Musings from the Mountains

THIS WEEK, DEAR READERS, I attempt a travelogue of one of my recent trips to Nepal, the wonders of trekking in the Himalayas and the cheap thrills of trying to flee the country somehow. This column has only as much law as there was in my life these last two weeks. Rest is devoted to life and existence. 

The column, however, is not about the mediocre self-discovery from a lone walk in the woods or the sad parallels between litigation and an uphill climb. I promise to not do that to you. There’s enough of that slop being spewed on LinkedIn. 

The hill I will die on – small rebellion 

Immigration at the Delhi airport makes sure to put me on the defensive. A distrusting young official looks me in the eye and goes – “Are there no treks in India that you need to go to Nepal?” After I smile coyly (by now I know not to respond to these baits), he asks why I am travelling alone. 

Better sense does not prevail anymore. I launch into a retaliatory offensive – “Yes, I just murdered my uncle and now I’m fleeing to the Himalayas to take refuge in the shrines like those European white ladies who shave their heads and disappear. No one can tell where they came from. Or maybe I’ll don saffron robes as a baba ji and spend my days as a refugee on the ghats of Pashupatinath. Better still, I may get on the millennial bandwagon and set some hotel on …”

The official doesn’t take this well. I get away with a sharp look. I apologise and make it out. And so I get to Pokhara via Kathmandu, without incident – almost!

Aloof on Wi-Fi

The charming things about a trek in Nepal is not just the extremely good-natured humans and their tea houses, but also the accessibility to the internet – wifi everywhere (wee-fee as fellow French trekkers are calling it – Bonjour!). 

In the formal group introductions, I try to tell fellow trekkers I am a professional stand-up comic. What else will justify the over familiarity and bullying they shall have to bear from the get-go. The lie, much like my comedy career, doesn’t last too long. The phone begins to ring continuously and the façade falls. Calls from anxious clients who need personal updates pre and post hearings, and enthusiastic colleagues who have by now understood the need to keep the boss informed!  

Mentor is advising me to go on flight mode. The mandatory trek etiquette. Client with a demolition threat may disagree. As always – no right answers. 

Hell is other people

My friends often joke that the reason I trek solo is so I can befriend “new people”. Well, to be truthful, I do have an insatiable appetite for discovering new acquaintances, learning about their lives and telling them about mine. The journey of exploring another mind is indeed beautiful and, in my case, an addiction I feed off. I do move on quickly though. From one new acquaintance to the next - barely giving the relationship an opportunity to thrive or go sour. It also satisfies my unflinching thirst to psychoanalyse different people in difficult settings. What better laboratory than a trek?