Impasse at the Pass

Stuck in the narrow road on the Rohatang pass, among thousands of trucks and just few turns away from crossing the pass. A steady shower of stones and rocks falling on the road requiring a road mover to clear the path every few minutes when the shower stops. An impatient truck driver decides to jump his turn and halfway through the pass couldn’t as the clearing was too narrow yet refuses to move back, blocking the pass worse than nature intends.
An impasse, and then the road movers retired for the day, leaving many travellers frustrated, hungry, tired and stranded in the middle of nowhere. The driver decides to abandon the car, we decided to sleep in the car. Its all a normal occurrence at the Rohatang pass. By morning the road should be cleared.
It’s cold even though its only July and I have no warm shawl or blanket with me. A pair of yak wool socks I had were damp and very uncomfortable. One of the passengers rips her covering and shares with me, I am greatful beyond words. Strangers in the night, I hardly spoke during the journey from Spiti valley, given into the awe of the landscape and the fresh air.
During the night, everything is excessively quiet, we each wake, in alarm, feeling the stones falling extremely close. It’s a scary feeling and very dark and cold. The only comfort is the strangers I am travelling with.
When the first light of dawn filters though, we get out of the tight confines of the car and realise the the stones have fallen about ten feet from our vehicle and our alarm wasn’t part of our imagination. Though the stones have stopped falling, we are humbled enough to trek down to the nearest village. As we are climbing down, we get a lift from a vegetable deliverer returning from the huge jam on the other side of the pass.
As I look back, sitting I see the rising sun, a most wonderful sight and I am humbled and full of gratitude for the kindness of fellow travellers as well as being alive. It was a night to remember, my first trip as a backpacker, realising the value of the road less travelled.