Ok where do I start from... just got back from Rohtang Pass, Naggar, Chandigarh; a 60 hour vacation that felt like a week! Awesome driving, Devinder! Ok here are the details...


Friday, 13th

I met Anand in CP at around 5pm from where we headed for ISBT. Took a roadways bus till Chandigarh. We talk our brains out.


Saturday, 14th

12am we reach Chandigarh. The place is all roundabouts! Devinder is waiting for us. We drop in at Barista at sector 17 for a quick bite from where we go to 36 to check out Devinder's pad at number 1005. Then we packed up and got going... but wait! We suddenly realized that we left our bible (guide to weekend getaways) at Barista! So we went back for it.

It's now 1 in the night, and we are off to Rohtang Pass. Dev hasn't had enough sleep and keeps driving till 11 in the morning. His eyes are red but insists on carrying on. At 1pm we reach Rohtang Pass, where we hire boots, a coat and gloves to walk around on the ice. The place is so crowded we had to walk away for some peace on the road heading further out. Now this is the road that would take us to Ladakh some day. We fool around a bit, then head back down for Naggar, little paradise. Manali is so crowded it was a puttoff. The whole town looks like a bus stand. We buy booze from Manali which we hardly felt the need for. At Naggar, We put up at Sheetal Lodge (Rs. 500 a day) and have Pasta at the Ristorante Italiano (Rs. 450), a 10 minute walk upward. 'The Castle', a government run Lodge is a lovely lodge to put up in if you don't mind the splurge of a grand for a night.


Sunday, 15th

Next day, we get up reluctantly and head downhill for Breakfast at the Nightingale cottage. Here we downed 2 bottles of plum juice, two Honey pancakes, two mashed patatoes, 3 plates of Mushroom, Olive and Cheese Bruchette. (Rs. 330).

We select some CDs for Dev's car stereo and check out of the lodge ( Rs. 700) and head for the Nicholas Roerich Art Gallery. This place is a must-see. At this cottage, the art gallery is on the ground floor and residence of the artist, Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947), above it. His entire pad is sealed and visitors can look into all the rooms through the glass windows. The rooms have been preserved since they used them last and it all appeared like a time capsule you could look into, with all the oil lamps, furniture, stationary and books in their place as left behind by the couple. His classic Dodge car is in the garage too, with an awesome output of 27 HP... mean machine... There were some more of his really surreal works in another gallery for Tribal and Folk art.

We pick up a bottle of Plum wine and another bottle of Plum juice from Nightingale for the road and head for Chandigarh. On the way, we stopped at the river side in Kullu to bathe in the river, Anand taking the lead. The water was cold alright! We now get serious and head for Chandigarh coz we're really short of time. Devinder'a driving is straight out of a video game. When we reached the plains, we took a u turn for Anandpur Sahib. Huge complex, this. It has hospitals, petrol pumps, more Gurdwaras. Here, we joined the others in the langar which gave us the dinner we needed. I still recall the taste of the halwa that came in the end. Mohali is on the way so we drive around Dev's office complex, Quark. We reach the bus stand at 1 am, get into a roadways at 1:30 and reach Delhi in 4 hours (5:30 am).


Monday, 16th

By Pass is close to home so I had a bathe and got into the waiting office cab at 6 :15 am and here I am in the office at 7:30 am putting all this down while it's still in my head. Is this living or what...! Fan-f@*&$#*g-tastic, Devinder and Anand! Only flip side to this trip: me tummy has gone for a six with all that senseless hogging!