Viha Dixit
The bus wheezed to a stop, and Pixie practically tumbled out onto the dusty road. 'Finally!' She stretched her arms wide, breathing in air that actually tasted different from the city. Cleaner. Cooler.
'Welcome to the City of Bliss,' Noddie said, shouldering his backpack. He'd been here before, but seeing Pixie’s face light up made it feel new again.
'Bliss? That's quite a promise.' Pixie spun around, taking in the mix of old buildings and mountain backdrop. 'So where's this mysterious cave you were going on about?'
Twenty minutes later, they stood at the entrance to Robber's Cave. The name alone had Pixie intrigued, but when they walked inside and she saw the stream literally vanish into the rock wall, she stopped mid-step.
'Okay, that's genuinely weird.' She crouched down, watching the water disappear. 'Where does it go?'
'Wait for it,' Noddie grinned.
They followed the path deeper into the cave, splashing through ankle-deep water, and there it was the stream bubbling back up from nowhere, like magic.
'Well, I'll be damned.' Pixie sat on a rock, letting the cool water run over her feet. A few local kids were having a picnic nearby, their laughter echoing off the cave walls. 'This is actually pretty perfect.'
The monastery was massive. Pixie had expected something small and tucked away, but the golden stupa towered above them, sixty meters of gleaming serenity against the morning sky.
'You brought me to a Buddhist theme park,' she whispered, only half-joking.
'Shh.' But Noddie was smiling. They walked the gardens in comfortable silence, past prayer wheels and carefully tended flowers. Pixie stopped trying to take photos after the first few minutes it felt wrong somehow. Better to just be here.
Later, at Tapkeshwar Temple, she found herself fascinated by the water drops falling steadily onto the stone lingam. Drip. Drip. Drip.
'Nature's own rhythm,' she murmured.
'Told you it was special.'
'You did. Though I still think it looks like the world's most spiritual coffee maker.'
Noddie laughed, and the sound bounced around the cave. 'Only you would think that.'
The sulfur springs at Sahastradhara smelled terrible and felt amazing. Pixie sat with her feet in the warm, mineral-rich water, watching other visitors come and go.
'So these are supposed to cure everything?' she asked.
'That's what they say.'
'Right. Well, I'm wishing for better knees and the ability to eat unlimited momos without consequences.'
The ropeway ride gave them a bird's eye view of the Doon Valley spread out below green and gold in the afternoon light. Pixie's hair did indeed fly everywhere, but she was too busy looking at the landscape to care about photos.
At the Khalanga War Memorial, things got quieter. The memorial was simple, understated, but the story it told of Gorkha soldiers fighting British forces in 1814 felt heavy with history.
'Not many tourists come here,' Noddie said.
'Their loss.' Pixie read the inscriptions carefully. 'These guys were seriously brave.'
They ended the day at Lachhiwala, where Pixie promptly found a shady spot and declared her intention to do absolutely nothing productive for at least an hour. Noddie was fine with that.
The Nag Tibba trek started early, when the air was still cool and the light was soft. Pixie had been nervous about the hike, but once they got going, she found her rhythm. One foot in front of the other, breathing steady, the sound of their boots on the trail mixing with bird calls and wind in the trees.
At the top, the Himalayan peaks stretched endlessly in every direction.
'Holy...' Pixie sat down hard on a rock, suddenly overwhelmed. Not by the physical effort, but by the sheer scale of it all.
'Yeah,' Noddie said, settling beside her. 'Gets you every time.'
They stayed up there longer than planned, sharing a thermos of tea and watching the light change on the distant snow-covered peaks.
The afternoon in Kalsi was a perfect counterpoint: gentle, historical, peaceful. Emperor Ashoka's rock edict had been there for over two thousand years, and somehow that made everything else feel both more and less significant.
'I could live here,' Pixie said, sketching the village houses scattered across the valley.
'Could you really?'
She considered it. 'Maybe. For a while.'
Their last day became an accidental food tour. It started with Bun Tikki from Dwarka Store crispy, spicy, exactly the kind of street food that makes you close your eyes and make happy noises.
'This is dangerous,' Pixie mumbled through a mouthful. 'I could get seriously addicted.'
The momos at the Tibetan Market were even better. Steaming hot dumplings served with chutney that made her eyes water in the best possible way. Then chaat from Paltan Bazaar golgappas that exploded with a tangy, spicy flavor.
They ended up on Mussoorie Road as the sun was setting, sharing a plate of roadside Maggi and watching the lights come on in the valley below.
'So,' Noddie said, twirling noodles around his fork, 'verdict?'
Pixie thought about it. The caves and temples, the mountain views, the food, the quiet moments. 'I liked it more than I expected to.'
'High praise from you.'
'Don't let it go to your head.' But she was smiling. 'Though I have to admit, for a place called the City of Bliss, it kind of lives up to the name.'
They sat there as the sky darkened, in no hurry to catch their bus back to reality. Sometimes the best adventures are the ones that remind you that simple pleasures, good food, beautiful views, and easy conversation are enough.
'Next time,' Pixie said, 'we're definitely checking out those waterfalls in Chakrata.'
'Next time?'
'Well, yeah. This was just the warm-up, right?'
Noddie grinned. 'Right.'
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