The chill in the spine that the snow brings along with it, is the magnificence and beauty of hills. My love for mountain starts even before I can think about it. Being in a state surrounded by the mountains, I could always see their outlines in the misty mornings during my morning walks, imagining how it would make me feel sitting on top of them and staring back from where I started?
My first real encounter with the hills happened at a very tender age when I went to see my cousins at Arunachal Pradesh. Dozing off at my bus’s seat, my sleep broke with the chatter of people who went out to freshen up and have a cup of tea at the bus stop. The cold breeze had hit me through the window making me sit more cozily adjusting my cover. It was then I noticed the first sunrays hitting the top of the enormous snow clad mountain, making it a love at first site. I could not help but gasp at the spectacular view. Slowly, as we moved more inside the valley the sun came out in full and offered me my first experience of being in a valley.
As time passed, I grew up to be a more socially forward and outgoing person having a good bunch of friends. But still being a student and dependent on my parents for my livelihood, we friends could only talk about the places we would visit when we become financially independent. We partied and travelled only within the places our pockets could afford. My encounters with mountains happened only when my father would plan a trip and eventually we visited Darjeeling and Sikkim in the coming years. But even though I visited the mountains and admired its charm, I felt like a desert which was offered only one glass of water. I wanted to be a part of the mountains.
Some more time hence, passing out of my college I got to visit a number of places across India covering major cities, islands, places near the sea and oceans, villages and ofcourse the beautiful beaches. But sadly after that, the starting of my career also ensured that I could not fly off to the any place I wanted and my friends made sure that the places we visited were more happening and dazzling, which would mostly imply a beach or an another concrete city.
My visit to the mountains has been on and off till this point, however my love and longing for them have outgrew the vastness of the mountains itself. Even during my meditation sessions I would feel only the mountains. It was only then my resolve to be in the mountains along with my fate helped me make my solo trips.
I trekked for hours and stayed in the mountains. The happiness in enjoying the cup of coffee and having noodles facing the mountains cannot be compared to any multi-cuisines meal in a 5 star hotel. The bike rides in the mountains can heal the soul of any person. The stay in the tents brings you so much closer to the nature.
So, from all the travelling experiences that I have gathered through years I will always prefer hills over beaches, be it in any weather.
#HillsOverBeaches
