The next morning (5th March) we decided to make a trip to Simla since it had been a few years since we had last passed through on our way to Kalpa. We left the Hotel at 10.23 am & reached Hotel Holiday Home at Simla at 12.38 pm – a tad over 2 hours & a distance of 80 kms from Ros Common. I had good fun putting it through its limits on some of the hairpins & got the tyres to squeal & complain on a few of them! We parked the beast at the Hotel, walked to the lifts & then up to the Mall.
Walked around a bit, grabbed lunch, did some quick purchases & then headed back to the beast. We left Simla at 3.10 pm & got back to Ros Common at 5.35 pm, passing some real nice views of the snowline etc on the way back & stopping in a couple of places to get a few snaps.
This time, approaching the Hotel from Kasauli town, I engaged 4H on the fly & went up that steep slope quite comfortably.
Back at the Hotel, the usual blues set in at the realization that we’d have to return to the hustle & the bustle of the NCR the next day. Kasauli (and Ros Common) really grows on you – the peace & the general sleepy atmosphere all around as well as the gorgeous views. Not to forget the quaint cobbled road
& so many beautiful gardens. But, cest la vie and work & all else was beckoning so we went to sleep after the customary rum & coke & dinner in preparation for the drive ahead the next morning.
We didn’t feel like doing a very early start so after a light & leisurely breakfast on 6th March, we left the comforts & the spectacular views of Ros Common
at 8.42 am & set off for out journey back. Average speeds were as follows –
1st hour - 36 kmph
2nd hour - 55 kmph
3rd hour - 94 kmph - this was easily the best timing both ways & on the stretch between Zirakpur & Rajpura, I managed to almost max out the Safari for a 2 km stretch. The speedo indicated between 150 & 160 (sorry guys, was too busy looking at the road to give it a more accurate estimate) & the beast was rock steady.
At the end of the 3rd hour, we stopped at Karnal for the customary pee-break, 10 minutes & we were on our way again. So –
4th hour - 71 kmph – would have made better time but for the mess at Panipat
5th hour - 57 kmph – including the nightmare that is Azadpur crossing.
We made the next 40 kms to DLF Phase V in 53 minutes, reaching home sweet home at 2.50 pm. Lol, really needed the shower & grabbed a quick bite of the food that we’d ordered in advance. Another nice trip came to an end but all in all, it was good to put one’s feet up on one’s favorite sofa & flip through the channels on the 32 inch after driving through some serious traffic towards the end of the journey. Again, very good timing on the return journey as well, 6 hours 08 minutes only, including a 10 minute break thanks to that Rajpura stretch. Of course, we made better timing in the Safari in all those patches where there was heavy traffic & jams simply because of the bullying factor & the road presence – I wouldn’t have risked it in the Fiesta!
When I sit back & think that almost a year has gone by since our last trip to Himachal, I’m amazed – and sorry too! We used to do trips a lot more frequently till last year. Now that we have the vehicle of our dreams as far as going off the beaten path is concerned, our schedules & circumstances do not permit us to do it! Anyway, as they say, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way” & “while there’s life there’s hope” so I’m not giving up just yet. We’ll do Himachal again &, hopefully – soon!