What shall we do for Christmas? The same thought was in the minds of all of us. 10 of us joined and decided to go to
Lake district. Nimy took the initiative
of booking couple of lovely cottages in Newlands valley. Vinoo, Nimy, Manoj and Dhanya chipped in with the food items along with Navin, Nida and
Shadhaab. I joined in from Brussels catching a boat. Nayeem added to the fun. Nearly 50% of the names started with "N".
Early hours of 25th December we left for Lake district. A Mazda and BMW from London and another BMW from Abeerden. First shock came when Kavya and Gopi dropped out becuase of ill health. Second shock was Manoj's BMW refused to start. Vinoo's
Mazda provided Manoj a helping hand with a jump start. Off we hit M1 from Hendon and agreed to meet at some service Birmingham. Manoj was in Fast Forward mode and was eating up M1 quite fast.
Brunch was in a service station near Birmingham. All went for different flavours of English Breakfast. Egg became a main ingrident of the trip. Manoj again needed a jump start and we all hit the road again. As we left Lancashire into Cumbria the beautiful scenery started unravelling.
The snow capped mountains, the black curving roads, occasional sheep march and frost bitten trees. No wonder everyone wanted to write a poem. As we started going up the hills with sunlight hitting the white mountains, cameras were busy. The occasional fog was the icing in the cake. We decided to take a break somewhere on the A66 to enjoy the landscape. 20 minutes out in the cold we realised that we need more protection. Jumping back in to the car we drove to Keswick town centre.
Keswick is a small town with mountains, lakes and rivers. The buildings were made from the slight green slates of Cumbria. We loved the place. It
being Christmas all was quiet and car parks empty. We walked down to the Bassenthwaite Lake.
Bassenthwaite Lake and the hills was truly a magnificent sight. With the sun going down the hills, the still lake and white snowy mountains was truly a photographer's dream. The occasional flight of the birds and a curious Robin all added to the fun. As the evening light faded we all decided to drive to the cottage.
The roller coaster ride was begininig. Navin had reached the cottage after few ups and down, Manoj raced up the frozen roads. As we left the main road into the country roads, driving was a nightmare. At the top of a hill we lost traction and car was sliding down. Nayeem jumped out the car looking for stones(Kalleedu Thumpi). I was trying to find some thing that could provide grip to the tyres. A good man in a Chelesa tractor advised us to drive up the hill with full traction. In between we called Manoj and Navin for rescue. They never reached us. I think they were afraid of being lost. We went back and in full throttle drove up; the momentem took us up the hill down the hill, hairpin bends and again up the hill. We saw Manoj and Navin as streaks when we passed them. A zig zag sign made me think of the good old days in Earth. Vinoo braked avoiding Dhanya and Shadhaab and car stopped before the Zig Zag. Vinoo was trembling, but did a good job. We all thanked god. Somehow we parked the car and then started unpacking our stuff.
The Kitchen was like Sahara desert, but within minutes it sprang into life with our food stuff. Crisps, milks apples, bomerang bananas and lots more. This could keep us in the cottage for atleast few days and also if required feed the neighbours. Beer was buried in the snow to make it cold. All of us were talking of roller coaster ride. Cottage-1 was the main kitchen and cottage-2's kitchen was rarely used. Manoj Dhanya and Nayeem(with few ghosts) decided to stay in Cottage-2. Myself, Vinoo, Nimy, Navin, Nida and Shadhaab used Cottage-1. Someone told that Nayeem was really talking to ghosts in the Night.
Dinner was ready and drinks were cold enough we all got into the act of finshing the food. I was meeting Nida and Shadhaab for the first time and Navin after a long time. We had lot of catching up to do. Late night we all hit the bed. Vinoo realised that the word "Kuthra" means bad and not good as he was thinking all now. But for Vinoo's cool handling of things we would have been in some hospital in Cumbria.
As the Boxing day morning sunlight started beaming to my room, I could see the cottage was sitting in front of a farm were sheep's were trying to find grass in the snow. Behind the farm snow capped hills hugged the blue skies with occasional clouds. The sun was playing hide and seek. The front of the cottage faces a valley and the sound of a small stream flowing coming from somewhere . My tummy was grumbling, signs of bad stomach. I had tea with lemon and sugar to keep it calm. Taking my D90 I walked around the cottage capturing everything.
The frozen trees, the sheep's, the stream and the hills. Walking on the frozen ice was like learning to walk for the first time. I had faith in my shoes. When I returned to cottage I could see camera flashes, signs that others have woken up.
The ladies were very good hosts as always, they had the breakfast ready. The chances of going out was very remote in this frozen conditions. We decided to do a pilot with Navin's BMW which had winter tyres. The idea was if Navin's car could come back to cottage then we would take the other cars. Myself Navin and Nayeem decided to drive down the Newland Valley. Going down was the road was very tricky, but manged to reach the bottom of the road. Driving up the car lost traction and the car started doing things it wanted to do and within minutes the car was sitting perpendicular to
the road. Manoj was asked to bring the showel. He told me that 2 cars are coming down the hill. I ran up the hill to stop them. Finally we decided that it was not a good idea to bring the car up the hill A sheep was trying to avoid Manoj with a showel on a curve and lost its footing and took Manoj along with it. All we could hear was a bleating and crying sounds. The sheep returned after a day with its friends to show them Manoj. The sheep was a hero in the flock, being the first to fight an Indian.
