Some Trips End With Photos. Shimla Left Us With Stories. ❄️🏔️

The journey

There is something slightly unhinged about five friends voluntarily deciding to go to the mountains in the LAST week of December.

We knew it would be freezing.

We knew Shimla would be crowded.

We knew getting out of bed every morning would require serious motivation.

And yet Myra, Vihaan, Kabir, Rhea and I looked at all of that and basically said:

"Perfect. Book it." 😭

We reached Shimla right in the middle of that proper year-end winter vibe. The streets were full of people, cafés were packed, everyone was wrapped in jackets and mufflers, and the mountains had that cold December look that immediately made the trip feel special.

The first evening was intentionally simple.

We checked into our hotel, threw our luggage inside and headed straight towards Mall Road.

Nobody even unpacked properly.

Priorities.

Walking around Mall Road in December was honestly such a vibe. Warm lights everywhere, cold air, people carrying coffee, little shops full of winter stuff and five of us stopping every few minutes because somebody wanted something.

Coffee.

Momos.

Brownies.

More coffee.

At one point Myra asked:

"Are we exploring Shimla or just eating?"

Both.

Obviously. 😭

We walked towards The Ridge, and that's where the trip properly started feeling like a winter holiday.

The mountains in the distance, Christ Church lit up behind us, everyone dressed in winter clothes...

Perfect group-picture situation.

Except getting five people to cooperate for one photograph is apparently impossible.

Kabir was looking somewhere else.

Vihaan was giving instructions.

Rhea didn't like the first picture.

Myra wanted a vertical one.

And I had already lost patience. 😂

Eventually, a stranger clicked one for us.

Best picture of the evening.

The next morning was our Kufri day, and this was what everyone had actually been waiting for.

The drive from Shimla itself was beautiful. As we climbed higher, the roads became prettier, the air became colder and suddenly everyone was staring outside instead of at their phones.

The moment we reached Kufri, the boys became unnecessarily competitive.

It started with one innocent snowball.

Five minutes later...

War.

Nobody was safe. 😭

Rhea tried staying out of it.

Didn't work.

Myra tried hiding behind me.

Also didn't work.

At some point we were all laughing so much that nobody even remembered who had started it.

We spent hours around Kufri enjoying the winter landscape, trying activities, clicking pictures and drinking chai whenever our hands became too cold.

And honestly, hot chai after being outside in Kufri deserves its own rating: 17/5.

One of the funniest moments happened when Kabir confidently walked across an icy patch after telling everyone:

"Guys, it's fine."

Approximately three seconds later he nearly slipped.

Nobody helped first.

We laughed first.

Then helped.

Friendship. 🤍😭

Back in Shimla, we visited Jakhu Temple, and once again the monkeys made everyone suddenly extremely responsible about their belongings.

Vihaan was holding his sunglasses like they contained classified information.

We also explored Lakkar Bazaar, where the plan was to buy "one or two small souvenirs."

That went exactly how you'd expect.

By the time we left, everybody had bags.

Our evenings became my favourite routine.

We'd come back after sightseeing, rest for a while and then head out again for dinner or find some cosy café.

One evening we found a place overlooking the hills and ended up staying there much longer than planned.

Coffee became dinner.

Dinner became dessert.

And dessert became one of those conversations where you somehow start discussing everything from careers and relationships to where all of us think we'll be five years from now.

Then someone said something stupid and destroyed the emotional moment.

Much better. 😂

Because we were travelling right before New Year's, Shimla had this extra energy everywhere.

People were on holidays, the streets stayed lively late into the evening and everyone seemed to be in celebration mode.

But strangely, some of my favourite moments were the quiet ones.

Standing at The Ridge after sunset.

Looking outside during the drive to Kufri.

Sitting together with chai when everyone was freezing.

Walking back to the hotel at night while discussing absolutely nothing important.

By 30th December, nobody wanted to pack.

Five days earlier we'd arrived with clean clothes, organised suitcases and an actual itinerary.

We were leaving with shopping bags stuffed inside suitcases, hundreds of pictures, multiple new inside jokes and absolutely no idea where half our socks had gone.

Classic friends' trip.

Shimla was beautiful.

Kufri was gorgeous.

But honestly, years from now I probably won't remember every viewpoint we visited.

I'll remember Kabir almost slipping.

The snowball fight.

Myra asking for "one last picture" approximately forty times.

Rhea and me laughing over things nobody else understood.

Vihaan controlling the playlist like it was a full-time job.

And all five of us sitting together somewhere in the mountains, already discussing:

"Okay... next trip where?" 🤍