When Fantasy transcends to Reality - A Road Trip

A couple of weeks back I set on a new experience with my new friends in a new country and now when I am back in front of my laptop I can just amaze at the fact that we really have been able to finish our extraordinary trip with no problems at all. This article is just a memoir of my road trip from Madison, Wisconsin to Los Angeles/Highway 1, California and back.

The plan was simple, 6 enthusiastic friends, 1 powerful car that we rented from Hertz, 5000+ miles to cover and 2 major cities as destination. We set our wheels rolling, on the chilly winter morning of December 21 with an aim to drive through a major part of the road that day. We had our two drivers buckled up with me in the navigator position (#Sad - The car rental agency doesn't allow drivers below the age of 24 to drive). As our car cruised at a speed of 70mph the darkness made way to dawn and a wide expanse of Wisconsin farms emerged in front of us. The weather was on our side that day as we made way through two state borders and a line of Omaha buildings emerged around the silhouette. By this time, the countryside had already won over our sleepy eyes. The amazing farm machinery, large windmills, cattle grazing all around and a rustic feel of the barren trees made us realize that we were getting away from the racing time and those laptop screens we have been so intently looking at throughout the semester. Making occasional stops at gas stations and playing all sorts of games in the car, we befriended the road quite easily. As it became clear that we will be able to make our ambitious target of reaching Colorado Springs on the first day, I called Expedia to make a reservation for a hotel room. Well, that was super fun because the guy on the other end was not able to follow my simple instructions to book a room for six in Hotel Marriott. After about 20 minutes when all of us had extracted enough fun out of that conversation I calmed the guy down who had become real nervous by then and told him to leave the reservation. As we had got our LTE signals, we made the booking online.

After a 17-hr long drive on the first day when we reached the amazing hotel, we took a huge sigh of relief. We had not expected such an amazing place for such a cheap rate and though we were all tired from the drive, we kept on talking till 1 in the night. The next morning, after my first-ever western breakfast complete with waffles and orange juice, when I went outside, the scene took my breath away. It had snowed after we pulled in the driveway of the hotel last night and the snow covered peaks of really close by hills made it look heavenly and rightly so, because the place we visited in Colorado Springs was called the Garden of the Gods. That day we took a slight detour from our originally decided path and the dusty roads of Colorado led us to the 'Royal Gorge Bridge'. It is an amazing piece of architecture but what made it memorable for me was the Sky Coaster ride that I did there with a couple of my friends where we swung like a pendulum over the 300m deep gorge. An adrenaline rush shot through my head as I saw the large hilly terrain of Colorado from high up in the air. After the thrilling experience, we hit US Highway 50 which is a really beautiful stretch of road and you can actually imagine yourself in a movie from there. That beauty showed its true colors when we met with heavy snow and had to turn back from one point to look for another route. At one point, we stopped right in the middle of a junction and started contemplating on which way to go. A moment of genius struck me and I asked the two girls for some lady luck and to choose between the two routes. It was already pretty late at night and we were applying all sorts of calculations to make the decision but the girls were oblivious to all that contemplation and simply took a guess at one of the routes. Guess what! It turned out to be one of the best decisions as we reached our pre-decided destination and it made our subsequent days a little more easier for drive. To all those, who plan on hitting the roads in Colorado & Wyoming during winters, planning will not help. In the midst of all this we did see a herd of stags pass infront of us on the road and some deers along the route.

