Valley of Flowers Trek

Nestled high in the Himalayas where the sky touches the Earth in a breathtaking embrace, lies a world of unparalleled beauty – the Valley of Flowers, a UNESCO world heritage site. This captivating oasis, hidden away in the Garhwal region of the state of Uttarakhand, has a kaleidoscope of vibrant blooms, meandering streams and majestic peaks. And this is where I planned to trek this year. Very few people get the privilege of treading the mighty Himalayas and experiencing all its beauty and splendor. I was introduced to high altitude trekking a few years ago and have been trekking the Himalayas once a year since then, save the couple of years of the pandemic. And this year, I planned to do the Valley of Flowers trek. The website promised 500 to 700 varieties of flowers blooming in the valley and that was enough to get me excited and spruced up.

I always arrange for a private trek with my friends. And this, time quite a few signed up. We were a total of 17 initially, but 14 ended up going for the trek. 10 were my friends and 4 were friends of a friend. So I knew most of them but the rest did not know each other. I also had a hearing and speech impaired colleague who had joined. I definitely was a little nervous and not sure if people will gel with each other. The 10 of us had gone on a couple of day treks but the remaining 4, we had never met till we reached the destination! But when interesting people get together, magic happens! And that’s what happened on this wonderful trek.

All of us were from Bangalore and reached Dehradun by a direct flight on the 28^th of July. We then took cabs to Rishikesh and checked in to the hotel on the Swargashram side of Rishikesh. We were lucky to be on time to witness the Ganga aarti on the banks of the river Ganga, just a few minutes’ walk from our hotel. As enchanting as Rishikesh’s Swargashram may be with its spiritual ambience and serene surroundings, offering a haven for spiritual seekers and yogis, it has unfortunately fallen victim to the challenges of overcrowding and the lack of civic sense that Indians have. The narrow lanes lined with shops and ashrams, are often piled with litter, debris and cow dung that accumulate due to the high influx of tourists and pilgrims. We should all be responsible citizens and responsible tourists and do our bit to keep the spiritual haven clean. Like Gandhiji said, cleanliness is godliness.

My very first Himalayan trek was in Uttarakhand with Yogendra from Dreamcatcher Adventure and so had planned this trek also with them. Next morning Yogendra joined us, and we had to drive from Rishikesh to Joshimath, a good 250 odd kilometers. News had been rife with flooding in Joshimath and many houses sinking and cracks in many others. In fact, we were not sure if the trek would even happen. And on the way, there were landslides and we had to halt for 3 hours in one place and another half hour at another. JCBs were busy removing the debris and making a semblance of a road. It was a bit unnerving to think we have to drive through that! We got down to see the work, have some much-needed chai and watch the fury of the river Ganga. All through, we were driving along the various forms of the Ganga. There were 5 Prayags or confluences of rivers along the way and we saw 4 of them – Vishnu Prayag, Nanda Prayag, Karna Prayag, Rudra Prayag and Dev Prayag. Each Prayag is a confluence of two rivers, e.g. Vishnu Prayag is a confluence of Alaknanda and Dhauliganga. We stopped for lunch at a hotel on the banks of one of the confluences and could see the rivers raging with strong currents.

The holiest of rivers, Ganga is worshipped by Hindus as a goddess of purification and forgiveness, and is mentioned in Ramayana, Mahabharatha and the Puranas. Legend has it that Lord Shiva protected the world from Ganga’s destructive power when the cosmic waters fell to Earth, by releasing the streams gently through his hair. Pilgrims immerse the ashes of their kins in the Ganga, which is considered to bring their souls closer to moksha or free from the cycle of birth and death. And so for some, it was a pilgrimage of sorts too. But pollution has turned the sacred Ganga into a lethal cocktail of industrial and human waste. All through the journey, we drove along the Ganga and reached Joshimath late evening to a lovely hotel and pleasant staff.

Our trek started next day at 7am and we had to trek more than 10km uphill to Ghangaria. Since it was our first day, everyone was pumped up. Our luggage was loaded up on mules and we had backpacks on our backs, trekking poles in our hands and a spring on our steps! The route was a vibrant tapestry woven with stunning landscapes. As you set foot on the trail, the scent of pine fills the air. As we trekked up, we saw a series of breathtaking vistas – the emerald meadows that stretch towards the heavens, crystal clear streams dancing over pebbled beds, and the majestic peaks that guard the horizon. Pilgrims enroute to the Hemkund Sahib (the highest Gurudwara) added a spiritual hue to the scene. Yet this trek wasn’t without its playful challenges – rocky paths that seemed to have a mischievous grin, and altitude and steepness that sent even the chirpiest among us catching their breath. But these hurdles only add to the adventure! We reached Ghangaria in the evening and after freshening up, visited a Gurudwara opposite our hotel. The prasaad of sheera was yummy and not only filled our stomachs but tingled our taste buds too.

