Chail: A Perfect weekend Getaway
With Delhi’s mercury rising day by day and my final year exams getting over, it was time to do a small trip. After much deliberation Shamik and I decided to go for a day trip to Chail, which later turned into a weekend trip (How we planned the trip).
3rd June 2006 Delhi – Chail
Unlike previous rides this one started late, since Shamik was coming straight from his office. At 5:45am my cell phone rang and the ride was on. Shamik was waiting at the same spot we had met before the Ladakh trip and after the brief hello it was time to head towards Delhi's Border.
Due to the late start and this being a weekend, NH-1 was filled with traffic. It was an indication that most of the people were having the same idea as us and going for a weekend getaway. Weather on the other hand was perfect for riding, with overcast sky and slight breeze and no signs of rain, it was just perfect. Cruising at 80 on such a beautiful morning was a treat in itself and before we knew we were at Karnal. Here we met old friends who were heading for Spiti, the next hour was spent chatting and soon we were joined by Faiyaz who has heading towards Jalori pass. When it was time to leave, Faiyaz changed his mind and decided to accompany us to Chail.
The next break came soon enough with us stopping couple of kms before Kalka for breakfast.
After gorging on the delicious Naans and Dal, it was time to hit the road again. Soon we were in Himalayas lap enjoying the winding hill roads that would lead us to our destination for the day- Chail. I was stopped in my tracks abruptly by a railway crossing and the famous small train, appropriately named Himalayan Queen was about to pass. With the train just minutes away I started taking off my gloves and opened my bag in an attempt to take my camera out at the right time and click the Queens photo. Soon the camera was out of the bag and none too soon the Himalayan Queen passed in all her glory.
Even though I managed to capture Himalayan Queen, it did delayed me by 20 minutes and Shamik and Faiyaz were riding ahead of me. My only worry was that neither of them knew where they had to take diversion from NH-22. Even though I had told both of them that we had to take a right turn from Kandaghat, still there was uncertainty in my mind. After a while I caught up with Faiyaz and both of us started riding together. We headed towards Kandaghat in hope of finding Shamik there.
At the Kandaghat roundabout there was no sign of Shamik, I decided to take the diversion, hoping Shamik had done the same. Thankfully he had and the three of us were reunited. Now it was time to whip out the cameras and start clicking.
Just as we were getting in the mood to take more photographs, weather decided to play spoil sport and a slight drizzle started. It was time to stash the cameras and continue our journey towards Chail. Just as we were getting in to the rhythm and enjoying the deserted state roads, we chanced upon a small river. We decided to explore it and went down through a small dirt track. The rain had also stopped and it was time to have to some fun.
After riding in water and taking photos and getting our feet wet we realized it was getting late and we should move towards Chail. But that was only temporary, as soon as we saw another good photo opportunity, we stopped in our tracks.
But this time, God decided to give us the final push and the rain started prompting us to head towards Chail without any more breaks. After reaching Chail, I led Shamik and Faiyaz to the hotel I had stayed at when I visited Chail in December 2004. Since this is the peak tourist season, the room costed Rs.500 a night, since the three of us were staying together the cost balanced out. Shamik and Faiyaz were tired since they didn't had any sleep the night before, so we decided to call it a day and order food to our room.