The wheels kept turning, like the hands of time. We had a destination to reach. Riding from Bumthang to Trongsa was no child’s play. In the first part of our ride, we struggled a lot with the high hills and steep slopes. It was all up hill till Yotongla.
Yotongla is the pass that separates Bumthang and Trongsa Dzongkhag (District). We had our lunch at this pass. I must say, it was one of the most rewarding lunches I have ever had. It must have been all the riding I did. I bet my other rider friends felt the same. Riding up the hill was one of the toughest things I have ever done physically!
After lunch it was all down hill, all the way till Trongsa where we spent our night at a guesthouse (Puenzhi guest house). The guesthouse had one of the most breath-taking views of the Trongsa Dzong (fortress) as well as the Ta-dzong (the watch tower for the Dzong).
The ride down hill was so much fun. The cool winds of the Himalayan air, fluttering of the prayer flags, it was all so refreshing.
It sounds like a fairy tale, overcoming struggles, and at the end finishing off with a hero’s victory. But as every story has its own fall, I got mine too.
I managed to take a bike fall. It’s funny how I just took my eyes off the road and the very next second I was diving headfirst into the ground. I barely managed to avoid falling off a cliff. It wasn’t anything serious, but still the group leaders and my friends got very concerned.
I got myself hurt a bit, got my friends and my group leaders concerned, and kind of changed the whole atmosphere for a moment.
What we do to our mother earth is not much different. We are all very ignorant. Every now and then mother earth indicates that she is being abused.
Early winters and late summer, intense rains and intense heat, droughts too are just some indication that she is suffering.
People learn when they are taught,
people understand when they feel,
people change from their situations and experiences.
I guess I did too.
If we are our own cause of sufferings, let’s change. Let’s improve as better leaders and role models in protecting and promoting what little that we have of our environment.
