Explore – himalayaswithin

Walk in the Woods

October 26, 2022 by himalayaswithin, posted in Chahna says.., Explore

Destination: Self!

If you have been following my blog, you’d know that it started as an excursion experience sharing blog. I would pick a trail from Surrey or Hampshire council website and would set off. However, over time it evolved, and I started sharing experiences from other aspects of life. Hiking experience changed over the last few years for me after I had my child. It had been a while since I had been in the woods on my own, when I received news from internal Philips communication channel that Philips had joined hands with Chiltern Charity Run to support a mental health charity called Mind.

Mental health is something that has been my focus for the last couple of years. I have learned to recognise that mental health needs as much conscious attention as we pay to our physical health. Both are interlinked in some way but they both need to be addressed individually to achieve an overall balanced fitness. As I develop deeper understanding, I realise there are several layers to mental health and that there are lots of taboos attached too. We take our mental fitness too much for granted and tend to turn a blind eye subconsciously.

Chiltern charity event was the perfect amalgamation of my evergreen hobby and my recently revealed truth. I grabbed the opportunity and chose for the 10k run (or walk) in an endeavour to find peace amongst the woods as well as support the cause for my belief.

Two of my lovely friends decided to join me in this adventure who were as unsure as me if we’d make it. Not worrying about the result, the trio embarked upon the journey catching up after a long time. We talked about our work, fitness, work life balance, challenges and touched upon mental health aspect of our lives. One of the girls is a practicing GP who shared some very interesting but eye-opening insights into mental wellbeing.

The hike was amid woods close to Henley on Thames. Henley is a beautiful town on the river Thames in Oxfordshire. The weather was kind to us on the day – not too hot, nor too cold. The calmness of woods began having an impact on us soon after we started. We took a break at about 4.7kms for about 10 mins and had some snacks. That break helped me cross the line of being too conscious about my walk and being able to surrender myself to nature.

Soon after we resumed, I left my friends behind, not on purpose, just the terrain and a bit of consistent speed. I crossed a few people who were ahead of me and shortly I found myself alone in the walk. That put me in the space where I could connect with myself through nature. I kept pausing every so often to take in the scenery and to allow myself to absorb into the moment. Without realising, the charity’s purpose of mental health was being fulfilled. My mind was unwinding, and life’s purpose was becoming clearer.

The final patch of the walk, approximately last 3 kms, were complete wonderous for me. There was no one I could see in front of me or behind me. There was open ground on side and dense woods on the other. This patch had concrete road to walk on, unlike the rest of the hike which was mostly off-road and woody. During this time, there was one moment where I could simply let go of everything, including myself and be totally tuned in with the universe.

As I came nearer to the final turn, crossing which I would be back into real world, I turned around and kissed the woods good-bye, making a promise to myself to visit them soon.

I thank Chiltern Charity and Philips for giving me this excellent opportunity and to enable me to disconnect.

Written by: Chahna D

Edited by: Milauni T

When Nature Kisses You Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2019August 16, 2021 by himalayaswithin, posted in Chahna says.., Explore

Nothing out of the ordinary was planned for this day and we wanted to keep it simple. I had been using my husband’s car this week as my car had a problem with its particulate filter and needed fixing. Night before the D-day, husband’s car had a flat tyre and I wasn’t prepared to work from home. Oops! Will have to take the train and walk 20 mins to get to the station.

Who would have thought this will inspire me to write about it!!!!

Woke up early to arrive at work comfortably. Weather app showed -1 and windows had a foggy view. I needed some motivation so prepared myself a nice cup of Indian chai with ginger root and spices. Having savoured the chai and having wrapped myself warm, I sat on the journey to the station. It had been a while I walked to station for work, thanks to the dear husband who always would drive me.

I had no idea what was coming my way. The 90’s songs in my ears and the cool breeze on my cheeks suddenly changed my outlook for the morning. I started enjoying, embracing and getting absorbed in the traniquility Nature had to offer. I had a srping in my feet by the time I was half-way.

It was then I had the epiphany that this was Nature kissing me Valentine’s Day!

