15th October 2022
We’re now in a different place.
Firstly, I definitely have severe arachnophobia. My fear of Spiders has been intense. On the first night at this new place, we went up to bed and found a rather huge spider hanging about on the ceiling, directly above our bed. Directly! Above! Our bed!!!! In an attempt to move to literally any other place, I extended one leg of my camera tripod as far as it would reach and then with my heart rate increasing and my breath becoming more and more shallow, I prodded the spider to the other side of the room. I’d primed Amz with a cup so that If it fell onto the bed she could attempt to trap the spider and we could try and remove it from the room. My attempt to move him over to the other side of the room wasn’t as smooth as I’d hope. I carefully nudged him in different directions but just when I’d managed to coax him to a less scary place (in my mind), he dropped from the ceiling and landed on Amy’s bag.
Since the massive cockroach in the bag incident a few years ago, we have an unwritten rule that bags should always been zipped up, just in case. But we’ve got a bit slack because on this occasion Amy’s back was unzipped and the spider was nowhere to be seen.
My heart rate now in the attack zone released enough adrenaline for me to pick up the bag and move it into another room. I nearly passed out from the cortezole running through me. I uselessly stood by while Amy calmly emptied the contents of her bag, piece by piece. The spider was nowhere to be found, neither in the bag, in the other room or anywhere in our bedroom. Needless to say my first night here was completely restless while my mind played tricks on me.
Rewinding a little, the journey here from Kasar Devi was brutal. The twists and turns were so frequent that I spent a good 5 hours feeling rotten. Surprisingly the only thing keeping me remotely balanced were some seabands. Those incredible wrist bands I remember from my childhood. Acupressure is awesome. I am grateful for my wife every day - but when she’s taken the initiative to throw these into her bag for times like these I love her ever more.
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The house we are staying in is fascinating. The location means we have a direct view of the sunrise in the mornings and slightly to the left we have an amazing view of the snowy peaks floating amongst the clouds.
Inside the house there is stunning antique furniture, copious seating arrangements, a massive kitchen (where Amy currently is baking some cookies 😋) and so many sculptures of the various gods it’s like a museum. A place to be mindful and to spend time enjoying the collection of beautiful belongings our host has cultivated.
The house is sat on a hillside, from which we can see the road below, which is wonderfully quiet. We’re in amongst millions of pine trees. It’s idilic and serene.
Yesterday, after I’d finished doing some work, we decided to go for a walk. We’d yet to really establish a sense of where we are. Residing in the full force of nature, in amongst farmland, forest and fields we had to take our walk off the beaten path.
With the two dogs who live on the property in tow, we ventured through the overgrowth and climbed the hill behind our new home. Not far from our first few steps, a local who was trying to tame her cow by slapping and shrieking at it offered up some broken English to validate our route. “that way, ok, yes, no problem”. We continued to climb.
At the top of the hill we found a track and followed it with hopes that the direction would lead us to a better view of the snowy peaks. The dogs still accompanying us started to venture off on their own.
The realisation that these pups weren’t on leads and were not familiar with out voices started to dawn on us. At this point we had no idea whether they were the kind of dogs who were free to roam the mountains. Were we now responsible for their welfare? Were they going to get attacked by leopards? Run into traffic??
We carried along the track a little more as the dogs seemed to fall in line… then… hmmm… where are they? Where have they gone?
There they are, phew… ok, let’s move on a little further…
Beautiful scenery, quick dog check, beautiful surroundings, quick dog check, awesome snowy peaks, Where are they?
Can you see them?
No, can you?
No!
…
…
…
…
There’s one of them…
Where’s the other?
No idea…
“Doggo!?!!!!, Where are you? Come on, come here”.
No sign of the other dog.
At this point we’re quite far from our pad, we’re not sure where this track leads. We didn’t really intend for the dogs to join us. We didn’t really have a plan of where we were going, it was just supposed to be a little jaunt.
Spotting the other dog, we tried to call him over. He was 100% not interested.
OH SHIT! Monkeys!! Followed by the sound of a local using an aggressive grunting noise to try and scare said monkeys off. There’s 1, 2…. ok there’s a few monkeys right over there.