Manoj's car needed a battery, the nearest Halfords was at Penrith. Vinoo was left in the company of the ladies. Myself Manoj, Navin and Nayeem decided to get some drinks and a battery. Everyone bought good protective gear at Keswick and we drove down to Penrith looking for a super market and an Indian Restaurant. Searching for an Indian Restaurant, we came upon this British guy. He might be yellow pages of Penrith
Hilal: Is there any Indian Restraunt here?
Stranger: Yes. Do u want to go to Good Restaurant or Average one?
Hilal: Average!!
Stranger: Shocked !! Thinking; who is this fool asking for an average restaurant on a boxing day. I thought I got a chance to show my knowledge of Indian restaurants to few Indians. This fellow spoiled it by saving average. Finally he guided us to the green coloured building. But lucky for the Restaurant; it was closed. Everyone had a good laugh over it.
We got the battery and drove safely back to the cottage. We were starving and ate anything. The day also had a snow fight competition and we built a snowman also. Dinner on Boxing day was real fun. Manoj was drinking his washing liquid oops Brandy. His Brandy was sitting next to washing liquid and someone used it to wash the plates hence the name washing liquid. The colour of the brandy was like Persil. A bottle of Champagne for the ladies. I tried everything. Others stuck to the usual things. After dinner Vinoo was boxed to a corner to give him some advice. He is the youngest of the married lot. There was a boxing match between Nida and Nayeem and I was the referee which Nayeem lost. If he loses again next day Nida will call him Bubble. We all agreed to be ready by 10.00 am next day to go to Gramsmere.
The day after boxing day was pleasant. All those who woke up early went for a walk around Newland valley. The easiest way to remove the snow from cars was to have a snowball fight. I was fighting against Navin and
Nida but was able to survive; Nimy helped me. Nimy was chased by Vinoo who had a fall. Humpty Dumpty had a fall.... I was helping Shadhaab with snow balls as she could not bent down. It was decided that Vinoo's car will be taken to Town Centre and will be left there overnight. We also did some warm clothes shopping at Keswick and left for Grasmere.
Gramsere, Dove cottage, is the place where Wordsworth lived. We had a "new shoes" photos taken, Nida was kept out of it and she was sulking. Knowing more about Wordsworth, someone whom we learned in school was really a great experience. Nimy was the curios of the lot. As we left Dove cottage to Keswick, it was snowing heavily. But still we manged to take some pictures at Thirlmere and push a car into the road. Next important thing was to find a pub for Dinner/Lunch as it was already 4.30.
The first pub we went didn't provide food; but Bank Tavern served food. We drove back to Keswick. I made sure that everyone had a seat. Some tried bitter beer and gave up. The food at the pub's at city centre never used to be that good as in the country side, Bank Tavern also continued the tradition.
After dinner we drove back to cottage safely. I was acting as the Satnav. Dinner, Movies and Munchies were served for the evening. Nida Nayeem Boxing match never happened as Nayeem forfeited it. Nida now calls Nayeem now as Bubble Chachu. Packing and cleaning has to begin for the next day's return trip.
The Cottage was handed back by 10 Am on 28th December. All cars were packed and cottage cleaned, we handed over the keys to the cleaners. They took our group photo. I was in Navin's car. We stopped at Derwent water lake to take some pictures. The freezing lakes, bit of fog over the lake, the parked boats and the sunlight was a treat to the eyes. I was busy snapping up. We then reached the Car Park. Things were moved into Vinoo's car. Myself, Vinoo, Manoj and Dhanya left for Windermere, while Navin, Shadhaab, Nimy, Nida and Nayeem went to Birmingham. Later it turned out that they had spent the whole day on M6 stuck in traffic.
Vinoo, Manoj, Dhanya and myself drove to Windermere. In between we stopped at Walla Craig and Thirlmere to take some pictures. The sunlight, the fog, the snow flakes, the blue skies and the still lakes was majestic. I hated leaving Lake district. We then went to Ambelside lake. This was an accidental discovery. It was near a cottage where non residents were also allowed. We walked down the garden footpath. Behind us was a house built from Cumbrin slate and glass windows and sloping roof. Walking down the footpath we crossed the woods and reached the lake. The sight was breath taking. The snow capped hills, a small island with a plant and the clear water with an ocassional boat creating small waves on the shore. We spent an hour on the lake's bank. From here we decided to find a pub for lunch. We ended up in INGS which has Watermill pub. This is the best pub in Cumbria. Our car got stuck in the snow, but was helped by strangers. The Pub food was fantastic and we left Lake district to London. We met the M6 people at Palm beach.
We all really enjoyed the days in Lake district. I was missing Zubeen a lot. It was sad that everything got over very fast. I was up early morning to Brussels. I nealy missed the bus at Folkstone. Someone from the bus found me and took me back. Naveen, Nida snd Shadhaab are back safely to enjoy snow. That completed the puzzle.
Looking back it was a good thing that I went with my friends to Lake district.
Like birds, let us, leave behind what we don’t need to carry…GRUDGES SADNESS PAIN FEAR and REGRETS. Life is beautiful, Enjoy it.HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010
Snippets:
Hilal was talking only food and food during the trip and not Nimy.
Vinoo improved his Malayalam Vocabulary.
Navin read a book on smoking over the weekend, and stuck to it.
Manoj is very famous among the sheep's of Newland valley.
Nayeem is now the official stone man.
All of us pushed most of the cars in Lake District except Vinoo.
There are bananas as big as Boomerang in UK.
Dhanya was the guard for the North Korean president.
Karimoor is the official shoes for winter days.
