Chakrata: ROI OF HAPPINESS
Unlockar Apps, Company Offsite
Friday, Sept 18th, 2015
-By Tushar Sharma
Now that’s what we call an excellent ROI – the smiling faces of all the Unlockar family members.
On 18th September 2015, we went for our company’s (read family’s) 2nd annual Rest & Recreation (R&R) trip to Chakrata, Uttarakhand. Read more about our first trip.
Chakrata is a charming little town with dotting mountain sides and valleys and is situated between the Tons and Yamuna rivers at an elevation of 7000–7250 feet at a distance of 300 odd kilometres from New Delhi and that’s all the information we needed to pack our bags and head towards a new adventure.
With our team of 9 people (Piyush, Gopal, Manish, Rohit, Daljeet A.K.A DJ, Sunil, Ankit, Prashant & Tushar), we headed for this much awaited 3 day trip to the Himalayas and right in the beginning we knew that this trip will be epic & that Gopal has done his magic again. He had told us that this time it will be bigger, better and more adventurous, even though our last trip to Churwadhar was phenomenal.
There is nothing ordinary or mundane in the life of Unlockar. This time as well, everything was well planned - camping in the mountains, trekking on jungle trail, soaking breath taking water falls!! Imagine a kid in candy land!! Yes, Gopal is our Willy Wonka!! (Calculation of ROI of Happiness begins.)
Day #1
6:00 AM: Time to assemble, the adventure begins
Carrying everything from cricket bats to poker set, we all assembled on time with our bags ready with a big grin on our faces. After finally settling down in our evergreen beasts – a Black Pajero and a White Fortuner, we finally flagged off our journey, crooning away to the songs by Mohit Chauhan, Arijit Singh.
8:00 AM: Breakfast at Zilmil Dhaba, Karnal
Nothing binds the Unlockar team better than food!! And nothing can top the food of famous road side dhabas J!!! After having a scrumptious meal of Paranthas and Tea, it was time to hit the road again.
2:00 PM: Chakrata!! The heaven in hills!!
We reached Chakrata at 2 PM and were greeted by the ever smiling Mitesh, manager and owner of the beautiful and luxury camping place called Blue Canvas Resort.
The view was breath taking with high green mountains and deep valleys in a blanket of clouds. We were in India’s very own personal Switzerland. As soon as we entered, there was a race to choose the best tents but we soon realized that every one of them offered a breath taking view of the valley. After having a quick lunch, our resort manager took us to Tiger Fall, which was 32 Kilometre from the resort.
5:00 PM: The Roaring Tiger Falls
After having the famous Rajma of Chakrata in lunch, we left for Tiger Fall at 3:30 PM. After a drive of 1.5 hours and an easy walking trek of 500 metres, we were able to see and hear the roaring Tiger Fall.
Tiger Fall is one of the highest direct water fall in Uttarakhand. Locally known as “Kerao Pacchad”. Tiger Fall makes a roaring sound (as that of a Tiger) during its direct descent from 100 meters cliff into a small pool.
Water from the pool collects in a small pool and overflows from there into a rivulet which flows in steps through entire landscape surrounding the fall.
During monsoon, Tiger fall show its full glory. The mist it creates during that time makes it difficult to look towards fall even from 50 meters of distance.
We got drenched even from a distance and the smiles were bigger than ever. The hustle bustle of Delhi was far behind and the only official targets left to achieve were to gather more memories and happiness. The ROI is ever increasingJ!!
8:00 PM: Back to camp for Bonfire
We left from Tiger Falls at around 6:30 PM and reached back to our resort by 8:00 PM. The staff informed us that the dinner will be ready in an hour (though we ended up having our dinner only after midnight) and, in the meanwhile, we can enjoy the bonfire.
The highlight of the day was indeed the bonfire. The air was chilly, we were wet after visiting the falls and tired to our bones, the bonfire was a like a dream come true. Our very own Daljeet (DJ) connected the Bluetooth speakers and then began the night we would never forget.
