A Family Trip to Uttarakhand, For the Love of Mountains!

Having been quite a while since we escaped the madness of city life, a trip to Uttarakhand sounded exciting. There were many factors which went into selecting it for our family vacation, one of them being its relatively less touristy compared to other famous holiday destinations. Plans were made, bags packed and off we went into the place that is fondly called devbhumi (the residence of gods). Given below is a travel experience of my family vacation in Uttarakhand.

Leaving the madness of Delhi behind!

The drive itself was an indication of the excitement that awaited us in our journey. The change in the landscape reflected the change in our moods. We had been planning a family vacation for quite some time, and now it was underway. It was a thought that brought about a contented smile on my face. Soon, the maddening chaos of Delhi gave way to the wide fields and villages of its neighbour, Uttar Pradesh.

As we progressed in our journey, we were suddenly reminded of the fact that there were roads where cars were not engaged in battles, where stars could still be seen in the sky, and where people still had the time to sit around in the evenings and cozy up for a chat. Rows upon rows of fields passed us by, the lush countryside appealing to us more than ever before. After a brief stopover for dinner, we resumed our journey. It wasn’t long before the sound of the car and my full stomach lulled me to sleep.

Welcome to Uttarakhand: Have a safe journey!

When I awoke, I found my eyes meeting the silhouettes of mountains in the distance, with miles and miles of cliffs between us and them. Enthusiastically, I lowered the window, and there it was, the fresh air all over again, reminding me so strongly of my childhood days in Darjeeling. Only someone who has stayed in the mountains long enough knows what the mountain air smells like, a delightful mixture of mud, leaves and wood.

The sides of my lips stretched themselves to their furthest point when I saw the board – “Welcome to Uttarakhand. Have a safe journey!” We were finally here! Something told me that this was going to be one of the best family trips I have had in a long time. However, even that excitement wasn’t enough to keep me awake for long, as I dozed off, and when I did awake, we had reached Uttarkashi. The hills reminded us rather strongly of having arrived there by sending sudden gusts of cold wind in our direction. Our bodies told us we needed to make a halt, and so we did.

The eagerness to reach Raithal!

We resumed the next morning, around 9 am. The scenery acted as an energiser, melting away all the fatigue and tiredness of the previous day. Rays of sunlight dressed the tops of the mountains lovingly, while the clouds above merged themselves into playful shapes, always maintaining a distance from each other. Beside the winding roads stood little shops selling delicious snacks, from maggi and momos to tea. Looking at them, you wondered how complicated we made out life to be, and here were these people, living life as it should be. All assumptions of course, brought about by the beauty of the place we found ourselves in. Taking these thoughts with me, we resumed our journey. After about an hour, we reached the village of Raithal, situated at an altitude of 1800m approx. Certainly, the air seemed to be a good indicator of that.

How would I describe the trip?

Of course, the trip was exciting and wonderful, with a bit of adventure thrown in between. Did I have any great travel revelation from it? No, and neither did I expect to. What the trip did do was reinvigorate me from within, like the way the earth is by the first showers after a long dreary summer. The dreadful pace of city life is characterized by impatience and monotony, both of which combine to cut the essential bond which binds man to nature. Trips such as these lead to the dissipation of months of accumulated stress, while letting you feel the warm embrace of nature. It is then, in the little things, that you rediscover the joys you thought you had completely forgotten. 

Things like touching the grass wet with the morning dew, tripping over a stone, rubbing the raw mud in your hands, listening to the whistles and chirps of birds & insects while letting the surroundings bring about a perfect calmness to your tired, crowded mind. This is what this amazing family vacation in Uttarakhand did for me. It is something to be cherished for a long time to come.