Day 28: Back Out the Gate

The day started bright and early at 7am. My alarm woke me up from one of those crazy vivid dreams where you see all your friends and you’re in a familiar setting and you’re kind of anxious about something but the whole thing is ambiguous. I wish I could remember it better but it definitely had no meaning and couldn’t possibly be interesting. Adam and I got our things together and paid our bill and went back to the Uttarakhand Dhaba for a delicious breakfast of Aloo Parantha and Rajma and Samosas and tea. I realized my money was running dangerously low, but the one ATM in town was closed and we wanted to get started so Adam will just spot me until we reach Manali. Hopefully his 6000 rupees last the way for us both. I bought some more sweets, these delicious little coconut things covered in chocolate that essentially taste like macaroons, and we set off on the road out of town towards Purne. And we flew. The paved road lasted a good while, then became a bad road. We lunched on some extra samosas we’d purchased and some bananas and snickers bars. The road led us through another canyon with sky blue water and monasteries every 10 kilometers, it’s starting to get repetitive but it’s still beautiful. We reached the fork to the monastery and chose to stick with the paved road on the other side. We could see on the map there was a bridge further down to Purne so we decided we could probably find a homestay around there, stash our bikes, and go on the hike from that side. Once we arrived there we saw the bridge. The problem was it was about 500 feet below on a steep narrow path that our bikes would never survive and there were no homestays in sight, so we kept going down the road to find a town. Eventually we reached a place called Yall that had maybe 4 homes altogether. We asked someone if there was a homestay and they pointed down the road. There was nothing down the road. We sighed. We were tired and wanted to be done but we had to push on. A headwind was gaining strength and we were going uphill most of the way. Finally we reached another town called Tetha. We followed a bumpy road into the town and some guy asked if we needed a homestay. He showed us into a literal construction site. There was dust everywhere. We stood in the room that was intended to be our dormitory. There was a filthy dust covered carpet. He started brushing it with a tiny broom sending dust all over the air. We tried opening a window but it was sealed shut. He was asking 700 rupees from each of us for the night. We said absolutely not. We walked further into the town and found the older stone house village within, where people greeted us with warm kind faces. A young woman spoke to us in English. She was studying in Delhi and spent August and September here to help out with her family. She helped us find a good homestay, and thank god, I was panicking thinking we’d have to sleep in that cold empty dust bowl. Homestays are good only if they’re in actual homes with real families and such. Adam and I shared a celebratory cigarette. I hate to say it but I gave in quite early on our trip and will from time to time join Adam with the smoking. I definitely can’t continue doing that. But hey, he’s in much better shape than me and doesn’t have trouble with the altitude so maybe they’re helping in some weird way. Again, all those mountaineers with the cigarettes, maybe they’re on to something. Tomorrow we will cross a tiny wooden bridge to get on the bad road and try to flag down a car to take us to Purne and see the monastery. At least that’s the plan. I know Adam isn’t so keen. Of monasteries he says “they’re all the same”. I’m worried he’s right and that my primary motivation is just to take a photo. But still, it’s always nice to have a little stroll. I hope it works out.