All is well that ends well and that day ended with us comfortably snuggled in a nice hotel room with everyone ready to visit Grand Canyon the next day. The following day blessed us with sunshine and a beautiful landscape of the Grand Canyon. The myriad shades of red that one sees in Grand Canyon is uncomparable and the view of the tortuous Colorado River making way through it at sunset will remain embedded in my memory forever. I am sure that the true spirit of the place can only be experienced through hiking but I am happy that the iconic place had so much to offer in the short span of a day we spent there. We drove to Flagstaff via the Historic route 66 (Its the same route that has been shown in the animated movie "Cars") to reach our hotel. The next day we were supposed to reach the brightest city on Earth. Through the curvy paths we reached Vegas via Hoover Dam which reminded us of the action scene in Transformers. On reaching Vegas, I was simply awestruck by sheer lighting of those casinos/hotels. You just wish that you keep looking at the colour that comes out of that city at night. People say that "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas", but maybe that sort of Vegas getaway is planned for some other time for me. This time, I simply enjoyed the place and the best part was Caesar's Palace. The indoor city is very beautifully created with the sky rooftop just completing the aura. Oh yeah! We did catch a glimpse of Britney Spears performing in one of the shows at that time. I only have limited details for the two nights we spent there but I guess that is obvious ;)

We reached the city of Hollywood on the night of December 26 and I saw an Ocean for the first time. The Pacific greeted us with chilly winds at the Santa Monica Pier and the beautiful song of a singer at the pier stopped me in my tracks. It was a time when I realized how far I have come and it made me proud of myself. A cherry on top of this cake was, us winning a huge soft toy in the game of "Toss a Ring". The problem of stuffing that huge piece into the car, came later :P. At first sight, Los Angeles looked like a really Indian city not because I came across a lot of Indians infact I didnt see any Indians there. It was just the way, the shops and houses were lined up. The day quickly went by while we were clicking pics with the famous names on Hollywood Boulevard, driving through Beverly Hills, enjoying the sunset at Venice Beach and observing a lot of things at Griffith Observatory. We also saw a guy proposing his girl at the Observatory. I always thought that it was the stuff for movies but apparently people do like a little bit of Hollywood in their lives.

Our return journey started from LA and that day we were traveling through the most scenic driving routes in the world. US Highway 1 cannot be expressed in mere words especially not by a novice blogger like me. I would just ask you to go there and experience it for yourself. Enroute we also came across wild zebras and seals who were resting along the shore lines. Oops! I forgot about an amazing part where we took an exit for gas station and ended up having a countryside breakfast near Los Alamos. With a bright sun, serene setting of a small town and a luscious serving of Croissants, Bagels & Grilled Sandwich, a meal cannot be any better. Getting back to the the drive, after highway 1 ended it was slightly tedious as all of us were overwhelmed with the beauty of the place and dreams came naturally to everyone. Anyways, we reached our destination that day and another major stop waited for us the next day. We visited Lake Tahoe in Nevada the next day. The confluence of snow covered mountains, green coniferous trees and clear blue water was exquisite. We simply didn't want to leave that place because no more destinations awaited us. We took our time to capture the landscape in our memory. Following this, a long drive through the inhuman temperatures of -19F with no set destination was a little difficult. We ended up on the border of Utah and Nevada and stayed in the small town of Wendover that day. 

We were lagging behind our schedule for the return journey and the weather was no help either. But our friends who were driving braved all odds and we kept moving the next two days. On December 30, we stayed in Gothenburg, Nebraska. This was our last stay and we reached home for New Year's Eve which we celebrated with some delicious Indian food. I was thinking that the return journey will be really boring but all of us kept talking throughout the way. Bonding with each other and remembering different landmarks we saw in our onward journey made the route really easy. Also, trying different eatery chains made it even more fun with mouthwaterng food. In last 10 days we had covered a major part of the US seeing all sorts of terrains and experiencing temperatures ranging from -20F to 70F. Simply put, it was an all encompassing trip.

Now, onto some pointers we learnt from this trip:

1. Plan but give some leeway for changes. eg. You cannot plan the weather.

2. Expedia is not the best source of bookings. Just a couple of experiences during this time.

3. Be enthusiastic and keep a group large enough to have fun but small enough to gel up easily.

4. Don't force improvising in the plan, on such long trips you will do it eventually

5. The travel is a major part but so is the destination. We always hear it the other way round but for such cases you might end up covering just a lot of ground and see no particular attraction.

6. Keep a full size hard-copy map handy.

Traveling is fun, just give it a try and dont be afraid of planning big!!

For interested readers, here is a basic overview of our drive. There were definitely hundreds of miles of detour that we took but this covers the gist

A Chaos Joint!

