We were wanderlust, it sparkled in our eyes.
We were young, adventurous and rather naïve, a potentially risky mix.
Our paths converged 5 decades ago somewhere in eastern Turkey. Our companionship was sealed on the spot and we headed off down the road, eastward into the sunrise.
We strode wide-eyed over backroads and along goat trails, through villages and towns whose names we couldn’t pronounce.
To where? Anywhere as long as it was exciting and new.
By bus, by rail and by any possible mode that moved us along. Was there a goal?
It was as if the journey itself was the goal -the wanderlust.
We came across others like us on “the road”. A rambling tribe of sorts, vagabonds, scouts.
Spreading out across the globe, wanderlust flowed from their backpacks.
Tehran in ’71 glimmered like gold in the desert, Herat was dusty and wild.
In Peshawar, it seemed like there was a marishnacoft slung over every shoulder.
A road sign at the Khyber Pass proclaimed a travellers’ alert, we snickered and kept our heads down.
What did we know? (There was no such thing as tripadvisor).
We scratched our way over a mountain pass of 15,000 feet or more. The air was as thin as silk, our feet were sore and blistered. We were warned of wild dogs roaming at night.
Doug, a fellow vagabond with Indian soldiers.
On the long, rocky trail we followed sadhus with bare feet up to an ancient, holy cave. There were no answers to be found there.
In Srinagar we lounged about on a house boat like rajas from a distant land. We played bridge in the afternoon.
In Colombo we had to turn around, we had literally run out of road. This magical journey we were on was winding down but for each of us there would be many more to come.
It is 52 years on, and our paths cross again. We sit here today over lunch with our wives and toast to a distant lifetime that we once shared. Good times we had, fond memories we created.
Our faces have changed and our strides aren’t as bold.
But I still recognize that sparkle in your eyes !!
Here’s to: vagabonds, open roads and life long friendships.
photos by Neil