After a hectic day of shopping in the narrow streets of the beautiful Mall Road, Shimla, we set out the next day on our bus journey to Kullu. The snow fall of the day before had stopped and we saw the sun slowly making an appearance from the clouds. It was a pure delight to finally feel the rays of the Sun in a frigid -2 degrees Celsius. Having somehow pushed our luggage from the hotel to the bus which was connected with a steep ramp layered with a thin sheet of ice, we almost mountaineered our way back safely to the bus without any major skid and fall accidents. However, in retrospect our bus did not share the same good luck.
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| Mall Road, Shimla |
The bus driver was not so sure to carry out the long bus journey. He waited an awful two hours at the entrance of the ghat road for the ice to settle down. Not wanting to miss out any of the places on the schedule, we pushed him to drive forward. We received mixed responses from people whom we asked about the road ahead. One lorry driver said, "clear ho gaya he", another said, "bahut bura haal he" and yet another youngster replied by hurling a snow ball on our bus window ! That we took as a yes and proceeded forward.
One thing I understood was that the Ghat roads of Shimla are only for professional drivers. Without as much as a barrier between the road bends and the deep valley on the other side, it seemed a nightmare for drivers not accustomed to that terrain. It was at one such bend that our bus stopped to let a vehicle on the other side pass through the narrow road. We sensed a jittery movement in the bus when someone yelled, "It's skidding !". What followed was a moment of panic and chaos. We could see the bus inching towards the valley and our only concern was to jump off the bus which we did. The driver managed to reverse the vehicle onto safer grounds, a little far away from the edge. Shaken by the incident, we were in a state of blankness not understanding what to do next. People who forgot to bring their wallets got on the bus when it started to skid again. Yes, it was then that we realized we were in a predicament. We had to walk in the freezing temperatures, how long no one knew ! Although civilization was not totally extinct in that region, it still seemed to us not a very pleasant endeavor. By then, people had gathered and work of layering the road with soil to provide some friction had started.
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| Shimla Highway |
Holding hands, we formed a chain and moved forward in one line taking care not to let our feet slip into the snow pits. We had walked about a kilometer, with numbed feet when our bus started coming slowly behind us. The snowy Ghat had mostly ended and we boarded the bus, still unsure. The driver instilled some confidence in us and we confided in his experience. After this incident, it was smooth sailing and we enjoyed the rest of our trip !
