Just as I expected, it was an ABSOLUTELY gorgeous morning, the rain of the last two days gone. Of COURSE I was preparing to leave. OF COURSE it was beautiful the day I was to leave, OF COURSE! However, I was happy to have been able to bear witness if even briefly to the magnificent majesty of the Himalayas. Tiger, the sweetie of a stinky dog, sensed my eminent departure & followed my every step! I spent as much time as I could on the unfinished back deck, gazing out at the fog lifting to become clouds, marveling at the hamlets below. Nandoo [the caretaker] was preparing a breakfast of omelet & Chapati, a light bread sort of like Poori sans the oil, prepared in a small skillet. One of my favorites. He was also preparing a care package of Paranthas, a stuffed bread. These would be filled with potatoes & man was I glad to have them by the time noon rolled around!
INFINITE kudos to Unna, my driver, for the safe transport to & fro, his skills are da bomb, MAN CAN THAT BOY DRIVE HIS ASS OFF! I mean, basically, driving in India is like driving an obstacle course. It took almost an hour getting down the mountain alone, navigating the narrow, winding roads, sometimes backing up to let the opposing truck or an obstinate SUV driver down first. He knows those roads like the air he breathes, & I can’t believe how calmly I sat during the journey back! OH THE MADNESS!! though focusing on photographing everything I saw helped a great deal. I lost track of the many times oncoming traffic was speeding RIGHT AT US on the 2 way roads, playing the sick game of ‘Indian Chicken’ with some folks flashing their high beams at us!!!!! In broad daylight no doubt. Oh yeah, they do that with the high beams at night too. On flat, STRAIGHT open road.
On the lighter side, a motorcycle sideways riding female passenger lost her bag on the road & my driver stopped to retrieve it, the woman smiling in huge relief. On the ominous side, we came upon the remains of what was probably a fatal accident, if someone walked away from that…WOW. One car’s windshield on the driver’s side was totally smashed, the car basically an accordion; just ahead, half of a truck exposed, the other half merged with the store it slammed into. Then I observed a little ways down, the mangled, twisted remains of what used to be two cars. Whoa, the things I have seen & experienced here. It has truly been an odyssey. As we went past the horrific accident I took a moment to give thanks.
Some of the Sights Along the Way...