This had to be done.

This had to be done. To pen down my exploits on the road has been on my mind for a long time, mainly to refresh my memory once in a while and to remind myself of the roads I’ve taken. This might only be just another blog where the writer narcissistically writes about his/her selfish travel escapades. I will not try hard to be different. I will not usher in the change. I will write what feels right. I hope I make sense.

So yeah, I move about. I can’t stop thinking about where I’ll go next even while I’m on the road, on a trip. So what triggered this outrageous attempt at writing down how I felt during my last trip is due to the fact that I want to keep feeling that urge, that insatiable lust for the road. Himachal was my latest destination. The dreamy Manali.  A plan to be to the Himachal and breath the same air as the Himalaya has been in me for a while and me and Anu (henceforth referred to as AKJ !!, that’s what I call her) finally decide to do it.

The whole plan ultimately included my family visiting my sister, Kid Kabeer and his dad in Delhi. We moved to Delhi together and spent a day at the Capital of Maha Bharath. The scorching heat only provoked me to make my move to the Himalayan Valley faster and me and AKJ took the Himachal Road Transport Bus to Manali. We reach Interstate Bus Terminals in Kashmiri gate with time to spare. We find our bus and get our luggage in. AKJ was sitting in our seats and I was standing outside the bus, feeding the bloodthirsty Mosquitoes of Dilli. That’s when she makes her way towards the bus with her mighty Quechua trekking bag, her camera and her Tripod. Now we know someone’s serious about travelling when we see a massive Quechua trekking bag and camera and all. Enter Laxmi!!

She sat in the seat just in front of us, travelling alone. She got her bags tucked in neatly in the overhead compartment of the bus just above her seat and settled in. The bus started to move by this time. She quickly befriended the guy sitting next to her in the bus. Clearly it wasn’t her first rodeo and she was in her element. It was only later that we found out that she does this for a living. She runs a travel site for ladies called travelmyladies.com. She takes groups of women to different parts of India, currently based out of Gujarat. She is also a photographer and an ardent traveler herself. The thing is, this is not the only time we cross paths. That comes later.

Now, the drive up to Manali, which took the Himachal RTC 15 hours to complete, was an experience like none other. It broke us, tested us and yet, as we started the Ghat roads and started seeing the Mountains and the Beas River, all of that felt worth it. AKJ threw up a couple of times, no biggie. We made it in one piece, took the first groggy looking Hotel that was next to the Bus stand. Our dreams of staying in a sublime off-beat home-stay surrounded by nature (and hopefully Marijuana Plants!!) were put on hold to accommodate our almost broken backs. Our spines were thankful for the few hours of nap we took at that Highway Inn. We had to get out and walk. So our backs will have to make do with the few hours of nap for now. There was no let. Manali was calling. We got out and walked to the heart of the place, Old Manali, where I am told during the season is the place to be and the steep walk up the road to the Manu Temple is where being alive happens. We took the risk of planning our trip during the off season, partly because this was the only time of the year when I could do it and also partly because we would have a reason to comeback as we missed the season!!. So Old Manali was hibernating as we walked through her. I am told that the season starts from May to September if you are a biker and want to go to Leh or anywhere else through Manali, and from September to January if you are a Snow/Ski person. And from February to April things are generally slow (not the Bhang wala slow) and the whole of Manali is preparing for the relentless onslaught of wannabe travelers and bikers and Honeymooners, come May/June. And we were there now, in April. There was rain, which only spiked up the cold with the wind. When we got out of the bus, Laxmi offered to help us find the right place to stay. She was going to be at her friend’s place in Vashisht, which is a stone’s throw away from Manali town (if you can throw a stone 2 to 3 kilometers that is!!). That was day One.

