Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 4 | SDW

Day 4 - Home Hike & Hasty Hare

Sometimes in our life, we end up doing things quite casually. They are often without any set intention and quite uneventful. These might be very short lived and might be very simple stuff lacking any grandeur. Like for example, the morning tea with the family or Sunday lunches or the friendly nod to a fellow jogger. And yet they turn out to be most special. For me, the hike from Hassocks to Lewes along the South Downs Way is one such special walk that I will treasure forever.

Just past the Wolstonbury Hill

Why? Is it because it is so beautiful? Yes. Is it because it is one of my most frequented hikes when I lived there? Perhaps. Is it because it gave me my immense love for freedom and hiking? Maybe! Whatever it is or it was, I was back once again in what I call my ‘Home Route’.

The start of the South Downs Walk

From Burgess Hill to Lewes, it is approx. 12 miles along the beautiful Downs Way, trailing along the hilly roads, amidst widespread green meadows carpeted with wild flowers, lovely windmills, beautiful valleys and what more do you want!

I got off at Hassocks station and by old habit, I skipped down the steps but this wasn’t my familiar Hassocks! Has it changed so drastically then! My friend had a good bout of laughter as I realised I was standing on the opposite platform!

View from top of the Clayton. Check out the cloud!

We started the walk. My feet had an extra bounce when the narrow path from the Hassocks station opened up to the field right in front of the Clayton windmills. I trotted my way up to the Wolstonbury hill past the Danny house and the horse grazing field. The horses did not graze anymore in this field and it was turned into a vineyard! Apparently, many areas in Sussex are now growing grapes, getting more into the wine making business. Probably, the rising temperature in the countryside is now favouring this production. Finally, a good byproduct of global warming!

Danny house ; on the way up to the Wolstonbury Hill

We met the old wolf still pouncing at its prey (i.e. a tree bent by the force of the wind in its strange wolf looking shape) and were also greeted by a herd of cows at one of the kissing gates along the ridge down to the Claytons. We crossed the road here and climbed up to the Clayton windmills. The Jill of the Jack and Jill windmills were open for tourists. But I am not a tourist, I am a local! So, I denied the invite and sat outside facing the valley. And then what followed was a deep analysis on British crows! 

Can you spot the wolf?

There are the pitch black ones which are called the Carrion crows, then there are the smaller variety of greyish colour with pale eyes and a small patch of black on the top of their heads which are called the Jackdaws; and then the most gorgeous shiny black ones of slightly bigger size and a sharp wooden looking bill called the Rooks. I decided that the last kind was my favourite!

Jill Mill

We continued our walk along the downs, passed by the thick gorse bushes, spotted the Brighton eye which still looked like a donut going up and down a long pole, crossed the little pond where the same two tiny trees had been slanting (due to the wind) in the same angle for years now and arrived at the Ditchling beacon.

View of Ditchling beacon from the other side

The top of the Ditchling beacon had more than its usual hustle and bustle. It was the London to Brighton bike racing day. Lots of riders came up to the top and enjoyed an ice cream or a snack. We watched them for a bit and treated ourselves to our homemade sandwiches. Still a few more kilometres to go till we reached our destination.

London to Brighton bike race!

The walk continued. The white sheep with black socks kept grazing the field in the distance. The sea kept appearing in the view, lining up the far horizon. The singing starlings kept company. The daisies kept dancing and the poppies kept popping up here and there. It was getting quite meditative.

And then suddenly a hare jumped out of nowhere right in front of us! A big brown hare with long ears sticking up in a high alert mode, leaped up and down as it sped it way down the path and vanished into the field ! All of this happened just in a rush within a few minutes ! I have never seen a hare before and that too in the wild. I giggled in excitement as the hare faded away into the green horizon. Few fleeting moments of sheer joy!

Just another classic Downs pic!

We were still in a haze of wonder when a mad cyclist whooshed past us, his bike almost jumping a few inches above the ground as it speeded down the trail. The walk on the ‘Home Route’ continued further up along the Black Cap to the Lewes racecourse from where it dropped down to the Lewes prison and finally into the town.

I have done this hike so many times that every plant, every bush, every water pod seemed to say they missed me terribly, just as I missed them. Nostalgia is indeed a funny thing. It makes you so happy and sad all at the same time!

My fav dew pond!

A ‘home hike’ deserves a ‘home meal’. And by home, I mean peace and comfort. And what is more comfortable than a home cooked hearty meal? So, there you go. I had a lavish amount of peas-rice and pepper chicken (all spices sautéed in advance - very important) and then hit the bed with beautiful memories of past and present playing a beautiful harmony.

Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 3 | Seaford

Day 3 - Windy Seaford & Scottish Deerhound

Piddinghoe was just a pit stop early in the morning. But I have to mention it. It is such a cutesy little village with a river flowing by, in its most picturesque setting one could imagine. The stone walled ancient church perched on the river bank had a bunch of daisies swaying slightly in the breeze. The residential cottages looked right out of a Christmas postcard. The summer greens and the thousand wildflowers with the bright sun made the whole village vibrant with colours. Gosh, I was jealous of all the people who were lucky to swim in this pretty Piddinghoe river.

Church at Piddinghoe

And then I was flying! Quite literally! We were at Seaford.

The English Channel, in general, is pretty calm. Its flat, serene blue and green surface is what comes to mind when I picture it. Occasionally, it creates some foamy, choppy waves splashing against the cliffs but you can’t really call it wild. But this day was a rare spectacle. Right from the car, one could sense the extreme restless nature of the sea. But with the windows rolled up, I didn’t quite feel the atmosphere which came as a shock just as I stepped out of the car. The wind speed was at its tremendous best, blowing at an average speed of about 10-20 knots perhaps but I am no expert and it felt like a thousand knots to me! Being right on the beach, my glasses immediately got tinted by salt. Also, I was grinning wide at this sudden gusty wind. This made the inside of my mouth very salty and made me look quite stupid!

Seaford Head

We literally pushed ourselves into the headwind and made our way up along the cliffs to the Seaford head. The wind was stronger here. Going from Seaford towards Cuckmere haven, we had the wind at our back. So I felt the invisible hands of the wind kept pushing me forward. We were hiking along the coast and the wind was blowing from the south east side side of the sea. This meant I was constantly pushed towards my left and often whipped by the unruly wind, jolting myself a few feet above the ground and dumped a few inches ahead in front! If I wanted to stop for a bit, the wind always had better plans. I could not hold my feet to the ground and literally felt like flying.

Blown Away!

I didn’t have any cover for my ears and my wind-battered, battle-worn right ear started hurting. We bent low to the ground and stretched out flat to give my ear some rest. There were quite a few people on the walk - everyone walking with funny legs, thanks to the weather. The dogs were having a jolly good time, which they always seemed to do, regardless. We met a wiry coated grey Scottish deer-hound who took a good sniff of my shoes and decided it was worth the lick. We mistook it as an Irish wolfhound but the owner confirmed that they did have an Irish wolfhound earlier but now they had settled for a ‘lightweight version’ i.e. the deer-hound. Quite a distinct looking, big but super gentle dog. We then found ourselves a bushy corner protected from the wind with the perfect view of the white chalk cliffs of the seven sisters.

Iconic view of the Seven Sisters & bonus : the white horses

The choppy sea waves or in a very English way of saying, ‘the white horses’ continued to come rushing to the beach. We walked the entire stretch down to the river at Cuckmere haven where the winding river met the sea. Tide was out when we arrived, so a tiny little stream trickled its way down to the sea. People crossed the stream in bare feet. But as we idled our time there, we could see the river level slowly rising up as water came flowing inland.

Where the river meets the sea...

Tide is such an amazing occurrence of nature! And just to make that even more interesting, a trio of friends arrived and seeing the tide coming in, one of them took his shoes and pants off ! At this point, we had to divert our focus from the tidal water to the human wonder here! He crossed the stream holding his pants and shoes in his hands, with his face twitched to its extreme corners as his bare feet touched the many rocks and pebbles in the water bed. Time well spent! 

Hope Gap

On our way back from the Cuckmere haven to Seaford, we walked into the headwind, ready to combat the gusts with brute force. Initially, as the cliffs dived into the Hope Gap, we were a bit nestled into the cosy green meadow before we came up the slope again to face the wind. Quite surprisingly, it felt way more steady walking into the headwind! It did require more strength but we were not thrown here and there by the gusty blows. Suddenly, we saw hundreds of spongy foams being sprayed from the bottom of the cliff right on to the meadows! The big waves splashing against the cliff wall created these foams and the strong wind sprayed them like foams from a huge spray can!

When the Sea went mad!

