ठक ठक ठक ठक ....... chalo Sir, gaadi aa agyi hai. Ah, good morning....what
...oh now I remember, we had already planned to go to Rohtand today and had booked a gaadi for that.
टेक सिंह ने चाय और दूध बनाया and we got ready along with that | वाह क्या बात है|
It was a Force Traveller for all of us to go to the Rohtang. The long time desire to fulfill for all of us, to play with snow, to touch it, feel it and we just love the feeling. Kids are excited, and so are all of us.
Started the journey, some photographs en route from the huge sprawling Traveller.
This vehicle has such huge space, we all could sit comfortably and I was so much thinking about doing our next tour in this vehicle. Don't know how much comfortable it would be for the whole Manali-Leh sojourn. But, that may be the next time. As of now, frozen water falls from the window.
The tarmac was smooth till now and the views, as usual heavenly. Everybody was enjoying. The fun of all driving in the same vehicle is too much ahead than separate vehicles. So, we were also enjoying the small journey together, clicking all around.
There are so many shops renting out the snow costumes. We started counting one way and the shop numbers, starting from 1, went uptil 1000+. Wow, how many people are surviving on the basis of this business. Sheer volumes, as we see all around there.
So, we took cue from the driver and stopped at one of the shops known to him and started looking for dresses for all of us, nine people. It is such a big deal to try out and take those dresses then and there. We still tried and after much troubled, fitted into dresses. Getting the kids to try those dresses out was one hell of an experience. Woh itni moti and bhari ho gayi ki ghabra gaye bachey to, and because the snow is not yet there, it is difficult to imagine the usage of this dress on the shop. And still it is not something, you could wear at any point of time.
Anyways, after much deliberation, our little one also wore it and we started. The road was closed, just after Marhi. Thats how far we could get.
We got down, started going to the snow. It is hardened very much. And the little one starts crying. Whoa, she says, these snow boots make her feet very cold. After trying for some time, I went back to the parked vehicle and changed to her own shoes, and then finally she was more comfortable.
Completely packed up, not very happy mood, its bothersome to carry that suit around.
Even with the gloves and the special dress, it was hard to be in the snow for long. Kids did start playing a little, but it used to be very slippery too. And so, after helping them all build a small snowman of there own, we quickly dashed out of the very hard and dirty snow/ice.
Kids crawling out of the snowman creation zone. It was so hard and slippery, we had to crawl to places.
The chai/maggi/andeywala doing brisk business there.
We also stayed there sometime, having our fill of maggi/eggs and chai. The breeze was so strong and chilly, all of us were almost shivering of it.
Expansive views from the top of the small mountain we climbed :-)
I clicked my camera on all sides.
Ananya, all packed up.
The complete gang :
including me now, hard to recognize, hey hey....
Sitting pretty (heavy) :
Slope mountain view, we climbed up at some place and walked further inside, just for fun.
We started our journey back after 2-3 hours over there, not too thrilling for all of us. The snow suits are mess. I decided, next time, I will pack 2-3 dresses of my own and then play in the snow freely.
The usual, very less traffic on our way back :-)
Just a quick turn at Gulaba.
Something to know about Gulaba :
All drained out, on way back :
We had less energy left on our way back, so we skipped the plan to visit the Solang Valley and instead went straight to the Mall Road, then lunch, although it was almost 5 pm, a little too late for lunch. And then, as we were tired, all of us went back to our very favorite Tek Singh. Of course, we did remember to get whatever ration he would need, that was daily duty.
The usual boys session starts at 7 PM. :-)
Cheers.....
