Kalpa: Day Two (15/05/11)

Kalpa: Day Two (15/05/11)

Today was an entirely lazy day for me. I woke up late and looked out at the blazing sun and decided to hang back till the evening to go out and do something. I enjoyed the usage of internet for the last time for at least a week and ordered nice food to go with it. I spent the time gathering information on how best to chart out the trip forward and decided that I would leave for Nako tomorrow and spend a couple of days there before moving on forward to Tabo and then Kaza. The food at the Blue Lotus did not disappoint and I ate to my heart’s content.

Finally, evening came about and I decided to go out walking and exploring a bit. After walking through the town and visiting the Bodhi Mandir and the other two temples, I found a road leading away from Kalpa and I took it. It was a nice little road with greenery and houses on both sides and it was a mostly downhill so I set off at a good pace enjoying the calmness. At several places, I found streams running down the side and onto the road and they were a really pretty sight. I was thoroughly enjoying the clean air, the chilly breeze and the gloomy cloud cover and then I came to a turn where I saw a man leading a bull and a cow up the road.

Both of us were approaching each other at a fairly quick pace when the man suddenly looked at me and started saying, “Bell maaregi, bell maaregi!” In my deluded and idiotic state of mind I was actually very excited at the prospect of seeing a Kinnauri bell ringing bull and started looking at his neck only to find that there was no bell there. He kept on repeating what he said, with an expressionless face and I was most confused as to how and where the blessed bull would find a bell to ring. When the bull and I were almost upon each other it finally dawned on me that the guy was saying, “Bail maaregi!” I glanced upon the bull, my insides having gone cold, and found him readying himself for the charge. In a split second the bull charged and I ran the fastest 10 meters I have ever run and narrowly escaped being gored. I angrily walked up to the man and chastised him at length for, letting such a belligerent bull run free on the road, his utterly incorrect pronunciation, and his accursed calm demeanor when trying to warn a person about a murderous charge about to talk place. For his part, all he had to say was “Bach gaye aap tho.” And then he walked straight on leaving me still shaky and completely incredulous.

After setting my bearings straight, I resolved to remove the incident from my head and I kept walking to and soon came to the end of the road. I turned back, all the while keeping my eyes out for any more ‘bells’, and reached Kalpa after a fairly laborious walk; uphill wasn’t as much fun. I found a high point just across the school and I sat there for a while watching evening turn into night and then went back to the hotel. I ordered a nice meal and sat outside, enjoying the mountain views as much as I enjoyed my food. I decided to turn in early and get some rest in anticipation of the arduous journey to Nako tomorrow.