Our hike of the day was almost over now. We were back to the Seaford head where the neatly trimmed empty golf course looked super inviting. I rolled on my back and laid flat there, smelling the grass whilst the wind kept blowing above my head with a whistling whisper…

Afriston village

Making our way home through yet another pretty countryside village of Alfriston (where a bunch of dogs were lined up to race by their owners in the village church ground) and along the slopes of the Downs (where the Littlington white horse still maintained its graceful trot), we called it a day with a hearty meal of veggie pasta and crunchy garlic bread.

Alfriston village church yard

Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 2 | Shoreham

Day 2 - Shoreham Swans & Beefy Burger

Waking up slowly, cuddled under a duvet is a luxury. And if you are someone who has been sweating in the burning heat of 37 degree celsius, then it’s even more special. Summer in Kolkata this year has been quite a victim of global warming with long spells of very high temperatures. The weatherman said it felt like 50 degrees. The amount of sweat the city produced might have been the answer to Bangalore’s recent water crisis, if used wisely! Anyway, quite thankfully, summer in England (at least whilst I was there) did not disappoint me. A comfortable duvet-wrapped sleep at night followed by an occasional thin jacket under the bright sun and soothing breeze - precisely, what we tropicals call Winter! Perfect!

Along the Shoreham River

After a healthy breakfast of oats and fruits, we drove down to Shoreham. Shoreham-by-the-Sea is exactly what its name suggests. It's a pretty town by the seashore where a winding river - river Adur meets the sea. The paths along either sides of the riverbank takes you right into the town and then along the beach. There is a freshness about this place.

Lots of Swans in the river today!

It was quite windy when we started the walk from somewhere on the Steyning road. The narrow winding river trembled constantly, creating tiny ripples as we walked past it. A number of big, white swans were seen practising their water drills. One of them had one of its legs lifted above the surface whilst it continued to do single-legged laps! The river banks were laid out with a stocky variety of wheat. A group of invisible starlings started a morning chorus. A runner went past. We crossed the wooden gate covered in nettles and walked up to the old, wooden bridge that connects the two sides of the river. Few more joggers passed by. It is 11:30 AM on a weekday for God’s sake! Come on people, go back to your desks! Shouldn’t I be the only one off work?!

Cropping up!

We walked into the town and right into my favourite French patisserie of all time. As always, I was spoilt for choice. After a lot of critical analysis, I settled for an orange cake and a coffee. And oh boy! I do choose well !

June is the month of Poppies and you see them scattered everywhere! This is one such on the side of the street in Shoreham.

Whilst waiting for our coffee, we met a recreational-cyclist who had a hotch-potch looking bike loaded up with lots of stuff. Apparently he had built this bike with different parts collected at different times and from different places. He was doing practice rides before he set off for his big bike ride to follow the Tour De France. We wished him luck and then continued doing our own tour de seafront. The wind coming from the sea brought a lot of salt with it. Naturally. And my specs had a nice layer of sea salt on them. Through these sea-salt tinted glasses, I watched many windsurfers and learnt about jibes and tacks whilst idling the lazy, breezy hours away.

Wind Surfing...

Later, we went to take a look at the old boat houses on the other side of the harbour. But what happened here! I was shocked! The weed smelling, dank boats with cheap, crazy wind chimes and shady, wacky characters from six years back were gone! They were all now replaced with clean, uniform corners and sane decors. How sad is this sanity!

11th century church in Shoreham. They were having an art exhibition when we strolled in.

We walked back along the other side of the river where we met a group of people surfing on hydrofoil surfboards that basically perch them up above the surface of water, giving an impression that they are surfing in air! It would be quite cool to try that out, though it didn't look as charismatic as traditional surfing. We were almost at the end of our walk when a bunch of brown rabbits suddenly made an appearance in front of us and danced their white bottoms leading our way - so sweet!

Missed the rabbits!

Back home, it was dinner time. And it was a special dinner that had been booked! What followed was - a short walk down the road to the quaint and pretty pub - The Swan and then the much awaited beef burger. I am not usually a beef fan but this burger is class apart; even with six years gone in between, it tasted exactly the same! With ‘change being the only constant’, it’s such a relief to find the things that don’t change in this fast world!

Burp!

Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 1 | Lewes

Day 1 - Black Cap & Feisty Horse

I know, I am obsessed. But aren’t we all in our own cynical ways? And you may find it a tad crazy, a lot unnecessary and extremely impractical, but the heart wants what it wants and I am all for hearts. And that is why, my heart keeps going back to the green bridleways of Sussex again and again.

Pictures don't do justice!

