Yes, it was time to go back to civilization. But Indiahikes wanted to cheer us with our efforts. We got certificates of accomplishment. As we posed for photographs there was some foul odour to which Holly remarked "Oh! the horses." But it was difficult for me to distinguish my smell from the horses. My stomach was bad all through. After 8 days of gadget-free life, we marched towards civilization. Women are always a part of my life. In the beginning, it was Mala, whom I followed. Now, while going back, it was Shilpa whom I followed during the climb down. My legs trembled as I climbed down. Contrary to my expectation, climbing down turned out to be difficult. My knees started aching. At the first tea-point, I was relieved to have some tea. Suresh bhai paid for it and disappeared before I could thank him.
At the tea point I finished my puri and choley. Holly and Aidan too started eating the puris from the aluminium foil. They had carried their back packs all along with them during the journey. Aidan was motivated by the 12 year old kids of the Roopkund trail. They walked without any complaint.Holly turned out to be the daughter of the Himalayas. Inspite of diarrhoeal problems she carried on the trek with her heavy backpack. My journey became lighter, as I recalled the funny anecdotes she shared with me. Divesh bhai lightened my tired nerves with jokes. Tarak fell while gliding down, and I laughed. He tried to keep my spirits high and seems to fit the role of a leadership trainer. He tried to dispel my fear of falling down. I fell twice and got up and tried finding longer paths which were slip-proof.
On this downhill journey, one handsome guy sang "yeh kaha aa gaey hain hum". Those were the right words for all of us - for both the bruised ones and the cheerful ones as well. Tarak had grown sceptic towards the end of the trek, as his sister was flying down to the lap of the this Kashmiri beauty. This Kashmiri beauty is hard to win like the Helen of Troy. I had cursed Rahul Patil for not warning me of the arduousness of this journey. What was expected to be a tra-la-la-la stroll across the meadows turned out to be strenuous journey for our feeble feet and tender toes. At the end, all the thunder had left from our thighs, they were just a bundle of numb flesh.
The path down seemed never to end. My knees creaked, and my toes got numb. Shilpa kept herself motivated by telling herself that she would have chocolate cakes and fish at the hotel. Yes she deserved the treat after such a torturous journey. She pointed out with her stick downwards towards the tinned roofs saying, "we have almost reached". Finally we reached. I devoured a plate of rice and paneer curry, gulped down a packet of juice. Megha paid for the lemon tea as I relished it.
The vehicles reached and all of us got into respective vehicles for Srinagar. The journey ended sooner than I expected. Holly, Aidan, Kunal, Tejas and I got down. We went hotel hunting but ended up in a houseboat all for ourself. We hosted a dinner for our fellow trekkers. Naveen and Sharat turned up. It was yummy dinner. The boys were perfect gentlemen. I was the sloppy old lady in the group - always worried and tensed. The dinner was over and we all dispersed.
I woke up early to catch my flight at 11. I thought, everyone was fast asleep, except Kunal, who has extra reserves of energy. He woke after the first knock, I bade him goodbye and got on to the Shikara. At the ghat, an Innova was waiting, which drove me to the Srinagar airport for my Delhi flight.
The trip was organized by Indiahikes.
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