I step out of the taxi onto mud, he points in the direction to my left. He does not speak English, so I follow the way he points. My hostel is meant to be here… somewhere… it is early morning and it is dark and I am by far the only person walking around with a big backpack… I do feel a bit out of place, though surprisingly not uncomfortable… I just walk into the street.
Though before that, I better begin earlier in the day (or the day before), when I began my travel. The flights in themselves were fine and I was lucky that the moon shined bright, as we went of Kabul, since I could just let my eyes wonder over the amazing mountains beneath – it was an incredible sight…. they looked like huge white tiger paws, rough and soft, and there vastness made me feel very small indeed under the star and moonlight…. Also there Himalaya said hello, with a giant lightening in the distance… the whole journey actually felt another world, as clouds, stars, mountains, just made me feel I was in outta space… a deluded landscape
In the transit in Moscow I got chatting to a nice guy called Nils, from Belgium, who was taking the same flight. We didn’t speak during the flight, but we hooked up again in the airport, which ended taking longer than expected. The issue is that they have cancelled/changed currently in India, which leaves a lot of people with invalid money, which they needed to change – leaving the cash machines dry. Though after a cue we both did manage to get 4000 rubies out, which is the max. We got them in tw0 2000 notes, which then turns out is impossible to use, as people done’t have such high cash in them. So it took us a while to find taxies and rides. He was going directly to Rasikash (not sure I spell it correctly). Though I was really happy that I met Nils, as he made the whole introduction to India very easy and a bit laughable (rather than confusing and frustrating). So I go my ride and the taxi driver was very confused of the address I had, so after many consulting conversations with other taxi drivers, he began to drive.
The road was very uneven, which I don’t mind, though I was wondering whether he (the taxi driver) no longer noticed it…? whether he no longer thinks of it, it sits in his body…? Anyhow I got out and walked into the street he pointed at and I really had no idea where to go and the guidance I had was very small and specific… I did wonder whether I had to walk the street all morning till the sun rose. Though I walk, first right, then left down a deserted alley, where I got a shock as I didn’t see this guy coming out of a house, then left and left again, not really sure where to go. And as I walk I discovered the Anil Super Store, which was my clues, so after a wonder, with no sense of direction, I just walked straight to my hostel! Either luck/stupidly naive or a way to tell my things gonna be just fine… well I got tom my hostel, safe and sound and went to sleep.