After our walk through Old Manali, we decided to take Laxmi up on her offer and called her friend’s number the next day. We took a leisurely morning walk to Vashisht where we knew they were staying and we were to meet them in a Small Dhabha Near the big and fancy Rose garden Café! We waited for a bit and Laxmi showed up with her friends Hani and Pir Panjal. We sat around the Dhabha, trying to figure out what is to be done about our time there. Now AKJ likes her trips planned clearly so that we don’t miss out on anything out there and that we do it all in time available. I, on the other hand, like to fling it and get there and see where it takes us (which AKJ clearly thinks is because I’m Lazy, she’s not all that wrong!!). So when we met Hani and Pir, it was a chance for both our plans to make sense. Both of them have been in and around Manali for about 2 years and me and AKJ were looking to make use of all that experience. And as fate would have it, Pir was infact making a Guide/Coupon brochure to help hapless tourists in Manali to find the best things to do in Manali Plus discounts for them if we have the Brochure! The Brochure had discounts for everything you wanted to do in Manali. The thing about any such place is that there will be many people selling the same service and you always have an issue filtering the best service from them. Now the Brochure has done that work for us. All that we needed to do was to buy it and avail the discounts. We could not have met anyone better for our cause. They have their site bestofmanali.com and I would recommend the brochure and their friendship to anyone who is up for it. It was Pir’s Idea that we try out the Camp run by Vikas and his wife, up in the mountains, in Humpta Village, en route Humpta Pass. They call it the Backwoods Mountain Camp.  He also recommended the trekking route we should take from that camp towards Humpta pass, which was closed for the season, but a worthy trek nonetheless. He took the time to draw the map for us on a piece of paper he had on him. He also introduced me to the app “Viewranger” which is a very helpful app while trekking. We bought two brochures from him for me and AKJ as the discounts were per person. After detailed suggestions and pointers, we went our way with the decision to try out the mountain camp. The prospects were interesting, I couldn’t wait. 

But for the day I and AKJ had plans to take a dip in the legendary hot sulphur springs of Vashisht temple.

The Vashisht Temple

The water was very hot and had a weird grey-green shade to it, which could be the sulphur. That didn’t stop us from taking a dip. Men and women have sepperate enclosed areas for the bath. I finished mine a tad earlier to AKJ and was waiting for her outside the bath, inside the temple. I was sitting there all relaxed feeling sleepy, when a Caucasian couple came in to the temple. They knew about the baths and the guy and the girl went to checkout their respective bath areas and came back. The girl looked shocked. I didn’t realize why. The guy came back un-shocked and pleasant. He was telling her that there were men taking bath inside. She asks how are they doing it? He says they’re all in their boxers and all. She grins and tell him “I guess the girls didn’t get that memo…..” . I didn’t understand what she was on about. But when AKJ came out of the bath all bewildered, she told me that women were taking bath naked and she did not expect that. Now I know what the Phirangi was on about! Ha!

After the bath, came our first trekking experience in Manali. The Jogini falls. The Jogini is a mild trek from the Vashisht temple through the gallies behind the temple itself. The narrow pathway took us to a clearing with pine trees at the end of it. We walked through the pine trees and that’s when we realized eating something wouldn’t be a bad idea. The Shiva café on the way served us with traditional Maggie noodles with extra gravy. We shared that bowl and continued on our search of the Jogini. Finally we reach another clearing with a temple below to our left with a pathway and an opening looking out at the mountains.

The Jogini

From there we could see the Jogini further high up to our right. We thought this was the end of the road as there were people sitting there. But that’s when we saw a couple who were in front of us ascending another side of the mountain. That’s when we realized there is a path and if we can find it, we can go closer to the falls. We could not find the path at first. So, we scaled the mountain where there were random paths, probably made by sheep grazing those mountains. The climb was steep and exasperating, both of us needing to stop for air. We made it to the top and found the correct, easier path to the Jogini. We took it and we were right beside the waterfall. Bliss. Calling it an amazing experience, is understating it. We walked down from the falls through the pine forest and were back in civilization by evening. There, the first trekking in Manali is now out of the way. Day two.

Camping in the Mountains

While on our way back from the Jogini, we give Vikas the mountain camp guy a call (hereinafter referred to as Vikas as its easier than Vikas the mountain camp guy!! Ha!!). We checked out of our Highway Inn room and headed to Humpta village the next day. The mountain camp was set up at the 30^th hairpin bend of a dreadful road that led to a hydroelectric project site up in the mountains. The road was only open to the locals who live in the area. So our taxi guy asked us to walk up through the Prini village to avoid being stopped at the check-post. He promised he will find us towards the end of our walk after he had the check-post handled. The walk up through the Prini village was interesting as the narrow path took us past a school where there was a Mela happening. Almost the entire village was gathered there, no way to be sure though. There was a guy on the mike being loud about how the weather gods have blessed them with a pleasant and sunny day as it was only last night that they received tremendous rain. I was thinking the same thing. Our taxi guy, Birubhai, got us back in the car and we reached the camp finally. Vikas greeted us from his campsite. We went down to him and there were four Monks at the camp, doing a sort of Pooja. The whole place smelled very crisp and amusing.

