North indian wedding

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So, this is how I got an invitation to the wedding. I worked in an office with Shivali, Shivali is married to Naveen, Naveen's brother is the groom. When their son was born, Naveen's parents came to stay (from Chamba to Hamilton, NZ), they also had other business on hand, which was to arrange the marriage. 

Alrighty, back to making our way to Chamba. Everyone that was suppose to arrive, in our travel party had done so we just had to pick up a few in Rishikesh, We were in those mountain climbing safari jeeps, it was a beast. I can't remember the exact travel time as I was enjoying the sights and also talking to Revati ( Shivali's school friend). The drive was up hill for most of the trip, it reminded me of the Rimutaka's in New Zealand, the green valley got deeper and deeper as we got higher and higher, the roads were decent and seldom was it too tight, just a few crazy souls wanting to overtake and get ahead.  

We stopped for some group photos here and there, as you do on road trips. When we got into the town of Chamba, I noticed a sign that said bro welcomes you, I had to laugh as "bro" is a commonly used term where I grew up. The residential buildings here were different, flat roofs and hanging of the edge of a cliff, again. We got dropped off on the side of the road with no house insight, there was an interesting staircase down on to the terrace roof of the groom's family home, it was already dressed up for the celebrations to come. The terrace was also home to the four large water tanks that would get filled every second day which was interesting to watch and experience, we didn't run out of water, rather some tanks got used up faster than others and some one would have to move the water by hand. 

When we headed downstairs to the house, the layout was  several self contained rooms, some had 2 rooms, the plan is to eventually rent the rooms out. I highly recommend this place, it has such an amazing view and the hosts are absolutely lovely. 

Once we were all settled in and reconnected with everyone, we made plans to venture out to Lake Tehri the next day before day 1 of the wedding. Her water is teal and she is surrounded by green hills and along the way we saw the mountains in a distance. There were the usual lake activities, boat rides, jetski rides, I was keen but at the same time, when it comes to the possible chance of injury, I tend to  go without and being that it was early days in my trip, I was happy to stay inland with the majority of our party, absolutely envious of the brave.

I can't say I saw enough of Chamba or maybe there wasn't much to see, however who I was with, made it feel like home and waking up to the view and breathing in the fresh mountain air, was enough for Chamba to be unforgettable.