Treat Myself day

December 19, 2018 by himalayaswithin, posted in Explore

Coughing all night, waking up zillion times, I had a broken sleep and sore throat when I woke up. Yet it is all on you how you see it or carry it.

I still woke up in delightful spirits. It is truly said when you have had dark / rough times, it gives you a different aura. Very silly analogy to my morning but hey it is my morning..! So I decided to do something special. Something for me that I would love and carry on the good spirits through out the day despite the sore throat.

I put on my favourite jumper, took my travel mug (empty), set the right kinda songs for the mood and drove off (after tending to my sore throat). To Starbucks..!!! I got myself my special Toffee Nut Latte made perfectly. Songs on full volume and I singing along in loud, harsh voice..

Empty wet roads in the festive times, songs that touch your heart in the right way and warm coffee let the thoughts trail and I named today as “Treat Myself” day!

SO, what are you treating yourself with??

Bake…..Set….Ting: Aromas of Life!

October 3, 2018October 3, 2018 by himalayaswithin, posted in bake, Explore

I hadn’t thought I’d write about this until the day I baked because I realised my page isn’t just a travel blog, it is about sharing experiences of exploring myself. Doing anything new is exploringoneself. Bringing out hidden capabilities and developing new skills. Therefore, here we go.

Since I was a teen, I have always enjoyed being home alone. With my husband travelling to Africa, I was going to be on my own for 10 days – one more thing to check off as first times. I had made a list of things I would do which broadly consisted of watching movies / tv series that I like, trying my hands at baking, and shopping!!! Movies / tv series didn’t turn out that well until 4^th/5^th day and being a ‘skinflint’, shopping was also regular, nothing special. So let’s talk about what happened with baking.

It was Friday evening. First weekend alone, he has never left me alone in these years. I decided to bake Shepherd’s Pie and checked the recipe online. I had all the ingredients (or so I thought) to make ‘my’ version of the pie – that’s a better way to put it than to say I made the pie from whatever I had available. As soon as I began gathering the ingredients, I realised I didn’t have butter. Cannot prepare the potato mash without butter! All right, I decided to quickly pop out to a co-op next door. The guy on the counter said he cannot take card payment for less than £5. Duh!

While walking back home to get some cash, thoughts filled my mind. God has mysterious ways of playing games when you are on the roll to have fun. I think He enjoys putting little obstacles, perhaps to check how determined you are! I always love playing these little Chess games with Him. I also missed India so much – in India, all local shopkeepers know you and in a situation like this they say, “Koi baat nahi behenji, kal de dena..” (Don’t worry ma’am, pay tomorrow).

Following the recipe outline, I prepared the ingredients, heated the oven and now it was time to be patient. I kept checking from the oven ‘window’ for the potato layer to turn a bit golden. I ended up baking longer than recommended in the recipe but the outcome was simply delicious!

Shepherd’s Pie with Garlic Bread

My version of Shpeherd’s Pie

Yes it is a lot. A lot for me. It served me for lunch and dinner for the next day as well.

Delighted with my first experience, next on list was scones. I had checked ingredients, shopped in advance, had checked the recipe several times and had also observed a friend bake them nearly a week ago. The waiting time was difficult to pass which I managed, although checking frequently how my scones were doing. It was relishing to watch the scones rise. A feeling of accomplishment. I took them out and found out they had risen into a weird shape! However when I tasted them after they had cooled, they were really good. Every ingredient was in its correct proportion. Although I could have let them bake for a little longer and made them little smaller in size.

CBC52CA3-FC68-4C08-8473-A0EC898A677F — Butter Scones

Second straight success boosted my confidence. Next day was the short bread day. Same story – all ingredients checked, batter prepared – had to keep adding flour to get the correct thickness because I added too much butter – but the rest remains the same. The wait, the peeping through the window, opening and checking the aroma – the same emotions. Once done and cooled, I took a piece, and… ..and they were delicious just that we cannot name them shortbread!! They were soft as a cookie. Too much butter I believe.

