The mountains inhale, as do I. A Himalayan adventure begins.
Facing East over the Gangas river in Uttarakhand Rishikesh the valley walls guide the cooled air of the upper Himalayas downstream. Sitting on the rooftop of my hotel I’m an incidental recipient of the freshness of the breeze that is accompanied by an undertone that can be heard moving through the valley and the township that lines the river bank. Like a ship moving through dense fog, there is a momentous force at play yet we hear only the low resonance of its power. For me, it’s an early greeting from a friend with whom I’m yet to be acquainted.
This photo was taken from my hotel rooftop while talking with Mum on the phone.
The street below is shared by a busy school too small to possibly accommodate the children that enter every day, yet each afternoon the children evacuate, smiling, laughing, and rushing home in a singular mass of red, thickly woven wool blazers. As the children find the streets by the Gangas. The wool and the wind meet for the second time; for these two have the same origin. The wool is grown on the back of the sheep in the high country, where it is spun in the same manner as it always has been, and then sent downstream to the lowlands for manufacturing. The wool that protects the sheep from the wind is now protecting the children from the same wind sum 2000m below. The alpine air is distinguishable by its fresh edge as it cuts through the smoke that accumulates over the township and how it numbs the index finger on my right hand. It may be the cold or the peaks of the mountains that dwarf the hotel, or possibly both that bring my thoughts to the adventure that is taking shape; an adventure that takes me to the alpine Himalayas and way out of my comfort zone.
I have not seen these lands, the inhabitants I have not conversed with, and the weather I have not been hardened to. A rapid learning curve is imminent, and assimilation with the people is necessary. I will need help at times, yet my safety will be determined by how self-sufficient I am at all times. This is a raw, rugged playground with little to no comfort and room for mistakes. Do I have the knowledge and experience to enter into the alpine regions? Not yet. Here begins the adventure.
The mountains exhale as do I.
Namaste
LRS