Monday, September 19, 2011

High Himalayan Heavens :Part eight

Day 16 and 17 -

Last entry in my journal, the last two days of our amazing journey. We woke up late ,pampered ourselves for the last time at the hot springs. Vivek and I walked down Kalath and crossed an unstable bridge to the other side of the river bed,and discovered a natural hot spring,it was a rarity to watch the hot water bubbles. Our bus to Delhi was at 5pm. We bought the last set of purchases,with shawls being exchanged,jams being bought,2 kg of apples ,we were settled in the bus at 530pm. The bus didn't start till about 6pm. We bid our final goodbye to Hari bhai, Shabu,Neelu,Negi and Amit rana,and of course,Pobu,velu and Tarle who were ending their vacation for another week. The bus journey was tolerable , but he stopped often to fill up the remaining seats.

Reached Delhi at 6am. After a great deal of debate on what to do, we took two AC rooms in Karol Bagh for the day. After freshening up,we planned the course of the day. Even though all of us (largely vivek) wanted to go to Ram leela maidan and support Anna Hazare break his fast,we decided otherwise. We left for Chandni chowk at 10am,in Metro! :) Very convenient. First stop, Paranthewala. Inspite of the shabby and unclean lanes,the food was exceptional! We had rounds of all the different types of paratas offered there. Satiated , we went to Red fort. It was noon, and the heat was getting to us. Vidya and Vivek ,complained about the heat and were horrible lethargic. We had some enthusiasm for a while,before all of us followed suit and very lackadaisical . Red fort was magnificent ,and had so many patriotic stories to tell us, but we were zapped of energy. Vivek,in the meantime, made calls to Raghav at Bangalore,to find out directions to a place called Karims , supposedly the best chicken in the city. We meandered through the by-lanes of Jama Majid and it opened up to the Sunday Muslim market. All of us were just tired and needed food. We found out way to Karims,it was right opposite to one of the gates of Jama Masjid . It was closed on the occasion of Ramzan. We had lunch at the neighboring restaurant called Al-Jawahar. The non vegetarians couldn't stop exclaiming about their mutton and chicken. We ,vegetarians ,had lost their appetites long before we even entered the place. We took the metro back to the room at Karol Bagh. Bairy and PV went to the UPSC guy's house to collect PV's US-returned suitcase. Vidya,Viek and I lost our way from the Jhandewalan station to the hotel. Booked a taxi for 6pm , PV's flight was at 8:30pm and ours at 8:55pm. With ample time in our hands, we finished our security clearance and were watching the runway from the food court of Delhi Airport. On the way down the steps,in the airport, I managed to slip and twist my ankle. Perfect timing! Landed at Bangalore airport at 11:30am. My ankle was swollen. Bairy, Vivek and I were reminiscing about the past two weeks. I might not have done justice to what conspired on the trip entirely. Sadly,it was the end of one of the best journey of my life.

High Himalayan Heavens :Part seven


Day 14 and 15 -

We were perky tourists for today. Woke up late to a heavy breakfast and set out for Manali town. On the way to Manali town ,7km away from Kalath,we saw the remnants of the flash flood that struck here a few days ago,a smashed door of a Tata sumo .It was said that due to landslide on one end of the road,the tata sumo maneuvered closer to the riverside end of road (Manali to Kalath has river Beas flowing along the town),unfortunately,sudden flash floods swallowed the entire sumo into the river. The markets were closed for the day as a rally to save a waterfall (a Dam as to be built some where around) was taking place. We ambled around the town like awe-struck tourists. Climbed up a small hill,to the Hadimba Mata temple. Vivek instantly recognized the temple,from a scene in the movie Roja,where the heroine comes to this temple after her marriage. It was a nice place,but commercialized by tourists. Lots of commercial avenues near the temple,where one can take pictures with a pearly white ,fluffy,cute hare or even with a mountain goat. We walked down towards town in search of food,a good Chinese restaurant. We had lunch at CHOPSTICKS, a neat Chinese restaurant in the heart of the town. The non-veg folks had a finger licking time with their chicken . In Vivek's words, they had so much chicken that day , that the head chef would have had to kill all the chicken in his supplies and probably would have taken a gun,walked out of the restaurant ,hunting down more. We were fat,bloated,over stuffed and more than satisfied with the food. We shopped for a long time, buying sweaters,ponchos,shawls,hemp chappals(which was a huge hit, Velu bought 8 pairs !!),apple Jam and anything that seemed inviting. Gannu got lost in the market,and Tarle like a concerned father in search of him,PV and Vivek had a hilarious time,pulling Tarle's leg. We reached our rooms at Kalath , just in time for dinner and more rummy followed. Amit Rana gave us herbal tea,almost four cups of it,but obviously none of us got remotely high on it.