266B93F6-7891-45E6-A98F-5AB0C9DABADC — Short Bread

But hey, that’s what we all do. We all make mistakes the first time round – at least I am brave to write it on the blog!

Anyhow I hope you enjoyed the read and that it triggered memories of similar stories. Stay tuned with this page for more fun stories 😊

Written by: Chahna D.

Edited by: Milauni T.

Girlfriend Getaway!

September 4, 2018September 6, 2018 by himalayaswithin, posted in Explore, weekend trip

(When two girls are on a roll- You’re in for a long yet fun read)

Good things always start without a plan. They hit you amidst the routine of your life and you never expect magic was just around the corner. So, for me- It all started with a video call one night with our friends in Scotland who wanted to discuss about a life-turning decision they had to take. When pondered over the conversation later, we all woke up next morning feeling closer to each other and expressed our sentiments in our group chat. In the flow of emotions, I asked the girl out on a date. Never expected it to materialise, nonetheless never also expected it wouldn’t really happen.

Next day, she was looking up for places we could go. She called me during lunch to discuss on a suitable weekend and before we knew, we had booked our stay in York, a historic walled city in North Yorkshire, England located at the confluence of river Ouse and Foss. The city was founded by the Romans in 71 AD. Ancient charm never fades, isn’t it?

It was 4 days till the D-Day!!

As per the plan, she was going to take the train from Edinburgh and I was to drive. Drive nearly 240 miles. Wohoo- a first time for many things- first long self-drive. The husband was confident that I would be able to easily pull it off (rather drive it off 😉).

I did not let my mind ponder over it until the day of my travel. Everyone at my work was concerned as I was leaving straight after work. My manager was kind (and worried!) that he allowed me to leave early.

A vortex of emotions hit me- and hit me hard. The butterflies had found their way in to my gut and I was feeling confident one minute and nervous the other. Nevertheless, I shot off at the decided time, put up the online radio for Hindi songs, put up the navigation, had a hydrating drink and a couple of Mars bars within my reach, perfect air con temperature, said a short prayer and started the ignition- Vrrrooommm!!!!!

The scene was straight out of a movie- 5 hours of quality Me-time while on the wheels. Perfect time to think, ponder and wonder. Amidst scores of thoughts and its sub trails- one conversation with the husband kept lingering on. During one of our late-night talks while checking out the route to York, he asked me out of the blue that what would happen if I meet with some untoward incident on the road? Instantly, I told, “I will give you a call”. He smiled, not sure in agreement, for my innocence or for the dedication I have for him, but he said, OK. My self-pondering revealed to me that the first thing I would really do will be to call him in an unfortunate event. One never knows how little things can make you feel loved. The urge to spend even the best weekend with your friend loses its true flavour if you don’t have anyone to share it with. Being blessed with someone to go back to, to have someone to go home to, someone who would just drop in and rescue you from any situation you land yourself in, in any part of the world – I guess this is love!

It was a safe drive. While I reached on time, the long and arduous wait for my friend, Swara (this is how she prefers to be addressed) began. Her train was late so I drove to the nearest Sainsbury’s and got us a pizza. Just when pizza was ready, it was time for me to leave for the station to pick up Swara. We ended up having dinner at 11:30 pm. We were so thrilled just because we had made it to the trip that we had to watch our loud, harsh voices so as not to wake up other guests.

With no plan in our heads, we took the bus to town centre next morning where a lovely lady who we bumped into on the bus stop, guided us about the buses and things to do in the city. As soon as we stepped outside the bus, I announced let’s start with walking along the City Wall. After a quick coffee and muffin break at a beautiful local café, we approached the nearest start point for the wall.

Conversations flowing endlessly – some insightful, some routine, some crazy, some experiences, and some philosophical. Conversations with no agenda. We were just us – 2 late 20’s (okay, just 30’s) women being themselves, with no restrictions, no guards, just free-spirited women. I believe this is that age when you have gained enough experience to understand your own mistakes and still have left enough of lifetime to work on them.

To find a soulmate in this phase who vibes at the same frequency as yours is a prayer heard.