The Backwoods Mountain Camp

Vikas told me that the smell was of Juniper leaves which grow at an altitude of 3500 mts and that it was commonly used for religious practices in Himachal. We sat there for a bit and took in the view. Straight ahead was the Valley with the Beas running through the middle of it. That’s when it struck me that the valley must have been made by the Beas River when it was mightier and abundant. Now all we see is a shadow of what she once was, the Beas. When you look at it from up there, it will look as if the river used to flow through the whole valley and now it doesn’t. Civilisation has encroached on nature and build cities and towns in the river. Who am I to judge though. The valley is overlooked by the snow-clad mountains on all three sides. Probably on all 4 sides as we were on one of them. I have never been so hypnotized by a view like that ever before. We took that all in as much as we could till lunch, rested a bit till tea and after tea we took a small walk up the trail we are supposed to go the next day. That walk was short as it started raining. The prospect of walking all the way up next day early morning fascinated us and we got back to camp all set to conquer the mountain the next day. 

The evening was breezy. I had asked Vikas about the local alcoholic beverage called “Lugdi” (not sure of the spell). His face lit up when I asked and he said he will get some for us for the night. We made our way to the common area of the camp from our tent just before dinner and we made a fire and sat around it drinking “Lugdi”. Oh the pleasures of life. The Lugdi was clearly working and at night when I looked up at the mountains, I saw a vision that’s beyond compare. The Mountain tops were luminescent with blue light from the moon. Everything else was dark, darker, darkest around it and there stood those mountains with all their blue glory. Behold the Himalayas! I gazed and gazed upon her, only to be occasionally distracted by Vikas enquiring if I wanted more Lugdi. I obliged as it was rude to decline the offer especially when it is an alcoholic beverage!Ha! The fire kept our faces warm and the wind kept our backs cold and the Lugdi did it’s karma. Interesting conversations ensued. The Camp is run by Vikas and his wife (I can’t remember her name for the life of me) and couple of their relatives. There was one kid, Rohit, there with them while we were there. Vikas has another home close to this camp and the adjoining Apple Orchard. They must be living the good life I thought. I asked him on his face, is living in Himachal as peaceful as the rest of us think it is? He said absolutely. The Land of Gods indeed. If he had asked the same about Gods Own Country, Kerala, I was prepared to be brutally honest. Thankfully he didn’t and I didn’t have to. Honestly, I was a bit jealous of how content Vikas was with his life in the mountains. May be it is the “other side is greener” psychosis. Anyways, the evening went very well with Lugdi under the starry sky beneath the blue mountains aaccompanied by my questions to Vikas about Himachal, naturally occurring Marijuana Plants, best routes to ride etc,. Dinner. Tent. Thats Day Three

The Tent

Now, that night after Lugdi under the stars, came the coldest night we faced in Manali. AKJ could not handle it and did not sleep one bit. I got bits and pieces of sleep, Lugdi helped I think. But the Morning we woke up exhausted and the prospect of making the trek up the mountain seemed bleak. Vikas had made arrangements to pack us lunch for our trek. We got to the morning breakfast table, our minds half set on canceling the hike. But what Vikas said then inspired us. I don’t remember what he said then, but it worked and we decided to start the hike and come back when we think we’ve reached the point of no return! We got our packed lunches and a hand drawn map from Vikas and set out on the trail after a sumptuous breakfast. We will not be seeing Vikas and his wife after that as we had decided to get back to less colder Manali valley following our hike so that next night is not as sleepless as the last one. Vikas and his wife had some things to take care of in their village town and they were headed out there almost at the same time as our hike. Rohit was to stay back at the camp site till we returned when our Taxi guy Biru will wait for us to take us to Old Manali. Vikas also suggested the guesthouse of his friend Sunil in old Manali which he said should work for us for the rest our stay there. All set for our walk to the summit to find the snow, we move out. 

The trek, as expected was rigorous. We walked till the point we went the day before and took the shortcut through the mountain instead of the long winding road.

The steep climb was the first test our minds and bodies faced. We braved the cold and the lack of oxygen and walked up the first bit of steep climb in 40 minutes. There was a tea shop to our right as we went up. There was a dog there that was barking religiously. Rambo was his name, which we learned later. We moved on. This only took us to the starting point of the actual trail! We were to walk up between two fences. On our right was the property of the hydroelectric project and on our left was the forest property fencing.

