Shimla With the Gang — Cold Weather, Hot Chai & Zero Serious People

The journey

I genuinely believe there's a very specific kind of chaos that happens when you travel with a mixed group of friends.

And our Shimla trip was basically proof. 😭

This time it was me, Rhea, Sakshi, Kabir, Dhruv and Yash. Six people with completely different personalities, music choices, sleeping schedules and opinions about literally everything.

So obviously... perfect people to travel with.

The trip started with everyone promising, "Guys please be on time."

And then Kabir arrived almost forty minutes late.

Nobody was even surprised. 😭

Once we finally started driving towards Shimla though, the mood instantly changed. Windows down whenever it wasn't freezing, mountains slowly appearing in the distance, chai stops every few hours, and a playlist that had absolutely no personality because six people kept changing the songs.

By the time we reached Shimla, everyone was exhausted.

Did we rest?

Obviously not.

We dropped our bags at the hotel and immediately went towards **Mall Road** because apparently sitting peacefully for ten minutes wasn't an option.

Mall Road was honestly such a vibe in the evening. Cold air, warm lights, little cafés, people walking around, and us stopping every few minutes because somebody wanted momos, coffee, ice cream... yes, ICE CREAM in that weather.

The next morning we headed towards Kufri, and this is where everyone's real personality came out.

The boys spent the entire drive acting like they were professional mountain explorers.

Approximately ten minutes after getting out of the car:

"Bro, it's actually really cold."

No shit, Sherlock. 😭

We spent hours there just messing around, clicking absolutely terrible group pictures and challenging each other over random things nobody needed to compete about.

At one point, Dhruv and Yash turned a completely normal walk uphill into a race.

Nobody asked them to.

Nobody cared who won.

They still argued about the result for the next two hours.

Meanwhile, Rhea, Sakshi and I were just standing there questioning why we voluntarily travel with these people.

The answer became obvious five minutes later when all six of us were laughing about something completely stupid.

That's basically how the entire trip went.

We also visited Jakhu Temple, where the monkeys instantly became everyone's biggest concern. Suddenly all the boys who had been acting brave in Kufri were walking around protecting their sunglasses like national treasure. 😂

One evening we went to **The Ridge** around sunset and, for once, everyone became quiet.

The mountains looked beautiful, the sky slowly changed colours, and the entire city started lighting up below us.

It lasted approximately three minutes.

Then someone ruined the moment by saying, "Dinner mein kya khaana hai?"

Back to normal.

Our nights at the hotel were probably my favourite part of the trip anyway.

We'd order food, sit together in one room, play cards, roast each other, tell embarrassing stories and somehow stay awake until 2 AM despite having plans for the next morning.

And obviously, every night ended with:

"Tomorrow pakka early uthenge."

We never did.

By the last day, nobody wanted to go back. We were tired, our camera rolls were completely full, half the group had lost something, and we had enough new inside jokes to make our group chat unbearable for everyone else.

Shimla itself was beautiful.

But honestly, put these five idiots anywhere with mountains, chai and a long weekend...

I'd probably still have the best time.