We started out to Solang Valley at 9am. It was going to be an adventure filled day! First stop was ATV (All Terrain Vehicles), they were massive huge monsters. The Father-son team,cheekily stole the one man ATV (where one can manually control the gears) .We were stuck with 2 man ATV , taking turns riding it. It was fun,nonetheless. Next up,paragliding !We took a cable car to the cliff . My heart was racing,I was excited,my first time,but I was scared as well. Velu was a pro at it,a pilot by profession and done a paragliding course for 3 months. I was predominantly sacred as we got closer to the cliff, I insisted on going last. But,the next thing I know,he had strapped me up. The instructor and I had to run a little while before the wind thrusts up the para-glide, I was petrified that I forgot to run after sometime,he managed to run the rest of the way,and we were in the air! I was frightened for the initial 30seconds,tightly gripping onto the ropes connected to the para-glide,then I calmed down a little. It was just exhilarating, I felt like a free bird flying in the sky. It was so peaceful and I felt like an eagle soaring at these high altitudes. Those 7-minutes was a new found freedom . I had a pleasant landing (unlike a few others who landed on dung!). Next up,was all boring horse ride, It was such a drag! Vidya and I couldn't wait to get off our horses! It was painful in every sense,physically strenuous on the back,a cocky horseman, frequently hurting the animals. I felt responsible for each time the horse was whacked by the horseman. Our adventures for the day was over. We returned to our rooms at 8 pm. We had bottles of GODFATHER and vodka(largely finished by me) to accompany us through the night,and of course the other. We had a good time,and mostly played rummy and had interesting conversations. Went up to the terrace to continue making noise.The neighbors even came out to complain. We retreated downstairs,and fell asleep.

High Himalayan Heavens :Part six

Day 12 and 13-

We started our journey to Manali . We got a tempo this time,comfortable journey. Our driver was adept in driving but was cranky . Our playlist for the journey,was Gannu and Pobs memory card,and the driver was fed up with it, after a point, he removed the card reader from the car stereo and refused to play any music :P We noticed a change in landscape as compared to the onward journey, there were lesser number of snow peaks,most of the snow seemed to have melted entirely in just a span of 7 days. We drove all through the day and halted at an stunning place for the night. The open valley surrounded by Barren hills and white canvas tents pitched in the open land, the tent was a luxury ,with a bed in it,heavy warm blankets,a table,chair and even a small toilet with a commode. Pampered! It seemed like middle of nowhere ! The boys enjoyed their night ,the details left unsaid,only three words to sum it. Shiva trance music. It was a wonderful night, the strong cold winds bellowing at our tents and the canvas flapping,even a slight drizzle in the night. A phenomenal place to have spent the night. We continued our journey.What perplexed all of us was Baralacha La, we passed by it and there wasn't as much snow as earlier,in fact,it was reduced by a percentage of 50%. Unbelievable! The weather had gotten clearer . Nearing Rohtang Pass,a huge Lorry got stuck in the muck and another lorry from the other side also got stuck,blocking the entire width of the road . We were flabbergasted by an army truck who made his way , cleared enough traffic for himself to move,unconcerned about us civilians stuck in the gridlock. When he asked our driver to make space,our driver stood up to him and refused to. With a commendable effort from Amit rana and all the civilians,they pushed the lorry into motion. We cheered and moved ahead,just to get stuck in another vehicle hold up,but our driver was smart enough to avoid the further confusion and we made our way down to Kalath. Heavy rains as we descended and visibility dropped because of the thick white fog. We reached Kalath at 7pm, the boys purged themselves in the hot springs. We had a fulfilling dinner and plopped on the beds !.