In a Universe not so far away
Lies a never ending alleyway
Full of thoughts with no point on the thoughtful quay
So works the mind, a chaos joint

With twists and turns that become a part of our life
You never know whats a jolly ride and what may become a strife
Studying each move with a rationale knife
So works the mind, a chaos joint

One may see his distant dreams become a reality
Only to realize, he has a somewhat different propensity
Flooding you with the unquenchable thirst of a little more time
So works the mind, a chaos joint

A stride into the future, leaving the soul into the past
Seeing those fleeting thoughts abnormally blown apart
Making a beeline, diverge like a casanova's heart
So works the mind, a chaos joint

Overwhelmed with a problem you dont want to miss
Comes a moment of joy when you pull a solution out of abyss
Patting itself, while riding this caravan of bliss
So works the mind, a chaos joint

Feeling annoyed at the noise around you

Sit a while alone and see the uneasiness brew

Reflecting in silence as this loneliness grew
So works the mind, a chaos joint

Having fun like a teenager in a party

And going all wise in an official repartee

Changing persona in this acclimatizing marquee
So works the mind, a chaos joint

Writing this doggerel from every thought that crosses
Trying to figure out who is the winner and who bears the losses
Detaching itself from the body it houses
So works the mind, a self-proclaimed chaos joint

It's the weight of Good byes!

It's a promise in disguise
Feeling sorrow nonetheless wise
Trickling tears of mixed feelings from your eyes
It's the weight of those good-byes

There is never a last good-bye
We are always a phone call shy
Still dawns a heaviness in your sigh
Its the weight of those good-byes

Here is the future, calling you up a level

With the wonderful memories clenching like a devil
An undue pressure on making this moment special, with those everlasting eyes

Its the weight of those good-byes

No apologies and no regrets, they are our very own with whom we fight and befriend
All paths shall cross again in this life's complicated blend
Today through this poem all my emotions have been penned, this time just flies
Its just the weight of those good-byes

No one remembers the beginning none shall remember the end

As the world is full of surprises planning another serendipity around the bend

Wishing you all the luck filling the vacuum with hope my dear friend

Never shall we feel the weight of good-bye ever again

The Peaks of the Valley: Kashmir Great Lakes Trek

There are certain events in one’s life which get imprinted so deep that they redefine our perspective on life. My trip to the great lakes of Kashmir was one of such experiences. With large green meadows, an unusual proximity to nature, treacherous weather conditions, thrilling climbs, rambling walks and picturesque landscapes, I can say it was an all-encompassing trip. My friend and me had quit our jobs recently and before starting our next venture we decided on a little adventure. We came across an organized trek by ‘Trek The Himalayas’ to the Great Lakes of Kashmir. On no second thoughts, we booked, we packed, we traveled and we reached the base camp at Sonamarg. It had been a long day with a tiring journey and sleep easily embraced us with dreams of tomorrow.

Base Camp-Site at Sonamarg

As we had reached the campsite late at night, we did not really realize where our tents were actually placed and neither did we meet our fellow trekkers. The following morning, I opened our tent to, I won’t say an amazing scene but rather an amazing experience, the rustling flow of the water body along which our tents stood erect, the whisper of fresh breeze, the cadence of sounds that echoed in the mountains that surrounded us and the early morning murmurs of my fellow trekkers. After realizing that we have come far from civilization we improvised for our daily chores and immediately realized that these fresh water sources are going to be the gem of our survival kit. After, an initial briefing from our trek lead, introductions and a quick dismantling of tents, we set off on what was going to be a charismatic display of the daunting Himalayas. Our tents, bags of some people who did not want to carry their bags while climbing and cooking essentials were being carried on mules. I and my friend were carrying our own bags and its weight kind of helped in maintaining my balance on the slopes. Our trekking party was full of energetic legs as we started ascending quickly and soon the base camp was out of sight. The introductory chit-chat and initially exuberance to take pictures settled into a periodic thumping of footsteps as everyone’s breathing started getting heavy and all focus shifted to the climb. Our first checkpoint at Shekdur came somewhere around noon where we had the famous Kahwa tea of Kashmir. An interesting blend of spices energized our bodies while we clicked some pictures of the wide plains that surrounded that tea-stall. The climb continued as we came across first patches of ice and the tree line started thinning. We reached our first camp-site while the day was still alive. We were supposed to maximize our ascent on the first day and acclimatize to the reduced atmosphere. Rather than enjoying the scenery that surrounded us I lay down in my tent feeling nauseous and with a strong headache. The trek lead asked me to eat and stay out to acclimatize but the discomfort was unbearable so I ended up sleeping early after popping down a couple of pills.

