On the Rocks – Sandhan Valley Trek

By Harsh in Life Stories, Travel 5 Comments

I started this year with a promise to myself that I would travel as many places as I could. It hasn’t been going exactly how it was planned but still every now and then I feel content and not guilty at wasting my weekend. Our group has split up post NITIE (quite obviously), many of the others who stayed are too busy with their office, and the rest … the rest are either getting engaged or married (Full Stop for most of the bro-outings :P).

Anyways, this fine weekend I decided to go for the Sandhan Valley trek along with an amazing set of people whom I didn’t knew. The known strangers, thanks to Mumbai Travellers. Just for the info and creating an impression that I know everything, Sandhan valley (famously know as the “Valley of Shadow” – sounds spooky isn’t it :P) is a canyon located in the Western Ghats. Starting from Mumbai via the last local, we (Me plus three strangers who bonded together to form another version of Chaai Sutta Chronicles by the end of the journey) reached the last stop, Kasara, around 3 in the morning. After a lot of efforts, our lead guide managed to gather us all together at one place and took our attendance (I felt like giving a proxy for someone but unfortunately, everyone had turned up :P).

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An Experience called “Kasol”

By Harsh in Life Stories, Travel 8 Comments

Kasol, this is not a place. It’s an experience. And you got to experience it to believe. For all my friends who might mistake it for Kasauli, this is not Kasauli. Not by Far. Kasauli was the place where Jaadu, the alien, came over from another world. And Kasol? … Well !! Kasol is another world in itself. And we were the aliens. A bunch of aliens who landed there and didn’t want to go back. Not at any cost.

Amidst the busy professional life, a lot of plannings and disappointments, I finally got hold of a friend who was there to accompany me on this heavenly trip. A bus trip from Delhi to Bhuntar, high on life, watching movies like Dhol and Dhamaal all night log (courtesy the fabulous Bus we landed in to), with intermittent stops (temperature going down progressively), we reached Bhuntar from where another bus was supposed to take us to Kasol. But wait? Everything going planned can be so boring. Bus halted at a place called Zari, with no more ground to travel. Lord Shiva was sending down snow balls to welcome us aboard. He also sent a trolley, being driven by a guy who very much resembled “Bob Marley”, to carry the six of us (Birds of feather flock together 😉 ) to the final destination.

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