If the Beas river was a treat to watch on the way to Thanedhar, the Sutlej was a feast to the eyes. The road girdles along the banks of the river. It gave me a feeling of holding hands with the river as she walked me home. I drove on to reach the sleepy village of Sojha and passed through miles and miles of fields of Blue Iris. Did you know that the Blue Iris is like the cousin of Gladioli twice removed?

The Retreat, where I stayed at Sojha, smells of fresh cedar wood. We met Preetam Reddy and his wife Pallavi who were volunteering their time at Sojha. Preetam and Pallavi are both programmers. Preetam most recently worked for iGate in Japan and was in Infosys for a while after doing civil engineering from IIT-Madras. They are both avid trekkers and were disappointed at not being able to convince me to join the gang. All I did was join them for a walk to the Sojha village where I met Johnny.

Johnny is the village mascot. He is a 15-year-old dog who rules the area. Last year, he was attacked by a snow leopard and survived. You can still see the scars on Johnny’s body. Johnny escorts the visitors around the village. He did that for me and walked back to laze around and play with the village kids. The Teerthan river flows close to Sojha. In the evenings, Preetam would organise a bonfire to be lit. There was fresh trout served in the evenings for guests. That’s one rendezvous Johnny would never miss. He would join us for his share of grilled trout and then go back to ensure that the village was safe from the snow leopard.

The evenings in Sojha are just magical. What a welcome change they are from the sweltering heat of Gurgaon in June. I would just lie under the warm quilt and pray that someone would fix me another cup of hot coffee, for me to make the plotline move faster. The sight of rain-soaked Sojha would greet me when I would awaken. They were lazy days, just the kind when you would want to sip

a steaming cup of chai and tap away at the keyboard — perfect days to write out romantic portions of the novel.

A couple of days at Sojha and this gypsy was ready to move on to his next destination — McLeodganj — the home of the Dalai Lama. It was tough to hold a day job and finish writing a sequel. So, I decided on impulse to just go somewhere inspiring and speed up my sequel. The places were all spread out over the state of Himachal Pradesh.

I started with Thanedhar — the place where the legendary Samuel Stokes planted Himachal’s first apple. I took the Shatabdi Express from New Delhi to Chandigarh and then drove to Thanedhar. The route was breathtakingly beautiful. I loved the sight of the Sutlej river.

Stokes, came to India (specifically Shimla) in 1904 on a trip from Philadelphia and settled down in Kotgarh, which is just a stone’s throw away. He spent the rest of his days till his death in 1946.

I drove from Simla to Thanedhar (altitude of 1,830 m). The place lived up to it’s reputation. I was very excited initially and photographed the first few sightings of green apples (actually the variety is called Red Delicious) but soon enough realised that there were millions of those trees. Himachal must be the “Fruit Bowl of India”.

Right through the journey, I saw apples, pears and the occasional cherry orchards. The place I stayed in was bang in the middle of an apple orchard. If I had known that, I would have saved myself the trouble of clicking every apple tree that I saw along the way.

A vacation really recharges the soul and this place was just the right place. I am not the trekking kind. I know I will offend those of you who go to a place like Thanedhar and get up at the crack of dawn (what’s that?), put on your sneakers, wear your backpacks and head outdoors. To you, I say, that’s

just the right thing to do. But

no, I won’t be joining you any time soon.

I would rather sit on the balcony and sip endless cups of tea (from the Kangra Valley) and stare at the beautiful sight ahead. The apple trees in the foreground, and the mountain ranges in various shades of blue fading away into the horizon, are a sight to fill your senses.

I liked to park myself on the balcony of my room and stare at the valley. It was such a liberating feeling not to be bothered by phones and emails, and to just stay with the characters of my novel, and to get to know them better in the middle of the loveliest fruit garden heaven!