I thought I should tell you about my trip. I did see Yamunotri, but that wasn't the most interesting part. Now that I am safely back, I can tell this to you.
Yamunotri finished earlier than we thought. Back at Barkot, we had some time left. The other two wanted to see Dehra Doon, but I wanted to see this beautiful stretch of road between Barkot and Dharasu, which we had chanced to pass. Having seen it only from a crowded bus, I was looking forward to a more leisurely look. They weren't interested. Rather than coercing a decision, we decided to part ways and meet at Dehra Doon.
Now, I knew where the place was, but it was a 10-15km walk from Barkot. I inquired about the nearest place on the route and was told that there was a place, Brahmkhal 43km away. That was beyond the stretch I was looking at. I decided to ask this GMVN guest house in-charge. He didn't have any ideas. Firstly, I found it very difficult to convey that I wanted to see the place only and nothing else. I decided to look at the map at the guest house, when a name caught me. Ginoti was 20 km from Barkot. And it had a GMVN bungalow to stay in. Brilliant! Off I was to Ginoti.
As the bus went, the scenery got very beautiful. I thought I should simply get down and walk. Asking people about Ginoti being walkable, I could see an expression of "Why the heck would you want to get down here! Relax and wait." Simple things are sometimes hard to communicate. Then, we passed a temple. Voila! I said that I wanted to see the temple and got down. Ginoti was 5 km from there, I found out. After looking into the temple, I decided that I must rearrange my money before proceeding. I went to a lonely spot off the road and put money in my socks and in my bag. They could take everything from me, but I would still have the money in my socks to return. I reminded myself not to offer any resistance if robbed. It was 4 PM when I began my walk.
It was a great walk. The road was at an elevation I could see far on all sides. I observed the sound of leaves rustling in the wind and how it changed when the wind got faster. I leisurely took photos lapping up the scenery that lay in front of me. Birds tweeted. I noticed the different shades of green on the trees. At one curve on the road, the wind made a small thunder like clapping as it blew on the rocks. The weather was just perfect for a walk. Passing vehicles gave me puzzled looks. Why in the world would someone, especially a well dressed tourist be walking like this.
Finally, I reached Ginoti at 5:30 PM. I looked for the so called bungalow, but couldn't see it. On asking, I was told that it was further up. I went and finally found the "bungalow". It looked like a doll house actually. It was open, but no one responded when I called. I asked some villagers and they said that the guy must be inside. I searched inside to find a sleeping man. On waking him up, he gave me keys to my room and told me to go to the room upstairs. I went to the room. Pretty decent, no problems for one night.
Having unloaded, I went to see the village. People there were puzzled. Kids stared at me and then talked amongst each other "Angrez hai". I was more preoccupied with the place. It was breathtaking, one of the most beautiful places I had seen. There were valleys on 3 sides. There were pine trees on one side, thick dark greened trees on another and other varieties on different faces of mountains. The sun was perfectly placed too.
I went back to my room at 6:30 PM. It dawned upon me that I would have to spend the night here. I had nothing to entertain myself; no books, no music, no writing pad, only myself. I thought I'd go and have tea at 7 PM, come back by 8, have dinner and sleep. As I sat, a lot of thoughts came to my head. I was the only outsider here, and very conspicuous. Everyone in the village knew about me. What if there were thugs amongst them? I looked at the bolt on the door. It could keep thugs out for a minute, perhaps. Where could I run? I could go to the bathroom and let them take anything they wanted. I would have the money in my socks. What if they decided to kill me anyway? Who would know that I was here? My friends would know something was wrong, but they wouldn't be able to trace it here. Stories of disappeared travellers came back to me. Should I call up someone and tell them so that they know where to look for me if I didn't return? There were no bloodstains on the room. I guess such a thing never happened here before. But who knows? It takes only one delinquent in an otherwise sane village, to do it.
Also, what if the in-charge of the guest house was a Norman Bates of the movie, "Psycho"? After all, this was a kind of a motel in the middle of nowhere. And it would only be a crazy freak like me who would end up here, all alone. The in-charge guy came and asked about the room. He seemed sane. I went down with him and he gave me the torch that I would require for the night. We chatted as he made dinner. He told me about how boring his job was. No one came there. The last visitor had come the previous year. What!? This could indeed be Norman Bates! He then told me about his family at Tehri and all. I asked him about dacoities in the region. He said there was no such thing there. Also, he would be downstairs in case I needed anything in the middle of the night. What a relief! I might wake up alive the next day.
After dinner, I went to my room. Daylight faded and it got spooky. I was nervous. I lit the kerosene lamp and felt better. I did some jobs like washing my feet and all and for the time being forgot where I was. When I was done, at thought occurred. The stars would be beautiful, here in the mountains up at 2000+ metres. There were dogs barking outside. They seemed far enough and so I went out. I then realised that the lamp in the room, the only light in the area, was visible from far. All the dogs could see me. Should I close my door? But then, where would I run if a dog came after me? As I star-gazed, the barking became more incessant and directed at me. I couldn't even see the dogs. I remembered "The hound of the Baskervilles" and pictured a dog with gleaming eyes rushing at me. Heart pounding, I ran back in and bolted the door. Too bad about the stars. Let me sleep.
I was still scared. In the pause between dog barks, I sometimes heard sounds from close quarters. It was sometimes the wind hitting against a patched window or some weird creaking noise. The quieter it was, the more noises I heard. My imagination took over. "What if I hear this noise just outside my room?" The thought sent a shiver down my spine and I hastily distracted myself. I began remembering some ghost stories, a coughing man.. Damn! Why did I know so much! There was no soul around except for Norman Bates downstairs. Should I go to him? I pictured my sister in this situation. I thought, I'm much braver than her in this kind of situation. I must spend the night here. I, of 23 years, who took this crazy path, can do it. I tried to distract myself. Physics problem didn't help. Planning my next few days and about leaving IITK didn't work either. The only thing left was to think of girls, picture me going around with this amazing girl who also enjoyed adventures like the one I had taken. Imaginary company has to do when one can't get real company. Finally I slept.
I got up. Yes! It's morning and I am alive. I had survived. I looked at the time. Should be 4 AM. Sun would rise at 5 and then no more Spooksville. Even the most conservative estimate from me would've been wrong. It was 12 AM. I still had a long way to go. The dogs were still barking, now from all sides. This was reassuring now. I wasn't alone. I managed to sleep again. I woke up at 2 AM, sneezing and coughing. The pillow and rajai were indeed dusty. I flipped my pillows, took a blanket instead of the rajai and was ready to sleep, when I realized that I wasn't scared. Now, why not go outside and see the milky way. The dogs were silent too. I went out and looked at the sky. There was the Milky Way! Beautiful. Can I take snap? The sky had a nice glow to it contrasting it from the land. Suddenly, barking began and it seemed like the dog was coming towards me. I ran in and shut the door. Good-bye Milky Way.
I slept and was woken by the breaking of day. It was 4:40 AM. Great! Now, I am through with the night. I went back to sleep. I was suddenly startled by a loud scratching noise in the room. This was as close as it could get! What was that?? As I lowered my blanket and looked, no one was there. It was the birds who nested in the roof. Apparently, their morning began quite early.
As the sun rose, the place looked very calm. Why was I scared at all? I went around the village again and took pictures again. Now, I was only focused on getting out of there. No more adventure. I talked to Bates, watched school children of a nearby school play, ate biscuits and tea and then finally left.
If you are curious to know what place could so attract my attention, and what Norman Bates looked like, here are the photos I took.
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| Spooksville |
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