High Himalayan Heavens :Part five





Day 10 and 11 -

We woke up lazily at 11 am and brunched. Relaxed day saturated with Rummy. We decided to play rummy for money and PV was the only one who payed up! Loafed around Leh that night . Ordered Stok Kangari tee shirts,almost 15 of them for the following day. It was beautiful embroided tee shirt. Nothing unusual till the night. Then came “GODFATHER” . Had a party that night,with good food,and shabu and the crew entertaining us to Manali dances and folk songs. Vivek and Poba were indulging in the local brew,called GODFATHER beer. Tarle and Bairy , on a different but similar high :). We had a blast that night ! After dinner,we were playing rummy when Vivek, Bairy and Poba entertained us all night. For every PJ they cracked, we laughed like hyenas though the night. Killer fun! With blunders from the inebriated men, it was ultimate fun. The cream of the cake that night was when Vivek mistook some Iranian woman for Vidya and scared the living hell out of her. Vivek hurriedly murmured apologies and stumbled his way to the room. Hilarious! All of us had the last laugh .

All of were given a choice to either raft in Zansksar valley or go to the famous Pangong lake. Bairy,Vidya ,Poops and I chose the latter. We started at a brisk 6am as it takes six hours to reach the lake. The journey and roads were spectacular. We passed through Chang La. Finally reached Pangong Lake at noon, it was breathtaking. All of us were just stoic as stones, to be standing in front of such an exquisite lake was a blessing. It was overwhelming! As the clouds danced above the lake,it made interesting patterns and changes in colour which was magical. We walked around the 134km stretch ,which extends into China on the other side. To geographically see brackish water at 14,000ft was mind boggling and Truly mesmerizing !We had a quick lunch there, stopped at Rancho (from 3 idiots fame) school and finally reached Leh town at 5 pm. Velu and Pobu cooked us a delicious meal of Bisibele Bath and the non vegetarian s could not stop relishing the chicken biriyani ! Evidently Velu's wife would definitely be blessed ;):P .