 

Yes, I have written about Sussex before as well. I have written in my blogs, in my book and god knows how many times I have scribbled about it in my notebook. Yet, I can write about it again just like I can write about the Sun, the green leaves, the snow peaks everyday. The Sussex South Downs is pretty much the same and yet its gentle folds and velvety meadows makes my heart leap every time.

 

One of my fav!

The bright light from the window combined with the air-hostess’s indomitable keenness in serving breakfast and my bum’s constant complaint for having sat in the same position for far too long woke me up from my snooze way earlier than I wanted. From the window, I could see the English coastline approaching. A few minutes after that, the very familiar tiles of green and brown appeared as the flight seemed to hover over the coastal farmlands. Ooh! My heart skipped a beat. After six long years, I would be stepping into the big grassy meadows of the English countryside! With tons of butterflies in my stomach, I devoured the big breakfast plate laid out before me. As I plastered my nose on the window glass with a fixed gaze at the landscape below, I flew over a bunch of wind turbines which seemed to have their blades rotating at a leisurely pace. Nope, I did not pay for these seats, I just got lucky.

 

From the window seat

London Gatwick welcomed me with its usual long immigration queue. Earlier, it would annoy me but this time, it just made me smile. Nostalgia is a funny thing. So, quite surprisingly, I enjoyed standing in the queue and scanning the crowd. My friend, DD who was waiting outside for about forty minutes to pick me up might not be sharing the same patience though. As I walked out of the airport and into the car park, broad smiles welcomed me and the Sun shined bright. As I would keep hearing a lot people tell me afterwards, you brought the Sun with you! Gosh, that’s mighty sweet and my heart swells even now.

The black Peugeot sped across the A27 towards Lewes. But first, Burgess Hill. Yes, I might be the only person ever to be excited about the prospect of visiting Burgess hill, a sleepy town in West Sussex. But hey, I never claimed to be smart or keen. I like my sleepy town where I had spent the best four years of my life! So, we took a longer route to Lewes through Burgess Hill - a luxury ride! It was a delight passing by my old apartment, spotting the very familiar pub - ‘The Railway Inn’; even discovering that the horrible Indian Restaurant - ‘The Asian Rose’ was still in business was pure joy! The long winded route then made its way to Lewes - the arty, crafty town in East Sussex with its long high street, the big round clock, the stone walls of the castle, the bright flowers popping out of each house and finally, the 19th century house on the GMT line which was to be my home for the next few days! Welcome back to Sussex!

 

Just a pretty pond, fenced around it to protect the wildlife in the water.

The mid June Sun and the cool breeze made all tiredness vanish in a second. And after a quick coffee, I was ready to be out in the field! Just a few minutes walk up the road and we were right on the much awaited South Downs! We made our way through overgrown blackberry and nettles bushes (our bare arms lifted above the head to avoid any nettle-sting!) and walked up to the Lewes racecourse. The stretched out rapeseed field had lost its yellow now as it would have been in the month of April / May, nonetheless, lovely. I took some deep breaths in an attempt to cleanse my fuel drenched lungs with some fresh Downs air.

At top of the Black Cap

The meadows were filled with lots of yellow buttercups, daffodils - yellow and seeded ones, purple coloured button shaped Sussex rampions (also, known as the Pride of Sussex), daisies and also some pyramidal orchids which seemed to be the latest interest amongst the locals. We walked up to the Black Cap, examined the gorse thickets which were yet to burst open into yellow flowers, checked out the Lewes beacon and then made a loop back towards home.

dotted with flowers all over!

 

On the way back, I met a Shetland pony. It was a short and stout brown horse with white socks and very stylish white mane. It was friendly and came by the fence to say hello. Quite opposed to another big muscular horse in the next fence yard which actually ran and bit the back of his horse mate who was coming towards us to have a conversation! Was it jealous? I have no idea but I have never seen a horse literally bite another! Good entertainment!

Lewes beacon

It felt like a short walk, but it was almost 10KM and a couple of hours gone in a jiffy! The long flight followed by the walk and the change in timezone suddenly made me extremely sleepy...so much that I could not even hold a conversation. What followed thereafter was a sumptuous dinner of spaghetti bolognese and one of the best sleeps I have had in a very long time! As I drifted off to sleep, I heard the song - ‘Fields of Gold’ playing softly.

To Oakhrey & Rhododendrons...

So, here is the deal. Red and Rhododendrons - both are my favourite. The colour red has such an amazing appeal to it! You put one bright red rhododendron amidst thick dark green forest and the entire forest perks up! That’s the power of these flowers.

