Mission Kashmir 2014 - Day 08
Katra – Bhavan –
Katra – Hoshiarpur – Ropar
We had checked
into Tridev when we found it to be a little better than Shradhha especially due
to enclosed Parking. I had decided to take rest today and my brother had
advised me to be ready by 11:30 AM – after all they had started the trek by
4PM. Today, finally, I was to be at the Wheel from Katra to Delhi. However;
starting at 1PM from Katra; after the Lunch Halt at Coral River Resort on
Punjab side of JK border, we decided to try the Hoshiarpur-Ropar route.
Stuck in a
traffic jam in tight & narrow Hoshiarpur at 4:30 PM, we started to
collectively realize we might not be able to make it to Delhi even by 2AM. By 6
PM, the fog had become so heavy on the Hoshiarpur-Ropar highway that we had
decided to stay the night at Ambala.
The next 3 hours
(6-9PM) proved to be a nightmare for us and the toughest driving experience for
me so far in my life. The dark fog was so dense that the cars moved in queues
of 6-8 with a supposedly confident driver leading the group at 20 kmh. Once in
a while, a CH or a PB Car brazenly overtook the queue at a high speed. The
leader surely took relief in this coup as the tedious responsibility of the new
leader showed its evidence in the lost vigour in his speed. By 8:30 PM, I was
so struck with horror that I declared that continuing post Ropar would be a
suicide. We have to find a hotel. My brother quickly dialed an international number,
followed by a national number, followed by a Ropar number and voila – our Guest
House at IIT Ropar was done. My ordeal with the fog ended only when I parked
inside the gate of the Guest House.
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