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Rajeev Khandelwal's dream trip
Rajeev Khandelwal recently took 10 days off from his hectic shooting calendar to go on his dream trip- the one he and his friends have been planning for 10 years. Rajeev, who returned on the 1st of June, talks about his experience in Ladakh.
Rajeev Khandelwal recently took 10 days off from his hectic shooting calendar to go on his dream trip- the one he and his friends have been planning for 10 years. Rajeev, who returned on the 1st of June, talks about his experience in Ladakh.
"I've been dreaming about this trip from the time I was in college, 10 years ago. I remember we saw Ladakh on the map. I did a little research on it with my two college friends and since then it was our dream that one day, when we had money, we would go there and explore the whole place on our own; without the external aid of anybody else.
We've been friends for the last 10-11 years now and it's amazing knowing them for over a decade. One was a year senior to me and one was five years senior but we were in the same group. The bonding that you share with the people of your college or school is absolutely different from what you share with people that you meet later on in life."
Their dream finally came true in May when they packed their bags and headed out:
"Six months back, the three of us decided to go. Both my college friends are married now so it was difficult for them to come out for ten days as it was difficult for me to go out of Mumbai too. However we managed and on coming back it still feels like a dream that we actually pulled it off.
We were like three college boys on top of a hill, in a river and next to the snow capped mountains. We pitched our tents and in the night I played mouth organ and we would sing. We used to go meet people in the villages, roam and travel around and get back to the camp at 6 o clock. At that time we would sit together, talk and reminisce about college.
The best part of the trip was that we weren't prepared for anything! We didn't know what would happen once we reached Ladakh. We weren't prepared for the place but we prepared ourselves with tents, a full kitchen, bean bags, a gas stove and other equipment.
Even with all this, we still didn't know where to go, where to put up camp and where it was safe."
Rajeev insisted on taking charge of the driving:
"It was a 3000 km journey and I drove most of the time. All three of us are drivers but I refused to let anyone else touch the steering wheel on the most dangerous roads.
The most exciting thing was a 100 km stretch of road. If you looked away, even for a second, you're going straight to heaven! There is nothing known as 'road' over there; only stones and streams running past."
The boys were stuck in snow for 5 hours and later spent 8 hours losing each other on a mountain.
"It started to snow over there and we were stuck, in our car, in ice for 5 hours. We didn't have any towing rope but I had bought climbing rope so we tried using that. For hours we were pushing and towing but nothing helped. Finally a bulldozer came and managed to get us out. Even though we were stuck doing nothing we didn't think that our holiday time was being wasted. We thought that we would enjoy the time here no matter how long it lasts. It added to the charm of the whole trip.
There was another incident where we went mountain climbing. All three of us were sure that our own individual route was the right one so we went our separate ways. We all reached the top but when I looked down we realized "ki hamari band baj gayi". Going back down didn't seem very easy! We called out to each other but we didn't hear or see each other. I went down first and called one of their cell phones. Luckily he had network on the hills and we realized that all of us were safe as we were searching for each other. Climbing the mountain should've taken us two hours but we ended up taking 8 hours! Luckily we had sufficient water."
Rajeev has many other destinations he has his eye on and wants to explore the whole of India:
"I'd like to travel and explore our entire country on my terms. I'd like to go towards the China border and also Kerala. I have been there but I want to go this time on my own steam. Once I'm done with India I'll try other countries. It has always been a dream of mine to conquer Mount Everest some day."
We've been friends for the last 10-11 years now and it's amazing knowing them for over a decade. One was a year senior to me and one was five years senior but we were in the same group. The bonding that you share with the people of your college or school is absolutely different from what you share with people that you meet later on in life."
Their dream finally came true in May when they packed their bags and headed out:
"Six months back, the three of us decided to go. Both my college friends are married now so it was difficult for them to come out for ten days as it was difficult for me to go out of Mumbai too. However we managed and on coming back it still feels like a dream that we actually pulled it off.
We were like three college boys on top of a hill, in a river and next to the snow capped mountains. We pitched our tents and in the night I played mouth organ and we would sing. We used to go meet people in the villages, roam and travel around and get back to the camp at 6 o clock. At that time we would sit together, talk and reminisce about college.
The best part of the trip was that we weren't prepared for anything! We didn't know what would happen once we reached Ladakh. We weren't prepared for the place but we prepared ourselves with tents, a full kitchen, bean bags, a gas stove and other equipment.
Even with all this, we still didn't know where to go, where to put up camp and where it was safe."
Rajeev insisted on taking charge of the driving:
"It was a 3000 km journey and I drove most of the time. All three of us are drivers but I refused to let anyone else touch the steering wheel on the most dangerous roads.
The most exciting thing was a 100 km stretch of road. If you looked away, even for a second, you're going straight to heaven! There is nothing known as 'road' over there; only stones and streams running past."
The boys were stuck in snow for 5 hours and later spent 8 hours losing each other on a mountain.
"It started to snow over there and we were stuck, in our car, in ice for 5 hours. We didn't have any towing rope but I had bought climbing rope so we tried using that. For hours we were pushing and towing but nothing helped. Finally a bulldozer came and managed to get us out. Even though we were stuck doing nothing we didn't think that our holiday time was being wasted. We thought that we would enjoy the time here no matter how long it lasts. It added to the charm of the whole trip.
There was another incident where we went mountain climbing. All three of us were sure that our own individual route was the right one so we went our separate ways. We all reached the top but when I looked down we realized "ki hamari band baj gayi". Going back down didn't seem very easy! We called out to each other but we didn't hear or see each other. I went down first and called one of their cell phones. Luckily he had network on the hills and we realized that all of us were safe as we were searching for each other. Climbing the mountain should've taken us two hours but we ended up taking 8 hours! Luckily we had sufficient water."
Rajeev has many other destinations he has his eye on and wants to explore the whole of India:
"I'd like to travel and explore our entire country on my terms. I'd like to go towards the China border and also Kerala. I have been there but I want to go this time on my own steam. Once I'm done with India I'll try other countries. It has always been a dream of mine to conquer Mount Everest some day."
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