Going to some place new is always exciting and fills me with joy just by thinking of the possibilities. The possibility of seeing so much new, meeting new people, making new memories. Oh, it’s endless. And so was the joy that filled me when I started trekking through the Himachal hills and finally came across real snow in my life. For the first time.
It was one of the magical moments. Not the cinderalla meeting her prince charming kind magical but the girl from Mumbai who is used to sunny weather mostly through out the year finally seeing snow. And also she can see the air clouding over when she breathes, just like in the movies.
My Himachal trip was planned and booked months in advance and that was a great thing to do as it gives less chance to me and my friends to back out. Which thankfully neither of us did. So we 9 people together left Mumbai to go see Himachal and its beautiful hills, mountains, forests and everything that this majestic place had to offer.
We first went to Pathankhot and from their stopped at Dalhousie. The Youth Hostel Association of India (YHAI) was the organisers of the Winter Trekking in Himachal and we have enrolled in it as we wanted to experience the real trekking and not the luxurious kind. Smart choice. Though I thought different when I had to climb a steep ascent and started huffing and also my heartbeats started sounding alarmingly in my ears! But I made it to the top of the hill like the rest of the 49 people.
I will tell you in detail about the trekking experience and about YHAI in another post but this article is for my love of hills and snow and breathtaking view! I think everyone should visit the magnificent places in Himachal and should really be ready to witness the nature’s true beauty up close and personal and not through the tainted glass of your car windows or binoculars. Let your eyes feast on the alluring snow-capped peaks of the Himalayan range. Let them see the river Ravi criss crossing through the foothills. Let your senses breath in the enchantment of reaching the top and looking back at all that height that you have gained. Let it mean. Let it sink in. You will like where you are and what it means to you. You will just have to let it. 
I’m not saying that you will have an epiphany about life. But standing there, witnessing the serenity of the place will remind you of life and what it means to be alive and have those possibilities. Water freezes on those mountains, then melts down to flow in the river, again steam up to go higher and rain down on the same mountains. A cycle which can tell you how things always finds a way back to where they belong or go higher then they were. It’s mysteriously comforting to know that nothing stays the same way. Your footmarks on the fresh snow will never stay there but you will always know where you have been and how that has changed you. That knowledge is what makes us grow. And I’m thankful to many people because of who I was able to go for this trip. Traveling is my passion but some places you should travel to only when you are ready for it. Don’t travel for the sake of it. Travel for the love of it.
Just an Inquisitive Soul 