Ooh the Red !

So, when my cousin called to check if I would be up for a short trip to the world of Rhododendrons, I confirmed right away. I booked a Vande Bharat  ticket to NJP for my onward journey and an overnight sleeper seat in Padatik Express for my return trip. And whilst all of this was in discussion, my friend from Chennai mentioned, she had never been to the Himalayas and never to the North East part of the country either. Now, the thing is - anyone who expresses their tiniest wish of seeing the Himalayas, my heart goes out to all of them. So, I took it upon myself and got my friend booked for this short Rhododendron hiking trip to Barsey from Oakhrey in Sikkim.

 

Crazy bloom!

So, thus started the journey. It was my first trip in the new and flashy and much (overtly) advertised Vande Bharat Express. It was clean and the seats were nice but a whole day of sitting on my bum is never a pleasant experience! My bum and back were most glad when we got off at New Jalpaiguri station right on time and found ourselves a taxi that would take us to Darjeeling.

On the way to NJP

Now, getting excited is good but needless to say, we got a bit too excited and overestimated our limited human potential. We planned to experience Darjeeling in just one evening and one morning and then head to Okhrey for the hike the next day. A bit too over ambitious but that’s exactly what we did.

Darjeeling in April has that dreamy, drizzly atmosphere. It welcomed us with an expected light drizzle and a sudden chill. Mind you, it was expected for me but it was all new for my friend. She, however, declared, she had a very high threshold. Even after my warning about how sneaky the Himalayan cold might be, she said she felt just right whilst I put on two layers already!

The iconic Clock Tower, Darjeeling

We waited near the Grand Clock in Darjeeling for my cousin to arrive. He lives in Sikkim, so he was immune to the chill that I was experiencing having travelled from Kolkata. We enquired for rooms in a few hotels and finally settled for a place at the top of a steep uphill road, just a few mins from the mall road. Finding a hotel and settling in took a while and our ambitious plan of seeing Darjeeling was already at risk. The Sun already set and darkness took over.

Unique flower in our homestay at Oakhrey

We freshened up and hit the mall road. The entire population of the world seemed to have gathered here. Quite expected really. It is like that every evening every month every year on this extremely famous mall road of Darjeeling! The only time I have found this road pleasant was during Covid when tourists were far and few and the old charm of Darjeeling mall road was back in existence. Today, however, was extremely busy like usual. Even though this was expected, we still expressed our annoyance at all the tourists except for our own selves. We walked through the crowd - me trying to escape this madness as soon as possible, my friend trying to take a peek at the roadside food stalls and vendors, my cousin with his un-dampened spirit, trying to explain the history of all the shops and restaurants on either side.

7 - 17 ! The Chinese restaurant name :D

We went to Glenerys. Because everybody has to go there. And with a first timer in our group i.e. my friend, we had to show her the pride of the mall road. However, it was jam packed, so we decided to postpone Glenerys until the next morning and strolled into a quieter lane. My cousin knew a very old Chinese restaurant cum hotel called Seven Seventeen and we went in there for some much needed food. 

Tea gardens, Darjeeling

The next morning, my cousin was very keen on visiting quite a few places in Darjeeling like the Botanical Garden, Tibetan settlement, Batasia loop etc. but the practicality of the matter was gently settling in. We were yet to travel all the way to Okhrey (another 3-4 hours) and I wanted to spend some time in that village and not rush around anymore.

Darjeeling's green railing and orange blue bird!

So we decided to have a culinary experience of Darjeeling and shelve the scenic experience for the next time. What followed was a couple of hours of gluttony at the Glenerys (Ah! I can still feel the melting pork sausage in my mouth) followed by an authentic Tibetan restaurant - Kunga. This was also highly recommended by my cousin. I had a plate of momo which was, no doubt, superb but what blew my mind was the big bowl of pork curry that my cousin had. It  was a big bowl of soupy pork and vegetables. I was hardly keen on the pork but the soup was out of the world. It was  a perfect match against the rainy, chilly weather too!

 

At Kunga...yum yum!

 

By the time we reached Okhrey, it was pitch dark. Our tent styled rooms were at the end of the road, going slightly down and facing the valley. We met the rest of the group with whom we would be going to Barsey the next day. The group called themselves Mountain Gypsy. My cousin already knew the main organiser or the leader of this group. It was a cosy group - there was an old uncle, two couples - all of them family, another woman, two other guys who were friends and us. We spent the evening getting to know each other whilst munching on pakoras.