Fire, music, friends & food, what else do you need? As the great line of a great song by Metallica goes, “Nothing else matters!!!”
Day #2
8:30 AM: Wake up!!
Most of us woke up the next day with tiresome limbs and aching heads (I guess you know why our heads were aching ;-) )
The moment we came out of our tents to see the morning glow on the mountains and the sun-lit dew on the grass exploding into a million rainbows, all our head aches and tiredness vanished in an instant. The view was to die for. God himself painted this marvellous landscape just for us. All nine of us were sitting in absolute silence, yet communicating our love for the place and this team because of whom we were able to be here today and enjoy the “Wanderers for Life”
9:30 AM: Breakfast, Pool & Table Tennis!!
Breakfast was served at 9:30 AM and after feasting on the eggs and sandwiches we decided to play pool and Table Tennis in the resort.
Every team member claimed to be the undisputed champion of one game or the other, only to realise that we all are blessed with two left feet and absolutely no hand-eye coordination. We are techies and not sportsmen L
12:15 PM: Trekking trip to Budher caves and Moila Top
The highlight of the whole Chakrata trip was this 5 Kilometres long jungle trek from Budher to Moila Danda Peak also called Moila Top. The uphill 2.5 kilometres trek (one way) was treacherous and extremely exhausting. It took us 1.15 hours to complete just 2.5 km. All of us took 10 stops to control our breath and heartbeat, never giving up on the idea of scaling the summit, even if it caused us a seizure.
And boy, were we glad that we made it to the top! The view was like nothing we had imagined. It was enough to make a grown man cry out of joy and delight. 360° view of the valley covered in grass and trees. Mountains in the background covered with snow and chilly wind blowing across our face. We were in heaven. We could hear the god whispering in our ears through the wind and we were thanking him for such wonders.
Budher is a place famous for its historic caves, Budher Caves. These caves are also well known by the name of Moila Caves, named after a German national, Moila, who discovered and explored these caves. Budher caves are still unexplored due to unknown, difficult terrains. Legends believe that Budher caves were built by Pandavas of Mahabharata epic and are more than 150 Kilometres in length.
Moila Tibba is a panoramic green meadow encircling an age old Lord Shiva temple. This meadow is at a height of 2590 mtrs and offers the magnificent view of the Himalayan ranges.
5:00 PM: Downhill trek, Chakrata market and back to resort
At 5:00 PM we started our downhill trek. It was very easy in comparison to the uphill trek, as gravity did all the work. We covered the 2.5 km downhill trek in 30 minutes and then we headed to Chakrata market.
Chakrata market is a very small market, unlike the big and famous mall roads of Shimla, Manali etc. It was an absolute pleasure to interact with the locals, who were very kind, welcoming and warm hearted.
8:00 PM: Dinner, ghosts & lights out!!
We reached back at 8:00 PM and sat around the bonfire after freshening up. Someone suggested to talk about ghost stories and experiences. It is sort of customary to talk about all the scary stuff at night, especially when you are in the mountains.
After some chilling stories and a delicious dinner, everyone excused themselves to their respective tents to hide inside the blankets hoping to sleep but every rustle of the tree and howl of the wind made sure that we had the longest night we all have ever experienced.
Day #3
9:00 AM: Waking up on the last day!!
All of us woke up at 9:00 AM. We were so enamoured with this trip that we were sad to go back home. We all sat silently for an hour in front of our tents, soaking in the beauty, freshness and camaraderie that we experienced in the last three days.
After a quick breakfast, we packed our bags and slowly walked to our cars to finally go home. We left behind all those mesmerizing mountains and carried infinite memories and happiness for life.
7:30 PM: Arrived Home!!!
We left from Chakrata at 12:30 PM and reached Delhi at around 7:30 PM in the evening.
The ROI of happiness was achieved. The quota of memories was filled to the brim and we all were ready to head back to work to develop mind blowing apps for all our users. We are refreshed and ready to roll!!!
“Come be a part of Unlockar Family!!”
