Awake from1.30 this morning, for what seemed even longer, the time dripping away. But al last, wake-up time arrived, and with enormous relief I was able to get up, Breakfast, for me at least, was biscuits and tea – I could face nothing more. And the, at long last, we could start the final journey home.
I had thought it would be manageable enough; after all, I had covered this unaided on the way out, even when weighed down with our pack. But after a brief few hundred yards of easy walking, just as soon as we reached some uphill, I couldn’t manage at all without Bharat’s help. There seemed to be some nasty sections, across a river, down some slippery slopes, that I must have managed in reverse, but were now entirely beyond me.
But then, at long, long last, Makarigard came into view. It was a long way away, and far below us, so it was something of a weary plod, but at least all it required was persistence. For just about the only time during the entire trip, Val surged ahead, no longer needed to make sure I was all right, with the rest of us strung out behind her. We crossed the long suspension bridge, one by oner, Val taking photos of us as we walked across, one by one. We were virtually there, but there was time for one final indignity: I was climbing the final high step into the village, with Bharat hauling me up, and for once he was unable to haul me all the way, and I fell forward onto my knees, with a small gaggle of concerned spectators there to witness my final clumsiness. I was annoyed with myself, and fell into gloom.
But we were there at last, our effort finally at an end, and we sat in the small café, Once again, I could eat nothing, despite pleas from Usha. As I explained to her, there was no need to keep my strength up; all we had to do now was survive the long drive back in one of the jeeps that plied the route between Makarigard and z; Aparna had engaged it to take us all the way home. It was not quite as bright and shiny as the Scorpio that had brought us out, but was just as comfortable (or at least, no more uncomfortable), and saved the fuss of transferring between the two. Even so, we were there in the café for about an hour and a half or so, The others had some food, and then Val and Aparna were summoned to the tourist office, taking our passports, and recording some comments on the trail (while in the meantime I was hand-writing much the same thing back in the café.) It was a shame we had known nothing of the tourist office4 on the w3ay out, as they supplied, a week too late, a more than useful map. I was then asked to be videoed reading out my own comments, we settled our bill with Bharat – and we were able to say goodbye. Our regret was that, although we had enough money – just – to pay his bill, we had none left to give him the generous tip he deserved, and that we wanted to give him. We agreed we would find someway of sending him some extra. But then, at last, we were off.
Usha took the front seat, tying a scarf to the grab handle above the door, and sort of suspending herself from that, and enabling herself, almost unbelievably, to go to sleep again. The first part of the journey, more or less off-road, was just as bumpy, rocky, scary as before, but then we were onto something closer to a road, and we could make faster progress. Even so, I was surprised at how rocky the road was, for virtually the whole of the journey. My recollection was that we had come at least half of the way out on more or less good roads, but for the second time that day, the return journey seemed far more tricky than the outward.
We paused briefly for some tea in a small town, though this took longer than we had thought, with our driver apparently co-opted as an emergency mechanic on another vehicle. During which time, we had to fend off the attentions of one of the local drunks, apparently friendly, but ultimately somewhat unpleasant. But then back on the road.
We had thought it would be too late by now to find anywhere to provide some refreshment, but to our surprise we pulled in, at about ten, at a roadside restaurant. At first they seemed a little unhelpful, even hostile, but in fact it all turned out well. They supplied an excellent meal of roti and omelette, followed by mugs of milky coffee. But it took a long time to get started again. Our driver (a good friend, or yet another distant relative, of Bharat), was involved in yet more extra-curricular mechanics, even once he had finished his large meal (we could scarcely complain, as he was tacking a mammoth drive.)
But then, after we had all climbed into the jeep, and without a word of explanation, a different driver climbed behind the wheel, and we were off. It was all a bit disconcerting; apart from anything else, we were planning to use the driver as a courier, to take some cash back to Bharat. Bit after another three hours or so, we stopped once again, with our new driver muttering something about thew word tea, outside a house, All very frustrating, as we were just half an hour or so from home by now, but then, after fifteen minutes sitting in the dark waiting for something to happen, our original driver climbed back in, and we were away; the final leg.
In Dhangadhi (at last!) we dropped Usha off, collected some money from the ATM, and were driven to Aparna’s house. She had thought we were obliged to put the driver up for the night, but he only stopped long enough to have a cup of tea, receive the money for the trip, his own tip, and a goodly additional sum for Bharat, and then insisted he was happy to set off back home.
Val and I showered – we could not contemplate getting into bed without doing so, and then lay there for ages talking, too wound up to sleep. And then, at last, it was over. We were back.
