Saturday, August 20, 2011

Off to G'lekh

Wayward and proud.
Its barely been 12 hours here at home, and I'm already packing for a rain-soaked, slush-filled, truck-exhaust-piping-up-the-nostirls weekend. I should be hitting the highway in another 30 min, to G'lekh or Mukteshwar (wherever the road permits) right after my cup of brewed tea is over and the maid servant has stopped pestering me. 700km round trip; monsoons at its peak with 3 rivers and 2 towns midway in flood; the bridge shortly after Padampuri washed away; and (again) no keys! Yes, yes, 1200km of the highway and the hills and the gravel in the week wasn't enough, the soft throbbing of the heart says it wants more. It wants all of it, all the deviancy and the glory. Incorrigible.

Besides the reflection: the route is cheeky beyond Haldwani, where the Bhimtal road has been washed away in a couple of sections, and all the traffic now moves on my Gethia wala road. Beyond Khutani its a messy affair since the Lohaghat road is always positively dotted with a landslide or two. Beyond Padampuri it would be the real test of mettle, where no vehicular traffic is going at present. G'lekh is the holy grail of my 10-day love affair with the Enfield. This is meant for a frame of mind beyond the vices and the cribbing.

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