Kalimpong Ultra
Part 3
"Oh yes , we
spoke on phone " Sunil Mukhia was pleasant man in his mid-fifties . As we
entered home stay , we were stunned by colours of flowers. The entries entrance
and balconies of two storey house was laden by flower pots of different
colours. Plants were placed everywhere possible
, horizontally and vertically . It was most beautiful welcome to any place.
However Neel Pahari resort our homestay looked
like forever work in progress . In the
basement the Mukhia family was running a school. Some adding of floors and rooms as and when
required was evident. Still some construction was going on. Why it was called
Resort I don’t know .
But my expectations were not high . Neel
Pahari was built on a slope you can view a deep valley from one window and a
tall hill from other. I was happy though room was very basic . Weather was pleasant
now . I didn't wait for hot water .
Quickly took a shower and came to dining area . It was around 5.30. Sunil asked Black Tea or with Milk . I
remembered ginger Tea on my EBC trek.
Tea with milk was rarity there. Sunil loved this valley . He told me Geography
“The road you travelled is silk route . It was trade route
between india and Tibet thru Sikkim”
“India annexed
Sikkim and China annexed Tibet” , So no trade after that”. Some History too
.
“In clear weather you can so Dokhlam from here” . There was some
bloody wrestling between Indian and Chinese soldiers a year back in Dokhlan He told me some war stories of the place too.
Though in Bengal this
region is not true Bengali . Its Geography , Demography is different . This
Eastern Himalayan region is bordering Bhutan , Sikkim and Chiana , Bagladesh are not
far away .
Dining hall was filling
with runners from Delhi , Haryana ,
Guwahati. Mostly they were in groups . Ex
Cloud cover above started rumbling now .
The rain started and quickly turned into hailstorm. It was
terrifying noisy affair . “ What if it
happens in race ?” It was scary thought .
In eastern part of India night come relatively early . So it
was already dinnertime. Sunil’s family cooked simple but delicious food .
It was early to bed . But could not sleep because body clock
has its own way. There was some anxiety building up. A fear of unknown.
I was staying alone in a secluded terrace room . Different
thoughts crossed my mind I was afraid of unknown. It was unfamiliar way of
going to sleep.
Sun rises very early here. Though I was fully awake, I
didn't moved from bed till I got a feeling of sunrays entering from window
glass. I glanced at watch, it was 5.00 AM
. “India should have two time zones” I spoke to myself . I was craving for tea. There was no sign of
home stay owners in dining area . “Still sleeping” I guessed. So took the road searching tea stall
. One side of road is army ground . And
behind that a forested hill. Later I came to know it is Damsang fort part of Paiengaon forest . On other side of
road beautiful homes were lined up on the slope . I noticed newspaper and Letter
boxes at the gate. Military ground was getting filled up with army men for
their daily exercise. I climbed up to
the ground walked on wet grass . Chatted with couple of soldiers. They were
part of Sikkim regiment. I remembered my
search for tea when I saw tea setup for jawans on the ground.
Back on road I found one grocery shop cum restaurant. While
waiting for tea tried to strike conversation with owner and few customers. “From Mumbai just for running ?” Question was
same . He might be wondering why this man past military age is running . What is at stake
? Black Tea was serves better in cold weather
, I realised while sipping milked tea.
Back in homestay, runners were gathered for tea at
restaurant .Some new faces from Goa ,
Kolkata , Gurgaon.
Their stories are very interesting
Their runs , their
plans , experiences ,travels . When you travel solo you are at advantage of
making friends.
These all were from different places, different walks of
life but common thing was passion for running .
A group decided to
trek nearby fort. I thought of joining them but I was in sleepers.
So after some time i started solo. Forest was dense and
slope was steep. Scene below was very beautiful. Roofs of different colours on
backdrop of mountain ranges made me remember my Everest base camp trek again.
After 200 meters of Steep climb , found a flag of Army regiment waving on a
tall pole . And some remains of old fort .
Delhi Guwahati group was already there. I joined them After some chat we started our descent.
While coming down there was lot of knowing each other .
Dagar Sisters Rita and Geeta always teasing each other , were more like friends then sisters . Pratibhu Datta is writer of bestsellers. I was interested. "Send me titles, I will get it on amazon" Pratibhu replied ."Dilip, It is in Assamese".
"Write it in English then". Friendship was just 10 miniutes old .
"I will try Dilip , I promise" . Pratibhu kept that promise , But I am still waiting for his another promise . Assamese Tea .
This auther and Maths Teacher was more cyclist than runner was scheduled for his
first big ultra. I thought "I will more runne now on"
Though downhill was
steep and slippery we covered it in no
time listening stories of each other .
Military drill was over when we reached grounds at bottom of
hills . Breakfast table with tea was laid for soldiers on the lawn . we felt strong craving for Tea and Jawans
were happy to offer us .
Morning gave us a lot than expected, a good hill Trek , and
got three good friends.
I dropped plan of route recce. Trek was enough exhaustive
for body, so there was no point taking exhaustive route recce and get frightened
by ascends and descends .
"I will see what to do when I actually reach there in
race "I thought aloud. I think everyone in our homestay thought same way .
Retired to room
after breakfast . Rooms are boring in hills especially when you are traveling alone
Those are cold . Dining rooms are warm , because of people , kitchen , food ,
and fireplaces.
You can't sleep when you are going thru marathon jitters.
though it is your n'th marathon. It is all same .
And I think it is
same for everyone. Because everyone was in dining hall when I entered well
before decided time to go for BIB Collection .
