My sunrise point

In the hills I am an early riser. S decided to rest her slightly sore foot. After all, we had a long drive back to the airport. In the silence of the morning, amid the voice of the hills, the murmurs of swaying trees, mountain birds calling to one another, my crunchy footsteps treading upon dewy grass, mist clinging onto the river, the hilltops gently golden from the first rays of the rising sun, in the silence that reveals a whole new world of sounds as the day breaks, I can never feel alone. I passed a couple of hill trails before deciding to take one and landed in a small valley surrounded by an almost hidden tea garden.

After having climbed up a bit of distance along the narrow trail, I noticed a woodcutter at work. The sound of his axe echoed across the green valley. We were the only two people on the path. I had left my wallet, the phone and even my watch behind. All I had was the camera in my hand. My clothes were clearly not up to the challenge of weathering the chilly morning. The only way I could tell I had clicked my camera was the sound of the shutter, for my fingers were numb. Even the hood wasn't attached properly which led to some rough vignettes along the edges of a few shots. On top of it, I forgot to bring down the ISO from 1600 until it was almost too late. If I needed to check the time, I looked at the timestamp on my last shot.

But the walk was incredible. Untrue as it might be, I was filled with a sense of discovery, that I had discovered my very own spot to watch the sunrise from. It was like a symphony, the way the first rays of the sun poured into the valley like golden syrup into a bowl. For me, these little experiences contribute immensely to the joys of travelling.

The rest of the day went as planned and by the time we landed in Hyderabad, it was past 10:30 at night.