Six months ... Three trips...

I am back after a long break... We have a ten days shutdown at Adobe for Christmas and New Year. I had gone to Shimla, and near by places in this break- great experience. Saw snow for the first time in my life, and will have to admit that it was definitely one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.
It’s been six months since I have left college and started living in Noida and in these six months I have been to three different hill stations (Manali, Nainital, and Shimla). All three trips were very different from each other in many respects. If I had to rate these places in order of scenic beauty, Manali, Nainital, and Shimla would go first, second and third in that order, (Here I am talking of the main cities, and not the near by places). Though besides the scenic beauty there are a lot of other things which contribute to the experience of a holiday.

We had gone to Manali around September for company a team trip. Back then I was very new to the company and did not know many people. It was the most well planned of the above three trips with almost every minute detail taken care of well in advance. It was a good trip in the respect that I got a chance to interact with many of my colleagues and my comfort level with them increased manifold. Highlights of the trip- Rappelling, shopping, and evening drinks and dinner with colleagues. Missed paragliding at Rohtang due to bad weather.

The Nainital trip was the first of its kind. It was only seven people including me. Though it was a very short trip, starting on Friday night and ending on Monday morning, and November is not exactly the best time to go to Nainital still it was definitely the most enjoyable. During this trip we stayed at a place near Nainital called Kausali. It is a beautiful place, mostly devoid of tourists at that time and thus very peaceful. Most of the time there was spent dancing around the bonfire and gossiping with friends (Had some very interesting discussions with friends about Dil Dosti etc. ;)). Thank God for wonderful friends.

And now we come to the most recent i.e. the Shimla trip. The longest trip of the lot, took a total of five days including the traveling time. What makes this trip different is the fact that I gave up going home in order to be able to go on this trip, which is definitely a first. I had gone expecting to see a white Christmas at Shimla but was disappointed in that respect (thankfully our plans included going to Kufri and Narkanda where we got to see all the snow we were looking for J). Shimla is full of tourists at Christmas; it really surprises me that so many people can actually fit in one city at once. It is a completely commercialized tourist destination where the mall road resembles any large shopping mall with the showrooms of most big brands present. For people who do not have shopping on their minds there is nothing much to do. We did eventually get a chance to do ice skating and skiing, had great fun (though I will have to admit that I am not cut out for winter sports L). Overall a good trip.

I do hope that this trend continues and I get to see more places…