And on the seventh day, god rested #4

On the way down from Kala-Muni, we stopped at a village and it was there that we first heard the news. The torrential rains the previous day had caused a series of landslides, and the entire region was cut off till it was cleared. We were a little sceptical… but already started worrying about what this would do to our schedules. We did see some interesting local folk at the bad news village though.

The sunshine was just too watery for this cat’s taste… it prefers the heat of the chula instead.

Whoever said "Statutory Warning: Smoking is injurious to health" never met this old gentleman. Hale and hearty at his age.

The hookah makes its rounds, and this senior citizen pulls his share.

Shortly before Birthi, the road was covered with moss underneath a particularly vicious water crossing. I crossed first, and after getting about halfway across, the front wheel slipped. I put my foot down to stabilise, and my foot slipped, landing me butt first into the water. Prashi comes running to help me, and he slipped and fell too.

We try to stand the bike up, and it slides another foot closer to the steep precipice. I lay there wondering how to go about getting the bike up. Tie a rope and haul it… get a Sumo and drag it… Prashi had a simpler solution. One leg on the centre stand on one side, and haul it up. It worked beautifully, and we were safely back in the KMVN in 10 minutes to deliver the bad news to Sandy.

Prashi gives a demonstration on how to tackle a water crossing the right way.

We had two days to reach Joshimath. If that doesn’t happen, then the Valley of Flowers was bust. Things weren’t looking up, as it started raining shortly. That would definitely have slowed any repair work that might have been started.

I rode down to Kwiti with the KMVN caretaker to check on the situation, but phone lines were down as well. By the time we reached the guest house, the heavens had completely let go. It seemed like the previous night was just a teaser, and this time it was the real thing. We went to bed that evening on a very sombre note.