Stuck in Chango: Day 1

i was riding my bike though heavy snow.. the terrain all around was recently white washed.. the cold air which managed to squeeze through the small gaps between my riding jacket collar and the 2 layers of mufflers, sent a chill down my spine.. the snow on the road was getting heavier and but I was determined to go ahead.. slowly I was falling deeper and deeper into the quagmire of white powder.. soon the snow reached till me knees and my bike and I were stuck.. then till me shoulders and I could not move.. I shouted for help but ended up having more snow in my mouth.. and as the snow covered my face, there was a rush of blood to my head and I woke up with a jerk.. weird dream!! specially for a fellow from the plains who lived no where near the snow.. i got up and looked around.. no electrivity.. freezing cold.. snowing heavily outside.. the dream dint seem that weird actually.. anyways I went back to sleep..

I got up late next morning.. Manik was not there.. I went to the hand pump outside, got some water, boiled it and brushed my teeth.. I thought Manik must have gone to the house next door, so I too went there.. he was not there but he had gone with our neighbors to the village to get some milk.. Some pics from his “trek”.. the snow covered climb..

It was pretty slippery to go up these paths..

Locals playing in snow..


God bless our neighbours.. while I was waiting for Manik they served me hot tea and a delicious breakfast of paranthas.. if they had not helped us I would have been having Maggi in breakfast followed by Maggi in lunch and dinner.. Manik and the others soon came back.. behind them some people came running asking for help.. this was the reason why..

Their car was not climbing the incline so they reversed and tried to climb build up momentum and climb.. well the car skid and hence the above result.. we helped push the car out of the naali.. actually they did, I was clicking pics.. 

The dried up apple orchards which were omnipresent in this village..

Our hosts..

Manik..

The river right across the road..

Yours truly..

A cute little dog ran upto us.. the locals told us that this dog lived across the river and had swam across and run to them.. poor owner.. he must be searching the entire village on both sides of the river whenever his dog runs away..

My poor car.. if it had voice, it would abuse me with the dirtiest words possible.. it would be wondering that where have I bought it.. its not meant for this terrain.. this is clear from the fact that there is no Honda dealer/service center in entire Himachal and Uttaranchal mountain region.

Our host’s stock of wood.. man this was a savior.. they had this metal firplace with a long chimney which they called Bukhari.. it kept the room so warm that no matter how freezing cold it was outside, there was no need to wear even a jacket inside..

There was nothing much to do.. no electricity meant no electronic gadgets.. we had our phones, a laptop and a tablet with lots of movies but no battery in all of them.. also no telephones.. this causes another problem.. we had called up our parents more than 24 hours ago and that time we had told them that there is no sigh of snow.. surely they would have seen the news of the snow on tv and not having heard from us for more than a day, they would be really worried.. I was just hoping that they don’t start thinking that I was stranded in snow on some pass or worse, fallen off a cliff and start looking was ways to send someone to find us (which is exactly what they were doing!!).. and there was nothing we could do.. phones were not working.. there were phones in an army base in the next town but with the roads closed we could not go there.. this helplessness was causing a lot of tension and I was unable to enjoy myself.. to pass time we played cards.. temporarily the mind was diverted but then again it came back to helplessness of not being able to let mmy parents know that I was alright..

In the evening the snow stopped.. the sky cleared..

Finally!!! We were elated and ran out..

The locals said that after the snow stops, it will take 2 days for the road to clear.. but hopefully the electricity will come back and I would be able to call home.. we went for a walk till the village..

Pulley across the river..

The only thing color in the whole landscape..

What irony.. dried trees surrounded by frozen water..

but joy and hope were short lived.. soon the clouds came back and with them also the snow..

The long walk in the snow to the village.. it was difficult to get a foot hold and we were slipping everywhere.. also the snow was going into the shoes and melting.. good that I had bought waterproof socks., ever though my toes were numb with cold, they were atleast dry..

Watte pose.. 

We came back with 10 packets of Maggi noodles and soup.. even though our neighbors had shared their food with us, we dint want to add burden on them; specially since there was no way of knowing how many days we would be stuck there..

Ab ye gadha hai ki baraf mein ghum raha hai ki hum gadhe hain ki iski photo kheech rahe hain..

We came back and spent rest of the day waiting for snow to stop. Our hosts had also traveled a lot and we passed time sharing our stories and hearing theirs.. Snow stopped again once but before we could even be happy it started again.. after dinner with our new friends, we went to sleep.. it was now 2 days since we had talked to our parents!!

Total distance traveled: 2kms (on foot)

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