~ Your best friends today were strangers some day ! - Baba Travelananda


Travel, my friend, it enlightens the soul,

Travelers start seeing the world, as a new whole,

The weather blue & greenery lush,
Go where people are simple & nature plush,

Wrapped in noisy lives & office worries,
We went in as strangers & came out as buddies :)
 

Year 2018 was proving to be the most dull year of my corporate life. Opposed to 3 awesome trips in 2017, there hadn't been a single one this time....till October.
Even October was trying to slip away quietly but I decided to catch it by its tail & fling it around.

 ~ Pangot

Pangot is a name which is still unheard of, in many circles. Everyone knows Nainital, but few know this place - great for a leisure trip.
A lush green hamlet, famous for the variety of birds, Pangot is an ideal weekend getaway for everyone.


Pangot - the charming greenery :)


~ The 'Unite Strangers' phenomenon

Most of us interact with the same set of people daily and this is what makes routine monotonous.

I never enjoy traveling solo. With whom do I share the joy of spotting snow on the mountains, while laughing away the trekking pains ?
With the long weekend approaching fast, there was no time to plan a trip & to get friends agree on dates, so engaging a travel group was only viable option.
I was looking for an opportunity to bring new energies in my life, and Unite Strangers gave me a perfect platform to do so - at a quite reasonable charge. Through them, I met choreographers, artists & many more people, apart from engineers, my tribe :)


~ The journey
 
I quickly finalized the plan and bypassing the frowned look on parents' faces, boarded the group's night bus from a Delhi metro station.

Been through several group activities, I know what a random group looks like.
An introvert hidden away in a corner trying to dig another,deeper corner ; a chatterbox trying to talk to everyone; a poser busy clicking her own pictures; a 'new phone' person who in normal life won't give a damn to the prime minister, but will click a cow decorating streets with dung just to check picture quality of his new phone (alright, this is an exaggeration :P)

A quick round of introduction ensued but still didn't break the ice. The night was spent in on-boarding and people quietly judging other people, along with some music. I was pleasantly surprised to know that two siblings had brought their mother along to give her a birthday surprise. This is something rare!

Excitement started building up as the early morning sun started revealing the countryside. The bus, speeding through Ghaziabad, Moradabad and Baazpur finally stopped at Kalidungi.

The Jim Corbett forest area is not suitable for Volvo buses, so all of us were neatly packed into SUVs for the next 45 kms.

Somewhere in the Kalidungi forest range
Hairpin bends led our sleep deprived bodies to start swaying when our driver-cum-guide, Tulsidas, brought the vehicle to a screeching halt, waking up everyone out of slumber.

"Look here, you can get down & watch the lake!", he said.

A no-boating, picturesque lake
A 'taal' is a Hindi word for lake. The lakes in Haldwani region are a treat to watch. However, not every water body is safe to boat due to whirl formations in some of them.

Fresh from the new found view, our eyes were hungry for more when we came across a point where a crowd had gathered.
"You can see snow capped peaks from here", Tulsidas said, as the weather gave us a chance to view some of the most famous peaks in the mighty Himalayan range.

Mountains & snow - a love affair

Telescopes are kept as these places to get a better view. I discovered that clicking a picture from inside the eyepiece is one challenging task !

The guides helped me take the great shots as below.
The majestic Trishul peaks. Can also see the telescope contours.
Nanda Devi - the telescopic version

Yours truly with the telescope
 
Naini Lake, clicked from heights



~Day 1


It was already afternoon so we didn't stop anywhere further and reached this beautiful property a few kms inside Pangot.
It has all amenities for a leisurely stay - swiss tents, indoor games room, outdoor activities, nearby sunset point & a 6km. to & fro hill trek to a nearby waterfall.

That's my tent !

This was a leisure trip so we all had options to go for the trek or stay inside and rest/play games.
Most of us opted for the 3km. downhill course. It runs through the forest and has narrow steps covered by tall grass that can be dangerous if not seen carefully.

The bicchu grass is all over the place & will punish you if the skin is exposed anywhere.

Trek trek


The not-so-glamorous route

Jungle, jungle here we come!
We were finally rewarded with the waterfall :)
This waterfall is not anywhere near the majestic ones in Meghalaya, but as they say, even a day spent in forest is a great experience!

The waterfall, 3kms. inside the forest




We were lucky to return by dark. The route is somewhat scary without daylight. Back at the stay place, preparations were in full swing for evening snacks, dinner & the oh-so-obvious DJ. All of us quickly changed into easy clothing & fed our stomachs, hungry from walking 6kms.

Even after dancing to the hilt & a bit of getting high, the enthusiasm was so high that we played cards till the last ember of bonfire gave away.

~ Day 2

Considering the long route back to Delhi, we were told by the organizers to get up by 7am IST and checkout by 11am IST. However, things worked as per IST ( Indian Stretchable Time) and most of us, tired from previous day exertions woke up by 8.

The day was reserved for outdoor activities like commando walk, bamboo balance & ziplining.
The Mowgli walk emerged as the most technical among these. These activities are available in Delhi-NCR also, but doing tasks in an area surrounded by lush green meadows is a different experience.

A friend doing Mowgli walk


The activities bonded us as we cheered the hesitant, and congratulated the confident. Safety was kept a priority & everyone was given a harness & a helmet before doing any activity.

Yours truly enjoying ziplining


A quick lunch, a few group photos, and we rode back home. With such synergy built within us that despite tiring ourselves, the atmosphere inside the bus was electric.
Traffic took its toll and we endured traffic jams for ~3 hours. But we never realized that as everyone was busy dancing, singing and playing other games.

Overall, this leisure trip gave me a much needed break from routine and an opportunity to meet fantastic new people. Every effort was made by the Unite Strangers team - Kapil, Latika and co. to make everyone feel comfortable, engaged & invited :)

The best part ? No office leave was required !!

Strangers no more :)