River, rocks, tents, Whisky, safari, Bhutan, teen patti, general dabba!

It was a good trip.

2 days into the trip, I felt as if Id been there forever. And the 7 days that were to follow seemed never ending. There were sunny days, there were cloudy days, there were windy nights, there were murky evenings, there was the full moon and there was the rain... morning, afternoon, evening, night, whenever, always! And it seemed like a cloud burst each time. Then there were pricky track pants, wet towels, K750i with Jim Morrison's 'The End', non-drying shoes and broken slippers... ah! about wet shoes and broken slippers: initially everyone was very concerned about the shoes getting wet and removed them while crossing the river. But, what the heck!! Aren't shoes supposed to get wet on adventure trips... and then kept for drying for the next 4 days! While they are drying, you put ur slippers on and when one of them breaks, the love-hate u feel with each step you take...

The base camp changed constantly. First we were staying in tents with no electricity, along the rocky, wild river. Next we were in cottages amidst green paddy fields. Then we were put up in rooms alongside a lone railway track in the wildlife sanctuary. And we trekked everywhere: on the river bed (twice), amidst lush tea gardens, through the small pathway in the jungle and on the steep hill. The food was simple: Dal, chawal, aloo, parwal, poori with dal for breakfast. And it was uniform: we travelled across North Bengal and the sameness of the food at each place was remarkable. Then there were the Fears: The fear of leaches. The fear of slipping from top of a very steep slope. The fear of falling into the wild river. The fear of the Royal Bengal Tiger making a sudden appearance from the dark.

And then the gang. 9 unknown people and it was as if we were friends for a long time. DumbC, Bluff, teen patti with matches and beedis replacing the money, whisky with Limca and water, tandoor... constant case taking, singing aloud, 'Chaiyya-Chaiyya' on the jeep, discussions: strategy discussions, culture discussions, love discussions, 'on a high by the railway track' discussion, 'on the rocks in the moonlight' discussions, people discussions, undergrad discussions, 'no' discussions, 'UP-Bihar politics in the toilet of a crowded unreserved compartment of the Guwahati-Bangalore express' discussions...