The exploits of the inked feet.

I’ll never forget the day that I stood above all mankind. It was seven a.m. and the Nepalese skies were grey, moist and clear. We had hired a jeep to drop us at the foothills of the seemingly impenetrable hill of Sarangkot in the beautiful, mountainous town of Pokhara. With steep rises in altitude marking its territory, Pokhara’s elevation was from 1500m to 7000m with Sarangkot being the highest point. The roads strewn with big rocks and boulders ended abruptly where the flora cloaking the hill began. It was an easy two hour climb among narrow well-worn steep paths and wild creepers and damp dark soil. The rich smells of the forests, the heavy mists and the climb brought forth heavy, rapid breathing and gasps from the trekkers as we ambled out way with our sticks and cameras behind the spry guide of eighteen years.
And then came one of the most beautiful sights I had ever witnessed in all my travels. The green of the hill gave way to a steep patch of yellowish grass on which stood a rickety wooden house. It was surrounded by blossoms of every colour and decorated by the traditional small flags that adorn most of the houses in Nepal. But the best part was yet to come. I turned around grasping my video camera on chilled fingers and saw the glacial beauty of the Annapurna ranges adorning the skyline. The sunlight was barely grazing these mountain tops, leaving behind a hue of shimmering golden peaks. The tops were sharp and tapering with few patches of black rock peeping among the solid white snow.
Greedy as we were we still kept climbing. The scenery just got better and better with higher altitude and the rising sun. By the time we reached the highest point of Sarangkot, the Annapurna range along with the peaks of Dhaulagiri, Roc Noir and Machapuchare set in a semi-circle were tanned to a shade of bronze contrasting with the clear grey Nepalese skies.
The thrill and the goose bumps that ran through our veins as we beheld these magnificent mountains bathing in the morning sun, these mountains that formed some of the highest peaks in the world, is unrivaled. Until our hearts skipped a beat when we saw a tiny white thing flying far below us. As it came closer, the aeroplane caught the sunlight not unlike these mountains and reflected, albeit dully, a similar shade of bronze. It was a beautiful moment. It was an exhilarating moment and we reveled in the fact that we stood above men and his toys. We stood in par with nature and her magnificence.