Hitchhiking Across Heaven || She smuggled two bottles of brandy, one bottle of old monk, a DSLR, a diary, a pen, a little bit of brain, and a lot of heart; into her bag, through all the check-posts, and hitchhiked across heaven. Through all of 20 days. A solo hitchhiking trip is something she had meant to do for the longest time. Wasn’t the easiest assignment to take up, of course. And she won’t recommend any of you to do it. Unless you have a LOT of faith. In yourself. And in people. Hitchhiking is nothing but active trust between strangers. From any part of the country. Or world. You’ll be duped. You’ll face hardships. You’ll be stranded. You’ll have crisis. You’ll share roads. You’ll share food. You’ll share weather. You’ll share mood. And the experiences you will return with, will introduce you to a part of yourself, that you didn’t know ever existed. In a world where people don’t even trust their friends and family; you’ll learn to trust. Youll learn to believe. To believe in the goodness of people. You’ll learn to have faith in faces you’ve never seen before. You’ll learn to trust strangers; first less, then more. ******* In 20 days, she got sunshine, starlight, cloud bursts, rainfall, stone shooting, roadblocks, landslides, snowfall, lack of oxygen, hunger, punctured tyres, bone-chilling cold, chilblains, no buildings, no connectivity, no sleep. She walked, drove, rafted, rode, cooked, camped, learnt, taught, rolled down sand dunes, danced with a Ladakhi troop, heard stories, told stories, picked apples from orchards, ate berries from the wild, helped locals remove boulders off the road, and a bunch more. The army, the tippers, base camps, bonfires, and people warmer than those bonfires helped a lot. Of course. But there was crisis at every point. Everything went down. From the temperature to reserves to rocks. Everything went down. Except her spirit. It gave her the inconvenience of curiosity. The magic of a free mind. The insubordination of seeking. And the audacity of a spine. All she knows is shes going to go back there again. And again. And again. And again. And again. Sometimes, with her body. Sometimes, without. || Theme: Trips Trip: Leh - Manali - Chamba - Thiksay - Shey - Druk Padma - Shanti Stupa - South Pullu - Khardungla - North Pullu - Khalsar - Diksit - Shayok Tso - Hunder - Nubra - Partapur Brigade - Thoise Airfield - Skuru - Changmar - Bogdang - Chulungkha - Turtuk - Karu - Warila - Sakti - Zingral - Changla - Tsotak - Durbuk - Tangste - Lukung - Spangmik - Chushul - Pangong - Indus - Zanskar - Tso Moriri - Tebe - Upshi - Chumathang - Mahey - Sumdo - Tso Kaigar - Karzok - Hall of Fame - Chilling - Magnetic Hill - Gurudwara Pattharsahib - Foof. :) Gypsy: Sreshtha Chatterjee
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 08:52:17 +0000
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