Aahl: Picture-Perfect Memory
I close my eyes and I am there at that moment and it’s serene. I’m standing in my happy place, it’s perfectly covered with a boulder on one side and a mountain on the other side, it provides me with a sense of comfort that I’m protected.
I can see the mountains and the valley below, the clouds floating and drifting away like ships setting sail for a long voyage with no destination. I feel the cold wind against my half-covered face, it’s -9 degrees out and my bones are aching and begging me to move somewhere warm. The orange giant is slowly rising in the sky blending in with the surroundings displaying a warm combination of the colour palette.
I’ve found my silence amidst the roaring wind and compelling my thoughts to shout louder than the clamour outside. As I stand there, I start to recollect every important moment I’ve ever experienced until now. The entire gesture resembles an act of me confessing to nature about my sins and it’s like we’re having a wordless conversation, allowing me to open up and it accepting me with its arms wide.
I realise that I was creating an important moment right at that instant, how could I dare to blink for a second! To have my mind wander someplace else other than at that moment. I shared one of the most beautiful moments with my closest friends and I think I made a new one that day.
The trek to the summit was a humbling experience, from the walk on the snow and the empty trails ahead and behind you, to the silence of winds, the constant lull of the crickets, the breath that was rhythmic throughout and the horizon where the snow and the sky met.
Aahl is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to, it’s a small place with only a few houses, located near Nepal. It is surrounded by mountains and valleys and one can see the “Sleeping Buddha” stretching on one side, followed by the various peaks including the Everest. On the opposite side, you have the valleys below and clouds covering them, which makes you question the depth underneath that layer.
The first time I heard the song “ I Think of Home by Snow Patrol”, it reminded me of Aahl, with all four of us standing at the edge of the summit, and as the lyrics went on
“ Mistakes were made, let’s leave it there
But there’s one thing we can all agree on
There’s beauty north, south, east, and west
There’s beauty north, south, east, and west”
you could truly appreciate the beauty that enwreathed you. The song always plunges me in the nostalgia of the trek and the good times we could steal when we had the chance to.
Sandakphu trek was my first trek, and for a person who says nature doesn’t emotionally affect them, it did have a profound effect on me. I returned with peace within the chaotic mind and a box full of memories to give me comfort.
Aahl was a picture-perfect memory, snapshotted and stored permanently into the folds of my brain.
