travelogue - day 2 in manali

The first night was too exciting to sleep. After a nice dinner at our newly discovered restraunt we sat up for hours in the room till we finally fell asleep when it was almost time to wake up. Nevertheless we woke up early and headed out after aa long discussion of whether to go to old manali or vashist or rohtang pass. We decided to skip rohtang and try and fit in old manali and vashist

We shopped, while shaan "borrowed" some clothes from an unsuspecting shopkeeper lol.I was so bemused by the pretty trinkets and hippy clothes everywhere that i regret not having picked more than just rainbow coloured socks,yoga pants and a dress.sigh:(.
We walked up the winding lane just when it started to rain.I had jsut had a heated argument with Amit and i was in one of those " i wanna be alone but follow me " kinda moods so i ran up to what looked like the perfect "reflective" places for me.
It started with the cobbled stone path which ended up in stone steps leading to rooftops and rocks.I plonked on a rock and looked thoughtlessly over the town of Manali with the cold breeze numbing the tip of my nose and the gentle pitter patter on the rooftops and my slowly cooling head.The other 3 came and sat next to me talking about something i didnt hear. Slowly i smiled, apologised for acting silly and i was fine. We were fine.Nothing could ruin this trip for me. Nothing!
Ifinally let go of my stubborness and ran somewhere for shelter but the rain had already ceased.We continued on to old manali after looing at the hot baths, the temples and the wierdos around hehe.
We halted 2 rickshaws and headed upwards but were stuck in a row of traffic,,,so i got off the rick and started walking...Amit followed and shaan and nabila joined us behind. On the way we thought we;d clik some pics by the river. So we did.
Those were the last from Nabilas Camera. It met with an unfortunate accident with a stranger.After that there wasnt much talking.Nabila was clearly upset and so was I.The guys had no choice but to quiten up.Yes even Shaan was quiet:)
We went back to the room, tired. All of us stuck close cos it had begun to get cold.We just sat ther and laughed like tired old drunks and then ate another yummy dinner.

We had to get a taste of walking around with heavy bags the next day because we had to check out of the hotel at 10 that morning.We walked around Old manali again and
by 11 30 we had our last comfortable meal at Mountview, pancakes and hot gingerlemon honey tea(you've got to try it soemday!)scrambled eggs with cheese mmm,exchanged contact numbers with jassi, the owner who had begun to get quite fond of us already, withdrew some money and mounted on to the bus,which was small and petite just like all the women around us.The bus ride was quite rash for my liking with the narrow ghats with a steep fall into the river beas and the traffic and the speed of the little bus!
We had around a 60 min drive to kullu where we would meet our other campers for lunch.Kullu market was a little distasteful for me but it had the air of a village which made it better.We climbed up to this quaint restraunt which served "bhaij(veg) food".
the 4 of us then left the others and went off for the last time before the actual camping experience.By then we were a little tired and irritable and left for Babeli base camp.

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When we reached Babeli, my spirits rose again when i gazed around at all the tents.I had never done this before, only in a few of my many fantasies.we Checked in and kept our bags in our tents and started exploring our first base camp.
Nabila and Shaan sped over to the charge points to charge their cellphones, psp's and everything ,Amit decided to interact with the gang from gujrat playing volleyball while i propped up on the floor of my tent pulled out my diary and wrote while i thoughfully watched the boys play.
I always admired Amit for the way he made friends so fast.He was confident and likeable from the beginning, quite unlike me who always came across as shy at the first glance. This thought was fllowed by a series of self depricating thoughts and i ended up feeling lower than ever so i went for a walk by myself only to realise we werent allowed to go out. After pleading with the guy at the check in with amit shaan nab and bha we managed to convince him we wouldnt go far and would be back by 6.Freedom with rules! Iwanted to go sit by the beas for obvious reasons. It was beautiful, romantic and ice cold. Nab and me peeled off our socks and shoes and dipped our feet in the frigid water. It felt so liberating in a way. Amit shaan and Bha were being boys and sitting under a rock and talking guy stuff.*rolls eyes*
But soon later they joined us for some quiet talking, which is confess was one of the best moments of the trip :)
we decided we should head back so that we could explore the little shops around the camp before we retreated to base camp.
So we walked across the marijuana fields and jumped over the fence and went explorinnngg..

Lessons from "the" man

"I don't regret the painful times;i bear my scars as if they were medals. i know that freedom has a high price,as high as that of slavery; the only difference is that you pay with pleasure and a smile, even when that smile is dimmed by tears." Paulo Coelho, The Zahir.

I bear them as if they were medals because each scar has been a milestone in every new phase of my life. Some have led to good things and some have led to bad things which later ive discovered were good things anyway.
These scars are definately the outcome of freedom, but freedom of choice, choices that i mindlessly made, people that i've unconditionally trusted , lives that i've unknowingly touched and hope that i've willingly given.Throught it all i had freedom.Not boundless freedom, Cause i've always had a binding restriction on my actions. My sacrifice was in my intentions not my actions.i say "Sacrifice" not because it wasnt worth it but because there was an effort to get it across.
Its true that you pay for these things with pleasure and a smile and more often than not it has been dimmed by tears, which is why these lines appealed to me.
When i look back, i dont think i would change a thing. :)