We reached the Castle Museum which is next to the Clifford’s Tower, the river Ouse and the Rose Theatre. We decided to do the cruise or boat ride on that day and leave the museum for Sunday as it was forecasted to rain on Sunday.

As we walked through the square of the Rose Theatre grounds which had a few food and drink stalls, we came across the Box Office. They were running Shakespeare’s theatres and there was one show that evening. The cheapest tickets were within our budget and we decided to go for it. We got the tickets and now had a long afternoon before the show.

We went up to the river but both cruise and boats had a long queue and we didn’t want to spend that long waiting for a boat whilst we could do a lot of other things in its stead. We made our way to the famous old street, the Shambles which served as an inspiration for the Diagon Alley in Harry Potter movie series. We walked around the street and market, bought ourselves a Harry Potter souvenir, bought gifts for our husbands, enjoyed some great street shows until it was time for us to head for the theatre to queue up for best place.

The theatre square was buzzing with people. A theatre actor suddenly showed up and involved the guests with some game in which Swara and I volunteered which is way against our normal selves. We soon queued up and entered the theatre, only to be left dumbfounded. We had got ourselves standing tickets for a 3 hour show after walking the whole town since morning (roughly 13 kms)!

It was an open area to stand surrounded by stables for seating all around and above us. We named it the Hall of Shame! So, we found us a good spot right in the centre and in the front. We saw people sitting down on floor and so did we. Within 5 minutes, a young, lovely looking girl walked up to a group sitting next to us, asked them to stand up as the theatre was going to be full and threw a glance at us. Urgh!

Swara suggested we take a spot closer to the door if we want to leave half way. We moved to our new spot and waited for the show. For the first half an hour to one hour, we couldn’t understand much of what was going on. Tiredness was pouring in and I was afraid Swara would give up. But the story picked up quickly enough to stop at an interesting junction for interval. We rested during the interval and got back up for the second half. Towards the end of it, the script and actors had engrossed us deeply. We were jumping, clapping and dancing at the rhythm the actors and the musicians were throwing at us.

Later, we came to know that the Midsummer Night’s Dream is the most popular comedy written by William Shakespeare in 1595-96 portraying the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons. Really looking forward to reading it now.

We called the day by watching The Polar Express movie from the DVD collection of our hosts. The next morning started with black coffee and toasted bread with butter, thanks to Swara.

We took the car to the town centre as we had checked out and wanted to leave straight from there. To our delightful surprise, it was a good partially sunny day with a bit more wind. Which meant we could do the boat ride!!! Being early, there was no queue and we got ourselves a self-driven motor boat within 5 minutes, putting together all the cash we had between us. It turned out to be one of the best adventures of our lives.

Following a delicious brunch at a local restaurant, we walked alongside the river Ouse having some endearing conversations that I am sure we both benefitted from. We got different outlook to things and phases that we experience in life. Connecting with each other in a beautiful, refreshing and happening city, helped us connect to our own selves. Having found a deeper way in and our souls cherished, we embarked on our respective return journeys. My journey was filled with thoughts of the incredible memories of past 2 days and an undying longing to meet my husband and pour out my experiences to him.

A home filled with warmth is I guess the end for every holiday and adventure.

Visit my page for the pictures- I’m sure you would not like to miss it. See them here – https://www.instagram.com/himalayaswithin/

Written by: Chahna D. | Edited by: Milauni T.

Tranquil Transcendence

July 31, 2018August 16, 2021 by himalayaswithin, posted in Explore

I have started almost every blog expressing how excited I was about it so that has left me speechless this time. This time I had more reasons to be excited, so umm, don’t know the word to express it (perhaps my editor can help me here…). I’d rather just share the reasons I was more excited and thrilled. And the word I get is ‘Overwhelmed’. Imagine you had a small dream- a small wish to reach out to likeminded people in an unknown land. You reach to the edge of your comfort zone and let your passion chart out a road for you to meet the new in a different terrain- and then woosh that wish gets granted.

