Day 1I reach home at 1 pm after spending about 30 hours at work. Crash. Sid calls at 3:30 pm & says its 5 pm & time to wake up & arrange stuff for the trip. I get up befuzzled, jump out of bed and after mild abuses to him for lying to me about the time, am on the job. My work is to arrange for medicines and emergency food kits...that done, I'm off to the market to buy some other essentials. Cousins are in town, they come along. Back by 9 pm, I get down to packing my favourite black haversack...all set and in control by 10:30 pm. 11:30 pm cab arrives with Pathakji - one of our 3 drivers and sources of frustration & entertainment. Soon we've all collected at the office...all but Saifu & an hour and a half and many fibs later, he lands up & off we go! Vroom! 3 innovas, 13 people...the holiday has begun! Our car has Runmee, Sid, Parul & me...aiming to reach Chandigarh for breakfast, we eventually just manage milkshakes / cold coffee somewhere along the way and then stop for lunch. Check out seedy joints (one Hotel Neelam), exorbitant room rents (just for freshening up) and shady people. Eventually manage to find Hotel Sagar View - clean loos and good food - luxury! Stomachs full, journey resumes...reach Manali at 9 pm - check into Hotel Kanchani Koot - decent hotel...dinner at our favourite Johnson's Cafe, yummy food - the same as last year and back at the hotel - inauguration of our sleeping bags! It's 4 of us together.
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