This isn't the usual shady hotel story. If you are looking for creepy receptionists, rude staff or stained sheets, this isn't the tale you want. What it is, is a story of uncalled for terror in the middle of the night in the remotest corners of Uttarakhand and then... serendipity.
I was waiting at the Kathgodam Railway station - one of the stations in Uttarakhand that is a gateway to the mountains. It was almost September and the skies were pouring. I had to reach Lohajung - the basecamp of Roopkund Trek - the same day and the chances of that looked as bleak as the sky itself.
Nevertheless, I took a shared cab from the station once the rains stopped - which is around 11am and we set off through the foothills of the Himalayas - crossing Bhimtal, Almora, Kausani and Baijnath. One thing was clear though - I wasn't going to reach Lohajung today.
Around 6pm, our driver dropped us at Dewal, Uttarakhand in front of a lodge. From the front seat, he pointed out a cluster of lights on a faraway mountain and said, "You see those lights, that's Lohajung. But beta aaj nahi pahuchogi." He praised the hotel he dropped me at and then bid me farewell. I was terrified - the cellphone connection was poor; no internet; I could see my destination and not reach it.
This was my first solo travel and the entire conversation happened in 3 minutes. In 3 minutes, the only person I knew in this hilly state was gone. I was left standing in front of a two storied building, known as the Pant Lodge.
I was greeted by the Pant brothers who assured me that there was nothing to worry about. I don't know what is it that they saw, maybe the terror on my face, but they assigned me their biggest room and followed proper procedures of taking my Aadhar card. But that isn't how I saw it. Through my panic, I saw two over-friendly uncles, one dilapidated building in the middle of nowhere.
--Scary Part Starts Here (Look at the window!)--
I called up my mom around 9pm to tell her I will be sleeping. I double-checked the locks of the room, locked up my bag and tucked in - with the cellphone, a fork and a torch under my pillow. Obviously, I left the lights on.
My mom called me around 11pm and I picked up the phone groggily. We spoke for about two minutes before I realised that the lights were out! With sheer terror creeping in, I was frantically looking for my fork and torch when a motorcycle braked outside my room and the windows were awash with a red glow. The funny thing about the hotel was that the windows were on top and were semi-circular. In the dark of the night, they looked like glowing eyes of the devil.
I am a proud atheist but in that moment Bhagwan bhi yaad aagaye.
But then that moment passed and the sheer ridiculousness of the situation made me laugh. If my mom wasn't 2000kms away, she would have whacked me!
When I woke up the next morning, I told the Pant Brothers my story. They laughed at my stupid imagination, gave me an extra Kadak chai saying, "yeh lo beta! dimag seedha ho jaayega", and then safely put me in a taxi to Lohajung :)
And that is how I began my first solo volunteer travel experience!