Yes, when I started Himalayas Within- I wanted to reach out to my kind of tribe- and imagine we already had the first soul to join us on the trail. So here it goes- Serene Gets Transcended. Apart from some of my friends, a lady reached out on our Instagram page and joined us.. Splendid!! My goal of bringing like-minded people from around South of England took a step forward. Gosh! I still feel the goosebumps… and I once again trust in the magic of new beginnings.

This hike was particularly chosen because of the terrain and location. It mainly comprised of flat terrain to walk but had a little climb. It started at the Silent Pool and the Sherbourne Pond, gradually climbing to the St. Martha’s Church and then downhill through farms to the end. A roughly 10 km hike with moderate difficulty level.

We gathered at the Silent Pool which isn’t as spectacular as they say (or rather might give some an eerie feel due to the silence and stillness) but the history behind it is fascinating. It is the only major spring source in 10.5 miles region, located at the foot of North Downs, a ridge of chalk hills. The Silent Pool is considered sacred by some based on a tale that says King John abducted a woodcutter’s daughter on his horse who was forced into deep waters and who drowned. It is believed that she still visits the pool at mid-night (you get now, why I said eerie!).

We took the steps up on the left to begin our trail which had a beautiful Albury vineyard on its left. The terrain was amidst the woods with a wide enough path to walk. Soon, the flat walk turned into a gradual climb which was a surprise element for everyone. The girls’ gang was very enthusiastic, and we had some wonderful conservations going – some one-on-one, some in group.

But together we most enjoyed being in the woods, on this hike, doing something different than usual weekends, and breathing the air – fresh with abundant oxygen. Ahh! The pleasures of living close to nature.

My leadership responsibilities kicked in as the trail took us deeper and deeper, but we could still hear the vehicles slightly. I was more conscious about following the trail and not losing it this time as I felt responsible. One of the girls had a dream previous night that we were lost in the woods for days and that she was conservatively sharing her crisps, so they would last us long!! Well not a chance of that happening in Surrey, nevertheless, I didn’t want us to get lost, panicking everyone and averting them entirely from join me again.

Soon, we hit the A25 which we had to cross over, and we came across the Newlands Corner Visitor Centre which was a highlight of the trail – to find refreshments and washrooms on a hike. Delighted, we took a quick refresher break and continued our journey on the North Downs Way (Purple markers). Shortly after, we reached a quiet lane which as per the guidelines we had to cross over and take a flight of few steps on the other side, to get into woods again. We met 2 gentlemen who seemed to be lost and upon talking to them, we found out they were doing the same trail using the same guidelines! Wow, fellow explorers!

We figured out the further path together and chatted about our common interest – hiking. We lost the guys a little further ahead on the trail and it was us again – a bunch of 5 girls. It was darker here even on a bright, sunny day due to dense trees and woods. Blissful! By now, everyone was getting a hang of the surroundings, and although tiredness was pouring in a little, we were discovering (inner and outer) peace.

Continuing on that heavenly terrain for a while, not much worried now about the trail and drenched in the feeling of tranquillity, we reached the top of the St. Martha’s Hill where St. Martha’s Church is located. A wedding was taking place in the church and we saw the bride with her bridesmaids and the priest performing some ritual outside the main entrance of the Church. We stood by the gate of Church grounds so not to disturb the ceremony. All of us said a silent prayer and wished well for the groom and bride in our hearts and also thought, what a beautiful location to transcend into a life full of unknown adventures and hiking on a life together.

From the other side of the Church ground, you can get a spectacular view of the valleys and two villages of Surrey – Chilworth and Albury. We relished the beauty and captured the views in our cameras as best as we could. As we started walking away from the Church, we came across a swing made by rope tied to a tree and a small piece of a tree branch. The child in me couldn’t resist a ride!

But the adult in me was considerate for others’ time, so I left the swing quickly and we moved on. The path took us into deep woods with a portion of sandy terrain. Wonder how sand managed to get there! I guess, we will never know. We kept following the purple marker. Suddenly, at one point, one of us came to a hard stop and claimed that we have been past this path before. Rest of us were startled as how could one know! All the paths had trees, were shady and were deep into woods. When asked, she showed us a tree trunk that had turned black (perhaps due to some disease) and said she remembered she saw this tree before. Now one couldn’t be wrong about it as the tree was quite distinguishing. So, we followed her lead, I checked the instructions again and re-interpreted it, we went back at the junction where we had taken the probable wrong turn and took the estimated correct direction forward.