High Himalayan Heavens :Part four




Day 7,8 and 9 -

We started off at 9 am after many cups of chai. Today's trek seemed more tiring as we were ascending. It was exhausting as we walked slower up the mountain accompanied with slight headaches and uneasiness. The landscape hadn't changed and was as charming as ever ,we additionally saw the ibex,mountain goats and the Himalayan Marmot,a small beaver-like creature resident of the Himalayas. It was getting colder,and aggravating my blocked nose with sore throat .The altitude ascending seemed to be affecting everyone as we huffed and puffed more than usual. We reached the base camp at 15,500ft approximately,at 3 pm. The base camp was crowded! So many people intending to summit Stok Kangari! We searched for camping spots and the staff pitched tents for us. We had hot Maggi again (not much of an option) and fell asleep almost instantly. I slept for an hour before the heat started giving me a splitting headache,the sun was direct and scorching the tent! I was annoyed and uncomfortable by it. The tentative plan included an acclimatization walk for the evening,but it eventually got scrapped. Towards late evening, Bariy started throwing up the food he had eaten , blood as well as bile juice. He insisted it was nothing but a stomach ulcer. Tarle decided that he should descend to Mankorma, PV and Negi accompanied him. Vidya and I shifted tents. It was not an agreeable night for me, I knew I was catching a fever as I shivered through the night,even though I had four layers of clothing on. Poba and Vidya were God sent angels, they were trying to keep me warm by offering all the help they could. We woke up at 1am and I had a full fledged fever by now. Poops,Tarle and Hari bhai suggested that I take a tablet and if my fever wasn't very bad,I should attempt to summit . I decided to do so. Before Vidya and I got dressed ,packed and got out of the tent,everyone else had left. That was a huge let down . I realized harshly that it was going to be a solitary conquest for all . I panicked. Shabu, Vidya and I started off at the middle of the moonlit night. The magnificent moonlight shone sufficiently ,obviating the need for flashlights. We went slow and steady and I met Pobu on the way. After a while, we met Hari bhai who motivated us a little more .It was seriously tiring, after walking for almost an hour and half,I was really fatigued, Vidya decided to return after sometime so she and Shabu started descending . I thought I'll try going a little further . Further on, I met Poops and Gannu, Gannu was in a tearing hurry to leave and carry on further. I was left discussing with Poops on whether I should carry on. We continued. I was slower than Poops and he went ahead. So for about 30 minutes I was walking alone, and was more fatigued than ever. I was already demotivated by 50%. Every ten steps required me to stop and inhale heavily. I looked up to see the illuminated peak of Stok Kangari glistening in the moonlight . As much as it was tempting to conquer, the inevitable happened, my will broken, I gave up. I didn't want to push myself further. I retraced the path and descended alone,I was frightened. On my way back,I met Shabu and Vidya, and the three of us made out way back to Base Camp,defeated by Stok . The Dolo 650 I had taken earlier that day was effective in putting me to sleep as soon as we reached base camp. Vidya and I were awakened by Vivek,who came to our camp at 9 am,with their stories of how they turned back after crossing the glacier. Further ahead 100meters from where I had given up, a huge glacier was to be crossed, It would generally require crampons,which we were carrying,but the snow was kind enough on the glacier, after taking a tiring 45 minutes to cross the relatively small glacier,they were at the foot of the summit. A rude 45 degree incline staring down upon them , they were greatly fatigued and gave up. On their way back,Gannu,Vivek and Velu got lost. Poba went a little ahead to start ascending the summit where he gave up . Tarle gave up 200 m from the summit. There was only one hero who summit Stok , Hari Bhai. Hats off to you !. Everyone assembled at Base camp by 12 noon. We slept though the hard hitting heat inside our tents. My fever had worsened ,to an extent I felt lethargic in everything I did. I was horribly lazy to even get out of my tent.

We started on our descent at 3pm, and were at Mankorma(First base camp) in just an hour and half. Descent is always easy,but since all of us were tired,it was still a huge ordeal. We continued down to the Stok village, covering what we took two days to ascent in about 6 hours . It was a lazy, calm,silent descent,all of us zapped of energy,the stream gurgling to our right and the clouds playing hide and seek ,painting beautiful shadows on the mountains. It got dark by 8pm ,we had managed to descend at-least 80% by then. The last bit of the trek was difficult as we waded through the stream with flashlights and were dying to reach our destination. Shabu went well ahead of us and booked three taxis to get us to Leh for the night .We reached the guest house at 9pm ,had a heavy dinner and silently slept that night .It was the end of the failed attempt at Stok Kangari.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

High Himalayan Heavens :Part three




Day 5 and 6 -

Shabu got us a room at a guest house for the morning, we pulled out sleeping bags and slept like logs. Later we were given a total of three rooms, all of us settled in. The guest house was neat and cozy and had a charm to it. Apart from us,the remaining rooms were occupied by foreigners,Velu snatched the opportunity to flirt with some pretty Iranian girls in the morning. The guest house had the owners living in two small rooms in the ground floor and a small garden in the backside where there grew their vegetables and many flowering plants. We had our first view of Stok Kangari,the peak we were set to climb the next day. It looked sinister :)! We climbed to Shanthi Stupa that morning, a quite and peaceful place atop a small hill in Leh town. It was pleasantly sunny ,with cold wind blowing. In one of the prayer halls, I read the story of Buddha and was confounded to learn that Lord Buddha was born from the right side of Queen Maya's chest. We spend the rest of the day ambling around Leh in the warm sunshine. A huge percentage of tourists here were foreigners,huge! Needless to say, the boys had a great time ogling at the foreign chicks. Only Airtel and BSNL postpaid phones work in Leh ,so we “judiciously” used Vidya's cellphone :).

