Deodars, horses and rhododendrons

The day begins with a hike up to Jalori Pass, at 10,500 ft, which is our final destination. By this time a small set of us who are travelling as individuals form a fine group and it is great walking up together. The valleys are lined with rhododendrons, sunlight splashes through the spaces between the firs, wild horses roam the meadows...and there is music. As we climb up around 2000 ft, peaks of snow begin to peep from behind the green hills. We see where the tree-line ends and the snow-line begin. After a while, we are surrounded by the mighty peaks of the high Himalayas like an arc. My stomach is still in disarray and I take medicines at last to ease the difficulty. I wish we could to make it to the Serolsar lake since some of us did have the time and stamina for it.

After the trek down and lunch, our ride downhill begins. I am a bit apprehensive given the road conditions and the caution that needs to be exerted. The distance we have covered in the last two days are to be undone within a couple of hours. The brakes are to be tested to their limits. The jerks rattle our arms as we race down. Even when brakes a pulled without restraint, the cycle continues to trundle downwards and there is more than once I fear flying off the edge of the cliff into nothingness. A couple of vehicles have already fallen earlier in the day and there are places where we see their remains deep in the valley below. It is a test of concentration, this ride. Though the climb up has been treacherous, the climb down is challenging in ways different, but one learns to bow down to the mountains. Nature has its rules, but no malice.

All through the ride, there are so many people waving at us, wishing us luck, children trying to reach us with their high-fives, people smiling back, girls passing mischievous giggles that it makes it seem that they natives are a happy people. Well, perhaps the women are, given that they seem to do most of the work, but in the high altitudes, drugs are very easy to get and lot of people grow them in surreptitiously. Even drunkenness often leads to quarrels and fights that end bad. Quite often, this is the story of the hill people and sometimes I wish the beautiful nature around inspired them to be better. Of course their day-to-day reality is challenging and unless one has lived the fast life in the cities, one might not appreciate the beauty of the hills despite the hardships. Nature soothes the soul and whatever little physical discomfort that may arise pales in contrast.

When we reach camp back in Phagupul the urge is to jump into the river with our soaps and shampoos is overwhelming. Everyone except me seems to have had enough of the river. I could have stayed behind alone sipping in the silence of the falling sun. There is a sense that this might be our night together as a group and things are different. The kind of journeys we have taken together bonds us and conversation inside the tent becomes rather personal and philosophical. I decide to evade it because I have come to be closer to the hills, to try and understand them a bit, to see how people live there, not form too many bonds with city folk. I rush back to the river.

There are a group of young girls playing in a little stream and call me down. I make them listen to some music on my phone. They want to shoot with my camera and do so rather well, all tiptoeing along the rocks and the streams of water. They are smart and curious. They are quick learners too and have a good time. The only boy, who is a younger brother of one of them says he would like to join the army one day. They catch little tadpoles and baby fish, put them in little jars and show them to me before releasing them back to the river again. There is a quality to this, I find hard to name... perhaps it is a mixture of innocence and curiosity amid other things that I am deeply touched by. 'Spirited', that is the word for the children. And it makes me wonder if life will allow them to continue nurturing it. And not turn them into faceless zombies cities threaten to turn us into.

I will remember the last goodbyes and the feeling that I have found what I come to the hills to seek. The sun nods before setting and I sit by the rocks to watch the river flow by.