This is what I learned from my trip to Himachal from 19th Dec 2008 to 2nd Jan 2009
- Always take a train only as a last resort because, trust me, a flight is any day better, especially on long journeys.
- If you do have the misfortune of being in a train, and the further misfortune of traveling Second Class, let me tell you Two Wise Words: YOU’RE DOOMED.
- Now that I’ve told you that, let me offer you some advice.
- Carry a nice, thick blanket, and a bed sheet, too(a fig for light packing!)
- Carry at least 4 paper cups. Don’t ask why, you’ll figure it out in the train.
- Shun away pantry food like they’re cups of well-packed poison.
- Carry home-packed food as much as possible.
- Always wear a pair of shorts below your trousers. If it’s too warm for two layers, dump the trousers. Trust me, this really helps simplify things
- If you’re traveling north from a warm area down south, you’d better keep a pair of trousers out of your bag, and wear it over your shorts before getting out of the train.
- If you have a connecting train to or from Delhi in winter, the minimum safety time gap you must have is 3 hours. Period. (Funny, that’s three periods in the same sentence and it’s still grammatically correct…hehehe)
- Having a schedule and trying your best to stick to that schedule while visiting a new location is worse than having no schedule and visiting places that catch your fancies.
- If you still want to prepare an itinerary, plan it so that the places you would want to visit are prioritized very high. For example, I am a plane freak, so I decided to visit the radar station at Kasauli, though it was a detour from our original plan.
- If you go to North India as a Hindi student, you invariably end up learning colloquial spoken Hindi, whether you like it or not.
- VERY VERY IMPORTANT: Impossible is nothing. No, not if you're wearing Adidas. If you have the right connections.
- If you have a digital camera, then take its USB cable and put its driver in your pen drive. It really helps.
- Pawan Hans will accommodate any number of people in their helicopter services if you manage to get hold of any Bombay office staffer and tell him that his sister is like a sister to you, too. Yes, I mean it, because that’s how I got my first chopper ride.
- Langar food is not bad at all. You get to taste the local fare, not to mention the amazing variety.
- If you happen to finish a trip anywhere and write a travelogue, get someone to type it as you dictate, for example, your mother.
- Never, ever try to go up and/or down Vaishno Devi by walk. It could be injurious to health, especially if you are from a metro.
- If you want to buy souvenirs or anything of the kind, be aware that the shopkeeper makes at least a 40% profit. That gives you a healthy 30% to bargain about. And if you don’t know exactly what to buy, get into the first air-conditioned shop you see. If you don’t see one, then a fruit shop is just as good. If you know the art of “sampling” the produce, that is.
- When you go on the Kullu-Mandi highway in Himachal and happen to see a fruit resembling a plump red tomato, keep moving. It is an abomination of nature that is called Japani Phal, and you would do well not to pollute your taste buds with it.
- Half the views from hill-tops in Himachal are red. No, not red with blood; red with the millions of Vodafone billboards plastered in the valleys.
- The river Beas is best viewed when you're on the road parallel to it, with mountains on either side and the sun setting in front of you.
- Paragliding in Khajiar must be left only to those who weigh below 30 kilograms and those who want to throw away their money.
- The Indian Armed Forces can create catchy punch lines if they want to
This is what I learned from my trip to Himachal from 19th Dec 2008 to 2nd Jan 2009
- Always take a train only as a last resort because, trust me, a flight is any day better, especially on long journeys.
- If you do have the misfortune of being in a train, and the further misfortune of traveling Second Class, let me tell you Two Wise Words: YOU’RE DOOMED.
- Now that I’ve told you that, let me offer you some advice.
- Carry a nice, thick blanket, and a bed sheet, too(a fig for light packing!)
- Carry at least 4 paper cups. Don’t ask why, you’ll figure it out in the train.
- Shun away pantry food like they’re cups of well-packed poison.
- Carry home-packed food as much as possible.
- Always wear a pair of shorts below your trousers. If it’s too warm for two layers, dump the trousers. Trust me, this really helps simplify things
- If you’re traveling north from a warm area down south, you’d better keep a pair of trousers out of your bag, and wear it over your shorts before getting out of the train.
- If you have a connecting train to or from Delhi in winter, the minimum safety time gap you must have is 3 hours. Period. (Funny, that’s three periods in the same sentence and it’s still grammatically correct…hehehe)
- Having a schedule and trying your best to stick to that schedule while visiting a new location is worse than having no schedule and visiting places that catch your fancies.
- If you still want to prepare an itinerary, plan it so that the places you would want to visit are prioritized very high. For example, I am a plane freak, so I decided to visit the radar station at Kasauli, though it was a detour from our original plan.
- If you go to North India as a Hindi student, you invariably end up learning colloquial spoken Hindi, whether you like it or not.
- VERY VERY IMPORTANT: Impossible is nothing. No, not if you're wearing Adidas. If you have the right connections.
- If you have a digital camera, then take its USB cable and put its driver in your pen drive. It really helps.
- Pawan Hans will accommodate any number of people in their helicopter services if you manage to get hold of any Bombay office staffer and tell him that his sister is like a sister to you, too. Yes, I mean it, because that’s how I got my first chopper ride.
- Langar food is not bad at all. You get to taste the local fare, not to mention the amazing variety.
- If you happen to finish a trip anywhere and write a travelogue, get someone to type it as you dictate, for example, your mother.
- Never, ever try to go up and/or down Vaishno Devi by walk. It could be injurious to health, especially if you are from a metro.
- If you want to buy souvenirs or anything of the kind, be aware that the shopkeeper makes at least a 40% profit. That gives you a healthy 30% to bargain about. And if you don’t know exactly what to buy, get into the first air-conditioned shop you see. If you don’t see one, then a fruit shop is just as good. If you know the art of “sampling” the produce, that is.
- When you go on the Kullu-Mandi highway in Himachal and happen to see a fruit resembling a plump red tomato, keep moving. It is an abomination of nature that is called Japani Phal, and you would do well not to pollute your taste buds with it.
- Half the views from hill-tops in Himachal are red. No, not red with blood; red with the millions of Vodafone billboards plastered in the valleys.
- The river Beas is best viewed when you're on the road parallel to it, with mountains on either side and the sun setting in front of you.
- Paragliding in Khajiar must be left only to those who weigh below 30 kilograms and those who want to throw away their money.
- The Indian Armed Forces can create catchy punch lines if they want to
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