the chaos and cacaphony of leh was left behind. we ordered a jeep ride from a travel agent, but due to some festival or demonstration or something they told us we had to be dropped off at the check post, sneak past, wait for the jeep and be picked up from there and taken to manali.
it sounded odd but we agreed. late at night we were picked up by our friends and taken on the weirdest de-tour ever up in the hills while the drivers smoked joints and sipped brandy. we saw the slow headlights burrowing through the windy roads down below. at the check post we got dropped off, a few meters before, and in the darkness slipped past and sat on plastic chairs at a dead restaurant at midnight. dogs wandered past us, up to us, sniffed us, left, the cars went by, none of them stopping for us.. we sat.. smoked.. panicked...sat..tried to sleep yet couldn't since we had to wait for the jeep... then finally, finally.. it arrived. we threw our bags in, greeted the seats with weary backsides and drove into the night.
the return journey was as spectacular as the journey over, we just didn't get to see that much since the driver drove like a fucking demon and covered the same distance 4 hours quicker than on the way here!!!!! how is that possible??
the high altitude plain was different since we took a route across a strange pebble desert which shaved half an hour off the trip. at sarchu we took a rest, had some tea and a bag of crisps (no way i was touching that damn dhal again, had the shits for two days) and loaded back in the jeep. after many turns, many near misses and alot of panic we ended up pulling into keylong. the jeep was going to manali but we were trying to go over to the spiti valley so we jumped off here.
the only guest house within our budget, and available was one whose name escapes me, and yet i long to remember it to ward off other travellers. three single rooms were taken, dirty, damp, but offering some rest.. we sat on the rooftop, looked out over spectacular, yet different, nature and smoked. there was one hotel which made semi-decent food, we ate, tried in vain to find internet, then headed back to just sleep. before we hit the bed we were told that the road to spiti was closed, fuck, we could have just stayed on the jeep all the way to manali. a restless nights sleep, awaking at 4 in the morning to climb lung raping steps to the bus station.. keylong is over 3000 meters up, finally getting there to find out we have to wait 2 hours for the bus, heading to a chai stall, then overhearing a jeep going there.. finding the jeep, bargaining a decent price (100rs each) climbing onboard while noticing the tire on the left side was balder than a bowling ball. panic set in when we found out that satan himself was driving, at over 80 on mountain roads with no barriers, and nothing to cushion a jeep with 10 people hurtling down 1000 meters into the side of a rock.
our worst fears were realised after only 20 minutes when, thankfully, on a long stretch of road we had a punkture. the driver laughed, pulled over, placed the jack ON the axel, tried lifting the car but the jack kept slipping, after 40 minutes he finally managed to lift the wheel off......we crowded around the back where the spare hung covered in a plastic case... he lifted it off and voila! the tire inside was not only bald, but had huge chunks ripped out of it... the slightest nail or piece of glass could punkture it, and we were headed straight for the rohtang pass.. one of the most notorious passes in the world..... heaven help us!
every corner was met with a breath, then a pause, then exhaling.. and not only did he take the rohtang pass, but attempted every short cut across rocky paths or small fields.. its as though he truly wanted to kill us. when we reached the top the worst part was just about to begin...
he hurtled down the road at over 60 to 70 on the tiniest mountain roads with fast approaching oncoming traffic continually ploughing up the road and overtaking on corners... normally this is everyday business in india, but with a tire balder than marble there was reason for concern. after a lot of near misses- one which involved the driver getting out and almost starting a fight with a trucki driver- we reached flat land. a few breaths were let out in relief.. but that was just before..
we were taking a corner, the driver was looking ahead, i was in the passenger seat, seamus behing the driver on the right, tim behind me, i saw the kid look one way (not our way) and cross the road holding two big plastic buckets. he walked straight into the jeep doing about 40kph. the loudest bang, screaming from the indian people in the keep, panic from the passers by and complete mortification from seamus, tim and i... i honestly went white and thought we had killed someone.. seamus was shouting "he's probably fucking dead", tim was screaming "fuck, fuck"... we almost didn't dare get out the car.......when we finally did we heard screaming, which mean't atleast the kid was alive.. turns out the massive bang was the buckets hitting the car and all that had happened was that his feet had been crushed by the jeep and his face slightly grazed by the mirror. the driver threw him in the back with his screaming mother and we sped (oh joy!) to manali.
at the bus stop the driver told us to get out, we jumped out as quick as possible, threw ourselves into a rickshaw and headed back up to old manali to try and relax... another long journey, a few more scares than on the way there, another few stories to tell.. but things couldn have been so much worse.
checked in, showered.. sat on the balcony.. smoked deep.. deep and thoughtfull... watched the clouds settle infront of the majestic mountains and felt a semblance of peace..
|