Monkeys here are scary. Sure, I’m aware that that fear lives in my mind and they probably couldn’t give a f**k about us, but that fear for me, for both of us is still very present. Monkeys here want whatever about your person. We’ve seen monkeys grab water bottles, snatch bags and fish snacks our of people’s pockets here. In my experience, which is all that matters to me unless I’m with someone that has a massive stick, they are not to be messed with.
So, one of the dogs is with us. The other is a way down the track. Amy wants to go back the way we came. I’m thinking the dogs were never being walked by us, they’ve always been in control. I’m sure they’re thinking “silly humans”.
Come on Amz, you gotta trust me, they’re walking us, they must want to do a loop of some kind. We can’t go back that way now because of the monkeys. We have no choice, let’s go! At this point, it’s stressful. The beautiful, serene scenery had faded to the back of our minds.
We follow the only dog we can see. A few locals pass by with (understandably) zero English. I’m trying to load google maps but there’s no service so I’m just using my logic to navigate.
Finally, we see the main road below. This must connect to the one we can see from the house.
We move down a really really dodgy slope with steep descents on either side, but we have both dogs with us now!
Ok, breathe. We’re all good.
Come on Amz, this way… “Are you sure?” No, but come on.
I take another little path and it leads into an open rubbish tip. Nope, back up, we’ll go down heeeeeeere…. BACKUP QUICK! Another pack of monkeys! This time it’s the langurs and these ones are - and I’m not exaggerating when I say - human sized.
Through the rubbish tip we go.
We make it back to the basecamp of the path that leads up to the house, with both dogs blissfully ignorant to the adventure we just had.
We’ve since found out that one of the dogs doesn’t even belong to the owner of the house and that both of them are freely available to wander their surroundings at their own pleasure.
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16th October 2022
20:34 - What a day!!!!!!!!
1. There is a housekeeper/caretaker here, Pradeep. I cannot work him out. He is very quiet, apart from quite a loud cough. Naturally we do not speak the same language. We come from such different backgrounds that our versions of reality are just COMPLETELY different. Maybe, if we shared the same language we could inquire about each other’s lives up until now, but we can’t, so I have to be careful not to project an identity onto him. All I’ve really learnt about him so far is that he’s a brilliant cook and he doesn’t have any regard for closing the door to the outside. Which also means he doesn’t really have an issue with the icy mountain air that creeps in during the evening and those pesky mosquitoes that ride on that breeze.
2. I woke this morning to a selfie from three of my dear friends from my childhood. I was touched they’d sent me a message with an acknowledgement of my presence being missed. It gave me a feeling of missing them too. A weird but touching way to start the day when I’m in one of the most remote areas I’ve ever been.
3. We went for a walk, but this time we were armed with the knowledge that if the dogs did come along, they were in charge of themselves. They could sense that we were trying out a new confidence, rejecting any responsibility for their wellbeing, so they stood in the middle of the road every time a car came along and watched us shriek in discomfort.
4. The walk was great. We made it to a fantastic view point at the same spot as a Dhaba (road side tea/food stop) that looked like it had been there for 100 years. A gentle man allowed me to snap a few photos. We also met a couple of guys having a sneaky beer and a couple of hard boiled eggs (no idea why they were trying to hide them from us) who were from Rishikesh. Apparently the Dengue issue in Rishikesh is “40%”, whatever that means.
5. Up until today, we’ve still been wrestling with the idea of heading to Rishikesh/Dehradun. We decided that logically we cant justify going into a Dengue area… Neither of us could deal with the upset we’d face if either of us got struck down. I composed an email to our yoga teachers…
With sincere apologies 🙏🏼
Dear Rajeev and Swati,
I hope this email finds you happy and healthy. I’m sorry to inform you but we have made the difficult decision to not attend the yoga course. We’ve heard many reports of dengue being a real problem in the Rishikesh/Dehradun area.
We feel really uncomfortable about this extremely difficult decision but we feel like we have no logical choice.
I hope you are able to fill the spaces and I hope you will consider us for a different course in the future. We offer our most sincere apologies. I hope you understand and I hope you stay safe and well.
Sending you our gratitude for all of your efforts to accommodate us and your swift and helpful communication.
With love and light,
Tom and Amy
6. We’ve decided to head to McLeod Ganj next. Home of the Dalai Lama and somewhere we really love. It’s only, roughly, a 3 day trip to get there… no biggy…
7. We had some lovely video calls with some of our family. Although we’re not getting our 5-9 fruits and veggies a day, we got some serious nourishment from our loved ones.
