All Kinds of Gifts

Everything can be a gift, not just the things people present to us, or the good things that the universe throws in our path. Sometimes the hardest most painful ones can be the most important gifts of all- they lead us to a wiser more peaceful place. The nice ones however, are always easier to recognise.

So today, has been a series of gifts.

The first was my present to Carmen. A full service; new oil, new filters, new dilithium crystals. Breaks tightened, gears ratcheted, battery recharged. Even a clean and the chrome polished.

Mr Rama got up at 7am to start. 'Will not need another service for 3000 miles' he boasted. I believed him. She purred so loudly it was almost singing when I took her for a little spin. This is a gift Carmen has more than earnt in the last week.

Banjar Babbu, the wise looking hash peddling mechanics mate tried to give me another 'gift', but again I refused.

And so at 11, I had to say goodbye to Riko. In less than 48 hours, it felt like we had experienced a lot together. The trek the day before was a shared trial that I think both of us will remember. It certainly broke a lot of ice, and made communication easier.

The journey was quite tortuous today. The road was good. There was traffic at times, and overtaking lorries on steep blind bends is both exhilarating and tiresome at the same time. There was little joy in the driving, I just wanted to arrive.

Only 250km or so to Shimla, but it took forever. The last 20 really dragged. And when I got there I was sent round the houses again by the damned one way system, the policemen with their restricted access signs and my own poor sense of direction and propensity to get lost. My hands were losing sensation, I was cold and tired.

The reason I was so keen to get to Shimla was that I had planned to meet Dan at Sars Lodge on Monday Evening. After many emails flicking back and forth, he had finally got his shit together and got to India. Or so I thought - I had not had any contact with him for a few days.

And there waiting for me at the door with a big smile and a huge 500cc Enfield with massive Panniers, was Dan.

I had begun to doubt whether he either really wanted to come out or had it in him to get here. I had made quite a lot of plans based on his arrival, and had to change it several times due his schedule, so had got quietly frustrated at times. But I was happily proved wrong,

There is a special magic about seeing a familiar and fond face in a foreign city. It brings so many gifts - there is all the history to laugh about, there is no need for polite small talk, you can just be comfortable in each others presence in way that you cannot be with people you have only just met, no matter how well you get on. And then there is the gift of a shared adventure together, about experiencing a new place together.

We chatted, caught up, had dinner, spoke more, discussed plans, laughed at each other and with each other. I am really truly excited about our next two weeks of adventure together.

But I think the greatest gift of all came at breakfast. I had gone there by myself as Riko was not up. As I sat in the early morning sun, headphones on listening to music. I was swept up remembering moments and people past. So many memories and moments - some sad, some poignant, mostly very happy. The people I have loved and let go, the people i have loved and lost, and the people I have loved and love still.

A popular song started playing. Nothing particularly deep or meaningful, in fact pretty trite. I don't know why though, it bought all the emotion to the surface, and I almost wept.

And then, right before me, sitting in the sunlight bold as brass, was Gimbal. One ear slightly skewed, looking at me and my plate of food with bright brown eyes.

How could this be! I sat bolt upright, amazed. We left Gimbal a good 30km away and 1000m higher. How could she be here!

Of course it wasn't her. Just looked like her. Her muzzle was slightly lighter, and she looked a bit stouter, perhaps a bit more silvery in places. But with such colouring and the wonky ear, it must have been a relation - sister or cousin perhaps.

I had really wanted to give Gimbal some food on our trip yesterday, but had none with me and we passed no stores where I could get a bar of chocolate or something for her. This was my biggest regret, that I had not been able to show my appreciation to her.

So this morning, Gyre as I called her, got a large piece of toast and an egg form me for Gimbal. And although this was a gift I gave her, the gift was really in the giving, was a gift to me.

Riko appeared a bit later. "What do you think happened to 'our guide' yesterday?' I asked. 'The dog? Oh she would have got back to Malano, for sure' he said confidently. 'She escaped when the dogs chased us down the road'.