The next morning,after a cloying meal of pancakes with honey and porridge ,we set out in a vehicle to Stok village. A short drive of 45 minutes got us to Stok village,the starting point for the trek . Our guide was Bhasker (didn't catch his Leh name ,some tongue twisting name starting from ”T”). a young boy of 19,with immense energy! It was lovely weather to trek in,not sunny nor cold. As it was the first for me in this terrain of barren hills and flat stones by the stream side, I was enamored. The water was cold and immaculately clear . Amazing . Our milestone for the day was to reach Manokorma,our first camping spot at 14,000ft . We encountered a lot of foreign trekkers on the way, fully clothed , dark glasses and walking sticks, we also saw many mules carrying a lot of luggage hauling its way . We took approximately five hours to reach Manokorma, a sad performance as compared to the estimated time of 3 hours. We were all fatigued . We set up up 4 tents, three for us and one for the staff . Manokorma was slightly crowded with many others camped there, all of course,were foreigners. Vidya and I slept in one tent, cozy but slightly chilly since it didn't zip up completely and none of the boys seemed to be interested to help us with it. Some of us got a slight headache because of the comparatively thinner air. In campsites like these and further ahead,there is always present, a mess tent,or rather a white canvas tent wherein all the guides and local men stay and cook for everyone camping at that altitude. We had hot Maggi for the fourth time in two days.


High Himalayan Heavens :Part two






Day 3 and 4 -

We had a tentative plan of leaving by 3:30 am to Kaza ,the village which was the start point of the trek. It was disrupted due to heavy rains at Kalath, that morning. We started an hour late. Two Tata Sumos , one with nine of us jammed in and the other with the rucksacks tied overheard,and the remaining five of them. We had a lot of gridlocks on the way to Rohtang Pass, the weather was getting colder,all of us rejoiced, only initially. The longest we waited was for an hour, because the car stuck in the muck had a puncture. It was drizzling all through the journey,interspersed with heavy rains. Ganpath (a.k.a Gannu) looked like a cute fat baby with his manali woolen cap and woolen gloves. The first glimpse of snow capped peaks left us all in silence. The higher we climbed,the landscape opened up into phantasmal beauty. Rohtang Pass was brimming with snow,all of us were mad with enthusiasm! Mad is an understatement! We frolicked in the snow like ten-year olds and had our share of snow fights. The boys ogled at the parade of bullets.

We crossed Rohtang and stopped by a small chaiwala for a hot meal of paratas and maggi when the bad news struck.The vehicles coming from Kaza side,informed us that the road to Kaza was closed due to heavy rains,bad roads and landslides,which indirectly implied that the Spiti Trek was cancelled.All of us very upset about it, Spiti is a phenomenal place and we desperately wanted to trek the Spiti valley . Tarle quickly suggested that we carry on driving till Leh and climb another peak .Leh was 372kms from there. Weather is such a moody goddess ! But the same Goddess helped regain our jovial mood, and we were comically singing all the 90's hindi songs as we continued our journey. We passed the Pagal Nala , all of were astound at how cement-textured the water had become, because of a landslide. We halted that night at Padma Lodge,Jispa . We got a scenic,cozy dormitory with individual beds for all of us, and snow surrounded it. Wow! :) Words fail to explain the scenic beauty around. Our cooks conjured up a brilliant meal with lip smacking custard for desert . But for the boys,it was another night.:)

We woke up early the next day but got stuck at Darcha,because the road ahead to Leh was blocked. We decided to wait till out till the road clears and continue to Leh. We had 2 hours to kill, so we climbed up a small hill in Darcha,was a steep climb. On the way , we hiked through fields of sweet pea, ate them raw,was deliciously sweet! We hiked till the snowline of the small hill, and had serious snow fights !:) We could see the roads from Leh on the other mountain,and we noticed some vehicles on it. All of us elatedly ran down the hill, to the car. Leh! Finally,after all the waiting. On our journey,we passed through Baralacha La(means pass) at 16,500ft. Nothing I write here will do any justice to what we saw and felt as we drove past this pass. It was vast ice cone! There was so much snow,I give up, I don't feel like a seasoned writer to even try and put it in words. Spectacular!! Excuse me for the intensity,but now I can die with no regrets for I have witnessed one of natures marvels .