Kudos to that observant lady, we soon reached the base of the hill. The trail was now going to take us through open farms after a short concrete walk. A complete change of sight. A narrow pathway, pagdandi as we say in Gujarati, led us through the farms with fence running on both sides. Dry, long grass touching our legs with their tweaks as we walked through the pagdandi, gave a welcoming feeling. There were open brown farms on both sides of us, until one point, where we were thrown out of the narrow fenced path into openness, into open farms, with no boundaries, no fences.. we felt bewildered being in the field with no restrictions – but we were mature adults so instead of running wild into fields, all the wildness that we bore was to take videos, pictures and to spread our arms wide to take in the wind. I read about the path forward on my instructions, rolled the pages and put them on a side pocket on my bag so I can freely open arms.

We walked through the open farms into another pagdandi that ran through the farm but was leading quickly into woods. The path brought us on a road, that seemed to be a less busy one, with one narrow street across it going uphill. I reached to my side pocket but couldn’t get hold of the instruction pages, so I removed my bag to check – Hola! I had lost the instructions! Some of us started checking google maps, but I soon found a purple marker on that narrow street going uphill. We hit it. Oh man, I just love these markers!!

Not sure how, but I recollect us walking amongst the farms on a pagdandi again. I think I was leading the way, and others walking in line behind me, when, suddenly, I heard some excitement behind me. I turned, only to find out that the two gentlemen we met earlier were with us again. I waved at them from distance and they waved back with my lost instruction pages in one of theirs hands! One never knows the purpose of someone crossing one’s path until that purpose is served. For the umpteenth time, I was left astounded by the puzzle of life that I love to solve.

We approached the main road, A25 and the Silent Pool Car Park was only a few meters away. Amused, cherished, content, with a feeling of accomplishment, with wildness and calmness within us, I believe we all conquered a wee bit of the Himalayas within us…

Author: Chahna D. | Edited by: Milauni T.

Facebook page: Himalayaswithin

Instagram: @himalayaswithin • Instagram photos and videos

The Concrete Hike!

July 24, 2018August 16, 2021 by himalayaswithin, posted in Explore

The third walk!! Wohooo!! Feels like accomplishment. This time I planned the Tillingbourne trail, Shalford. The description on the website sounded incredible – it covered many landmarks (some historical), walk alongside the river Wey, had open landscapes. I was thrilled. A long-time friend who has recently moved to the UK decided to join me which I thought would be so much fun. We would get time to catch up after a long, long time.

I picked him up from Blackwater railway station around 1 pm and we were all set to go. He played beautiful songs that made us journey through our teenage days. We reached the starting point which was the Shalford Rail Station but we couldn’t find the entry to it. We went around in circles probably 3 times when I thought why do we need to get to the station – only to get to the exact start point? Well that’s not needed! Parking would probably be paid anyway. We know we are at the right place, then why not just find a free parking. We then parked on a street that had free parking.

We both had the website of the trail on our phones. We were supposed to start from the Shalford Cemetry but we couldn’t see it anywhere, so we looked for the next marker, Dangley Lane. We walked and walked on that lane; part of which was alongside the main road after which it turned into a residential area. We kept walking until we hit the Shalford Cemetery. There was a narrow public footpath with the Shalford Cemetery on the right. We were talking and savouring the only view we had – that of the cemetery. Soon after, the public footpath ended, and it brought us to a main road. Well, it was THE main road where we had started!!!! Duhh!!

Now we studied the map and description again with, umm little more attention, but in vain. We then spotted a road-sign across the road that said Public Footpath. We took it. Soon we found the first monument of the trail, the 18th century Shalford Mill located on the River Tillingbourne. It was closed so all we could do was click pictures of beautiful big red roses all around the gate of the mill. We crossed the small bridge and took the shady path (as instructed by on the website).

