The Himalayas: Rain, Leeches, and Diarrhea

I turned over again under the heavy blanket and moaned. Josh and I were on vacation in Darjeeling, a small town on the edge of the Himalayas, but I was sick in bed with a fever, upset stomach, and the dirty D. I had to use the toilet again but I couldn’t muster up the energy to get out of bed. Maybe I’ll just wait for five minutes…

Darjeeling as seen from my sick bed

“Despite the fact that I got really sick and delayed us for a day, this is surprisingly almost going according to plan!” I told Josh cheerily as we pitched our tent along a trail in the thick Himalayan jungle. It was starting to rain again and night was soon approaching so it was a relief to have finally found an adequate campsite. Josh stopped his work and crouched down, staring intently at his shoes. I waited. After a while I heard an “Augh!” then “What the!” “What is going on over there?” “Ah ahahah! Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!!” What?” “Leecheeeeees!!!!” I looked down at my hiking boots as Josh stomped wildly in circles waving his hands in the air. There were leeches everywhere. I tried to pick some off but they only latched onto my fingers. The more I flung my hands around the tighter they hung on, all the while more crawling up my boots and squirming down in between my socks and under my pant legs. Panicking, I spun in circles shouting, “Get off! Get off! Get off!”

Leech bite

It was two hours later and Josh and I lay shivering in our tent in our new location three inches from a road. As the rain beat down hard on the rain fly I tried to close my eyes and go to sleep but every time I started drifting off leeches would dance before my eyes in their grotesque writhing motions and I would startle back awake. I rolled over on my side and looked to see if Josh was awake. Nope, but I noticed that my sleeping bag felt a little damp. I didn’t realize it right then but there was a hole in the bottom of our tent and by morning we would be lying in a giant puddle, everything we owned soaked completely through. 

Looking for another camp spot

“I think we’re in Darjeeling.” I told Josh. He laughed as if I’d just told a joke he’d never heard before. “No, I’m serious.” Rain was dripping down my nose, pouring down my back, and soaking through my socks. I was walking like a cold penguin with my arms stuck out and my saturated pack pulled down on my back. Not willing to turn my head into the rain to address Josh, I had to shout everything twice. “No, I’m serious!” According to our estimation we should have been about 15 miles outside of Darjeeling and walking farther away but here we were, somehow turned around and standing a block from the town center.

Hiking back to Darjeeling. Unintentionally.

As the bus bounded over an especially large bump Josh and I shot to the ceiling where we simultaneously banged our heads and were thrust back down hitting our backs on the hard sleeper-class bed. “This is by far the worst bus ride I’ve ever been on” Josh said matter-of-factly, his voice wavering with the bouncing of the vehicle. Our week in Darjeeling was over and despite the fact that the clouds had never cleared enough to actually see the mountain peaks, we were on our way back to Kolkata. Unfortunately, the train was booked for days so we had to take a bus. Sixteen hours of the most jolting dirt road I had ever experienced. 

Josh and I's bumpy bunk

This vacation sounds like a total disaster to you I’m sure, but I actually only realized how miserable it sounded after I got back and was trying to describe to friends the details of why it had been such a great and relaxing trip. It was seriously one of the most fun and refreshing weeks I’ve had in a long time, but every time I’ve told a story, it’s sounded terrible. Sometimes I think all the discomfort we spend our whole lives trying to avoid might actually be the gateway to the fulfillment we spend all our lives trying to find. I guess in the end building character brings more contentment than controlling our emotions through our circumstances. Or maybe I just really enjoy being miserable.