Being an introvert person, I enjoy the bliss of solitude. I always try to travel as much as possible. Although in recent days or months, I will refrain from traveling and virtual traveling via maps/internet is the best option now.
Back in my story, last year in July I packed my bag and went to this place (Dhotrey, WB ). It is a very small hilly village with a few people and local food shops. A long journey from NJP, but worthy. I went there to enjoy silence and solitude. The weather was cloudy and I could not see the Kanchanjhangha peak on the first day.
But the surprise came later at night. I was sitting alone on the rooftop of my small homestay, I suddenly noticed something unusual cloud-like things on the sky. Initially, I thought the cloudy sky is obvious. I continued to observe them in the dark, nearby all lights go off soon, only then I realize that the cloud is none other than my home galaxy, The Milky-way in the observable universe. I have always seen photos and learned about it since childhood but never saw it. It was mesmerizing and I was awestruck. Finally, I open the google sky map and point downwards (180 degrees) to find where is the SUN, and I found it right that direction, It means I am certainly on the opposite side of the sun and in the same space-surface (Galactic plane) where the galaxy should be in the sky at that very moment. My intuition says, as the Sun is also a part of the galaxy, it should be aligned in the same plane. With no access to any network connection, I still was able to confirm my guess using GPS only. I continued to lose myself in the stars until the caretaker guy came. I shared the view with him also.
The complete darkness showed me the millions of lights from our galaxy. A solo traveler should go there and enjoy sky-watching, walking on the paths, listen to birds in the day and feel the silence and true blackness of the dark at night.
