The students of Don Bosco Liluah, went on an excursion during the Summer Vacation. We were 47 students, all from classes 9 to 12, accompanied by Sir Santanu Bandopadhyay, Sir Biswarup Sain, Sir George Dipanjan Sarkar, our Vice Principal, Brother P.A. Jose and our tour organizer, Kamal da.

We started our trip on 15th May, 2010. We assembled at Howrah Station and left for Delhi, by Rajdhani Express at 4:45 pm. Thus we began our tour and we all were excited about it. It was an enjoyable train journey where we talked and played with our friends and teachers.

We reached Delhi at 10.00 the next morning. The scorching heat was unbearable. We spent till evening at Hotel Delhi Continental. That evening, we left for Chandigarh by Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi Express. We reached Chandigarh at 8pm and boarded the bus that we had hired for the rest of our road journeys. We spent the night at “Gurjar Samaj Kalyan Parishad”

The next morning, we left for Simla. We reached the ‘City of Hills’ after a 4 hour journey. The hot weather of Delhi was replaced by the cool, windy weather of Shimla. We stayed in 2 hotels. Hotel O’Sheen and Hotel Sunrise. We spent the afternoon shopping at Mall Road and the evening in a group-singing competition.

The next day we left for Kullu. After the 9 hour journey, we reached our destination. We stayed at Hotel Siddhartha, facing River Beas. In the evening, we went to Our Lady of Snow School, Kullu, run by the Salesians. There, the Principal Fr. Babu  told us a lot about Himachal Pradesh in general and Kullu District in particular. Then we had some music and dance where everyone, including the teachers and Brother, enjoyed themselves to the fullest by showing some steps on the stage. On the 19th of May, we left for Manikaran, some 50 Km from Kullu. It is famous for its hot spring and a Gurudwara. We all took a holy dip in the hot springs.

The next day, we left for Manali. On the way, we got a chance to go for rafting on the river Beas, which was very exciting and enjoyable. We reached Hotel Marble, Manali at around 12 noon and visited Hadimbamata Temple and Manali’s Market area. The next morning, at 6, we left for Rothang Pass. The roads were winding and rising steeply and the weather getting colder and colder. At 10 am, we reached the Rothang pass. We were delighted to see vast expanses of snow covered grounds. The temperature of 1 – 2˚ C chilled us to the bone. we played with the snow, rode the snow scootter and enjoyed ourselves a lot. We were sad, when we had to start our return jouney. In the evening we watched the movie – Kites.

The next morning, we left for Sundarnagar, a stop on the way to Chandigarh. We stayed at the Lake View Guest House. At night we had a dance as well as a quiz competition. The next morning, we left for Chandigarh where we visited the Rock Gardens. Finally, after the train journey from Chandigarh to Delhi and from Delhi to Howrah, we reached our city on 25th May, 2010.

I, on behalf of all students, would like to thank Fr. Rector, Brother Jose and all our teachers, Kamal da, and especially God for making our trip enjoyable and safe.  We are also grateful to our dear parents who allowed us to go for this excursion. The memories of this trip will remain etched in our hearts forever.