A Volvo Over Hills 🚌
It's true when we expect the least then only we are able to enjoy the most. Or we can say expectations suck us, and stop us to enjoy the most. I learned this from my previous trip.
My trip started with my squad and this time Bhaskar was with us. Cause of him we planned this trip (there is another story regarding the second trip, but let me stick to the post). We collected at R. K. Ashram metro station, from there we were supposed to board our bus. With private buses, I never had a good experience. But this time, it was upside down. Even I need to cross-check the bus number twice to confirm whether I am boarding the correct bus.
With heavy traffic jams and a few on-road pickups, after 2 hours of boarding we were able to skip Delhi behind us. We were on the highway. And our bus was running on speed. We, all 5, were settled on the last 5 seats with mutual agreement. Along with this we were trying not to irritate couples sitting ahead of us. The bus was bounded to Manali and it was occupied with two types of people. One is the youth, who are heading towards the Kasol and another who is heading towards the Manali. Although the bus was not connecting Kasol directly, instead we were supposed to deboard at Bhuntar and from there we need to continue ahead.
It was 12 am and my stomach started growling. Yeah I was hungry. I looked other 4 faces. One was deeply indulged in her WhatsApp, one was trying to go outside the window. One was well settled in the middle seat and the last one was looking at my face. At least I got a mate who cares for me. I looked towards him with hopes. But then we realized our snacks are beneath us, inside the closet of the bus. My stomach again made some noise. We were helpless but with few hopes “Maybe the bus will be going to stop somewhere and there we could have something to eat”.
After the wait of an hour, we finally stopped at a hotel, somewhere in between Delhi and Chandigarh highway. Despite waiting we jumped on food. We ordered light meals and 5 cups of tea. Along with this we received salads, raita as complementary. We loved the service and we were hungry so our brain was more focused on food. After this when we got a bill, we were just shocked. It was unexpected. They charged us for raita and salads which we didn't ask, and we were assuming it complementary. We realized we were overcharged, in the right term cheated. Although karma worked. By mistake the counter guy was poor in maths and returned us extra change and we accept it without making any noise. And this is how the Karma worked.
After satisfying our stomach we were back to our seats, in the previous formation with one change. Bhaskar and Punnu swapped their seats. However this time we brought our snacks and blanket with us for some emergency. The bus was again back to speed, and in the next 2.5 hours we were crossing the Chandigarh.
I was on the window seat, and I was noticing the other bus, of the same traveler agency, which was currently running ahead of us. Both drivers were overtaking each other and it was fun. After stalking outside, I noticed everyone was sleeping inside. I noticed only MC, who was sitting on the other window seat was still up. Bhaskar was almost over me, I don't know how he comfortably resting with my bones. Punnu was sleeping like some badass with his earphones plugged-in and Iuc was taking full advantage of her short height and wide seat space. I was jealous of her, as she was looking so comfortable and sleeping. Then I noticed MC was looking at me and we waved to each other.
After a nap I found the bus was passing through a valley. The valley was on my side, and I was able to see clouds coming up. At first it was like some large size water body. After rubbing my eyes it was clear that they were clouds. And the sun was rising up. Overall the scene was iconic. Ahead of us, there was a queue of buses. On one side there was opposite lane trying to pass through narrow space and on the other side there was the valley. Hats off to the courage of drivers who drive on these routes.
I was wondering how difficult it is to drive a car over these narrow and twisting roads. And they are driving a 50 seater Volvo over the hills. Soon the sun was above the horizon, but clouds were not allowing it to visible. We reached the Mandi, which was our next stoppage. There we had Maggi with tea at breakfast. Never miss Maggi if you get a chance to visit any hill station. It's another kinda craze to have Maggi when you are surrounded by clouds and hills.
Now the most difficult part of the traveling was supposed to cross. Till now we were blessed to be on-road but ahead there were patches more than the road. Now, I understand why Volvo is more successful in this route. It was over 12 hours, we were still 2.5 hours away from Bhuntar. And you can imagine how hard it could be to sitting calmly over our seat. Though MC's PJ was at another level. At a point, he shouted "Look! Mature mountains" while pointing to a big mountain and everyone was looking at him. Possibly he was not expecting others will be able to hear him, but unluckily sudden silence embraced him. No doubt it was embarrassing but we can't control our laugh.
With a great company everything is possible. I was afraid at the beginning but in the end, when I reached Bhuntar it was some achievement. “Yay! We are at Bhuntar”. Although we were already running late by 2 hours. But that was okie. From being cheated to be on roller coaster ride, there was the laugh that was constant. Still, 30 km of travel was pending, which I believed can be accomplished with the same level of joy.
Related post:
Amazing 😍
ReplyDelete