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Published: October 4th 2014
At a workshop for some minor adjustments to Art's bike
A nut holding the exhaust to the pot had come loose and fallen off... small to fix but loss of power meanwhile1
stOctober, 2014
“
The world isn't any way in particular – but, moment after moment, it's always vibrant, unpredictable, and Real. All you need to do is to see
how it is, that it's just this
– immediately at hand” Steve Hagan: Buddhism is Not What you Think. “
You look at where you're going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you've been and a pattern seems to emerge.” “
The real (motor)cycle you're working on is a cycle called yourself.” Robert M. Pirsig: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Blog cross reference: 'Treasure in the Mountains..... Rewalsar.'
https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Mandi/blog-661474.html I am walking up the hill from the Rewalsar lake back to my Hotel Lake View room. It is one of those moments where I manage to be very present. It has been raining and in the dusk light the colours are vivid.... greens of the trees, blue of the clearing sky, reds and golds of the Buddhist buildings that dot the landscape in this holy pilgrimage place.
As
I walk, a thought enters my mind about my recent 4 months out of India, mostly in Turkey, and the fact that just 5 months ago I was walking this same track up the hill in Rewalsar. I am concious of the complete relativity of time and experience. How it matters so little where we have been and what we have done in contrast to the now. I had just sent an email to a dear friend in Australia where I had commented on how there was rain and clouds in Rewalsar and that as a result I had not had any views of the distant snow-capped Himalayas (which can be stunning from this place). I had said “Oh well, you can't have everything”. And then I had noted to her what a silly comment that was really, because in the moment, in each 'now', we actually do have everything. There is nothing else as real and relevant and fulfilling as being here now. We just have to
see it.
I have come back to Rewalsar
en route to my special place in the mountains. It's my 5
th time here, and the familiarity is nice. Rewalsar is one of
those places where foreign tourists are very low in numbers (invariably less than a dozen), life is lay-back, and where smiling Buddhist faces abound.
I met Art (a 23 year old American) in Rishikesh a week before at the Enfield shop. This was his first trip to India and he had spent two months only in Rishikesh undertaking further yoga teacher training and then teaching yoga in the yoga
peeth where he stayed. He was a formidable young man; a sergeant and a medic in the US Army Reserves; a certified masseur and yoga teacher; and he displayed a characteristic American articulate and confident presence. Perhaps he was over-confident for his age, but I saw this as normal if not stereotypically American. He was having a ball in India, specially with the access his status gained him to young foreign women enrolled at the
peeth for yoga classes.
He had bought a second hand Royal Enfield bike, having never really ridden road bikes before, and was keen to get out amongst it on India's roads. I feared a little of him, given the hazards and the need to be extremely mindful and cautious riding in India. Taking on
a bit of the 'elder' role, I offered him the company of riding together to Himachal Pradesh.
On the appointed morning we had set out at 9 am. I had mapped out our route. Within 2 hours, we had taken the wrong turn (not that it matters greatly) and once again (I had done this trip several times) I was discovering yet another way to get to Himachal. We started to make use of Art's GPS to guide us through otherwise unlikely small back-streets here and there. I quickly lost my 'elder' status both for not having found the intended route, but also in having completely forgotten how long it takes to get to Rewalsar (our agreed destination). I had told Art we would easily get there in daylight in just one day. Our casual 9 am start and hitting bad roads meant we ran into darkness. I only then remembered how the last time I did this trip I too had to stop for the night about 2 hours short of Rewalsar. And so, that's what we were destined to do again this time. But first we had to make it to Swarghat. Visibility was very bad. Art had bought a tinted visor for his helmet (a mistake as it really needed to be clear just for the possibility of riding in darkness), and the road had some switch-backs that were covered in a thick fine dust (always hard to ride through).
At one point, I had gotten ahead of Art and realised his headlight was no longer shining behind me. I turned and went back, meeting him down the mountain a little. It turned out that in the dark and the dust he had lost control of the bike and ended up in ditch, precariously close to going over the side.
So... episode one on day one for Art in his initiation to bike riding in India. A sobering experience.
Day two... we were well into the mountains now and proceeded down the very busy 'supply route' into Himachal. Many many trucks. Again I got myself ahead of Art and had lost him. I waited on a bend for some minutes and received a call on his mobile asking me to come back. Five minutes later I found Art sitting despondently at the side of the road sporting a bloodied foot, trousers ripped, and bike bent out of shape. He had encountered a truck coming up the hill overtaking on a blind corner, with the cliff on his (Art's) left. Note: India is left side drive. The truck had just powered on, forcing Art to go to the extreme edge of the road and eventually skidding the bike into a slide to narrowly avoid disappearing over the edge into oblivion. He had banged his helmeted head hard on the tarmac. All in all a very close thing.
He was composed and choosing to take the appropriate learning from this incident (although how you learn to see trucks doing such crazy things on a blind corner I am not sure). The bike now had some 'issues' but was ridable. Art was only just able to ride with his damaged foot and ankle. His carburettor had developed an overflow leak, and he was losing petrol, resulting in running dry about 30 minutes down the road. We were able to persuade a local to drain some from his bike, and I test ran Art's machine up the hill. The front steering was seriously warped. Art's foot was starting to swell. We stopped at Bilaspur at a Honda shop. It was Sunday and other workshops were closed. Typically, the guy there (who immediately sat us down to
chai) rang his mate who happened to be the local Enfield mechanic (on his day off) and who turned up 15 minutes later, fiddled with the carburettor, noticed the problems with the front steering, and had us follow him to his workshop which he opened specially.
After paying the guy 30 rupees, we got back on our way, encountered more rain, and managed to lose each other traversing a town. No bother... Art had his GPS and I sent him a text to just proceed to Rewalsar (now only 25 km away). Once in Rewalsar Art appropriately grounded himself in his room to rest the foot, plying himself with strong pain killers. Three days later we attempted to complete the journey to Jibhi in Banjar Valley (just a 3 hour ride). At Mandi I noticed that one of Art's luggage rack supports had come apart (from the accident) and badly needed welding. We found a small welding shop.... and another 30 rupees saw that particular issue also addressed.
I had been having trouble envisaging Art in Jibhi. Somehow the quiet and peace of the place seemed to fall short of the more social and exciting life he seemed to thrive on. We had discussed the many options in Kullu and neighbouring valleys. And so I was not surprised when he announced that he had decided to go to Parvati Valley instead of to Jibhi with me. Parvati is a mecca for young back-packers, particular Israelis who have just completed their army service and who flock to Kasol (a town in the valley) to party and relax. We parted and I later sent a text to check he had made it safely.
I was glad to be back in Jibhi where I intended to stay put for about a month... just doing slowing it down and doing my stuff. Perhaps I had also learned a thing or two about appropriate preparation for novice bike riders in India, although other than 'just don't do it', it would seem experience is the true teacher. Art will be fine, he is a competent young man.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
This is certainly not the crowded India I'd imagined, except the lovely people who helped you and Art are exactly how I imagined India. You inspired me to look up Rewalsar and Jibhi, which turn out to be places I can easily imagine living--what peaceful paradises and perfect places for presence! I read a blogger on Jibhi who said that someone named Rana knew and had mapped fab places to hike/explore. Enjoy your lovely stay!