Well, we are still on Day Zero..but the best part of the journey is yet to begin...we see a board that says "Drinking water" on an inconspicuous yellow board half covered by the long fingered leaves. It points towards an extremely steep path, so deep that we cannot see the end where it might lead us. We split, with the guys who are really tired taking a break near the board guarding our now dropped burdensome bags and the others carry those empty plastic bottles in the hope of finding "spring" water! So we start walking down those messy rocks...still looking out for leeches, however getting thrilled with every step as we cannot see a single one...Somewhere during that 10 min sprint downwards the whole aura changed, the bright sunny day suddenly hid behind a wind that had engulfed us, cooling us down and for some time we were so mesmerized by the hope of water that we forgot that we were thirsty. We reached a huge flat rock with trickling rivulets of water -pure naturally distilled water and yelped out gleeful laughter..this was so exciting, we cupped our hands to fill in the water taking small but amazingly refreshing gulps. The to and fro of our hand from the dribbling water and our mouths was unstoppable, and the countless minuscule swigs couldn't quench the thirst that had swollen up in our minds. We tried to fill in water into our bottles, but somehow mankind had not designed plastic soft-drink bottles to incarcerate that water seeping from the mysterious source. We twisted them and forced the mouth between the rocks, but somehow we just couldn't manage more than a few drops into the bottle. While we were struggling, not knowing how to capture that life giving fluid, a few others dared to go further at the end of that almost vertical rock. In a few split seconds we could gear a commotion of relief that there was water and that too not surreptitiously sticking to the rock but actually flowing freely and into our bottles...After that there was literally no looking back; with us climbing back with a new quota of energy , a feeling of all being well and the windy aura uplifting our moods further. We reached the top back to our "Drinking water" sign and sent another set of people with more empty of the plastic urns to fill with that refreshing almost tasty spring water.
Like our fates the day had decided to change its temperament. We were engulfed in a cloud with mist and clear breeze around us. The stoves were taken out and a flat patch had to be found to settle it. Somehow it seemed that the stove decided to become wriggly and not settle anywhere. Finally we did manage to stabilize it and that's when we realised that the wind our friend was a comrade when you wanted to light a stove. For 15 minutes, all the cooks who really wanted to have their broth applied their brains and finally after an amalgamation of a few half baked ideas we set the water boiling to cook ALL THAT 'MAGGI' that we had been bearing on our fragile backs. The wait for food dependent on a windy fire was impatient and hungry. The first bite of that Slurpee soupy set of noodles slipping through the plastic forks was divine. Relishing second helpings along with relieved laughter settled amongst the conversation and the good humour the turn of events had brought us to. Those trickling streams of water had truly given us back our life, strengths & spirits.
Well, I think I forgot to mention that we were still our usual .25 kms away from our destination, but the rested food in our bellies and the sudden attachment with the patch that had given us back our hopes dallied us from end. An already set up tent tempted the other tents too out of their bags willing them to get set up. However good sense prevailed and we decided to finish the last leg of the climb. It was an easy leech free climb preceded by the chaotic re-packing of the already opened tent which resulted in a few blame games when a small part of the tent broke. We had just begun the last ascent when the cloud that had engulfed us decided to spray us with it's shower. By the time we reached the top, half of us were half wet. There was frantic searching for tents, the rods and the components that would help in setting it up. One was quickly assembled and the two girls, me and another one were advised to get in from getting soaked further. The bags were put inside and when i peeped into that tent,I actually refused saying it was just to wet and that i will not be able to sit in it. It's better to stay out, we were wet anyway and we can always change our clothes. After all, we had carried additional sets of clothes with us. How could we know then that those were the driest moments for next few hours of our trek. The horrifying Part III was yet to begin making our journey till now seem like a smooth ride...
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