Our return time from Langtang coincided with Dashain of 2006. Dashain is celebrated with great fun and zeal all over Nepal by Hindu people. The celebration starts from the day of Ghatasthapana (dark moon of Asoj, September or October) which reaches its climax on the tenth day of waxing moon and lasts till the full moon. Family members, who have gone far away from the home in quest of Eldorado, return home just to share the merriment of Dashain. Our scheduled day of return was 4th day of Dashain. There was a great crowd at Dhunche early in the morning. Most of them had handbags and rucksacks, who were waiting for buses to Kathmandu. We asked for the tickets to the local bus staffs. But they refused humbly, saying that it was hard to get any, because the seats were already booked one or two weeks in advance. Two buses fully loaded with human beings escaped through our ways, but we were stranded and getting no idea of what to do. Eventually, we anchored to a bus that came from Syafrubensi and there was room for just one foot to stand and one hand to cling at the horizontal rod of the bus. We were happy to get the space rather than to grieve for albeit we suffered due to tightness among us- travelers. We could no longer resist the uneasiness inside the bumping bus on the rain-ruined graveled road. Half of the standing travelers, including our group, took shelter on the hood of the bus. We felt relieved after being released from the pack of Sinki-Gundruk of packed people inside. In the mean time, we were shocked to see our bus rolling through the narrow road that was cut on the steep hillside. The fog on the ground level created such a fright that the hillside seemed bottomless. Our cheeks were reddened with fear. Nevertheless, I could not afford to miss a single fragment of time to enjoy the beauty of mountains, gorges, waterfalls, birds and flowers. It was so exciting that we hardly talked with each other.
It was my pride to be witness to the spectrum of mother-nature displayed on the tiny piece of Earth. But, traveling insecurely on the hood was awe. As we were discussing about those difficulties that we face day to day all over Nepal, a bus from Kathmandu appeared on front of our bus. We were amazed to see that the bus was also carrying people on its hood just like us. We greeted it with smile and bade it goodbye. We reached Kathmandu the same evening, traveling all the way on the hood. The season of Dashain had heavily cast its spell on Kathmandu and Kathmandutes. So, I had very little time to recollect my memories that time.
