Lockdown has left everyone hopeless. Everything got shattered, so many dreams, so many plans, and whatnot. I am sure you must have had your plans; starting a new business, taking a trip to some foreign land, doing your first solo trip, and whatnot. And it all got disturbed. As a mountain lover, I took the last trip to the mountains in January 2020 when I traveled to Kotgarh. However this year, when the restrictions were lifted a little bit, I did plan to spend a weekend in the mountains but things just didn’t seem to fall on the track. And after leaving my previous job, I planned to return to the mountains, as usual for a weekend. But I almost spent two weeks.
As per my previous trips, this one was too an unplanned journey. However considering it was for almost two weeks, lots of surprises and wonderful moments were waiting for me on the way which I had been missing for so long. Moreover, as I hadn’t returned to the mountains for more than a year and a half, I actually needed a nice, decent trip to Himachal Pradesh. This was something I had been longing for and traveling amid COVID wasn’t something I wanted to do. So, I believed in waiting and find the right time to pack my bags and leave the city.
Realizing that I had enough time in my hands and enough money too, taking a trip to the mountains was the best decision I could take. Day by day, my Instagram feed was getting stuffed with people going to Leh-Ladakh, Spiti, Manali, and whatnot. And I was just sitting in my apartment, 20th floor, staring outside through the balcony at the metro and the traffic and people passing by. I had to go. Yes, I was done with waiting enough. I had to go.
The ‘Ultimate Return to the Mountains’ feel when I reached Mandi
The first place I deboarded the bus in Himachal Pradesh was the Mandi bus stand in the morning when the bus stopped there for a while. After leaving the Mandi bus stand some considerable distance behind, there was a huge traffic jam on the road due to roadblocks. Most probably, it was due to landslides. Since it was the time of landslides, especially at the high altitude, that could have been possible. So, there was a halt of almost two hours on the road by the banks of Beas River. It was a little frustrating since I had to reach my destination on time. But sitting by the riverside was itself an experience. I sat there and thought for a while. What if I hadn’t decided to come here? I would have missed the morning mist and the sound of Beas, passing by.
I was stunned to see the views. I just opened my eyes wide open and embraced nature. It almost felt like I had found something that I had lost something that belonged to me and I couldn’t feel it for a long time. I had dreamt of sitting outside a small chalet, in front of a riverbank, sipping a hot cup of coffee. Though the only thing that was there was the river flowing at its soothing pace. After waiting a long and walking on the road to see what went wrong, the road blocked was cleared with help of JCB machines and I boarded the bus. I had to get down at Aut and Aut was still far. So for the next hour or so, the road seemed clear with no obstacles. It was clear and so was the sky too. Though it was cloudy and misty till Mandi.
When I reached Aut, I took a halt and relaxed for ten minutes or so. Then I took the bus to Sainj. So, yeah I was going to Shangarh. The same village I visited in Oct 2019. I was going to Shangarh the second time. This return to the mountains was full of excitement and nostalgic moments. I have this fantasy of returning to the same places after some time. And it’s not about traveling to the same place but revisiting the same place. To relive the same memories, I meet the people, to walk on the same muddy stretches. It’s always nostalgic and brings peace.