We got confused for a moment when a security staff of the project people was passing by and he showed us the way up. We followed the fence for a while and we came across a wooden ladder/bridge on the forest fence. We crossed it. I was excited. I started walking fast and even ran a little bit. But AKJ couldn’t walk fast as she had serious breathing issue. She had to stop me from going far ahead at times. I had to walk fast. I had to see it all. I had to take it all in.

Then we came across a meadow and on its right were pine trees. We were instructed to walk across the meadow and to look for an old house on the meadow, which is our next landmark to confirm we haven’t lost our way. We find the old house and we move to the north of the house to find another steep climb through the meadows. We stop, breathe, and move again. Just a bit further was a big tree that lay across us. It must have fallen off on its own long time back and is now a natural barrier that we had to cross to get to the other side. We had to assess which side we move to get to the other side without too much waste of energy. That took some time as we discussed various possibilities. The reason for the delay was that we could see the fence again and I wanted to cross the fallen tree in the direction where the ladder to go across on the fence would be present. I tried hard to locate it from down there and I couldn’t. The line of sight wasn’t ideal. There were rocks protruding from the side of the mountains blocking my view. We had to choose left or right and we chose we will take the right side, through the pine trees. We cross the fallen tree and go further up. Breathing was an issue for AKJ as she hadn’t finished acclimatizing yet and she was tired from last night sleeplessness.

To be honest I was surprised she even made this far. It was clear that she had a huge battle going on inside her. She wants to see the snow but she wasn’t sure she will make it, but she was pushing it. She wanted it all too, like me.  By the end of our trek, she was so confused that I had to make the call for her. But for now we aren’t there. So we move very very slowly to accommodate AKJ’s breathing. Some time pass as we weave our way through the numerous paths made by the sheep and the shepherds. That’s when I saw it, the Ladder/bridge thingy. It was on the opposite side, to our left. Now we would have to go across the side of the mountain to get there. We cross the fence and reach the other side. We break for lunch there. It took us 3.5 hours to get here. We aren’t anywhere near the actual snow. The view was absolutely breathtaking. The peculiar vantage we had from up there meant that we could see mountains behind mountains, which we could not have seen from down there at the camp. It was all right there.

We had to evaluate our strength situation before going on. So we open our lunch boxes. Vikas was too generous with his packed lunch and we had too much to eat. We decided to make use of only one lunch box for now. After lunch we get up deciding we will try a little bit further up. I look up and there, I see snow. Not a lot but only a small patch of snow. But the look wasn’t encouraging as my senses told me that we had to walk a lot more to reach the actual snow. This was when AKJ was confused. She wanted to go, but didn’t know if she could/should etc. I had to step in and I said we will walk up till the small patch of snow and call it a day. I didn’t think it was a good idea to head up there confused. So we started walking up again. Within a few steps AKJ called it off as it was too much for her to bear. By then I had reached a little bit further up and there I saw, behind a rock, was a smaller patch of snow, very small.

The Almost Snow 

I get AKJ there and we touched that patch of snow and we said that was it. We weren’t sure we would make it that far. On a normal day, sure, we would kick the mountains ass. But considering last night’s tragedy, this was great. Mind over body type of a deal.

We start the descent and the walk down was when we realized there were better ways to go up through the pine forest and that was easier than the one we took. We make it to the bottom and stop for tea at the tea shop we saw on our way up. Rambo kept on barking at us again from the time he saw us coming downhill. As AKJ is afraid of all living things except humans, we approached the tea shop cautiously. The shop owner got his buddy Rambo to back off of us and we asked him for tea. We sat there and sipped our tea in peace. I look up for no reason in teh direction we came down from and there it is, the snow, and a lot of it. I was shocked to see so much snow in that direction and by the looks of it; it wasn’t far from where we stopped, may be I am wrong. Sigh! I show AKJ what I saw and disappointment slowly started to grip us. If we had pushed a little bit more, if we had a little more in us, we would have made it. But we really didn’t have it in us that day. That was that. “Saw the snow, almost”, is to be our caption for that day for as long as we live!

