Rakcham to Kalpa (14/05/11)

Rakcham to Kalpa (14/05/11)

Today I woke up at 7:05 A.M and immediately rolled out of bed to start preparing for my exit. As I mentioned yesterday, I was a little sad at having to leave Rakcham but as the minutes passed, I started getting excited at the prospect of going somewhere new. I packed my bag quickly using the only method I knew; stuff everything in and organize later when necessary. Somewhere during my mad dash to catch the 10:00 A.M bus to Sangla, I managed to scarf down a wonderful farewell breakfast, pay Mr. Kumar what I owed him, and say my goodbyes to everyone there. I finished my packing late and then literally ran after the bus and somehow managed to board it. The people on the bus, displaying typical Himachali kindness, made space for my bag and me and I was extremely grateful for it.

The bus ride back to Sangla was mostly uneventful except when I remembered the moments of pain during my walk to Rakcham. We reached Sangla pretty quickly and I was dropped off at the bus shelter in the market square. I was unsure about whether or not to eat lunch because that meant risking missing the bus to Peo so I decided to wait till I reached Peo and promised myself a hearty meal once there. I took out Don Quixote and started reading, all the while keeping an eye out for the bus. It took one and half hours before the bus finally showed up and even then there was a ‘break’ of 30 minutes before the bus finally decided to leave for Peo.

The bus was moderately full, just so much that enough space was left for everybody to relax in. As the bus left Sangla the weather took a turn for the worse. Dark clouds seemed to manifest out of nothingness and soon it began to drizzle. The road down to Karcham was decent save for a few bumps here and there but once we passed Karcham, it became a carnival ride. The drizzle turned into full fledged rain and the roads were absolutely horrible. Because I had my heavy backpack with me I had to sit in the corner of the bus right at the very end and this did not help matters the slightest. Every time there was a sharp corner or a large bump in the road, I was flung into the air and then sideways. I had to grip the bar in front of me so hard that my knuckles turned white. A few minutes later the bus abruptly stopped.

I stood up to see what the matter was and saw a huge boulder in the middle of the road and two guys operating heavy machinery to try and push it to the side. All the traffic (slightly misleading, here, ‘traffic’ means two or three vehicles) on either side of the boulder waited and watched the battle of the machines and the boulder in great earnest. I got off the bus despite the rain because I wanted to record this battle and I was very interested to see how they’d manage to clear the road. It took 35 minutes of thrilling action and the boulder was finally pushed to the side of the road allowing the vehicles to pass. As we passed the machines I saw the guys who had been operating them and they looked like they were younger than me. I marveled at their skill but my admiration was immediately put on hold as the bus twisted and turned and jolted me into the air every few minutes.

All this while the bus had been playing Tibetan music and that was a cause of great vexation to me throughout the journey. I’m not trying to stereotype here, but the music that was on the whole time was basically a guy singing in a monotone against the background of an infinite looping music track. I think the HRTC deliberately chose this type of music to lull it’s passengers into a hypnotic trance so that they wouldn’t notice just how crappy the ride actually was. My hunger only made matters worse and I hung onto dear life praying to God to let me reach Peo as soon as possible. That happy moment arrived sooner than I expected and I went straight to a Tibetan food joint and had half a plate of chowmein; so much for the grand meal I promised myself.

After the sorry excuse for a meal I hung around at the bus stop waiting for a bus to Kalpa. 45 minutes passed and there was no sign of a single bus headed in the direction of Kalpa and I wondered if I needed to take a Maxi Cab. Right then a private bus showed up and I boarded it. The bus was only slightly larger than a Tempo and this meant that there was a severe restriction as far as space was concerned. I again had to sit at the corner of the bus with the bag in my lap. To make matters worse my travel companion for the trip was completely drunk and I was left trying to ignore the noxious fumes that flowed in my direction. The trip to Kalpa was relatively short and I spent my time, as always, with my head out the window enjoying the breeze and the scenery that passed us by. And then we reached Kalpa.

The first sight of the Kinner-Kailash range from Kalpa took my breath away. The clouds were visible on the peaks of the mountains and they seemed to be melting into snow right before my eyes. It was some time before I finally threw on my bag and made my way into the village to find accommodation. I had heard of the Blue Lotus hotel’s reputation and I wanted to stay there. I asked if there were any rooms available and I was shown an excellent room whose price was 500 bucks a night. Having honed my skills throughout the course of the trip I bargained the price down to Rs. 250 a night and settled down into my room.

After having spent four nights in a homestay, the hotel room seemed like extravagant luxury to me. The room was really delightful and the view from the balcony outside was stupendous. I quickly left to roam the town before I lost light. I went straight to a Buddhist temple but it was closed so I had to settle for taking some pictures of a Buddha statue and prayer wheels outside of the temple. Next I went to the Durga Mandir and it blew me away. The architecture was typical of the other temples that I had seen in Kinnaur but there seemed to be a historical element present in it that made it the most special. I was admiring the temple and stepped forward to go in when a foreigner lady stepped out of it.

Both of us were startled at the sight of each other and jumped slightly before carefully walking past each other. I don’t think she had seen many sun burned south Indians before today. The temple premises were mostly empty and I spent my time taking pictures and looking at all the intricate wooden carvings. Then, I moved onto the Vishnu Mandir and was equally happy with what I saw. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the sight of dragons guarding the temples of Hindu deities; just one of the things that I absolutely love about eclectic religion. In the Vishnu Mandir there were some HIGHLY interesting carvings of an explicit nature. I’m not exactly orthodox but witnessing them in those circumstances startled me slightly and I photographed them just to make sure they weren’t figments of my imagination (If they were, I think I’d need to see a psychologist).

After the temples I chose to just walk lazily around town looking at the people, the houses and the landscapes. I also saw a huge dog that I discovered to be very friendly. Unfortunately I had no biscuits on me and he lumbered away before I was able to buy some. After walking a while I decided to come back and enjoy the comforts of my room before turning in. I had heard a lot about the quality of the food in this hotel and I decided to order Paneer Makhani and Butter rotis. After having subsisted on simple village fare for 4 days this was to be my weekend luxury meal. Watching the moon-lit snow-clad mountains out of my window I also experienced a sudden craving for alcohol and asked the hotel guy if I could procure any. He said that all they had was beer and that it cost Rs. 120 a bottle. My craving died pretty quickly.

The food showed up a little late but it lived up to all my expectations. It was extremely tasty and the portion sizes were generous. I also had a Campco dark chocolate that I munched on to complete the experience. All in all, it was a very good day and I enjoyed every bit of it. Tomorrow I’ll laze around Kalpa for another day and enjoy this hotel a little longer. Today feels like a vacation from the past four days, haha. Until tomorrow then, cheers!