The next day I felt marginally better but there was no leeway to think as we had to get up and start our climb to Nichnai Pass. This day was intense for me as I struggled with the increasing height and

Trek Trail from Nichnai Pass

growing uneasiness. Some moments did make me forget all about it such as the one where I reached the highest point of that day and looked back to see the trail that we had covered. It felt unreal that just a couple of days back I was sleeping in the comforts of my home and now I am treading on the Himalayas. We have not yet got used to the amazing grandeur of the mountains and how small they made us look. While we kept on walking and my pain eased a bit when we hit large plains, we came across large herds of sheep that the locals brought up during this season to graze the fresh grass. We saw sheep climbing the most impossible sloped of the mountains just to get that perfect grass growing at a place. We smiled our way through to the second camp-site where we banked on the streams of Vishansar Lake. A small hill divided this lake with its sibling Kishansar Lake.

Vishansar Lake Fishing

While I was still coping with my acclimatization, a few of us met a native’s family who served us Kahwa tea and some delicious biscuits. We enjoyed the conversation and then he helped our guide catch some fish in the freezing cold fresh waters for dinner. The ease with which his family lived in the area simply made me wonder the power of human body to get used to its surroundings.

I camped in early in the night again as my mountain sickness worsened and with the most difficult climb as per the trek guide next day I decided to save up my energy. Two days in the mountains worked like a charm as I woke up invigorated and ready for the path that lay ahead oblivious to the plans nature had for us. Here, I would like to mention that there was another large group that was going along us on the same trek and we were climbing along with them as well. This day we were supposed to cross Gadsar Pass. It is said that if you cross Gadsar Pass, your trek is in all practical sense complete. Our climb was greeted with a slight drizzle which made all of us bring our monsoon wear out. Within a mile of climb it started raining heavily.

The weathered soldier after Gadsar Pass

The route to the pass was extremely narrow, on one side of which were steep slopes and on the other side a dooming valley. The muddy path quickly sludged into a no friction impractical climb zone. In the panic of heavy rains and strong winds all groups had separated and the trek leads were nowhere to be found. After my first slip, I realized the gravity of situation and why so many people have started screaming in fear.  Me and a few trekkers from the other group detoured from the path and tried to scale the slope directly. We made some progress but it was futile as our visibility was completely compromised due to the clouds and fog. As I was in front of the pack I had no idea where we were going and we waited for a couple of minutes to let the cloud clear off for a second so we can get an idea of where lies the pass. We found one of the trek leads and somehow crawled through the muddy terrain on top of the pass. If my description did not convey the threat we faced, this pic might. That pink thing is supposed to be my raincoat which tore up with the first gust of wind. On reaching the top I realized that our plight was not over as the freezing winds intensified. As the campsite was still a long way ahead I kept going, this time downhill on the other side of Gadsar Pass. Everything seemed so easy now after our death defying experience on the climb yet we were immensely tired to walk another step.

The camp was still far out and I finally met my friend whom I had lost during the climb as he was ahead of me. Somehow we managed to reach the campsite while following distant figures and following the footmarks in ice. On reaching there we were supposed to go through an army security check post but thankfully they allowed us to settle down first as almost half of our party was still missing. After evening had dawned, the last of our crew came trudging down to campsite thanking god that they finally reached. We made merry around a bonfire after this extraordinary experience that we could never have had sitting idle at home or at work. We talked to the army men after security check and heard about the hardships they have to face on several occasions. This adventure we had was a stroll in the park for those individuals and the pride I felt in Indian Army at that time was overwhelming.

