Travel Diaries

My trip day started quite strangely on the month of October back in 2018. Enclosed within a cozy room, my vision tends to get clearer and as the blurriness slowly fades away, I see a tall, bulky guy crying wholeheartedly. I try to get closer and those emotions start to haunt me. I start to feel a chill down my spine gradually radiating all over my body. His frustrations were quite transparent that I tried to console him and asked him not to do anything crazy. Deep down inside, it touched me seeing him broken. Surprisingly, I could hear the fading old car horn in my ears at a distance gradually taking its pace and louder each second. It was my alarm. Obviously, I am not able to see such clear visions in daily life. As a matter of fact, I am blind without my lenses.

The dream was weird but aren’t they always? and hey It’s my trek day. After a whole semester of monotonous assignments, projects, and all those regular thing. Something was finally exciting. I was trekking to Phoksundo, Dolpa.

Before the trek, yet, I had to finish some other business. I got ready, carried my trek bag, bid my farewell to my family, and went to my college. I had an examination to attend the very day and reach the bus station as soon as the exam was over. The exam was till 1 and I had to reach the station by 2. It was an exam in English literature and it went quite well. I and a friend of mine rushed to get a Taxi and reached the station on time.

I was going to the trek with my seniors and friends. We were 14 in total. I unhesitantly accepted the invite of one of my seniors, invited a friend, and hopped on to go see Phoksundo Lake. This is how it started. Except for the two people, 12 people were almost strangers to me. Now that I think, before the trip, I had not shared any kind of conversation with any of them except a friendly smile on the corridors of college.

So, basically, I was on a trek with many strangers. The main catch of the trek was that we might have to sacrifice not celebrating Dashain; one of the important festivals of Nepal. Our trek could take a long time and we could possibly miss the main days of Dashain. However, the fun part was we were all moving and walking with the risk of getting scolded by our family in case we missed the tika of Dashain. At least I was.

I lost touch with those two friends; Supriya and Bashistha on the very day we started walking.

Disclaimer: Do not take it literally!

They were walking with some other people and I was on my own. I was just hesitant or more like an introvert being an introvert, to walk and talk with new people. So, I started to roll alone and I do not regret it at all. It was all fun.

I am so glad it worked out that way. Had it not been that way, I would never come out of my comfort zone and would leech with those people only. By the end of the trip, all of us on the trip were entangled and made individual relationships with each other. The trip will always be a part of us. I think every one of us has lived at least once or more throughout the trip.

After the return, people asked me, ” How was it? Was the beauty of Phoksundo justifiable for the whole long trek of 10 days? Was it worth it ?”. Some people even asked me which trip was better and asked me to compare it with my previous trips. I could not reminiscent how did Phoksundo lake actually look when people asked me. We were definitely there to see the lake, but it occurred to me that I couldn’t remember it in seconds, because I guess something else mattered the most. The company, people with whom I walked, laughed with, rested with, a shared ounce of water drops with made my journey more fulfilling and it would always be wrong even after all this time i.e. after almost 2 years now, to give the credit to the beauty of Phoksundo lake alone. It was the beauty of the company.

The more I think, I remember each faces, late-night fire, Barbecue night, jokes, laughs, pulling each other’s leg, sips of local booze after a tiring day, applying oils over legs, and much more, I feel overwhelmed by all the memories and how precious it was to share and appreciate such beauty of the lake, nature, vegetation, and lifestyle with those bunch of people. “Yeah, It was totally worth it.”

I still remember a local man saying to us that there is no difference between the sky and the lake and these eyes cannot see the end of the lake or cannot fit the periphery within. The lake is the reflection of the sky and it is as blue as the sky. It was indeed as said. There are so many moments that I cannot fit exactly into their places. They are out of their positions and they come to me on random days when least expected. I sometimes allow them to dwell on me and they slowly adjust to settle in harmony in my stack of memories. The saying of the local man, the realization of what he said, and the bliss I felt while we slept by the side of the lake during the day time are some of them.

Four of us separated from the group and decided to stay back and sleep by the lake. The little ants trying to crawl upon us, bright warm sun, peaceful lake by the side, we curl up in four places in four positions like kids, loud and frequent rasp with pause by crows and just sound vicinity. It was wholesome. Like I said, I cannot fit the moments exactly, I cannot remember how we four again ended up by the side of the beach.

Disclaimer alert!

Not exactly a beach, but yeah it felt like one. We played around as if it was a beach. We played throwing stones and counting steps, made a stack of stones and played with water. It has been a long time now. I feel like that It was a part of me; not whole me. However, I would love to live it again.

I skipped a lot of talk on the climb, obstacles, plot twists and steepness as the fun overshadowed them.

Important Disclaimer: Series of Remember when

I still remember how someone felt how handsome Sahil Dai was. Likewise, Ramesh Mama’s flute game being so strong. It was so good to hear the music throughout the trek. I, Supriya, Prashant Dai, and Sushil Dai slept peacefully by the lake, obviously, that was a gem. Sushil Dai requesting the photo clicks to Babin Dai is still so vivid. While Bashistha and Shreyaj Dai always went to sleep so early, we used to have most of the fun during that time with drinks, gossips, fire, and more. Supriya’s “My bag is uncomfortable, let me drink water, let me fix my jacket ” cunning excuses to take rest are still hilarious.

Phoksundo Squad ft Hotel’s Grandpas cute slippers

Kushal Dai and Supriya talking about their school whenever they got chances were so irritating; I wanted to run away from them. How Ishan Dai, Prashant Dai, and Dhiraj Dai always woke up late, and Supriya and I learned how to roll the purple haze. How Babin Dai and Babu Dai were like serious trekkers; sleeping on time, waking up on time, managing the stay, flights, and great leaders. How it was already dusk and we were almost lost walking for hours in weed fields. Last but not the least, Suraj Dai and his Dolpali behavior is one of my favorites.

Above all, I am also really fond of the day we spent on Nepalgunj. The last day on Nepalgunj was the cherry on top of the cake. It was the no trek, rikshaw (2 or 3 wheeled vehicle) day. We had extra fun having local foods as famous Biryani, Paan (leaves of the betel plant wrapped around tobacco, fruit, etc.), Panipuri, Chaat, Sorma, and many more. Also, the time we went out at midnight, had some warm tea, watched the Ramayan Drama on our last night is still so fun to even miss. Our two other friends; Anuska and Akriti joined us in Nepalgunj and it was a fun and new experience to me.

The next day, all of us separated our ways. Few among us went home through Nepalgunj. Most of us had a flight from Nepalgunj to Kathmandu and I swear I didn’t want to come back and the trip and the people felt like home. We were lucky enough that we landed exactly a day before the main day of Dashain.

The whole trip was never about the destination alone, it was about 14 of us, how we rolled with each other from strangers to companionship, and our back and forth journey to Phoksundo. We unknowingly jointly created a pure bond with each other to meet up with each other again.

P.S. you and I are more than friends. We are a small cute travel gang. And just for the information, the big guy in my dream was my English Literature teacher.

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