traveling to the north is always special. it’s far from where i grew up, and also far from my roots in the south of india. i have few relatives who live that side. traveling there requires thought and then action – meaning a plan. as it’s far for those living below the vindhyas.

we decided to spend our christmas and new years freezing at -3* C. so, what made us mumbaikars with chennai roots dare dream of such a thing? 

and this is how we begin the blame game…

for the last 4 years or more, i end up planning the last 10 days of the year. where to go? how to go? what to book? the route? i love it, and even offer to do it, but always crib later on… and unplanned, spontaneous traveling, however cool, is never cheap. and for new years, in this increasing travel-crazy country, it is mad. booking at the nth minute means you choose between bad rooms in bad hotels or expensive rooms in really pricey hotels. last year (2011) we went to go for a friend’s wedding to GOA, decided in november and it drove me up the wall.

this time i got the wheels moving a little more faster.

in early october, rajasthan was the chosen destination, new years in the sand dunes had started forming images in my mind… skies with countless stars, frozen feet… hmmmm.. then, we asked a couple based in delhi if they wanted to come along. yes, they said, but NO NO NO not rajasthan… come up north, they said, let’s go higher up… well, to areas they hadn’t yet traveled to…

adaptive and responsive, we quickly checked for train tickets to delhi, everything was wait-listed – 50 or higher! pointless. flight it was. booked. sealed. done.

so to the north, to the frozen caps of the himalayas. said our sorries to rajasthan, promised to come by ‘sam’ the next year… brought out our monkey caps…  so delhi (actually gurgaon) and fog, here we come!

and the story continues…