A Walk to Remember..

The title has got nothing to do with the romantic flick. Of course, this article has its own romance.

We had been in Darjeeling for the past 2 days and we were yet to see a proper sunshine. A typical monsoon. We had drenched ourselves and managed to visit most of the spots. Although nothing was new to me, I had a company for whom it was a first time. For us city dwellers and more importantly nocturnal creatures, a place like Darjeeling can be very small. The entire city is dead asleep by 8 pm. So, not having much to do and our pockets getting emptier because of the cheap booze and beef (i just love it), we decided it was time for us to leave. Running short of our high end dope too helped the cause. Pashupatinagar, the border to Nepal is an hour's journey and back then they used to charge 60 bucks (Indian Rupees) per head and they don't move unless they can fill 6 people in each of those Maruti vans. For me, the ride has always been worth every little penny, with those narrow roads winding with great esses among the magestic mountains lined by rows of pine trees almost kissing the clouds.

Upon reaching Pashupatinagar at around 2 pm, we realized that it was a bandh. After a bowl of pork thukpa, we decided to hike to Fikkal where we would be staying for the night. It was a bright sunny day and we weren't in any marathon mood. Hence, even after taking shortcuts through the downhill slopes, it took us exactly 2 hours to cover the 10 km journey reaching our destination at 5pm. We entered a roadside tavern and asked for a tongba and a plate of buff sukuti each. In my tipsy state of mind, I jokingly offered my pal to walk for a while to another fictitious destination. Knowing that there was no such destination, I was taken aback when I got the answer in positive. I didn't want to end up looking like a fool but my plan had just backfired. "Be careful what you wish for coz it might come true." I had intended to fool my friend and I was successful. Did I want it? So, what do I do now? The sun had already set beyond the majestic hills in the horizon and the darkness had begun.

There we were, two souls dressed in jeans and tees, each carrying a bag and strolling on the tarred road. We looked more like 2 people on an evening walk than hikers. We walked in our tipsy mood, gleefully capturing each other's moods in films with the serene tea gardens as a backdrop. We were occasionally overtaken by a bunch of villagers pushing carts loaded with empty jerricans on the lookout for drinking water. It's heartening to see each human being go through such an ordeal just to fulfil the most basic of necessities.

We came across a roadside tavern (bhatti), also a solitary house in the area so we decided to step in for a bowl of Wai Wai noodles. There were couple of men already there who were enjoying their drinks and chatting with the old lady's young daughter. The daughter was clearly flirting with the customers but her mom didn't have any problems coz it was inspiring those men to drink more and of course spend more. There were 2 tables that barely seated 6 people and on each table stood a small kerosene lamp that was flickering continuously and was barely enough to illuminate the room. There was also some illumination coming from the firewood stove at the floor in one corner. The silhouette of a couple in a passionate embrace in the far corner could not go unnoticed. It didn't take us a genius' brain to figure out that the silhouetted lady was the old lady's other daughter. Seeing two strangers, they started inquiring and upon hearing our little saga, the old lady offered us a bottle of local booze (tharra) for free. We too were kinda carried away with their coquettish remarks and were tempted to stay their a bit longer but we had other plans. Having quenched our thirst and filled our stomachs, we were on our feet again.

By now, the night had turned pitch dark and it was not even possible to see each others' face. Simply speaking it was zero visibility. We had to make sure while walking we suddenly don't land up in the tea garden below the road. To ensure which, we kept close to the mountainous wall on the side of the road. Of course, the camera was brought to a constant use though we had run out of the films. Until now, I had never known that the camera could be used in any other way besides taking photos. There were wolves howling and running towards us and all we had to do was shoot the camera and the flash would blind the wolves and scare the shit out of them. We had to do this very frequently as different packs of wolves continued following us. We talked about varied topics and whenever we ran short of words we would just remain quiet and continue walking maintaining a steady pace.

We had been walking downhill for almost 9 hours and both of us were beginning to feel the stress on our legs. The soles were burning and I felt the calf muscles would bursts any moment however we continued walking because both of us didn't want to give up. We finally had done walking downhill and reached the plains where the road stretched beyond the horizon. It was here that our real test began. We walked through the never ending road and when we approached a milestone, we would be sure that we had travelled for at least couple of kilometres and then would find out we had only travelled for one kilometre. This was when all our pains would resurface and we felt depressed. We tried stopping couple of speeding vehicles only to realise that they would rather run us down than stop. So, we were sane enough to give up on that idea. Though our pace might have been slower than a tortoise's but we were steady. Suddenly, I decided I had enough and sat down to rest for a while. I realised I had just made a blunder when I tried to get up. I just could not. My legs had just been locked. I somehow lifted myself up, of course with a little bit of help from my friend but then I couldn't move ahead. I had no choice but to give it all I had and finally was able to bring some mobility back. There were cramps all over my legs. I had pulled both the hamstrings and I felt there were blisters on the soles. The road felt like a bed of red hot coals and every step took more than an effort.

I've got blisters on the soles of my feet
Can't walk but I am trying
Oh think twice...

The night had passed by but the moon was still around with the pole star accompanying her. Suddenly, we saw a rickshaw approaching towards us. You can only imagine the joy both of us had when the rickshaw driver applied the brakes a few yards in front of us. We hopped in and the rickshaw-walla started pedaling towards our destination. The cool wind blowing across our face eased all our pain for a moment. I have never enjoyed a rickshaw ride as much. Finally exactly after 14 hours of overnight walk, most of which was downhill, we were back to my room both of us lying down and laughing at our insanity.

"Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints."

P.S. I wanted to accompany this article with few pictures but I have none. We had taken a lot of pictures but the friend has lost it re. I have surely left numerous footprints. If I am ever in the mood, I'll write about the journey that started in Kathmandu but that is another story...