Day 13: Friendship Without Scheme

Today was a nice rest day. The first and best rest day I’ve had. I made friends and explored Kargil, which is a wonderful little town. I also got advice on how to continue my quest, and it’s going to be a bumpy road ahead, literally. I’m going to take a road that isn’t even on Google maps yet and used to be a hiking trail. We will see how that goes. At any rate it promises to be an adventure. The smooth black top I’ve been rolling on has been a delight but it’s time for some pain. My lips are pretty burned, I need to take better care of them. My face is my most valuable asset. This morning was kind of funny and also kind of frustrating. The younger marathon runner decided to wake up at 6am and do this bizarre morning routine of singing and pushups and aggressively pacing while breathing super loudly through his nose. I tried to go back to sleep but it was impossible. And he kept at it for over an hour. Then he had the nerve to ask me for toothpaste. The older marathon guy really hated him after that and was bitching to me about it as he checked out. I love the tension between those two.  

I walked by the guy who checked me in and did gun fingers at him and his colleague saying what’s up guys and he laughed and grabbed my left bicep tightly and said “you have a good personality”. That’s all the validation I need for the next couple of weeks. I walked into a little bike shop down the street to get some advice and made my new best friend, Waziree. He was sleeping in the back corner of the shop and shot up when I walked in. I told him I didn’t mean to disturb but he assured me I wasn’t and we got to talking. He said he wasn’t quite sure about the road conditions where I wanted to go. I asked him if he knew of a place where I could get a headlamp. He told me he knew a couple places that might and he closed up shop and took me out on the town. We got along splendidly and went to a few different electronics shops before finding the most comically cheap head lamp I’ve ever seen for just 400 rupees. This thing does essentially everything my cool expensive headlamp did. Not sure about water resistance or battery life but it has a dim setting, it fits on my head, you can adjust the angle and it’s rechargeable. What more could you want? Red light and blinking settings are overrated and I’ve never used them. This is all I need if I’m in an emergency situation and need to ride at night or set camp after the sun falls. And not once did I think Waziree would use his friendliness as leverage to ask me for a tip. And I was right. He just did it out of the goodness of his heart. Kargil is absolutely devoid of scams and profiteers. Everyone I’ve met and spoken with is honest and hard working and doesn’t even know the word tip. How quickly things change. The world is full of wonder. 

I dropped my friend off back at the bike shop with plans to get momos later. Then I went back to the hostel and shot the shit with one of the workers who helped me set up some crash pads so I could mess around on their little climbing wall in the parking lot. While I climbed we talked about my cycling options. The highway to Leh is more blacktop but the Zanskar valley is isolated and authentic and beautiful but with a lot more off road style conditions. I mean… I can’t say no to that. That is why I got the fat tires on my bike. I gotta give those puppies something to chew on. And this is probably the only place in India where I’ll have an opportunity to be somewhere so remote and wild. So I’m going all in. I went for a big walk around the city after that and bought different little fried pastries and other such delicacies to entertain my greedy stomach. Off the main commercial strip Kargil turns into a complex network of steep back alleys that either lead to private property, dead ends, or more back alleys. I had a lot of fun playing trial and error with these, running up and down the steep hills, navigating twisting mazes of narrow corridors, crossing bridges, and even finding patches of farm and pasture land interwoven in the fabric of the city. It was good to give my bike legs some walking and I could hear my prostate sigh with relief. I had chicken biryani for lunch and it was decent. I then returned to the hostel to do some light reading before meeting back up with Waziree. We got some delicious lamb momos on the street and then met up with his pal to go to a tea house and have some fun little snacks. Waziree insisted on paying for the tea since I got the momos. He’s only 22, but he’s a hard worker with a bright future. He earned a BSc at the University in Jammu, which he didn’t really love but he kept his head down and worked hard, and just accepted a new job with the government. Government jobs are reliable with great benefits and it’s something a lot of Indians strive for. He’ll be making 30,000 rupees per month which is 8,000 more than what his father makes. As the eldest of 6 he wants to help his family make ends meet so his siblings can have good lives. He’s also a prolific poet. He showed me hundreds of poems he’s written in Urdu on his phone. I can’t say enough good things about this guy. He told me that in this area all the marriages are love marriages. He doesn’t think he’s old or wealthy enough to find a girlfriend for now so he’s just focusing on career growth. He kind of is dreading the process of courtship and jokingly wishes he could have an arranged marriage. I get it. We’re going to get more momos tomorrow for brunch before I hit the road again. I like it here, it’s going to be hard to leave. 

Back at the hostel, I found my buddy Angad was back from his first day volunteering. We talked a bit, laughing about the marathon runners morning routine. Angad had somehow slept through it so I had to act the whole thing out for him. Our new roommate’s a bit of a character too. He runs a hotel in Udaipur and I believe I’ve talked my way into a discount should I find my way there. We got into a hearty little political talk. He loves strong men and is a big Modi supporter. He says the muslims are all happy and don’t believe what the western media tells me. Who am I to say no? I mean since I’ve been in India I have seen a ton of really happy muslims, maybe he’s on to something. Maybe Modi’s a real cool dude. He was motorcycling all over Ladakh and did the Khardung pass which is 17,000 feet. Could be a fun challenge once I make it to Leh if my bike and myself remain unbroken. Hopefully tonight is the complete sleep my body has been craving and I’ll fly down to Zanskar tomorrow.