And I thought, Yessss!! The walk starts now. Just when the feeling of being in the woods was growing, we reached open meadows. The spectacular view of the meadows with horses left us spellbound. We clicked as many pictures as we could for the best light with horses in the background. I told him I would love to learn to ride a horse and he thought I was crazy (he has known me long enough to know how crazy I can think.

We crossed the meadows and reached a kissing gate beyond which we could see, a level down, a narrow residential street. We were again unsure of the path and the instructions did not say anything about it. All it said was to follow the East Shalford Lane and ignore the Tilehurst Road. Now, we couldn’t find either! Whilst standing at that gate, trying to make a guess about what do to next, an old lady with her dog came through the gate into the meadows. We asked her. She was a local but wasn’t sure about the names of the streets. However, she made an informed guess using the eliminating method. We thought to check it out.

Upon crossing the gate, we were one level down than the meadows at a narrow T-junction, with houses on one side and wall of the meadows on the other. So now we had 3 directions to go. After assessing our options, we followed the direction that the lady advised. After walking about 20 mins we hit another T-junction giving us 3 more options. We checked the route but yet couldn’t figure out where we were and where we should be heading until a few minutes later when I spotted the sign. Whoppppieee!! The sign said, ‘Tilehurst Road’. The one we had to ignore. We were on the right track indeed.

Happily, we continued. We reached another small bridge over the River Tillingbourne, known as the Lemon Bridge. We could once back relate to the instructions we were following. We again crossed paths with the lady who had guided us, on the Lemon Bridge and we all were delighted that my friend and I weren’t lost after all.

Just ahead of the Lemon Bridge, was the main road again. I thought this was the end of it. By now, my friend had taken the lead on navigating and interpreting instructions. On hitting the main road, right in front of us was another landmark, the white cottages. We turned right on the main road and followed the road. Few steps further down on that road, we reached a monument, The War Memorial, honouring the glorious dead of World War I & II from Shalford.

There were benches close to the memorial under a tree. The memorial is located at a junction, on the other side was of which was the Shalford Churchyard (another landmark on our trail). We sat on the bench and talked about various things – one of which I distinctly remember – different work cultures across the world. I thought this was the end of the eventful – rather landmark-full trail. This was the first time I had spotted every landmark – all thanks to Ankit.

I said, “ok! So that’s it, I guess!” indicating this was the end of the day for us. To which this guy says, “oh no no, there is still something left. There is supposed to be a Water Treatment Plant.” One more landmark, ugh! This trail was nothing as I had expected. But we continued. We reached the treatment plant in 5 minutes and found out it was closed (wasn’t even expected to be open that time of the day anyway).

Well now that is it. This must be the end. I didn’t come all this way to walk on concrete. I was tired of getting bored, not from the company but from the non-woods walk. But this guy wouldn’t give up. He too is a hiker, trekker and writer or as I like to say someone who expresses what he feels (https://akreviews.wordpress.com). And he is stubborn, so he went back to the instructions and spotted a tiny gate leading on to yet another public footpath. Well I was in as long as it was an off-road walk.

Off we went and soon we arrived at meadows. We followed the periphery and few minutes later we found a path, a gate that was opening into deep woods!!!!! My goodness, the walk is getting started, NOW!

The entire walk was alongside the River Wey. To our surprise, there were many people enjoying fishing and bathing in the river. Young kids were jumping off the bridge into the river. Dogs were playing around. Some were just enjoying a drink or reading a book. It was a completely different world! My tiredness, boredom, annoyance from the heat, everything just disappeared. Puff!

We climbed a small hill but since we didn’t know what was on the other side, we came back on the track. We walked for about more than an hour and came across many more landmarks, St. Catherine’s Lock, Lengthmans cottage and Riff Raff (sharing some pictures below). We finally were on to the main road and spotted our final landmark – Snooty Fox Café. The landmark-full, enriched conversations-full and the beauti-ful walk thus came to an end, leaving us both pleased and content (not to mention, knackered!)