|
|
 Email this Page |  Write to us
Here, medicines are like manna
"Things have been bad since the road to Sankri shut," said the Nepali man whose little dhaba we ate in. He told us fewer trekkers were going to Har Ki Dun also because the road to Seema had become dangerous in spots, thanks to landslides, and that now there was a new, longer road from above, through the village of Datmir. It was 11 to 13 miles.
"Don't take the trail from below," the dhaba owner warned us. Rajendar was insistent we take the path below. The trail through Datmir involved quite a climb, he told us, besides being too long. We vetoed him, because by then we had realized his landslide trick and also because we were willing to walk longer, but not risk our lives. The people in the mountains are tuned to it the way we can never hope to be. We were not even avid hikers.
Our team underwent a slight change as Gunga dropped out with very high fever. We gave him a Crocin strip and took another porter, Pulak, from Taluka.
• Airfare for Rs 599 and less!
The line of villagers coming to us for medicines had begun in Sankri, and strengthened here. "Saab, usko bukhar hai...[Sir, he has fever]" "Saab, mere pet mein bahut dard hai... [Sir, I have a bad stomach ache]."
We found it amusing first, but by the time we came back from Har Ki Dun, we decided to give away all the medicines we were carrying, with labels on them in Hindi about which is for what. In villages like Datmir, Ghanghar (2.5 miles below Seema) and Osla (across the Supin from Seema), where the difference between life and death can often be measured in miles, medicines are like manna.
Text and Photographs: Sumit Bhattacharya
Also read: Walking through the Western Ghats
Share YOUR travel stories and pix!
Have you been to Har Ki Dun? What was your favourite sight there? Where did you have the best meal? Do you have a hotel to recommend?
Do post details on the message board below so other readers can benefit from your advice. Remember to add information on what was special about the restaurant, hotel or sight you visited, along with relevant telephone numbers and addresses.
|
|
|
Advertisement