We were surrounded by brown mountains sprinkled with snow ! On more relatable terms, oreoes with vanilla cream sprinkled on the outside as well, light brown caramel cake with icing! We descend to enter the Ladakh valley,witnessing an entirely different landscape. A seemingly never-ending stretch of 48km, the place was beyond comprehension,we observed natural rock formation on the mountains,crafted by the nature gods. Barren hills with enigmatic raw charm.

We had a quick dinner at a make shift white tent(Mess tents) at Pang,that also offers beds for tired travelers. Our journey didn't halt after dinner,we decided to drive all the way to Leh. Gannnu was feeling a little uncomfortable , so we inaugurated a strip of diamox and made more space in the car for him . We traveled through the night ,Poops and I sat near the driver ,making petty conversation with him. The drivers took a precarious short cut down the hill, it set my adrenaline pumping as he took the monster down the 45 degree incline in the pitch darkness in first gear. Sheer talent! We reached Leh at 4 am the next morning .

High Himalayan Heavens :D


Day 1 and 2 -
Overly enthusiastic about my firstexpedition, I was awake and ready by 3:00 am. I was greatly impatientfor the cab to arrive ,it finally did by 3:30 am. Chandrakanth(a.ka.Bairy), Poops and I were at the airport by 4:30sharp,precisely one and half hours before the flight. I was on a different flight(Thanks to my late booking) . The other flight with the rest got delayed,so their estimated time of departure was 6:30am,half an hour before mine took off. We were greeted at Delhi by the soaring temperature at 9 am. Srikanth (a.k.a PV) decided to let us enjoy the Delhi heat by making us wait for a very pleasant half an hour for him(he had landed earlier in the morning from Dubai).BharathJB(a.ka. Pobu) and Bairy hailed a taxi and took all our luggage to Karol Bagh,thanks to Bharath Ashoka's (a.ka. Tarle) cogency while the rest of us took the DELHI METRO.The Airport link was DELIGHTFUL! But at a comparatively higher price of 80Rs. After Switching trains at New Delhi station we got off at Karol Bagh, the city metro links were a little more crowded,but nonetheless,all of us were convinced that DELHI METRO is a huge ACHIEVEMENT for INDIA. We spent the next couple of hours loitering Karol Bagh in the sweltering heat,all of us were getting groggy and irritable. We aimlessly went into all the air-conditioned shops, with no intention of buying anything. We unanimously decided that we need to go somewhere and get some sleep,some of the guys went to the UPSC guy's apartment(a small 2 bedroom,cramped place which had our luggage). Not convinced by the idea of nine of us having to sharespace in the cramped room, Poops, Vidya and I found a scarcely shady park nearby,and fell asleep on the benches. Later, at 5pm, we took a bus to Manali, Mukul Travels,an air-conditioned Volvo. Quite a pleasant journey, apart from a little nauseousness, I took an aveomine, and slept peacefully for the rest of the journey. Reached Mandi at 7 am, the road to Manali was closed in the morning. We had to take two buses , to Kullu and then Kalath (our destination).We were stuck on the way ,wasting two complete hours for the road to be cleared due to a landslide. Finally reached Kullu, and a quick loo relief! We reached Kalath at 12 noon. Our guide/travel agent/friend Hemanth (a.ka.Shabu) greeted us and treated us to Sidu (something like a momo butwith a chutney as a filling) at his house. Delicious. Following the meal, was the HOT SPRINGS. There are many public bath areas with natural hot springs in Kalath. That was an experience for many reasons, some best left unsaid. The water was boiling hot and therapeutic, it left us pampered and drowsy after the bath. We had a sumptuous dinner along with gold house apple wine. Our staff ,consisted of Hari bhai,shabu bhai ,Negi,guide for Spiti trek, and two strikingly good looking cooks,AmitRana and Neelu . Tarle, Pobu,Bairy and Poops slept on a high note! :)