The Wandering Wheels

Tripoto
Photo of The Wandering Wheels by Akanksha Siwach. Tales of The Hidden Trails

Dedicated to my two wheels who made me discover myself.. Who took me to the unknown hamlets cut off from the main town, tucked into the wilderness of the mountains..

carefree & careless

Photo of Haa, Bhutan by Akanksha Siwach. Tales of The Hidden Trails

Who made me learn to develop faith in strangers and forge new bonds.. Who made me fall in love with solitude and made me learn that you don’t always need humans to listen and talk to and that even nature has its own language only if you’d listen.. Who inspired me to get out of my comfort zone and love every bit of the treacherous rides… Who made me fall.hurt me and bruised me but pushed me every moment when I thought I was done.. Who I personify for in them I’ve found my perennial mates.. Here’s a page from my cycling diaries.. To one of the quaint little villages called Paeso.

Photo of The Wandering Wheels by Akanksha Siwach. Tales of The Hidden Trails

While the sky roared, I rode:)

Cycling over old rustic, rickety bridges

Photo of The Wandering Wheels by Akanksha Siwach. Tales of The Hidden Trails

One of the many old natives I befriended

Photo of The Wandering Wheels by Akanksha Siwach. Tales of The Hidden Trails

While I rode under the thundering grey sky

The drizzle in the air gave me a wondrous high

Its amazing how these two wheels can open your eyes

And make you feel that this earth is real and heaven’s a lie

And as my wheels tread an unknown rickety path

“Why didn’t I ride them earlier” I cannot fath!

They showed me how easy it is to find solace and joy

While sitting in the middle of nowhere.. sketching an old face ..so warm and coy

They did get me lost at times in the wilderness trying to find a way

But then also found me the warmest tribes with their beautiful homes by the end of the day

They found me a lady who was differently abled but special in her own way

Who couldn’t speak or comprehend whatever I tried to say

Yet she smiled endlessly and guided me to.a haven so comforting

That made me revisit the quaint lil village since the thoughts of it in my mind kept lingering

So I couldn’t wait for the next day to ride to that village again

For her smiling face kept telling me I have nothing to loose but only memories to gain

I reached the gurgling stream with wild strawberries abound

A burst of drizzle making the valley greenest around

The chirping sparrows that I once heard as a little kid

I was making my own jar of happy memories and I didn’t want to stop and close the lid .

So I cycled ahead.. wandering in the same village trying to find something more

Voila! Just then came along a family displaying their warmth and smiles galore

And while I spoke with them and exchanged the usual greetings

I vaguely saw a familiar face by the Tibetan Window.. adorning a smile so befitting

She came running downstairs and greeted me with her warmest smile

The same old lady Sherpa who couldn’t speak yet guided me for a mile

She looked mighty happy for a foreigner knocked by her door to see her again

I did a little sign talking with her and played merrily with her girls in the rain

But sigh! The sun began to set making the sky all dusky

I’d better head back home for it started to pour and the winds got gusty

And as I said goodbye to them…i thought to myself “this is the place I’d imagined while reading a fairy tale in d book

I felt euphoric listening to Louis Armstrong’s “what a wonderful world” while riding back home along the boisterous Brook

So isn’t it incredible how my wheels taught me that it’s not just the flags and the pristine valley that capture the essence

It’s also the people you meet on the way who share having nothing which complete the journey in its true sense

For every time I venture out there’s something similar yet distinct and new

A million more places..a few more stories.. before to this land, I bid adieu ????

Photo of The Wandering Wheels by Akanksha Siwach. Tales of The Hidden Trails

With the lady Sherpa (extreme left)talked about and her family

Photo of The Wandering Wheels by Akanksha Siwach. Tales of The Hidden Trails

Streams of Paeso, where I’d sit for hours

Paeso basking in all its glory

Photo of The Wandering Wheels by Akanksha Siwach. Tales of The Hidden Trails