Adventure and memories to last for a lifetime

Vaishnavi Bhardwar, Silver Award aspirant from Uttam School for Girls, Ghaziabad sharing her memories of the Adventurous Journey 

The last year of school is always very special and close to one's heart, as that's the last opportunity for a student to enjoy the school events and build a treasure trove of all those unforgettable moments, to be cherished forever. One such much awaited event was the IAYP trip for Silver Award. And our joy knew no bounds when we got to know that our destination would be the land of heavenly beauty, Ranikhet.

We boarded the Kathgodam Shatabdi and travelled by road to reach a village located about 12 kms from Ranikhet. We stayed in a traditional stone house called Daan'kurhi, a local term for the highest house in the valley. After a hot tea and snacks break we left for a short trek when rain showers welcomed us. It was already dark when we came back and we gathered for a bonfire and went to sleep after a delicious dinner with our energies high for the next day's adventures.  

Thrilled to find ourselves in the lap of soothing and serene environs, we spent a few action-packed, exciting and adventurous days there. We were divided in teams and assigned the task of gathering maintenance tools from the villagers. After completing this herculean task, we went on to volunteer for repairing the village water naala (rain water storage source). We also constructed a part of a road to access the naala. It was real hard work but we enjoyed every bit of it. Then we left for our campsite where we pitched our own tents and lit a bonfire, and helped in cooking dinner near the bank of river Kosi. The next day proved to be a fun-filled day where interesting physical sports adventures were lined up. We did flying fox, slithering and had a lot of fun in the water before we left for Daan-Khudi.

We also visited one of the two sun temples at Katarmal on our way. On reaching Daan khudi we got to know that the organizers had arranged a performance by local Kumaoni artists who sang melodious songs. We too sang and danced with them. We also performed plays on the allotted theme given to our teams. Most of us hardly slept the last night of the trip and participated in leisure activities which are impossible to forget. 

We left early morning for Kathgodam and also visited Nainitaal on our way. When we boarded the train to Ghaziabad the bags weighed the same but we were carrying many memories with us which we are going to cherish for a lifetime.

All of us are thankful to our school, respected Principal ma'am and our escort teachers Ms. Madhu Sen Gupta and Ms. Saleha for without them this trip would have been impossible.  Click for pictures