TRAVERSE 122
The farmer with his basket of vegetables. The family travelling together to Kedarnath.
Long after I forgot the names of particular roads or mountain passes, those faces remained clear. Perhaps that was the greatest lesson Uttarakhand offered.
Too often we describe destinations through scenery alone. Mountains. Rivers. Forests. Roads. Yet places are ultimately defined by people.
The mountains of Uttarakhand are magnificent. The roads rank among the finest I have ridden anywhere in the world. The forests and river valleys possess a beauty that photographs rarely capture. But what transformed the journey from a motorcycle trip into a meaningful travel experience was the humanity woven throughout the landscape. The kindness of strangers. The persistence of tradition. The quiet relationship between faith and geography.
Years from now I suspect I will remember only fragments of the route itself. A particular corner. A river crossing. A distant snowcovered peak.
What I know I will remember is standing beside the Ganges at dawn in Rishikesh, sharing tea with strangers in mountain villages and riding through forests scented with pine and rain while the Himalayas rose ahead.
For a motorcyclist, there are roads you enjoy riding. And there are journeys that remain with you long after the riding ends.
Uttarakhand was unquestionably the latter. LW
TRAVERSE 122