TRAVEL – “I like this place”

Travel: June in my home basically means vacation travel! And like every other year, we decided to go to the hills. And as usual, our plans were not confirmed until the very last minute…but our choice of destination was. Sonapani, our home away from home 🙂

We packed our bags and started our journey even before sunrise. All we wanted this time was some “quality” family time. Our spirits were high, and even the complete absence of roads for a stretch of almost 30kms did not dampen them even a teensy weensy bit!! When we reached our destination, it was warm and welcoming as always. There was an abundance of nature all around. Lush greenery, beautiful colors, and wonderful friends in Ashish & Deepa…

We were having a great time. Taking tons of pictures, sharing stories and enjoying free time. My daughter had made plans of jungle walks in the pine forest and picnics in the summer sun. She even had the menu in place for the picnic basket. But the weather spoiled all our plans. We were cribbing about not being able to go out and walk about freely but then we heard what was happening in Uttarakhand and realized we were in a much better situation. Although we had to extend our stay by three days due to the incessant rains, we were still in a safer place.

Nature has its own way of making you realize how puny you are, and she is the ultimate one. Underestimating her powers and exploiting her gifts will do us no good…it’s about time we wake up to this reality and get our act together. I will not stop coming to Sonapani, my daughter loves the place. I have respected nature and will do so even more after this. But this travel trip was a mix of so many different emotions, experiences, and realizations that one blog post might not be enough to narrate them. Let some of the pictures do the talking for me.

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, “This is what it is to be happy.” 

― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar