"The Great Escape" is the name of the home-stay near the Kullu Valley that was our next destination after leaving Bir, but to even name the place seems unnecessary. Tucked away in a remote and tiny village near the Himalayan National Forest, the home-stay run by Raju and his wife has purposefully never advertised. Despite their lack of ambition and because of its intimate setting and magnificent food, word of mouth recommendations keep them basically full most of the year. Corey, Emily and I embarked on the five hour car ride optimistic that the place would live up to its reputation as we all felt ready for some rest. 
Before we could get there though we had to pay our penance to the Indian Gods of travel (obviously) by waiting out a 5 hour traffic jam approximately 1 hour away from our final destination on a somewhat precarious two lane cliff side highway. The cause of the exaggerated halt was a large crane trying to retrieve the wreckage from an accident 3 days prior where a truck had fallen down the ravine. Of coarse everyone waiting had to get out of their cars and walk down to stare at the crane and its painstakingly slow operations. This turned into a rather humorous scramble back to the vehicles when traffic was finally allowed to pass. We spent the time telling jokes and taking pictures. As the hours dragged on and our hunger increased we made the stupid mistake of talking about the best food we had ever eaten. Our sense of humor started to dwindle and I could feel both the ladies becoming increasingly more cranky.
Before we could get there though we had to pay our penance to the Indian Gods of travel (obviously) by waiting out a 5 hour traffic jam approximately 1 hour away from our final destination on a somewhat precarious two lane cliff side highway. The cause of the exaggerated halt was a large crane trying to retrieve the wreckage from an accident 3 days prior where a truck had fallen down the ravine. Of coarse everyone waiting had to get out of their cars and walk down to stare at the crane and its painstakingly slow operations. This turned into a rather humorous scramble back to the vehicles when traffic was finally allowed to pass. We spent the time telling jokes and taking pictures. As the hours dragged on and our hunger increased we made the stupid mistake of talking about the best food we had ever eaten. Our sense of humor started to dwindle and I could feel both the ladies becoming increasingly more cranky.
Luckily for us the wait turned out to be a small trouble compared to the absolutely wonderful time we had staying there. The food ( home cooked, and plenty of it) turned out to be the best on this trip. All the ingredients seemed to be so fresh and vital that we almost felt like we were hallucinating. Many times our joy would give way into hysterics, and all three of us would be doubled over laughing hard enough to cry. The setting seemed completely improbable in India, especially the crystal clear and clean river that was falling from the western Himalayas and running directly next to our room. In fact, to even get to the Raju's place you have to be curried across the river by way of a metal basket hanging from a thick cable connecting either shore.
We spent our couple of days there hiking trails in the National Forest, over enjoying our meals accompanied by fresh home bottled apple juice and praising our good fortune for getting to be in such a place together. Our nights would drag on until past 1 a.m. talking by the fire pit listening to the crackle of the wood from the apple trees burn, and talking about any and everything that would come to mind. I think we all kind of felt like slightly different people as we left. I certainly felt like I left a piece of myself there, some kind of Walden or mountain man alternate reality in which I would live out the rest of my days tending to the orchard and becoming ever more intimate with the deep and penetrating calls of the mountains and river.
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