8. Earlier in the day I’d asked for a fire, given that a) we have the most enormous fireplace in the lounge and b) one of the images for the AirBnB listing is a lady sat next to a roaring fire, reading a book. Blissful! (this place is called Trideva which translates to Heaven, after all). So, we settled into our books, (I’m reading Krishna Das - Chants of a lifetime - what a title!) while Pradeep kindly built us a fire.
9. The warmth of the fire is toasting my toes - I snap a couple of pics for the sake of it, then return to my book, smug. I get to the end of my chapter and look over at my beloved, she’s got her jumper over her nose… “You ok, my love?” - She’s not a fan of the smell of the fire. Actually, the room is getting a little smokey. “It’s a little smokey in here, huh?”. Amz stands up and heads upstairs as the smell of the fire is mildly irritating her. Moments later she hollers down the staircase that the whole of the upstairs, where our bags and freshly laundered clothes are, is filled with smoke. We’ve gone from hoping to have a cosy fire to warm our cockles on a chilly evening, to having all the doors and windows open so we don’t die of smoke inhalation.
10. Last one. Spider in the bedroom. Pradeep comes to the rescue and manages to gently get my nightmare giver out of the room without causing any harm to the leggy little thing.
Done. Rings of Power finale. Sleep. Night!
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17th October 2022
I finished my book and it was great. The kind of book that I will eventually buy, when I have a home. I’ll keep it on the bedside table so I can pick it up whenever i need some words of wisdom and some grounding. I’ll highlight the passages that have resonated and re-read them until I can commit some of the lessons to memory.
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We went for a hike today, up a mountain, a real mountain. A mini pilgrimage to the Badhangarhi Temple, dedicated to the Goddess Kali. We climbed a steep set of concrete stairs passing through greenery, trees, curious elders and many members of the Indian Army. The steps were tall and we were grateful for the sticks we’d been loaned to lean on. An hour of uphill sweating in the baking, sun-filled blue sky opened out onto an area of old temples with charming locals dotted around. Everyone was kind. The smiles were welcoming and we happily obliged filling the selfie requests with our damp, red swollen faces.
A couple of young men from the Indian Army had taken us under their wing, from afar. They loitered in the undergrowth until they could detect our bewilderment. Offering us a way to the panoramic summit, they invited us to follow them. Like guardian angels leading the way, they didn’t crowd us out, they just waved their hands gently from afar, communicating with only body language “this is the way”.
We clicked some pics of the stunning scenery, took a moment to breathe it all in and then ventured back down.
It was an hour up. It was an hour down.
On the way down we saw some amazing lizards, beautiful butterflies and tremendous trees.
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18th October 2022
We woke up to a slightly less jubilant Pradeep. We then got a call from our host saying that was is feeling sick and was off to see the doctor. It later transpired that he has a virus and was given a jab and some medication. We don’t get given jabs that quickly in the UK, what was this jab for? How sick is he? Poor guy.
My thoughts go out to him. We’re also wondering if his virus may have made its way to us through the meals he’s been cooking for us 3 times a day.
We’ve told the host he must stay home and rest and we can fend for ourselves.
We had some snacks for lunch and then some boiled potatoes with boiled spinach (grown in the garden) for dinner. Yum :)
We told our host we’d like to check out a day early. It’s the best thing to do so that Pradeep can rest and we can minimise the risk of falling ill.
The news that we could check out a day early was actually quite welcomed. Our plans have changed so much due to the dengue risk that we’re both itching to get back to Kasar to see our friends and to sleep in a room that doesn’t keep us awake at night. It’s so remote here both of our minds have been playing tricks on us. Pesky minds!
Car booked for tomorrow at 9am. We’ll forgo breakfast so we don’t feel too nauseous from the windy roads.
A huge storm took over the valley for a good hour. Menacing clouds and purple lightning forks dominated the skies. We also lost all power for most of the evening. Complete darkness all around apart from the stars and the lightning bolts. Incredible.
Note to self. Stick to the 3 night booking rule and then extend REGARDLESS of how I’m feeling, unless I’m returning somewhere I know well.
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19th October 2022
Have you ever travelled 200 miles at 20mph? I have.