Birubhai was waiting for us at the camp to take us to Old Manali. We get our bags and bid adieu to Rohit who was at the camp and were on our way. It started raining by the time we reached Old Manali. Vikas’s friend Sunil had his guesthouse inside the village in Old Manali and was located around the back of Drifters-Inn café. We get down in front of Drifters-Inn and walk inside narrow pathway in search of “Leki Guest House”. We walked in the rain trying to find the place. We couldn’t find it. The cold was getting to us slowly. We saw stone-clad old houses. They had cows, and some had Yaks. We walk round and round and get to the same place with no sign of Leki guest house in sight, literally. Finally we ask around for Sunil and an old lady from one of the houses pointed us in the right direction and we find the place. The guesthouse is right next to a 150 year old traditionally built house, which Sunil has maintained. This will become the Leki Café soon. We find Sunil and he takes us to a room. I was glad to hear him say he would charge us only Rs. 400/- per night. We were sorted for our remaining days in Manali. We decide not to sleep then as we were sure we would sleep through it and would only wake in the morning. We get out after relaxing for a while and walk about a bit. We had to sort out dinner plans. We have heard good things of the Drifters Inn that was close to us, so we get in. The dinner was good, the beer with it was better. It was sort of a celebratory dinner honouring our 5 hr long trek, the longest our lives, yet. We call it a night after the dinner. Much needed sleep.The end of day four.

     

Roads, that was the theme to be of the next two days. We got out in the morning and rent a Bullet Standard 500(the very one I have as my own at home) and make our way to Solang valley. We wanted to go to Rohtang, which was like in the checklist of every biker these days. We knew the Rohtang pass was closed (again with the season.. phew)but we wanted to ride up until they would stop us. Solang valley was also on the way. It was around 18 kms from where we were. The roads were winding but smooth. I could not help but think about the time I would actually be riding up these roads with my RE STD500 waiting at home. All in good time, I’m sure. AKJ was enjoying the pillion seat as much as I was enjoying the ride. The day was sunny and rain seemed miles away. Lucky. We rode slow, enjoying the view. We reached a point on the road where the actual road goes to Rohtang and we had to take a left for Solang Valley. Solang it is first.

I find out from the guards on the Solang valley ropeway that the HP government is making a Tunnel to go to Leh to reduce the traffic on the Pass. Leh would then be closer to Manali than ever. They’re making getting to Leh too easy, the death of adventure I’d say. Now Solang is famous for the Ski and Snow activities. But the snow was melting by this time and they warned us that there isn’t a lot of snow up there. We take the ropeway to the top, which I thought was almost the same distance as our trek last day. Anyways, there was a bit of a crowd at the top. We walk around the mountain up there but we find no snow nearby. We sat there and relaxed for some time before taking enough photos and heading down.

AKJ's "No Snow Here Pose"

Now we were back on the road to try to go as close to Rohtang as possible. The road was blissful and the mountains looked tranquil. The roads were now becoming narrow and there was tourist traffic. We ride like 8 more kilometers when we see a lot of cars parked and people all around. That’s the snow point that they were talking about. But I saw no snow there. But that’s also where the police told us we shall not go any further. Only local people going across to other villages are allowed to go through this time of the year. It wasn’t far enough for us. We were disappointed. It was only around 25 Kms from Manali. I took comfort in the fact that I would definitely make this ride sometime soon. I don’t know what AKJ told herself though. It was lunch time by the time we turned around and we stopped for lunch at a hotel in place called Kothi. The lunch was decent and we rode down all the way we came. We passed the Nehru Kund on our way back. Now we were off to teh famous Hadimba Temple in Manali. We all remember it from the movie Roja.

The temple was too crowded for our liking so we just hooped around here and there and checked it from our list. They also had another worship area for Gatotkach, the son of Bhima the Pandava and Hidimbi Devi. The writings there speak of the pivatol role Gatotkatch played in the war of Mahabharatha. after that we moved to Manali and we reach manali by evening and we decide to walk around Old Manali again.

Now, there was an ever pending plan for us to get inked. We had noticed two tattoo studios in Manali on the previous days and we have been toying over the idea of getting ours done in Manali. We gather the courage to get in one of the shops, called the Inkspot, and talk to John, the tattoo guy. John and his friends who run the place are from Goa and have their separate studios back in Goa. They come here during the off season in Goa to chill and get some awesome tattoos done for those in need. We liked what we heard and we were game. I was still skeptical though because you don’t just get in a random shop and get a tattoo done.   You get one done after days of research and looking into your tattoo artist and after you are convinced of his artistry, you get one. But here, this is the first time we are meeting John.

