By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
The road through West Khasi Hills was unbelievably bumpy. At one point, the road ended and our bus won’t go further. A choice had to be made, walk 15 kms towards the destination village or wait some hours for an open mini-truck. Our local guide recommended walking. The truck was supposed to carry our luggage to the village. The lazy ones, including myself, ignored the guide’s advice and stayed back. Our ride arrived. All our luggage were loaded. There was around a square meter area left for ten of us to fit on that truck. One by one, we boarded filling the gaps until there was no space to move. The sky threw in all the colours it could think of, as the sun set. We were all too preoccupied with the sky to notice that the highway ended and the truck took a left. It was a steep, uphill road. The truck powered up towards it and we were thrown upon each other, our strained screams echoing in the hills. Inertia working its thing upon us, we were lifted up in the air, thrown from side to side, our legs stuck and bodies with no control. The downhill was no less scary. Even the leaves did not spare us. We were slapped and hit by branches and pointy leaves. Millions of stars gleamed at us. It was like the entire galaxy at one go. I had never seen so many stars together in my life. There were shooting stars from time to time. For a moment, I forgot about the crazy ride. It took us 2 hours to reach our destination. We were staying at a school premises. Bonfire was lit, beds and sleeping bags were made, and dinner was being cooked. We all sat and talked. My attention frequently turned to the sky above. I scanned the constellations I knew and the planets I could identify. I was still not being able to fathom at the number of stars that appeared on the sky that night. My fascination with the stars and thoughts about my being insignificant to them could not leave me. There was no network on phones, and no electricity. We were cut off from the world and it felt nice to leave all the complications behind and just think about subsistence. That night I slept like a log. The people in the village belonged to the same clan and they lived off shifting cultivation of rice, tapioca, potatoes, pineapples, pumpkins and so on. The school we were staying in was situated in the middle of a valley surrounded by dark green hills. We interacted with the people and they described their daily life. We visited their agricultural fields and saw plantations of Tapioca, millets, broomsticks plantations and rice. The view of the places from different points was spellbinding. While we walked around, the sun set, it looked huge, orange in colour. The orange turned into red, which turned into maroon. Finally it was gone, and a sense of forlorn gripped me. It was getting dark and uneasiness crept inside us and we started literally running ahead. We heaved up slippery trails and crossed rivers on rickety bamboo bridges and finally made it to our school. On the way back, I found myself thinking about the simple people. Life was hard in the hilly terrain. From having to carry their basic needs of food and firewood up and down those hills to children crossing streams and walking miles to reach their school, people have to put in twice the effort we are used to in order to sustain. Dispensaries were far away but they helped each other in need. They ate good food, they talked and laughed, and slept early in the cold night. They were kind and grateful. They were not worried about the bad bumpy road to their village, they are more proud of the fact that they together built the road and it was a result of their team work. It was an experience that I would not like to forget, and in case I do, this shall come to the rescue.