Nate and Spencer were visiting me in India. And I had taken it upon myself to show them the hills of the south. Ooty, the tea plantations, the winding roads that never really go anywhere but always feel worth it.
We had been driving through the Cardamom Hills all day, stopping wherever something looked interesting.
I had found a thin white streak on Google Earth. No name. No marker. No road leading to it.
Just… a waterfall. That was enough.
Just… a waterfall. That was enough.
We convinced our driver to take us as close as possible. By the time we got there, the weather had turned. The afternoon was heavy, the light flat, and fog kept rolling in waves across the hills. From a distance, we could barely make out the waterfall. Just a faint line cutting through the mountain.
Naturally, we wanted to hike to it.
Naturally, my parents and the driver shut that idea down immediately.
Leeches. Mud. No trail. Bad footing.
And for once, we listened.
And for once, we listened.
By then the fog had thickened anyway. The waterfall faded into nothing, swallowed whole. So we started to head back.
And that’s when we saw a lake.
At first it didn’t even register as a lake. Just a strange stillness off the side of the road. Something about the landscape felt… Odd.
We asked the driver to pull over.
The moment we stepped out, everything went quiet. No wind. No birds. No movement. Just this cold, damp air sitting over the water. You couldn’t really see the lake. Not fully. Just fragments. A tree fading in and out. A reflection that appeared and disappeared. The rest dissolved into fog.
It felt eerie. Unsettling. Like a scene from a movie you’re not supposed to be in.
We stood there for a minute, just taking it in.
And then I noticed the signs.
“Strictly No Photography.”
One wasn’t unusual. There were six. Maybe seven? All around us.
That made it worse. Or better.
I didn’t know why. And I didn’t really want to.
But, I went back to the car to grab my camera.
The fog was shifting constantly, opening small windows into the scene and closing them just as quickly. I worked fast. A few frames. A quick pano. Nothing more.
And then, down the road, vehicles appeared.
Dark. Quiet. Out of place. Not many. Just enough.
I didn’t think about it. I just stopped. Packed everything away.
We got back in the car and drove off.
I never figured out what that place was.
Or why photography wasn’t allowed.
Or what sat beyond that fog-covered water.
Or why photography wasn’t allowed.
Or what sat beyond that fog-covered water.
And honestly, I think that’s what stays with me.
Some places aren’t meant to be understood.
They just let you pass through… and this, is all we saw.
They just let you pass through… and this, is all we saw.
