Picture this – you’re journeying through the lesser known regions of Himachal Pradesh with a close friend and you’re collecting a bagful of exciting memories on the way. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? The third edition of Fox Life’s travel show Great Escape took musician Vishal Dadlani and actress Sarah Jane Dias, who share a 15-year-old bond, on an unforgettable road trip that started in Shimla and ended in Amritsar. The unlikely duo visited Palampur, Chamba, Thanedar, and Jibhi among others and took away different experiences from each place. While Chamba and the traditional Dham lunch they were served there stole the show for “big foodie” Sarah, Vishal’s favourite stop was Jibhi where he rappelled down a waterfall.
“In those ten days, I went river rafting and rappelling, both for the first time, and I also did a paragliding flight,” he said. On one end of the spectrum is Vishal’s unquenchable thirst for adventure, and on the other end is Sarah’s love for nature, meditation, yoga, and spirituality. “We were practising yoga together and Vishal said, ‘I’m going to savasana out’ and then he went to sleep!” she exclaimed.
Definitions of fun
But even though the two have different definitions of fun in the hills, their shared expedition only served to strengthen their already solid friendship. “You never really know somebody till you travel with them,” Vishal said. “Before this, I had no idea that he’s a shrimp farmer,” Sarah added, prompting Vishal to clarify that he had, in fact, completed the training required to farm shrimps but never actually done it! Speaking of seafood, she narrated, “We went to a trout farm in the Himalayas and witnessed the fish being fed and reared. I was told I could pick a fish and I had this image in my head of barbequing it and singing songs by the camp fire. But when I actually had to stick my hand into that massive tank and pick one out of many others, I couldn’t do it. It was too scary. I looked at Vishal and he just went for it. He pulled one out, looked at it, and named it. And once he named it, I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat it. But hey, at least we saved Raju!”
Out of comfort zone
In the course of their journey, the two friends urged each other to step out of their comfort zones and explore things they had never done before. “I got Vishal to stand in freezing cold glacial water while I was doing hair flips for a photograph. It worked to get him out of his comfort zone,” Sarah laughed. For Vishal, it wasn’t as easy. “She’ll find a way no matter how weird you make things for her. We were in the middle of nowhere by the side of the river and she managed to set up this entire camp site and bonfire. All I did was sit around, grill (and spill) a little paneer, and enjoy the view.” When asked to describe his experience using a song, Vishal spiritedly belted out Tom Cochrane’s famous lines “Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long.” Sarah joined in and then added, “I’m going to keep going on road trips!”
Back to reality, Vishal is busy recording music for the films he is working on, rehearsing and writing a new album with Pentagram, and shooting for a music reality show, all at the same time. Sarah has a couple of film projects lined up while she continues to work on music and fitness.
(The show premières tonight at 8 p.m.)