AKJ was very positive about it and she was the one who convinced me that nothing could go wrong in Manali. I believed her. AKJ got hers done first as I was looking at the shortlist of pictures I had on my phone that would be my potential tattoo. I confirm mine as AKJ was half way through. We take the print out and we are all set to get mine as well. Towards the end of the work on AKJ, the tattoo machine had some minor hiccup. They got it sorted temporarily and got her tattoo done.

But they asked me to come back a little later to get mine done as they had to get the machine sorted. It was dinner time so we moved out had dinner and decided I would come back for mine the next day.

Day two with the Bike, we get out early. This was the day we ride down from manali to Kullu valley for paragliding, Naggar Castle etc. Now, in the best of Manali brochure, the paragliding service in offer was from a place called Dhobi which is 20 kms down the road from manali towards Kullu valley. We called them up and booked our jumps the previous day. The way it works is that they take us to the jump site in their jeep that roughly takes 40 minutes of off-road extravaganza and we make the jump from up there. There were five of us who were jumping that day. Me, AKJ and an Australian couple, Alan and Sarah and their friend whose name I forgot. So the pilots of the glides and five of us move to the jump site in their jeep and they have arranged my bike to be placed at the landing zone for me to pick it up from there. The drive up was nothing short of an amusement park ride. The jeep did a number of Jumps and slides and all that. They played weird old songs on the radio and finally we reach the jump site up in the mountain. The view from there was so good; I could just sit there looking at it for a long time. And that’s exactly around the time when I was told that I will have to wait for some time up there for my pilot to get there. Win-win. There were four pilots and glides and there were five of us. So mine was the last turn and AKJ left just before me.

So now we kill time at both ends of the Jump. The only difference is that AKJ would not have that much of a view. There were local boys up there helping out the pilots in setting up the glides. I made friends with them and watched them play cards there as I waited for my pilot to arrive. They took almost an hour to come and I was eager to fly (not the Bhang wala fly!!). He appologised for making me wait as he got the glide ready, gave me the final instructions, and off we went. The launch was easier now as there was good strong wind, which also means I get more flying time than those who jumped before me. I loved it. There are no words to explain how I felt as I was drifting down to the landing spot, that’s why I have it all on video! The pilot was a fun guy and he made the glide go upside down just for the heck of it. It was unbelievable. I was on top and the glide, below. We did a good 360 spin and finally he calmed down and we were back to normal. All this was intentional, to increase the adrenalin release, and it worked. We glide down peacefully to where AKJ was restlessly waiting for me. Smooth as silk. Divine.

After the highflying antics, the next stopover was the Naggar Castle, which is an old castle currently transformed into a Hotel. The palace looked ancient and the construction was peculiar. I am no expert but it sure looked interesting and we took a stroll through it all, finally ending up at the restaurant part of the Hotel with a mindboggling view of the valley. It was a sunny day. We ordered lunch and it took a while to arrive, giving us enough time to gape into the valley.

We rode back to Old Manali after Lunch. It was time. Now or never. Ready for the pain, I step into Inkspot tattoo studio to get mine done. We begin.

It wasn’t painful, at least it was less than I had imagined. AKJ was right beside me all the way taking my mind off the pain. Mine was bigger than hers, she wasn’t exactly pleased about that. But we were good. There were people watching the craft from outside and some even came in to have a look. That’s when we see Laxmi on the road and she saw us too. She came in all happy to see us and all. That’s when we actually find out all those things I said about her earlier and AKJ was excited to try out a trip with her if she can make it. And after an hour and a half of skillful tattooing, it was done. And it is better than I had expected. It seemed John Knew his craft and he was very good at it. I love it. Manali came through for us again. We got our instructions to care for the tattoo for the first few weeks and we were out walking again.

The last day in Manali was eventless as we were gripped by the thought of leaving. We stuck around the room till the time we had to move to the bus parking, said good bye to Sunil and got in our bus and we were on our way to Delhi by 6 PM. We get on our flight back home from Delhi and that was that. The end. We kept going back in our minds to the places we had been and things we did all the way home. I thought when I was back I would wake from the dream and get back to being normal. It was until a few days later that I was still thinking about the whole thing again and again. That’s when I decided this had to be done. So there it is, this IS done.  

Until the next time.