Since the age I got to knew about flights I wanted to be on the frequent flyer list of all the airlines.I still remember the days when my dad used to take us for summer vacations I always waited eagerly for the summer break. I used to wake up once we headed the road from where I could see the mountains. All the way to the mountains I would look up, my eyes wide open with a feeling of how glorifying the mountains are,how come they are so jaw dropping and they never fail to mesmerize you.
Coming back to the present day , as I grew up I did go to trips with my family and friends. Once in the job all my trips started to be dependent on plans of my friends. I wanted peace from the hustle and bustle of the city. I wanted to travel to the places never heard or seen in my wildest imagination and I wanted to do it all by myself. Like everyone, I had the same perception ‘ who the hell goes alone’ , ‘ what would I do alone’ , ‘i would get bored alone’ and lastly being a girl safety concerns.
Few months back I went to Nepal, there I met a lot of solo travelers, real travelers who had flown from their country and had been travelling to different countries across the globe. On my bus journey from Kathmandu to Pokhara , I sat next to a South Korean guy we just started interacting and though there were language barriers as he did know English well. I still remember I would type the sentences in his phone which used to get translated in Korean god bless technology and god bless google translator . This way we managed to interact till the time we reached Pokhara followed by dining hangout.
Once I was back a thought crossed my mind that a person who speaks his native language that too Korean still manages to strike a chord with people from different geographic location altogether and interacts with them in minimal words of English he can speak was able to travel to so many countries. Despite of all the odds of language he did manage to travel to 5-6 countries so why can’t I. From there I was determined to do solo once.
After a month I decided to do a solo trip to Mcleodganj. I had been to McLeod before during my school and college days. I choose it because I was familiar with the place , I loved the place and on top of it I know it was safe for solo girl travelers.
I had booked my bus tickets and hostel for 5 days but i was still skeptical whether it’s a wise decision to go solo . Without thinking much I reached Majnu ka Tilla and due to the long weekend the roads , buses were packed fully. Though I had booked my bus tickets in advance still it got delayed by 5 hrs. Now this delay in bus created more doubts in my head why even am I doing it then I was reminded of that inspiration. In the meanwhile I got to explore Majnu ka tilla market and there i had some yummy tibetian food.
I reached McLeod at around 11 and because of unavailability of buses that day (all thanks to long weekend) I had to walk for 3.5-4 kms till my hostel in Bhagsu with my backpack. Once I reached hostel Lavie , I was amused that I did walk that much. All my body ache , tiredness had disappeared on seeing the mountains and their beauty . I just soaked in all the beauty that it had to offer as hadn’t plan much for the day. If you are a budget and solo traveller, then i would highly recommend staying in a hostel.
I didn’t want to do much touristy stuff on this trip, I did it to go beyond my comfort zone, to spend some time with myself and to introspect life. I did see dalai lamai monastery and St.John’s church. I had planned for triund trek but due to the rainfalls i wasn’t able to do it this time. I spend most of the days doing small hikes from upper bhagsu towards dharmkot, Naddi village. Last day me and a group of friends i met in the hostel decided to hike till Upper TCV school and from there we decided to descend down to St.John’s church. As we were walking and passing by the cafes the view was mesmerizing filled with green forests, lush meadows , mountains and accompanied by drizzling. I was awestruck by the views of the mighty dhauladhar range which look like they were ripped straight from the pages of a fairy tale.
Evenings were mostly spent in the cafes listening to live music, interacting with people from different walks of life and believe me it was interesting to know about other people’s lives and for a while forgot about your’s. During my stay i made new friends and interacted with lots of people and it was all a new world for me. I spent the last day in a similar manner as it was raining heavily so i decided to spent time at ‘The Cookie wala’ cafe and met some great people there.
It was time for me to end this beautiful journey and head towards mcleodganj bus stand to board a bus to delhi. With a heavy heart i boarded the bus but with a hope to come back again in winters. This way my first solo trip came to an end and it was the most amazing trip i have taken till now and it would always be special for me and would remain close to my heart.
Looking forward to more solo trips. Cheers!!!
