Alone, in the night, walking towards a light far far away. through the lush green valleys of Nagaland. - Dzuko valley
While riding to Nagaland through Silonijan, my engine oil measuring cap burst suddenly while climbing a road uphill, causing oil to leak. I managed to reach a Bajaj showroom in Barpathar after 30 kilometres, fixed it and changed the engine oil. The technicians were so amazed at the Platina, that they honoured me with another Gamcha.
The day went fast with that minor hiccup but I couldn't find a spot to pitch my tent. As it got darker I found a place to camp in a small neighbourhood. When I requested Ajay Boro, he agreed to let me camp. I put my tent and sat for a conversation with the families there. Brother Ajay asked me about my habits and I said I smoked up. He took me just around the house and for 50 rupees they gave me about a hell lot. I was dumbfounded! I said I didn't want so much. They said that’s how much they gave for 50. I smoked with an old man in his pipe and took Ajay da to buy some liquor since he didn't smoke.
This man Ajay Boro had a beautiful life but kept saying he was poor and had no money. Both he and his wife had lost their parents at an early age. It was a love marriage and now they had four kids, both worked and drank together and earned their meal everyday. I asked him, then why four kids? and he says "Kya karu nashe me ho gaya" ( What to do? happened when I'm drunk) I couldn't answer further. I gave him examples of some rich families who had poor lives but he wasn't convinced. While I sat drinking in the tent with Ajay da and his wife, a temple priestess walked in. She lived next door. She was believed to have powers in finding lost items and solving problems for people. She talked about the powers she had and wore a Trishul to tie her hair. She even gave me some apples to eat. After a good evening with this family that I found out of nowhere, I went to sleep.
I packed my stuff, had tea and biscuits in the morning at Ajay da’s place, also some at the priestess' house before continuing. To my bad luck, the engine cap blew out again and the oil started leaking. I managed to put on a bottle cap and ride until I found a mechanic. He put a thick plastic and sealed for the time being and asked me to look around in Kohima for a replacement. When it blew for the second time I realized it was my mistake. There was a hole that caused water to get into the air filter and I had stuffed it with plastic. So what happened, is the hot air from the engine was connected to the air filter through a pipe and it passed through the hole that I covered. So when the engine got heated, it pushed the hot air, getting stuck, building up the pressure inside the engine and burst the oil measuring cap off the engine. I topped up some oil and managed to reach the base of Dzuko valley around 6 pm.
I ate 3 pooris and 2 eggs before the trek. The hotel was run by an old man who suggested I stay and trek the next morning but I was keen on trekking in the night though I had ridden through the day. I took what I needed and requested him to leave a bag at his hotel. The trek started after an 8-kilometre ride through the jungle. It was an Off-road track and my smile was back. Just me alone riding on that road uphill deeper and higher into the mountains. I lost track of the distance and couldn't find any signboards. For a moment I stopped and felt lost. I checked the map and it guided me to ride further ahead. I used Mapsme which saves the map offline because Google maps don't work without the internet. Finally found a signboard and I rode till I reached the point up to where the bike could go. Parked, took my backpack and started hiking. The trek started on an incline. Climbing up rocks and roots, I felt exhausted within minutes. With my habits of drinking and smoking for the past few days and the backpack weighing about 10 kilos at least, I kept moving.
I kept going because there was no going back. I thought I'll camp and sleep on the way if I didn't reach up top. After about 30 minutes, I took a wrong turn and started walking towards a river. I was sure that that wasn't the way because there was no path. I looked around for some time, even slipped and fell once, then when I headed back, I found the right path and continued.
Alone, in the night, walking towards a light that I saw far far away through the lush valleys of Nagaland. That one light was the only thing that kept me moving. After the initial struggle, the trek was mostly on plains crossing mountains one after the other towards the light that kept getting closer and closer. I reached around 9:30. That light was the destination indeed. I called out loud and upon checking, I found no one around. All I could hear were rats running around. I opened the door of a room and one rat ran out, so I pitched my tent outside and slept. At around 3 am, it started raining and it sounded like it was going to get worse. I moved the tent to shelter and continued to sleep.
The next morning I heard someone, He made some noise to wake me up. I went out to see a boy in his twenties, happier than me to see another human in that place. Keno thought he was alone last night, so he went to sleep early in the nearby private room. It was very cold. He made some fire, fed me some Maggi and gave me hot water to drink. Oh, it felt like he was serving hot chai on Everest! We sat and talked about life. He said he wanted to travel too. He was staying with his mother and managed this place along with a few members.
Later by noon, people started coming in. More and more people just kept coming and by evening there were about 50 people at the site. The weather turned bad, People reached the place completely drenched in water. Keno and the other guides made the fire separately for groups requesting individual campfire. I spent some time with a Naga group who were cooking a feast, dog meat and pork. At once I thought about trying some dog meat, but when I saw them cutting a leg, I decided to stay away.
The winds were so strong that my tent was moving even with all the luggage inside. I tried placing 30-litre water cans for support on all sides but the winds were even stronger that one of them toppled. Luckily I hadn't placed it inside the tent. As more people gathered I wasn't comfortable and they were all singing and enjoying. I had my dinner early and tried to catch some sleep. That night I couldn't sleep well, the wind and cold kept waking me up through the night.
I woke up around 6 and took some time to set my mind for the day. The rains continued and unfortunately, I had left my rainwear down at the hotel without expecting any rains. I lit a cigarette and started walking towards the viewpoint, a kilometre away. It is one of the best trekking experiences ever. Such lovely landscapes and lush green valleys. History says that when people came to Dzuko and tried to settle they couldn't grow any crops so they had to move and settle around the valley. A few years ago, a forest fire started and burnt a lot of trees and bamboo around. It seems people had to walk through 10 to 15 feet of tall bamboo plants to reach the valley earlier. Now they are just about a foot or two tall.
I came back wet, made some Maggi, warmed myself near the fire for some time and started walking lighting another cigarette. I reached the hotel really hungry and wet. I ate 5 pooris with boiled peas and two eggs while I was still wet and requested a shop owner if I could change in his shop and he agreed. I changed into fresh and warm clothes and took off to Manipur.
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