The capital is in Agra and not Delhi.So we gotta travel all the way there.
You must be thinking,"Yo!What a great chance to roam around!."But thing is-there are no cars.I will have to travel partly on foot and partly in bullock carts.And guys,it's about 70 kos(Mughal measuring system) so which is a roughly 210 to 2240km.HOLY SMOKES!
Oh,and by the way,there is a huge chance of getting robbed,falling in monsoon muds and catching some medieval diseases.
But let's see the positive side,(I am saying this totally for my inner peace)I get to have an adventure and as a historian this will superb,I get to meet more ancient people.
I asked Dannyal how many coins he had.He said he had only 100 dams(copper coins) and 20 rupees(silver coins).Basically his entire living savings(I guess I got a spendaholic).He also said it was enough for the journey and less risky to carry as there were a lot of bandits.(His fancy way of saying he was broke).But what do I have to say as a person with no money?
He said we were gonna have to catch a caravan(a convoy where merchants and traders travel together with goods and animals to avoid risks).He then went to his storage room,thank God it didn't burn and gathered the goods on his cart pulled by two donkeys.We then joined a caravan.
I could notice the rivalry between our caravan and a other one.One of the Persian merchants told me about the use of tactics to slow down the opponent-poisoning the animals.I knew it before as a historian but I didn't want to agree with the poisoning like the other merchants.
Dannyal said,"We've joined the powerful bad side.It's safer.Let's not interfere with what they are doing.We have no way but to agree."I hate to agree but he was right.
We came to a toll post,it had a long line but our leader who is an old rich merchant bribed them to get faster.Fortunately the opponent caravan fell back and their animals got saved.
Weird how sometimes falling behind saves you.
An Afghan merchant was storytelling to avoid boredom.He told us that on the way we will meet a temple,a cursed one.It has been abandoned for ages but some say there might be treasury under the statue.Whoever tried to go there died suffering from a curse.They say it's an angel dressed as devil who stays there.Whoever goes there out of greed instead of need dies.
By then we reached a sarai(inns present around every 10-20 km),it had a mat and felt kinda warm unlike the cold nights I experience in London.There was a big courtyard and well to draw water.There were communal kitchens.Being able to witness this stuffs in real life is pretty awesome even though I was drained of energy by the whole journey and will have to continue for the next 10-11 days.
While laying on the mat and staring at the moon,I realized that it is the same moon I always look at home.Dannyal said,"This moon is the same at your time too,right?"."Dude,I was literally thinking the same.But in our time you would be in the museum.Hahaha."said I.
"Not funny.By the way,about the temple the Afgani was talking about,you wanna check that out?"said Dannyal."It is cursed,isn't it?"said I."And you believe that?Just admit you are scared.""I mean-""Scaredy cat!""Fine,we will go there.""
The next day started early and holy moly joly the toilettes were NORMAL.I expected something disastrous enough to keep my stuffs inside me but this was fine squat like latrines.The nuclearly reacted kebabs(I mean wastes)are channeled outside the city.Surprisingly there are some fragrant herbs and limes so that people can't smell the kebabs from last night(The food I ate last night.I hope you get my humour).According to my knowledge, Europe is still far behind in these cases of hygiene.
We started the journey again.I went ahead and asked the Afgani merchant,"Are you sure that temple is cursed?""Of course I am.""Who told you all this?""Everyone knows this.Why?Are you planning to go there?""You never saw anyone dying by going there,did you?""These young kids nowdays"said while grunting.
When passing by the cursed tree,seeing everyone's scared face,I sensed fear.Dannyal said,"We will stop here,you guys go ahead.We will meet you in the next sarai."Everyone started whispering.The leader told us not to but who is Dannyal listening to.Of course he has to get the real feeling of 'adventure' by almost going to places where people die.People like him probably invented rides and amusement parks in the future.
The place was filled with spider nets and dried dead bodies,those were probably the cause of the 'curse'(as they might cause diseases).There were some idols and deities carved,I clicked a photo.It was aesthetic.
Behind the back of that we found a door.Holy Mo-(I fell into in to a pit) Dannyal grabs my hand and pulls me up."Dang you got some good reflexes.""Unlike you."Oh Gosh as a person with zero reflexes,I ain't surviving this.
We looked forward and damn,THERE WERE TRAPS AND TRAPS.Dannyal looked at me and said,"I'm grabbing your head.""What?"He literally grabbed my head and started running.
Arrows shot out of the wall,so close to almost getting pinned into my heart.And Dannyal was telling me to run while literally holding my head.I said,"Who are you giving motivation to?Yourself?"
We sprinted forward but the wall above us started falling everytime we stood on a push tile.I don't know how he figured out which to avoid and somehow saved me.
Next came swinging logs-massive wooden trunks with spikes.I yelled,"THIS AIN'T NORMAL!"He shot back saying,"Oh yes,I thought cursed temples had red carpet to welcome us!"One log came so close to me that I swear I smelled those rusty spikes.
After entering to the next room,I thought a bit of rest but my gut sucks like my reflexes.IT WAS A ROOM FILLED WITH POISONED THORNS GETTING SHOOT FROM THE DAMN WALL.Dannyal warned,"One scratch and we are done.""Thanks for the funfact!"I said while running like crazy.
Guess what now?Gases and arrows again.I said,"I can't breathe!"And suddenly all the arrows pinned me to the wall."USE YOUR SLEEVES,"said Dannyal.""Dude I am stuck,"said I.He came and freed me while muttering,"Out of all ways-imagine dying due to sleeve.I shouldn't have let go of your head."
The last one was devastating.Stones with fire getting thrown out of the wall.Dannyal screamed,"RUN LIKE YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT!""It sure does!"said I.
OH MY GOSH.I don't know how I survived this.After this near to death experience, we saw a small treasury around which were the dead bodies.Dannyal started running towards it.I stopped him and said,"All those protection not for this much?Look at that!"There was a small version of the deity we found at the entrance.I took that deity from the window like shelf and door at the side opened which had the TREASURES in a room shining with the vibrant glow of gold.Dannyal said,"THIS MUCH?""Worth the hassle,"said I.While filling our bags,I got a sword which looked darn cool.It had bright colors like red and yellow with a symbol of an elephant.I wonder who must have used it to slay the enemies.
Before leaving the room,I looked at the small treasury and said,"What could be in that?""Let not curiosity destroy us,right?""Yeah."We found a small door at the back of the room and got out.Dannyal said with a tired voice,"We still gotta catch the caravan an-""Let's take a break here,shall we?"said I.
Luckily Dannyal had the map and we started walking towards the caravan after some rest in the forest filled with greeneries and soon reached a market.
(TO BE CONTINUED)