection shown by the farmers. You guys have my heart.

We continued our Journey to Sangla eating apples in traveler. By afternoon we reached Rampur and visited Padam Palace and spent some time there and continued our journey. We were stopped because of land sliding/blasting happening ahead. Sun was at full power and we couldn’t sit inside the traveler and get down. People on Himachal Pradesh are used to this land sliding and blasting and they were chilling around. We took rescue in the shade of the traveler and waited for an hour. One good thing is that we were surrounded by the nature all along and it made us calm.

By evening we stopped at a Dhaba and had lunch and continued our journey. We could see the last rays of the sun hitting on the highest mountain and it was an amazing view. The roads were getting dangerous as we were going on one side were hills that seemed like they may slide any moment and on the other side was steep (This was the road for the entire Spiti valley expedition). It was also pitch dark and couldn’t seem to figure out what is happening, Now we knew why our driver was rushing to reach our hotel before the night.

Somehow we passed by our Hotel and went ahead for some time we crossed a bridge when we were nearing our hotel. I could feel the cool breeze and hear the roaring of the river nearby. I figured out there should be a small waterfall near our hotel, I decided to wake up early and look for the waterfall. We got settled into our rooms and had our Dinner, Most of the dishes were new to me and I tried a few. All the boys were allocated to one room and the girls another. We started to talk about each other and get to know each other, But my mind was on the waterfall and I have to wake up early. I asked anyone is interested in going for a morning walk, Only Karthik showed interest and we went to sleep.

I was checking my phone every 5 minutes for the past 1 hour, Why isn’t the RTPCR result not yet received. Did I input my phone number wrongly? I was getting anxious minute by minute, it’s only a few hours left to start my journey and all my bookings are done. What if I become covid positive?

On the way back, I brought the mandatory items which were mentioned in the itinerary.  I had only left a few hours to catch my train to Ernakulam. I had an overnight train to Ernakulam and from there a flight to Delhi. After packings, I Informed Mom about Dad’s medicines and marked them for her.

By 9 pm we left for the train station in our car, When we reached the train station there was a new self point called I love Trivandrum. It’s been two years since I have been to these parts of the town. I went into the train station hoping that the AC waiting hall is still open and it seemed it was also closed from the pandemic. I waited in the common area and before the pandemic, this place was crowded with people. Now there were only a few people and when I got on the train it was also half empty. 

I got down at Aluva which is the nearest railway station to Cochin Airport suddenly a person approached me and asked “Are you going to the airport?”. I said and we started to walk together. His next question made me stop on my way. He asked, “In which Battalion are you in?” I said I’m not army personnel and I’m going to Himachal for my Vacation. Things got weirder after that and I walked ahead and called for an auto.

Reaching the airport I went through the thermal scanning and asked I can enter, I was 5 hours earlier for my flight. After the baggage drop in I roamed inside the airport and waited with the book Ready Player Two. By 9 am they started the onboarding and we were provided with face masks. My seat was in front of the emergency exit. the Airhostes came and asked if I’m willing to be a part of the emergency exit team. I said yes and I was offered the nearby seat to the emergency exit. It was like a free upgrade with a lot of leg space. The flight reached Delhi around 12 pm.

Delhi airport was connected with Delhi metro and I took the metro to reach Zostel to freshen up. The bus from Delhi to Himachal was only by 9 pm I had time. When I came out of the New Delhi Railway station metro stop, I was like where should I go from here. the place was crowded, I opened google maps and searched for Zostel, it showed a five minutes walk and I decided to walk and ended up at a dead end. I asked around and some people showed me the way and started to walk on the sidewalk, suddenly something touched my arms and went past me. Before I realise what was happening the bike went ahead honking everyone to move from the sidewalk.

Then only I saw the traffic block, people were driving their vehicles to overpass the traffic block through sidewalks. I wanted to kick them out of there and decided not to and resumed my walk to the Zostel. Delhi Zostel had a different vibe, I got freshened up and decide to visit Connaught place (CP) as I had some hours before my bus. After roaming around in CP for two-three hours I came back and rested for some time.

My phone started to ring and Avinash was on the other end. He asked if we can go together to the pickup point as he was staying near to my place. I said yes and we started our journey to the pickup point by 7:30 pm. We were the first to arrive at the pickup point and the rest of them were on the way. We started to talk about the places we visited. Avinash was from Lucknow, I asked him about Lucknow and the places we can visit in Lucknow. He was happy to answer my questions. He shared his time in Chennai and the trips he took to Uttrakhand. I noted all of those and added them to the bucket list.

After some time Karthik arrived, He is working in SAP Pune and had arrived in Delhi the previous day. He stayed with his friend in Noida. He and his friend had intended to join the trip. Unfortunately, his friend had to cancel at the last time as a medical emergency came up. Hearing this I thought about my Ladakh trip which got canceled like this.
Then Krishan and Kirti arrived, it was crowded in our place and they decided to go and wait at the bus waiting area. Then a car came and parked next to us from it Jyothi and Juhi got down. Juhi was from Mumbai and Jyothi was from Delhi itself. After 5 minutes Sonali and our captain Niharika arrived. They both were from Delhi itself. We formed a small circle with all of them and everyone started to talk to each other.

Let me give you an overview of how all these people from different places came to contact. Niharika is a well-known know Youtuber and Instagrammer. We all follow or know a person who follows her. She is the one who organized this Spiti Valley expedition with the IAmAdventure tour and travels team.  

The bus arrived late by an hour and we started our Journey to Shimla. From Shimla, our Spiti Expedition starts.