It was the 19th of May 07' that it finally sunk in that in the next 14 days I would be experiencing a new sensation with every step I'd take. It was the most incredible high I'd felt till then (little did I know how much better each day would get as we went along)
Manali and Me - a match made in heaven...Sigh.
I'll skip my adventures in Delhi, first with daddy dearest and then with Shaan and Amit and well, Canada Uncle (aww).After the Bus ride, where I got my first glimpse of the few people who were going to be "my world" for the next 13 days and I quite liked them right then. They seemed friendly enough and didn't go overboard with the friendliness. The bus ride was really special. It was just one of those things that seem really unexciting but mean so much more than really exiting things. Of course, then, (and I got to know this only later) the rest of the gang thought Nabila and me wouldn't really fit it. They had already nicknamed us "the Paris Hiltons". And I don't see why they wouldn't have thought that.We came across as 2 giggly blondes who wanted to "fly back in time for a friend's birthday"! But as time passed we kind of lost the tag. (And got new ones).
After 16 hours of discussions about trees and sunglasses and pictures and the Himalayas and oh so much, all of us became more comfortable around each other and we had finally reached Manali.
The first step into Manali was like a breath of life, a release of the pent up adrenalin! I was already ecstatic!!
Checking into Hotel Unique came with my most satisfying feeling of INDEPENDENCE. Find it a little unbelievable that at 19 I still hadn't felt grown up and independent? Well, you can see it as a) protective parents b) my ignorance of already existing freedom or c) I was a zillion miles away from home with someone whose been and continues to be so important to me, staying with friends, 100% trust from parent's yada yada...in short I was living a Fantasy, if only for 15 days but still I could live a lifetime of happiness in that fortnight!
To say Manali is beautiful would be unfair! It was so visually and mentally stimulating just taking in the picturesque landscape! Breathing in the chilled air was just the thing we all needed. I distinctly remember the mischief dancing in Shaan's eye's, the alternating "serious distant" looks and the smiles breaking out on Amit's face, the excitement bubbling up in Nabila's gestures and the romantic surrounding pushing me deeper still into my utopian fantasy! And it had only just begun!!
Although every minute felt so overwhelming our first day in Manali was quite a melange of fun and erm not-so-fun! We went around doing some pre-trek shopping and well, shaan just had to get a real taste of what he had come for*wink wink*.And though, I had a small recurrent burst of mood swings due to reasons not mentionable, now and then, I managed a huge smile at the end of the day.
P.s to be continued every now n then...i know this has been long overdue fuzz and tya...but im finally doin it so...plz dont take my blog off your favourites.pretty pleaseeee..!
