I have been out of circulation from the blogosphere for so long that now it seems to be sheer inertia that is holding me back. Well, that is not exactly true, that (dis)credit goes to hectic work schedule that has sapped up most of my energy for last couple of months.
I have hardly been able to post anything on my three blogs for almost 2-3 months. However, till 3-4 weeks back, I still managed to check on my reader from time to time, and each time it showed 100+ unread items. But now, I am so overwhelmed by the reading I have to catch up on!
In the middle of all the chaos, I managed to get a much needed break, for a trip we had been planning for quite a while - a trek in 'The Valley of Flowers'. The trip was rendered partially unsuccessful by heavy rains and landslides - we could not even get to Joshimath, but we finally made it to Kedarnath. I will hopefully post pictures of the trip on 'Travel Memoirs' soon; in the meanwhile I'll share an unlikely experience here ....
We had planned to travel overnight from Delhi to Haridwar by train, and take a taxi from there for the rest of the journey. The train we had reservations in, goes till Dehradun, reaching Haridwar very early morning. Though heavy rains were reported in the region, the train departed from Delhi in time. But when we reached Roorkee around midnight, the situation in the higher areas had deteriorated, and the train stopped there for a considerable time. After an interminable wait, the train started from Roorkee, but stopped again after some time - in the middle of nowhere. After dawn, when there was some light, we could see it was a very small village station, with no platforms even. One of the attendants informed us that the train will stop there for an undetermined time - there was water on tracks on the way from Haridwar to Dehradun; so the trains scheduled to go to Dehradun had piled up at Haridwar station, leaving no space for more trains to be parked there. The attendant advised us to board another train that was going to Rishikesh (and would therefore be given a pass at Haridwar) which was about to cross. And so, we jumped down on to the tracks (no platforms, remember!) with bag and baggage, stood by the side of the other track (along with several other passengers), and waited for the other train. When it arrived, we waved it to stop, and climbed up!
Though I have had varied experiences in trains earlier, this was something I never expected to have to do!! I have done this number of times in buses - the roadways bus breaks down on the way, the conductor stops another bus going the same way and helps you board that bus. But never ever have I done it on a train!!
I have hardly been able to post anything on my three blogs for almost 2-3 months. However, till 3-4 weeks back, I still managed to check on my reader from time to time, and each time it showed 100+ unread items. But now, I am so overwhelmed by the reading I have to catch up on!
In the middle of all the chaos, I managed to get a much needed break, for a trip we had been planning for quite a while - a trek in 'The Valley of Flowers'. The trip was rendered partially unsuccessful by heavy rains and landslides - we could not even get to Joshimath, but we finally made it to Kedarnath. I will hopefully post pictures of the trip on 'Travel Memoirs' soon; in the meanwhile I'll share an unlikely experience here ....
We had planned to travel overnight from Delhi to Haridwar by train, and take a taxi from there for the rest of the journey. The train we had reservations in, goes till Dehradun, reaching Haridwar very early morning. Though heavy rains were reported in the region, the train departed from Delhi in time. But when we reached Roorkee around midnight, the situation in the higher areas had deteriorated, and the train stopped there for a considerable time. After an interminable wait, the train started from Roorkee, but stopped again after some time - in the middle of nowhere. After dawn, when there was some light, we could see it was a very small village station, with no platforms even. One of the attendants informed us that the train will stop there for an undetermined time - there was water on tracks on the way from Haridwar to Dehradun; so the trains scheduled to go to Dehradun had piled up at Haridwar station, leaving no space for more trains to be parked there. The attendant advised us to board another train that was going to Rishikesh (and would therefore be given a pass at Haridwar) which was about to cross. And so, we jumped down on to the tracks (no platforms, remember!) with bag and baggage, stood by the side of the other track (along with several other passengers), and waited for the other train. When it arrived, we waved it to stop, and climbed up!
Though I have had varied experiences in trains earlier, this was something I never expected to have to do!! I have done this number of times in buses - the roadways bus breaks down on the way, the conductor stops another bus going the same way and helps you board that bus. But never ever have I done it on a train!!
5 comments:
Ha Ha.. that was an interesting experience and welcome back !!
Hope you are going to be around now. :)
It happens only in India :)
Sigma, I was bit surprised by the comment in my blog,It happens only on blogosphere. Keep posting. Waiting for the photos.
Unexpected and unusual experiences especially while travelling make life more interesting. Good to read here about what happened to you during your travels. Waiting to check out your pictures. Welcome back:)
Look who is BACK !!
Good to see you in action....hmmmm all these times I was asking you to come to Himalayas and you refused and now you were trying for VOF.....not fair ...not fair !!
Don't feel bad on 1 aborted trip to VOF ( not many people are lucky as Frank Smythe to get to see VOF after climbing down from Kamet Peak !!)
I made it to VOF ( finally after 9 years or so since my first aborted trip - yeah due to heavy rains and landslides) this last week.
Till you reach there - enjoy the flowers pics - which I will put (hope soon)....! Hope that will make you feel part of the place !!
Tk care ~
@Cuckoo: I hope so too :-))
@Pijush: Lol!! True!
I hope I'll get around to it soon ... though this time the photos didnt come out well, but I guess they do have an interesting thing or two!
@Indicaspecies: That is absolutely right. That is one thing I really like about the blog world - you can imbibe others' experiences that makes you richer.
@BTR: And where have you been all this while? Now, dont tell me ... here and there and there too and also to that side ... and you tell me things are not fair!! You did get to go to the coveted destination! Waiting toeyes see the place through your eyes!!
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