Kanatal!

I dreamt of coming to kanatal and seeing snow. I got something very close to it. 'Pala' is frozen powder like ice. It was sprinkled all over the road, trees, small huts when we went trekking into a forest area. It was neatly coating all the dry leaves on the ground. When you pick it up it slides and falls of. To touch, it feels like the ice lining u had in those old refrigerators in the freezer compartment. It was magical because it was something i was seeing for the first time. Also we took a path off the road through a dense part of the forest and were following a trail which probably was the site for a waterfall. When we got to the top there was a clearing and you could hear multiple bushes moving and making noises. When i looked. Closely there were some wild hens on the back of a few bushes scattering away on the sound of our footsteps. But there was a point where all the bushes in the front about 20m away was making a sound. You never know whats behind. So we turned at right angles to it and trekked along the slope of the mountains. The fauna was very differet to what we have in maharastra. There were big tall perfectly cylindrical trees with minimal branches. Then there were these conical christmas tree looking giant trees. When we continued for half an hour more, we got onto a path we had climbed down from before and eventually got out of the forest. 

After that we had our breakfast buffet waiting in the resort restaurant which we stuffed in our stomach to the point where we could eat no more. Then we took a local bus (which costs rs20 as compared to the club's taxi service costing about rs1000) and went to Sarkunda Devi temple. It was a big trek from where we got off the bus to reach the temple. I had my favourite playlist playing while we climbed the hill to reach the temple. It was a nice peaceful temple with a cool breeze and temple bells on the way to its entrance which left a resounding echo when struck.

Next we went to Tehri dam which is apparently Asia's largest of its kind! What theyve done is theyve caught river Ganga way up on its course and looking at its expanse you can only imagine how much potential energy it had to produce electricity to many cities in India, Nepal and China as well. You can't go close to the dam wall as it is under military protection and as quoted by our driver that if it is broken by China or any other foe, will clean up nearby cities like Dehradun, Delhi etc! We did motor boating on the dam reservoir which is 80km long and some 5km wide. Racing through the calm water was making our hearts race too! By the time we came back the resort had set up nice games for customers to enjoy. Then next day we left early at 7am from Kanatal to Delhi which turned out to be a journey of 10hrs. On the way there was rishikesh and Haridwar. We got off in Haridwar and saw thousands of pilgrims taking a dip in the river Ganga beside these little temples on the bank of Ganga, each dedicated to a different God in Hindu mythology. Devotees from all over India come here to this holy place. Many people also come here after a member of the family has died. The ashes of the dead are let out in the rapid currents of the holy river as part of rituals. Beware of pundits who rip you off in the name of offering prayers and asking for money! We finally reached Delhi and had some time to spare before our train. We kept our luggage in the cloak room in the station and went to Palika bazar. It is an underground shopping complex. I wanted to buy a leather jacket for cheap. But the shops there are owned by hot headed, rude, gangster like people where you dont feel like shopping. The material is also cheap and you have to have a good bargaining skill. When you come out of the complex you are in Cannaught place which is a high end shopping street. It is beautiful and full of lights where you see the rich shopping. At last we came back to the station where we boarded the Amritsar express which would take us to Manmad station in Maharashtra by the following night. So here I am on the top bunk in the train, 5 hrs to my destination from where we have to board another train (without a booked ticket) to Aurangabad. Tomorrow is Christmas and I cannot think of a more magical countdown to Christmas that we just had!

Pic: me reading on my Kindle all wrapped up while our train is preparing to exit Madhya Pradesh