Him, a guy with camera, endless travel plans and impractical, almost idiotic, ideas.
Her, a girl synonymous to uncertainty, one who acts on impulse and drags him along most of the times. She wants to go see birds and take cycle rides through a forest, so they meet halfway; at Inaruwa, on a day so misty you can hardly see a figure 50 cm away. They take an open roof tuk tuk for Rs. 600 instead of a van for Rs. 700 just because they feel bad for the tuk tuk guy, and nobody knows the way to
Prakashpur, Tourist Camp which is where they were supposed to reach first.
|| Misty Morning ||
But around an hour later and almost half way to the tourist Camp, the mist clears and sun starts shining through her hair to his eyes. The tourist camp manager had clearly said to cancel the trip as it had been misty continuously for past few weeks but she had to come and they did and now it was misty no more.
|| Pond Heron ||
|| Open-billed Stork ||
It’s early February but they are in the Southern region of Nepal and it’s hot. But there’s a perfectly paved path with forest on both the sides of the road and they have one bicycle, she can’t ride a cycle. He pedals her along the forest with occasional soft breeze and very moody birds coming out once in a while.
An hour of cycling and him constantly letting the universe know that his crotch is probably
broken, they see elephants. Then there are water buffaloes, just buffaloes, vultures, path paved with dead brown leaves, butterflies and armies telling stories about wild elephants attacking 2 people just a month back. Intense but beautiful, everything; all of it.
Their kinda sorta maybe cute picture, till this date.
Back to the tourist camp after sipping tea at their guide’s own house, cups of tea came with biscuits as we sat on a courtyard filled with chickens, baby goats, cows and local flowers. Absolutely delicious dinner prepared by the hosts at Tourist Camp and a great ambiance with gasoline lanterns instead of electricity, 4000 per person a day felt absolutely worth it.
Next morning is an early one, 5:30 am and the birds on the trees around the tents were already mad at each other. The enthusiastic girl who woke up at 4 am and the half sleepy guy took the cycle again to go through the jungle, this time without their guide dai. Absolute silence apart from the birds and whistling leaves. Then slowly come the first rays of sunlight poking through the baby green almost transparent leaves of the trees that are coming to life after the winter. They don’t talk.
It would have ruined things. They walk slowly as if to not disturb the morning ritual of the birds.
|| Spotted Owlet ||
|| Pond Heron ||
|| Blue Throated Barbet ||
|| Red-vented Bulbul ||
In midst of all this beauty and splendor, a deer crosses their path, golden and pure.
It takes no time for the two idiots to walk into the forest which is a restricted act, there
are pythons and wild elephants among other things. They come out alive.
They come out with pictures.
|| Rose-ringed Parakeet ||
With bags and hopes, these two leave for Koshi barrage the same morning.
It’s hot, humid and a different setting. It’s a bit dirtier to be honest.
|| Koshi Barrage ||
|| Great Cormorant ||
But as soon as they get on the boat and land to a shore, it’s a different world.
They are both looking at same things in different directions.
The sun is slowly setting; everything turns blue, darker blue, then yellow and orange and finally red.
|| The Last Boat ||
The sun, boats, birds, sunset, all happen and then it is back to the chaos,
waiting for the bus to Kathmandu. Things were never the same afterwards.
They became two new individuals but they still go back to the time when the camera was self-timed and they took a perfect picture in exactly three tries inside the
Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve on 2nd Feb, 2017.
Girl, and as the years go by
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me.
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me.