 

Oakhrey Homestay

The next morning, we headed to Barsey. It was an easy trek of about 9 KM going up to Barsey and back to Oakhrey and would usually take about 4-5 hours depending on how long you want to spend at the top.

At the top, Barsey

The start of the walk was marked by a big gate and a couple of shops selling tea, coffee and rhododendron juices and wines. The initial part of the walk saw a lot of big and tall rhododendron trees with a complete riot of pink and white flowers. The trees perched from the side of the slopes. The lovely, bright flowers clustered much like a ball of dense petals and flat, shiny leaves towered over us as we walked through the canopy.

Rhododendron Forest

We went a bit further and here, the red rhododendrons became more visible. It was a relaxing walk with gentle slopes through a semi-dense forest. The path was nicely laid out and there was absolutely no way to get lost. As we approached the top, the trees were more stocky and short. All the flowers were now at our reach which made them look even bigger and brighter, if that’s possible! It felt more like a dense garden than a forest.

Going flower mad!

There was a one roofed building which appeared to be a kitchen cum dining area. We got black tea there. Some people were staying the night at the top and they had their tents scattered around the flat open area.

Exploring the nooks...

We explored the place, just walking in random directions and climbing up random slopes, wherever we fancied. This went on for sometime and then it was time to head back. We traced back the same route and in no time, were back at the entrance gate.

Shall we go up or down or stay?

My friend at this point was super tired. It was her first trip to the Himalaya and also the first hike. I probably got a bit overboard and exhausted her completely. We rested a little whilst people had tea and coffee. My cousin got us some rhododendron wine which was super sweet but refreshing too!

Our Rhododendron wine partner

It was past lunch time by now. We went back to our homestay and had lunch. It was not the best meal I have had in the mountains but it tasted okay. However, the rice was very undercooked, the impact of which was only realised later. My friend was feeling a bit feverish now, so she decided to stay in after lunch and get some sleep. I felt really bad as I wanted to give her a top notch experience in the mountains which had backfired somehow!

Valley view from our room

To cheer me up, my cousin took me out on a village walk around Oakhrey. This was amazing. Even though it was a tad cloudy and we did get rained on a little bit, it was still worth it.  We saw the helipad, a monastery (it is the new one, there is also an old monastery which we would visit later), a playground, lots of little agricultural plots and the neighbourhood in general. As the sky started to look more and more grey, we rushed back towards our homestay.

The homestay we stayed in

My cousin has visited Oakhrey so many times that now he has made good friendships with the locals. We visited the owner of the homestay opposite to where we were staying. They were very happy to see him and offered us tea. They wouldn’t take no for an answer and insisted us to stay for a bit. So we sat down and had a chitchat. My cousin did most of the talking as he always does. And the rest of us were happy, smiling and nodding. The tea was made with real milk from their home grown cows. The milk was so pure and smelt so strong that my rubbish-eating taste buds and corrupt nose couldn’t take it! So, the next day when we visited them again, I asked them to give me black tea in advance! 

Evening Village Walk

In the evening, we headed back to our homestay and checked on my friend. She was still feeling very ill. More than fever, it was her stomach that was upset now. Things got even worse at midnight when both of us puked and threw up the entire dinner! This was when we realised the culprit was the undercooked rice we were having at the homestay for about four consecutive meals now. Though, the mystery remains how no one else was sick! Anyway, the next morning, we were fine but just to be cautious, we restricted our diet just to puffed rice and water. The people in the group were extremely helpful; they not only helped us with medicines but the entire bag of puffed rice and two big packs of biscuits were given by one of the couples. This was a saviour. Super grateful to her always for this help.

Morning Village Walk

My cousin and I again went out in the morning. My friend was okay now but I think she was just too scared at all these unexpected turns of health. So she decided to stay in again. The walk around the village was even more beautiful today. The Sun was up, the sky was clear and the cool breeze had a crisp freshness. Everything looked very green and peaceful. We went up a few steps to get to a higher slope and then continued along a winding road up to visit the old monastery. This monastery was very minimalistic with a perfect touch of peace and serenity.

On the way to the old monastery

 

After an hour and a half or so, we came back to the homestay again for some breakfast (only puffed rice for me! But people enjoyed local cuisine there). The short trip was over and now it was time for a long drive through the mountain roads along the river Teesta. We hopped into the car for our journey back to NJP and bid adieu to this sweet, sleepy village of Oakhrey.

In love with these ^_^