Experience a typical atypical day in the life of the traveled author Erika Fatland!
Erika Fatland (born 1983) is a well-known author of non-fiction works who enjoyed international success with her book ‘Sovietistan’ (Sovjetistan, Kagge 2014). After Sovietistan, her recent work ‘The Border’ (Grensen, Kagge 2017) will also be translated into English (transl. Kari Dickson, will be published by Quercus Book in the autumn of 2019. The Border will also be published by Quercus / Maclehose Press). Both have been published in German by Suhrkamp Verlag. In The Border, she writes about her 259 days of travelling through the fourteen states that share borders with Russia and investigates the extent to which they are still in thrall to their large and politically dominant neighbour. Currently, Erika Fatland is already working on a new book: it is about the Himalayas. Fatland feels that this is “an extremely fascinating region, full of history, natural beauty and cultural diversity”. Here, she tells the journalist Alva Gehrmann of a typically extraordinary day in the Indian state Arunachal Pradesh in the extreme north-east of the country.
7 a.m.
I could sleep as long as I wanted today in the eco resort, a place with very simple standard, as we were not departing early. However, since people in the rural areas of the Himalayas usually go to bed around nine p.m. and get up at sunrise, I was wide awake by 7.
9 a.m.
After having a late breakfast on the terrace of the eco resort in the little town Roing, I installed myself outside of my small cabin to write down the impressions from the last couple of days. During the last months I have spent countless of hours in cars on terrible mountain roads, and the past few days were no exception. In between all the driving I had met lots of fascinating people, for example the crying shaman in Anini in Arunachal Pradesh.
10.35 a.m.
Normally I would be in the car again, on my way to new destinations in the mountains, but our vehicle needed urgent repair after having been treated with a mix of diesel, kerosene and water from a local store in Anini. We didn’t discover the fraud until we were on our way back to Roing (about 240 kilometers South) and the engine suddenly stopped. Luckily there were a lot of road construction work going on and we managed to find a mechanic, but he could only temporarily solve the problem.
11.50 a.m
The driver and the local guide finally turned up after having queued outside the garage all morning. The car was happy and energetic again, relieved of the fraudulent fuel. Before we left, we had lunch at a local restaurant. I ate rice, pickles and vegetables, as usual.
2 p.m.
In this part of the Eastern Himalayas, opium smoking is quite common. I had asked my guide if it would be possible to meet an addict, and he said “sure, I’ll take you to my neighbour”. His neighbour was a government worker who only went to the office to collect his monthly salary. Giggling, he showed me his smoking equipment, all readily available above the fireplace in the sitting room.
2.45 p.m.
I was about to leave the opium addict as a friend of him turned up. We stayed longer in order to see how they prepared the opium and consumed it. In the meantime his wife, who strongly opposed her husband’s smoking habit, served tea and made video calls to her grown-up children so that they also could greet the foreigner.
5 p.m.
We arrived at a new eco resort where I was going to spend the night. This one was even more basic than the last one, with brown walls and swarms of insects in the bathroom. But at least I had internet connection on my phone! Finally! I looked forward to watch the last episode of season 4 of the French series Le Bureau des légendes.
10 p.m.
Unfortunately, the internet connection disappeared completely very soon after my arrival, and I spent the evening staring at my phone, hoping it would miraculously come back. At around 10 pm, I gave up. As I was about to enter the bed, I discovered there were mouse excrements on the sheet. Disgusted, I brushed them away and unpacked my sleeping bag.
02.30 a.m.
The walls were so thin that it felt like I was sleeping in the same room as my noisy neighbours. At around 2.30 the female started coughing violently, and I woke up from my dream. It took me a couple of hours to start dreaming again.