Ab Tak Chhappan

Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.

- J.R.R. Tolkien in 'Lord of the Rings'
====================================

It’s been a month and a half since I have been back from Sandakhpu, but the memories refuse to go away. I can’t find the words to describe what I’ve seen, yet I can’t let go without giving it a try. Back in February it was the Great Ocean Road, and a month back it was the wonder of the Himalayas. I feel like I’ve been blessed with a chance to see two of the most beautiful sights the earth has on show.

We started on the evening of the 11th of April from Kolkata. An overnight train ride, and the next day we woke up in New Jalpaiguri. New Jalpaiguri was our first stop. Not a long stop though, there is hardly anything to see in NJP that cannot be found in Kolkata. Besides, we were dying to get out of the sweltering heat and get some altitude as soon as possible. We were pretty conspicuous at the station – with our caps and shades and rucksacks; as expected, we were mobbed by hordes of taxi and minibus drivers as soon as we set foot outside the station. A lot of haggling and bargaining later, we were presented with our ride. I can’t describe what it was – it looked like a home-made hybrid of a jeep and a minibus – but the 15 of us piled into it, bags and all and took off.

Our destination was Maneybhanjyang – a small town around 2100m above sea level. The plan was to get there by late in the afternoon, find a lodge to see the night through, and start on our trek from there. Half an hour into the journey, things started getting exciting. The road was a steep climb, winding its way past quite a few mountains. I was on my feet trying to photograph the local females plucking tea leaves when I realized I was suspended right above the guy in front of me, hanging on for dear life to the ceiling of the jeep. Apparently, the jeep (or whatever it was) had suddenly decided it wanted to pursue the career of a bike and was moving on two wheels! As soon as we were back with four wheels firmly planted on terra firma, we jumped out of the jeep, hearts thudding in our chests.

It was made clear to the driver that the objective of our trip was travel and low-risk entertainment, and that we intended to make it back home alive and on our respective two feet, and we were off once more, and reached the destination without further incident.

Maneybhanjyang is a town half in India and half in Nepal. Lovely little place, used as a base camp by most trekkers attempting the Sandakhpu trek. It was probably the last place on our route that had access to electricity.

We set out early next morning – our next halt was for lunch at Tumling. As with most other of our kind (IT professionals), our armchair trained bodies were woefully out of shape. Around 30 minutes of slightly uphill climbing, and we were flat on our backs. Sample this conversation:

Mr X: Abbe aur nahi chadha jaa raha yaar… waapas chalte hain…
Mr Y: Waapas jaane ke liye bhi chalna padega
Mr X: Kood jaate hain yaheen se
Mr Y: Abbe marne se pehle shaadi to kar lene de
Mr X: Theek, yaheen pade rehte hain, koi na koi to daya karke uthaa hi legi…

Once we got back on our feet though, we were walking once more – the pain would disappear in due course of time, and the legs would trudge on like pistons on an automaton. The disappearance of the pain, of course, was helped in great measure by the scenery around us. On a yellow cobblestone trail, surrounded by coniferous forests, rhododendrons and ferns, drinking in the cool and clean air of the terrai, we were feeling like Dorothy looking for the wizard of Oz.