We kept on discussing the events of yesterday as we started our ascent the next day. We were supposed to cross Satsar Pass that day and the weather had not improved yet. It was still raining and the ascent was fairly difficult but not as challenging as Gadsar Pass. Our feet were wary of wet patches this time and we climbed with more confidence than the other day. I had to improvise my raincoat out of a large plastic bag for this day and it worked pretty well even protecting my bag. The dark clouds gave way to few rays of sunshine and its warmth brought a new spring to our step.

Satsar Lake Camp-Site

We hit another army check point and I saw one of the most amazing things there. As it was a shelter nestled among the mountains with no fancy facilities, they created a sacred place out of a mound of earth and placed symbols of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism on that together to represent the various beliefs. Emotions welled up in me as that moment truly defined to me what secularity in India meant and how some people make evil out of it. That image still stays in my heart as we crossed an enormous boulder patch jumping over the rocks. Soon we reached a bend beyond which lay an amazing camp site. The campsite looked like HD Desktop wallpaper and I stood there for a while to let the simplicity of the place sink in. Due to the dangerous experience the other day everyone had failed to enjoy Gadsar Lake, so this time no one wasted a moment and went straight to capture Satsar Lake in their cameras.

The next day we were supposed to reach our last campsite at Gangabal Lake and scale the highest point of the trek. The initial climb of the day was slightly dangerous as we had to make our way over huge boulders resting on a steep slope of the mountain. The patch continued on for about a couple of hours after which we reached a small peak from where we could actually see the highest point of our trek covered all over by ice.

Peak before the Gangabal Camp-Site

In the mountains, visual reception can be deceptive as we imagined reaching the point fairly quickly but it ended up taking several hours. When we reached the highest point seen in the pic, the two lakes were visible. It looked as if the mountains had created a cradle for the resting place of these lakes. We had a steep descent from this point onwards and after resting on the top for a bit we starting pacing down. The sun was shining bright and the glistening water of the lakes called on to us. Finally, we reached our last campsite feeling accomplished. We were supposed to rest for a day on this camp-site. All of us felt rejuvenated instead of feeling tired and we enjoyed some tasty snacks and played cricket. I and my friend having not had a bath for about a week now felt like taking a dip in the lake and we ended up doing that. The freezing waters hit our brain like a shock as expected but we still ended up taking a fairly long dip. That night we had a bonfire and after dinner as it was pitch dark everyone just sat silently on the rocks. When the last lamps were blown off and I looked up at the sky tears rolled down my cheeks. I realized the limited nature of my city life as a myriad of stars twinkled all around me. It was an inexplicable moment and the beauty of which lies in the fact that we are always blanketed by those stars but the city pollution and low altitude just doesn’t let us observe that beauty.

Night Sky @ Gangabal

I can only put a picture here clicked by a fellow trekker Mr. Raj Padia who is a great photographer.

We started our final descent after the rest day ready to absorb every ounce of the purity we had experienced in the past week. The descent was unnaturally fast because of the steep slopes and the tree line we left behind on our first day was soon visible again. We let ourselves go slightly wild as me and my friend literally ran on the slopes trying to veer on the bends but letting the speed control loose. Soon we lost our pack and went way ahead in the woods trying to see the final exit point. Even after a few hours it was nowhere to be seen but we finally saw increasing number of locals and reached a tea stall where we waited for our fellow trekkers. That was the lost stop in our journey as we caught the slopes again and soon we could see civilized establishment which we reached well before dusk took over. Our cell phones needed charging as our family members back home waited for news on our well-being. I and my friend relaxed till the others came down. Soon everyone was bidding adieu as we loaded our luggage on our transport back to Kashmir.

