We were on our way to the steepest slopping trails of Bandarban Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. It is kind of impossible to cross the treacherous sloping and hill tracts by foot. For this, a special four-wheeler is required. The four-wheeler is a customized Land Cruiser. In this hilly and treacherous part, the hilly dwellers call it “Moon Lighter”.
There were at least 10 passengers on board who strongly tightened their hands on the roof of the 4 wheeler. The roof is like an closed caged-roof version. I was hesitating to ride on it as it did not look that strong a vehicle to carry 10 passengers. Not only, there were 10 passengers, spices-onions-garlics-bananas- daily necessities were in the vehicle too. On the other side of the hill below, people depended on these daily groceries for their life, at least for 3 to 4 days.
The engine roared, the Moon Lighter was slowly moving up the hill. The driver increased the revolution on the engine and the next thing we know we were jumping off the roof, swinging at each other. Dust followed us diligently.While we were crossing the hill slope from where we could see sun’s orange ray , we suddenly saw a group of hilly people showed snakes and smiling at us. I was a bit worried; could they throw the snake at our jeep. Nope, it was their dinner.One of my friends said,” Don’t be worried, they are finishing not only the snakes but also the birds that live in the nook and cranny of the forest. I said to myself,” No wonder, I do not hear any bird’s tweeting”.
Then came, my life’s most thrilling 3 minutes. As we were sloping downwards, a wild white dog came rushing out of the bush. I could still vividly recall. Its color reminded me a rush of dust. It had a small tail and thin body. It’s outrunning ability striked all the passengers. At least for me it was the best show on earth! It started running in-front of the jeep. The jeep had speed of more than 40km/h. It did not matter to Mr. Out-Runner. It went on and on for another 2 minutes. Suddenly, it changed its course and jumped left in a bush. The Outrunner just showed how good it was, even the Moon Lighter jeep did not matter to it. I felt like I was watching a James Bond movie or some lines of Stephen King Book. This is how Mr. Outrunner i.e. the mysterious dog beat the Moon Lighter. Hill tracts are always full of surprises but this surprise, I think, my Almighty reserved me specially in my journey into that hilly trails.
Originally published in the Write Practice:
explorelife@365 