You’re bound to meet different people along the way. They all become part of your story. Some inadvertently tag along while others become anonymous souls that you experience in glimpses. Some like to interact while others are simply busy in their own thoughts. I had a feeling that I would end up doing the entire trip alone until I met Yuri. My dear reader, if you’ve read my previous blogs you may be wondering who Tizi is too. Long story short, we started together from Manali but eventually, like all travelers, not everyone is heading the same way or at the same pace.
“Well, it does not get any more awkward than this; cliffs on the left-hand side.”
Once we got our permits at Rekong Peo, we headed for Nako village. However, we’d failed to refill our petrol and weren’t carrying extra. The longer we rode our motorcycles, we started realizing we’d missed several petrol pumps. Finally, when we reached Pho. (we pronounced it as poo) my knowledge of Hindi came in handy as we purchased petrol in black.
Interestingly, along the way I’d seen a guy who was traveling all alone. He was wearing old jeans and a brown Timberland boot and he also had long hair. Since I had always planned on traveling alone seeing a fellow traveler riding solo made me gravitate toward him. Nonetheless, while I did manage to make small talk with this New Zealander he seemed disinterested with making any sort of conversation. I didn’t push knowing that not everyone likes to have conversations.
“All pumped-up before heading towards Spiti Valley.”
We then crossed some of the deadliest roads I had ever seen. Usually the roads that I normally travel has cliffs on the right-hand side but this was completely opposite. The ride felt awkward. Even though the view was amazing I couldn’t enjoy it properly. I had several thoughts running like a freight train in an instant. The first was to be very careful. I just have one life was another. Yuri was behind and I had to look out for his safety too! Regardless, it felt like I was on a different planet. The carved rocks looked like they were stolen from the moon. The view was mesmerizing. I had to stop moving. And so, I did. I stood beside the bike and just immersed myself for about thirty minutes. We resumed our journey and a sign that said “Welcome to Spiti Valley” greeted us on our way. We had finally entered Spiti Valley.
“Oh! How I miss, how I miss the greenary of Nako Village.”
Once we reached Nako village, we left our bike for a short hike toward the lake. The lake was beautiful. It was everything you’d hope to see. I was lost for words a fair few times during this trip and this was one of those moments. After a little while Yuri and I decided to head back to the village. On the way back I realized I lost my glove. I had borrowed the gloves from a friend and they were really good. Losing it was troubling. Yuri offered to help like he always did. We went to search for it. I tried retracing my steps because I was confident I had l dropped it somewhere. Once I reached the point where I’d parked the bike. I lost hope. Regretfully, I opened my backpack only to find the lost glove there. I called Yuri’s name telling him I found the glove. He asked where I found them. I lied. I said they were ‘there’ because i didn’t want to look stupid. To this date Yuri doesn’t know that I lied about the glove. (The secret’s out now. Sorry Yuri, I lied).
Once we were back at the Nako Village we had a big family dinner. Two Americans Riders, a Dutch couple, a German, a Russian, a Nepali, and later on even a Slovakian ended up at the same place. The American riders had been traveling for about 6 weeks. They had been to Upper Mustang in Nepal before heading towards India. The Dutch couple were interesting as they were temporary couples. Together only for the journey. Yuri the Russian, and Tizi the German, with whom we’d been traveling for the past few days rounded up the international dinner table. The Slovakian was Tizi’s friend and had been following us for days.
“Peace!, says the tripy hippy from Slovakia. Nope. I did not come up with his name. He did. Haha.”
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