Should You Travel to the Same Place Again: A Ranikhet Question
Life is too short to travel to the same destination twice, they say. Don’t ask me who “they” are; it’s mostly just everyone ranging from friends to acquaintances to Instagram influencers to YOLO/FOMO pronouncers. You can also add yours truly to the list (perhaps near the bottom). I have/had always believed that one should keep exploring new cities, places, hills, beaches, restaurants, shacks, and glories of the nature.
But I was at a crossroads when I had to decide on a short-notice trip with a friend for this Christmas. My friend was keen on visiting the hills and for a change, I wanted a trip with minimal planning. So, I turned to old faithfuls: Landour and Ranikhet, both quiet, quaint, serene hill stations in the Uttarakhand state of India.
A week-long pros and cons listing was thrown into the trash when I realized that all the hotels and Airbnb rentals within my budget had been sold out in Landour. Thus, it was decided: we were off to Ranikhet.
Due to some brute luck and a random offer, I was able to get a very luxurious hotel in Ranikhet for very cheap, back in 2021. But this time, it was quite expensive, though fitting to its amenities. I had loved the place so much the last time that I decided it was worth its price and we should book it. Which I quickly did.
As we embarked on our journey, I couldn’t help but reminisce about the last visit. To add to it, I had visited the place in the exact same time range two years ago.
We got down at Kathgodam Station to get a cab to Ranikhet. Midway, we stopped at a place called Frog Point. It’s a giant frog-shaped boulder in the middle of a half-dry driver. What seemed magical the first time, just seemed like a random rock this time. It didn’t help that my pictures clicked very worse than the last time (Apologies to the photographer in question here).
At Ranikhet, just after checking in at the hotel, we rushed to see the sunset at the Seven Stone Point. Last time I went there, it was just me and my two friends, sitting on cliffside rocks at the Golden Hour, in silence, only speaking to appreciate the view. This time, my meditation was interrupted by a couple smoking cheap cigarettes in my face. Not wanting a confrontation, we decided to walk down to another rock staring into the valley. It somehow seemed quainter. But the peace was broken by a swarm of chattery boys wanting a “perfect selfie” standing at the edge of the rock. I rolled my eyes back so much that I could see my retina, but even that didn’t work with them. The chattery group didn’t leave. So, it was us who did. At a café uphill, we sipped nice coffee and munched on some snacks. It was time to get back to the hotel.
The hotel, surprisingly felt quite the same as last time, as if it was frozen in a refrigerator and only taken out just a day ago to thaw.
The chilly winter ensured that we stayed in our room bowing down to Electric Heater God. After watching a movie and unloading months of gossip, it was time to go to sleep early as I wanted to wake up in time to see the Himalayan Peaks from the Hotel Garden.
The next day, to my dismay, I could only spot a faint hint of the Trishul Peak and Nanda Devi: a view which was very clear two years ago. “Perhaps because it was Covid time then!” a hotel staffer tried to console me.
We had planned to go for a hike on a trail my friend had discovered two years ago. As we set out on the hike post a heavy breakfast, I noticed that the meadows, which were lush green two years ago, had turned a sad grey tone of green.
It just didn’t warm my heart as much as it did back then. To make matters worse, my internal compass went berserk and we took one wrong turn to venture deeper into the woods. Trying to get to the main road led us to walking for almost 4 kilometers to find a “short-cut” to the road which was just 50 meters afar from the place we had started the hike at.
Eventually we reached the main road from where we hitchhiked to the market. Last time, I hadn’t seen the market and so was curious shop around this time. To my dismay, I found nothing novel and ended up returning empty handed. (Though there was a nice rooftop restaurant where I had a pretty good Milkshake made of fresh strawberries.)
Another spot I had missed last time was the Ranijheel, the lake at the heart of the city. After walking and walking and more walking, we reached a “lake” which was more of a pond which was the size of a quarter of a football field wherein four swan-shaped boats were headed for a collision. And mind you, the lake’s water was as turbid as it could get.
Our disappointment led us back on the pathway. I checked that walking to the hotel would take around two hours. I was exhausted and didn’t want to walk. Thankfully, the nice people of the hills again let me hitchhike to the main road from where I could walk back to my hotel easily.
At the hotel, I decided to find a quiet corner in the garden and write some poetry. My writing was interrupted by a grey pheasant dazing through the garden. A photographer came to the garden and I pointed him to the direction of the pheasant. Eventually we got to talking about birds, bird-watching, photography and then of the hills. It turned out that he had been visiting this place for the last two decades and had even spotted a black bear on a tree last year. He was disappointed it was nowhere to be seen this year.
Much of the afternoon was spent talking about travelling and birds and hills and spirituality and every tangent possible to this topic. The hotel personnel informed me that the hotel had organized a Christmas Party for all the guests in the evening.
We had already had some ramen and reluctantly decided to go to the party, if only to see what it was all about. At the party, we met our photographer and his wife. They were joined by his kids and his brother’s family. We met other guests also and a long conversation ensued aided by popcorn, whiskey, Christmas cake and shared interests.
The chitchatting was turned into dancing when the local DJ started playing catchy Bollywood numbers and then again into a chatter over dinner. It was only around midnight that I realized I should probably head to sleep.
At night, I couldn’t help but compare the two experiences I had in Ranikhet.
In 2021, it was a trip with two of my best friends. We hiked and walked and relaxed and did peak-spotting, temple-hopping and bird-watching.
This time, I went with another friend and did a longer hike, got lost at the hike, hitchhiked, went to other parts of the city (albeit avoidable), and partied with new people.
If you ask me which time I had more fun, I wouldn’t have an answer. Because both the times, I was a different person and I had to learn that Ranikhet was also a different place.
As they say, you can’t cross the same river twice. I concur with that statement. But to cross the river, you need to keep an open mind. While the experiences of past may serve as a nice memory, they should never be a yardstick to measure the happiness of the present.
So, tell me, which places do you like to visit again and again?
