Have you ever been in a Mexican standoff? Apparently, it often ends up in a fight to the death! Now, throw in a pack of fierce, mountain dogs and surely there’s a story worth telling! But what do you do in such a scenario? Would you run away or face them head-on and expect not to get ripped to shreds?
Well, I’m not the one to back down from a challenge, so I charged towards them upon intimidation. I had my throttle wide open, my motorcycle picking up speed, and they bolted towards me, barking and growling!
Seconds later, I just stopped about 50 mts from them and turned off my motorcycle! They stopped charging ahead, and paused to asses the situation. Now I could see him clearly, and he was a big dog and led a pack of three. I gave him a long look and then suddenly felt powerless.
What happened to all that rage inside me? It was gone! There wasn't any need to be hostile!
Looking around me I realized that I was at an incredible place. I’ve dreamt of riding here for a decade, and now a decade later here I was in the middle of the Nubra Valley, at 9500 ft in the cold high altitude desert of Ladakh! I was calm as the Buddha himself!
Moments ago I had ridden past him and his sleepy friends when I was exploring the rocky dry riverside, and unintentionally I had ruined their afternoon nap. The noise from my motorcycle ride nearby disturbed them. I’m certain, Mr. Alpha thought I was going to steal his favorite rock, under which he’s been hiding all his Himalayan treasures. As it would seem, the hooman owed an apology or face the wrath for his disruptive behavior!
Nearly motionless, I remained seated on my motorcycle, as they continued staring at me and then signaled them to come over! Mr. Alpha understood it and led the pack towards me. He came closer and circled around my motorcycle twice, maintaining a safe 2-feet distance from me whilst sniffing and trying to figure out the contraption which caused all the racket! I kept observing him at which point he grunted, almost as if to indicate his comrades that the situation was now under control.
He circled around once more and sat down next to me and allowed me to pet him and scratch his head! It was his way of making acquaintance he said. I called his buddies over but they weren't interested anymore and walked away. A few minutes later he decides to lie down next to me. I couldn't believe that after nearly 3 weeks riding solo here I was in the mountains with a beautiful dog, with a great personality, giving a total stranger some much needed company.
This hooman heart was instantly captured, while the feeble hooman mind was in the process of being taken over forever!
I’ve been riding through the biting cold, rain and sleet crossing one of the highest motorable passes on earth only hours ago and felt like I could do with some rest. With the battery dying on my phone, I quickly plugged my earphones and played, “Jimmy Hendrix - Voodoo Child”. Listening to Hendrix devilishly playing his guitar lit up my brain. It’s one of the greatest tracks ever and not a day went by that I didn’t listen to it on my adventure.
I decided to call my new friend, “Jimmy,” and he called me Hooman with a ‘woof!’
I sat down next to him, shot a few pictures as and relished every bit of the moment. Couple of hours passed and I managed a quick nap next to him, and before I knew it was time to leave. The weather was turning bad and I had a fair bit of miles to ride.
As I prepared to set off he walked ahead of my motorcycle, leading us back to the road. Quite a charmer isn’t he?
A few days later I was riding through this area and befriended his owner. At the time Jimmy had set off on his daily adventure and I missed seeing him. It wasn’t until 10 months later that I would meet him again!
I was back in Khalsar, an area of Nubra Valley which has a “dhaba” (small roadside restaurants serving local snacks) at the junction where the road bifurcates towards the incredible Siachen Glacier and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and India’s Line-Of-Actual-Control. I met somebody there whom I had befriended earlier and enquired about Jimmy.
He informed me that Jimmy is around today and I should call him by his real name “Shera” (Lion) to get him back and I screamed his name as loud as I could. Within minutes as if I was expected to arrive, I saw Jimmy jumping out of the nearby bushes along with his doggy friend and running towards me!
He seemed to recognize me and was thrilled to see me again! We played a little as we did a year ago and I fed him a few biscuits and bread. He was thrilled and sat down as usual allowing me to rub his head and back which he enjoys very much! I think he was happy to give me a permanent job of scratching him! He clearly didn’t want me to stop!
I spent about an hour with him before proceeding with my drive towards the border areas. Even as I had travelled in an SUV that I was testing at the time and wanted to take him with me, it just didn't feel right to displace him. He is loved by all in the area and well looked after. He has the whole Himalaya as his playground, a city life is just not for him! He’s just a wandering nomad at heart, just as his Hooman biker friend!
Dog’s do speak, but only to those who know how to listen! - Orhan Pamuk
This is true! I suppose sometimes the best relationships start off on a seemingly wrong yet trivial note and you quickly realize that it isn’t hard to reach an understanding!
I’ve travelled far and wide within my own country and I‘ve made several great connections with people from all over the world but it felt as though on my travels to the mountains, it was Jimmy that made my life whole!
Tempting as it was, I just couldn’t take the responsibility of a dog at the time owing to my lifestyle but knew deep inside he’d always be mine. No matter how far he is, I know that I’ll always go back to see him, and I did see him once again the following year. But unfortunately I lost those pictures from a hard-drive crash!
He was still there, waiting to see me…and we played together and bonded once again! Maybe this is why they say, a dog is truly man’s best friend!
This was 5 years ago and I miss him terribly to date!
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