Here’s what COVID taught me: When nothing goes your way, go away!

And I came across one such opportunity when the WhatsApp group of my travel-hungry school friends went abuzz one night with plans of a trip to the hill-station that I was enchanted by, since the time I visited it in 2012 (yeah, the year world was supposed to end; me and Mukteshwar apparently have a pattern).

Compared to our Goa plans, this one escalated quite quickly, and we found ourselves on the road soon enough, driving to Mukteshwar.

We had booked this property with a spectacular Himalayan view at the best spot, called Snow View Luxury Homes.

Since all of us who went on this 3-day-trip had been locked in our homes for months, we were quite confident of a safe travel bubble. The remaining apprehensions regarding the hotel sanitisation and safety dissolved after witnessing the arrangements done by the cottage caretaker.

Upon reaching and resting for a while, we decided to light a bonfire, which followed by an evening full of dance, music, vocals by a guitarist friend, barbequed dinner and some drinks ‘on the rocks’.

A night of UNO, dumb charades and drunken chronicles walked us to a blissful sunrise. Oh, the Himalayas at the breaking of dawn, in all shades of crimson, was a sight that shall be etched in my memory for a lifetime.

We cooked some French toast, fried eggs and chai for ourselves before heading out to explore Mukteshwar Dham, Chauki ki Jali and Bhalugaad Waterfalls.

I could write about all the picturesque waterfalls, but I guess, you get it by now. (That half-naked guy? Yep, that’s a friend who took a dip in the frrreezing waters of the fall!)

I’m happy to recall that we noticed no violations of safety protocols throughout our trip. And now, at home, all I can think of is-

Will I squeeze another vacation by year-end? Will I remember 2020 by something other than COVID? Will things finally fall in place?

Tune in to the next episode of MOST DEFINITELY YES!