The final descent

The whole week-long episode feels like an amazing dream where I fought physical discomfort against all odds, accepted the might of the daunting mountains, realized the potential of nature to bring havoc, took pride in the efforts put in by our soldiers for our safety and enjoyed the amazing landscapes. But most of all, I felt the satisfaction of living close to nature. Whether it was accepting the darkness without any artificial means to counter it or the multi-purpose utilization of freshwater natural sources or simply finding a private place to take a dump around the boulders. The entire experience was really infectious and I would suggest everyone who reads this to take such a trip into the mountains.

DETAILS OF TREK:

- Dates: July 13 – July 20, 2014

- Approximate Total Cost including travel, purchases etc.: Rs 15,000

- Organized by – Trek the Himalayas

- Number of group members – 12

- Distance Trekked – Approx. 70km

- Difficulty Level – Easy to Moderate

Remember the Lights - Adios Mumbai!

This post is a little different from my previous posts as this is a little more personal. This is a story about a boy who came to "Mumbai" about five years back. This was the first time when he was going to live away from home. Alongwith the concerns came the excitement. There were so many stories about this city that he had heard and so, he looked forward to actually see the city that never stopped, the city of dreams, the city of the riches and the rags. It was when I started working after college that I got to know the real city life and I fell in love with it.

There are so many incidents that come to my mind when I want to write about this city, the time when a taxi driver after understanding a conversation between me and my friend started talking in an American English accent advising us not to settle abroad, the journey when I struck a conversation with an auto-wallah who had worked with Sachin and was not happy that the Tendulkars shifted homes (apparently Sachin's form deteriorated after that), the euphoria when I drove at a cruising speed on Bandra-Worli Sea Link, the embarrassment when for the first time I tried to hit on a girl in a bar and failed miserably, the cringe in the heart when I saw a whole lot of beggars in front of a Lamborghini showroom, the desperation I felt when I was stuck helpless in the crowd at Dadar and the stories keep coming to me.

Mumbai has so many problems and still it goes on with an amazing pace. People have circumvented those issues and moved on. For example, A major issue is the tedious travel to work everyday in the local trains. Its worth watching how with a couple of rubber bands, a briefcase and four enthusiastic people you can make a good cards table in the rickety old train. That card game is not just a distraction for those four people but for several other bystanders whose travel became easy just by looking at that game. Also, you understand the real meaning of fast food in this city. The sandwiches, vada-pav, cut fruits with special masala, you get everything near the local stations and people rushing to work literally just have to wait for a second to get that fulfilling breakfast they need. At any hour of the day, the roads are flooded with those yellow-black autos & taxis and you are never short of public transport. And there are plenty of options for places to eat or for order-ins which is actually another problem as you always get confused.

Then there is night time, but wait, its never really dark in Mumbai. After being stuck in a traffic-jam at 2 a.m., I know this for a fact that it is never really dark for the people of Mumbai. Keeping a basic sense of security, I have never feared traveling late at night. There are so many people everywhere at any hour that you never feel alone and the darkness just fades into the light. Whether it be a night-out at marine drive or a late night drive back from work, or getting drenched in rain during Ganpati Visarjan at 3 a.m. with thousands of others this 'City of Lights' has never disappointed me.

There is just one condition here, that you need to listen to yourself to fully enjoy this place and so I came up with these lines for those who still don't fully appreciate the city-

इन ऊँची ईमारतों के बीच से कटती इस हवा का रोना सुन रहा हूँ  मैं 
सड़क के किनारे खेलते उन बच्चों की किलकारियां सुन रहा हूँ  मैं 
भीड़ में खोये हुए उस आदमी की पीर सुन रहा हूँ मैं 
समुंद्र की लहरों के बढ़ते इस आह्वाहन को सुन रहा हूँ मैं 
इतना कुछ सुन रहा हूँ  मैं, और कितना कुछ सुनना चाहता हूँ मैं 
कुछ कह रहा है ये दिल, कुछ सुनना चाहता है ये मन 
इस भीड़ में इतना खोया हूँ के खुद को ही नहीं सुन पा  रहा हूँ मैं || 

Just listen to your heart, strive hard, dream big and this city has more than enough space to make you feel at ease.