During our time in Keylong we got comfortable in our mostly vacant hotel. We developed our regular spots in town for eating out but also for getting groceries to prepare food in our room. A couple of weeks earlier in Leh we picked up a one-liter electric kettle for boiling water which opened up some new possibilities. At first it might seem like such a large thing to carry around with us but if I pack some of my clothes inside it, it doesn’t actually take up much volume in my backpack and it weighs very little. Suddenly we could make our own tea in the mornings which meant that we could ween ourselves off of cold (and expensive) Nescafe. It also made possible hard boiled eggs, oatmeal, instant soups, boiled potatoes, and maybe a few other things. Combined with the knife and cutting board that I always carry, it opened up a period of culinary experimentation and some of the results were pretty good. It also provided a break from the usual dishes that are commonly available. Don’t get me wrong, there is some very tasty food in northern India but fresh vegetables can be problematic. We could get fresh vegetables at the local markets and wash or peel them ourselves and dip them in a homemade sauce of besan (chick pea flour), vinegar, masala spices, chili powder, fresh garlic, lemon juice, etc. Think spiced zingy hummus. Not bad.
With some good rest and a decent variety of healthy food in our systems we were ready for some exercise. I already mentioned one of our hikes in a previous post but we did several long day hikes around the Bhaga River valley. If we had even more time and maybe a rented motorbike there could be months worth of beautiful hikes in that area.
There were a couple of reasons that we couldn’t just stay longer. One was that it was a priority for us to get to Nepal during the season of pleasant weather. The rains were ending but if we waited too long it would get too cold up in the mountains. The other was that Keylong was basically shutting down for the winter. Once the Rohtang Pass got covered in snow, the government would clear it one time and then just leave it for the rest of the winter. Busses would stop running at that point and travel in and out of the far north would largely come to an end, including deliveries of supplies, food, medicine, and building materials. This is why it is so important for people to build up plenty of winter food storage and firewood early on. Life slows down considerably during the winter and I honestly have no idea what people do to fill their time. The cows still need to be cared for, wood needs to be chopped, and food needs to be prepared, but other than that I imagine that most people have a huge amount of free time during the winter. A considerable chunk of the population simply leaves, going south to stay with family in other parts of the country. Migrant workers, mostly road crews, head south as well.
We asked around about the bus situation and everybody sort of dismissed the question, telling us it wouldn’t be a problem. Just go down to the bus station whenever we want to leave and there would be many busses every day. So we chose a day, packed up our stuff the night before and made it our plan to be down at the bus station by 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning. There were a couple of earlier busses at 5:00 and 7:00 but why bother getting up so early? Everyone said we would have no trouble getting a bus. We ate some breakfast, said goodbye to Dawa (the hotel owner and our new friend), and headed to the bus station. Of course there was nobody in the ticket office so there was nobody to even ask for information, much less buy a ticket from. It was fairly cold out, maybe in the 40’s, and Fern and I were bundled up. We couldn’t help but notice a large family that was also waiting. Judging from the style of their clothing, they looked like they were from another region farther south. They had some large packages of their belongings tied up with rope. It was obvious that they were very poor and a couple of small children with them ran around playing in the dusty parking area wearing oversized shirts – no pants, no shoes. I was amazed at their ability to tolerate the cold. It didn’t seem to bother them at all. Once the bus situation became clear it occurred to me that this family probably spent the night right there at the station and because their group and baggage were so large, it would be a while before there would be room for them on a bus unless they had made some sort of special arrangement.
Eventually a bus showed up that was headed toward Manali – our destination. It was completely full. They were stopping for a short bathroom break but nobody new actually got on the bus. Shortly after the bus left a man in a uniform appeared in the ticket office. He wasn’t actually opening the office up but Fern went and got some answers from him anyway. She asked if we could buy a ticket for the next bus and he said no. How about for any other bus for the rest of the day that was heading south? No. They were all full. With so many people trying to get south of the Rohtang Pass at the last minute before it started snowing, the busses were all packed. Unfortunately none of the busses actually started in Keylong which meant that they filled up wherever they originated and were completely full by the time they got to Keylong. The 5:00 a.m. bus the next day might be a remote possibility. Crap.
At that point we saw a jeep on the other side of the parking lot and remembered something Dawa had told us. A couple of days earlier he offered to arrange a shared jeep instead of the bus and a sour expression came over his face when we insisted that we wanted to take the bus. Even Indians don’t hold their public bus system in very high esteem. The bus would be MUCH cheaper, however, and on the local bus we would be in the company of a fascinating cross-section of people. It may be uncomfortable and even frightening but it would make for some great people watching. Since the bus option was becoming a giant pain in the ass, I ran over to the jeep to see if they were going to Manali. They were. A few other people were haggling with the driver and it took him a long time to even tell me if we could get a ride in his jeep. The six hour drive in the jeep was going to cost us $30 each (compared to maybe $2 for the bus) and there would be nine people plus their baggage squeezed into the vehicle. This was going to be even more uncomfortable than the bus. There had to be another option.
We let the jeep go without us, walked back to the hotel, and asked one of the younger guys if Dawa was around but he had just left. Maybe he could still arrange something for us. They called Dawa and he showed up within a few minutes. We explained the bus situation and asked if he could still arrange a jeep for us, hopefully with fewer than nine people in it. He stood there quietly in his characteristic way with his hands clasped together, listening and contemplating, and then told us that he would drive us to Manali the next day. The cook from his hotel needed to get to a town near Manali for the winter too. It seemed like too much. A six hour drive on a rough and dangerous road? We tried to politely decline his offer but he insisted. This was not the first nor the last of Dawa’s acts of incredible generosity. We graciously agreed to leave with him the next day.
By this time the motion sickness pills that we took earlier were kicking in which meant we were getting very drowsy. We headed back up to our room, which had already been cleaned, and immediately fell asleep for a few hours. Later in the afternoon, Dawa took us to his house. He had been wanting us to come over but the timing never worked out but now we had an extra afternoon to make it happen. Somehow it seemed as though all of this was meant to be. Pieces were falling into place. A connection was quickly being forged that would lead us into some unexpected situations over the coming days…
jim@snorkelbandits.com