The following day was the trek to the Valley of Flowers. Luckily, the weather was perfect and we got the most fantastic views of the mountains, rivers and waterfalls. There was a riot of colors, what with many varieties of flowers in full bloom. It was as If a rainbow exploded and decided to settle amidst the mountains. There was an orchestra of dainty blue poppies nodding their heads, elegant anemones twirling in the breeze like ballerinas. We also saw many cheeky bumblebees stealing nectar from the thousands of pink balsam and geraniums, red potentilas, white Aster, wild Himalayan roses, monkshood, orchids, Brahma Kamal and many more varieties of flowers. The walk felt like a whimsical waltz through a garden of wild flowers! 4 of us even trekked to the river bed about 3.5 km away which looked picture perfect. I sprained my ankle while walking back and reached last but then I also could soak in the beauty and the fragrance of the flowers a lot longer than everyone else! There’s always a silver lining!

The following day was the most difficult trek to Hemkund Sahib. It was a 6km long trek that was very steep! Some from the group went by pitthoos (men carrying people on their backs seated on bamboo chair of sorts). Today was not as sunny as the previous day. It was like a hide and seek game with the mountains and the clouds for a while till the sky cleared up and showed us glimpses of paradise! As you climb higher, the views become more jaw-dropping, with snow-capped peaks peeking out from behind the fluffy curtains of mist. But the real star of the show was a glacier along the way, a glistening expanse that looks like it was sculpted by an artist. I usually name a rock as Daxini rock on each trek. But this time I named the glacier as the Daxini Glacier! The path to the Gurudwara is like a riddle that nature has playfully set – a zigzag of rocky twists and turns that keeps your heart racing. Indeed it was a difficult climb, with all of us huffing and puffing. But the spectacular views of the mighty Himalayas kept our spirits high and we kept trodding along. There were many faithful Sikh devotees, chanting Waheguru ji di Fateh and Waheguru ji da Khalsa. We finally reached the Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara devoted to Guru Gobind Singh, the 10^th Sikh Guru.  We went in to offer our prayers – mattha Tekna – and then had the langar (or prasaad) of khichdi and chai which was delicious and soothing. Nestled like a sapphire gem between the towering peaks is the pristine lake Hemkund. It is like a mirror of tranquility that reflects the awe-inspiring beauty of the surrounding landscape, leaving every visitor spellbound by its ethereal charm. The way back to Ghangaria was long and never ending but ultimately it did end and we got back to the hotel for hot chai and pakoda, followed by a much deserved massage!

The following day we trekked back the 10km to Govind ghat. It was pouring and we were in our ponchos and raincoats. I always say that the world looks sensuous and intense when it is raining, with water dripping from the trees and the mist surrounding the woods making it dream like. It felt like we were walking through a fantasy land. The vistas that unfold are like pages of a romance novel where every hue is amplified, and the world seems pure and unadulterated. The raindrops choreograph a delicate dance, glistening on leaves like precious jewels, and the scent of the petrichor infuse the air, becoming a part of the trekker’s soul. Forever and ever. It was not just trekking but a sharing of stories, of connecting, of being a part of each other’s lives and creating memories of a lifetime. We reached Govind ghat early afternoon and since we had time, we also went to one of the 4 main pilgrimage centers for Hindus, the Badrinath temple of Lord Vishnu.

We were all so happy we completed the trek without any eventuality. 12 of the 14 were first timers for high altitude trekking. They had just done day treks. So they were all so excited and even relieved they did it! Next day was the drive to Rishikesh and the following day was local sightseeing. We visited the Beatles’ ashram, really the Ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who taught transcendental meditation and the Beatles had visited the Ashram in 1968. With nothing much to do, we went café hopping the entire day savoring the local samosas, kachoris, lassi, and other street food. The following day we had to take the flight back to Bangalore. And that was the end of a wonderful trek, with the most fabulous set of people!

When like-minded souls come together for a trekking adventure, it’s like a merry party. 14 of us came together as strangers to embark on an adventure and became bonded for life. Shammi, my classmate from class1, her sister Kanchan and niece Shivani were the Sindhi sisters who brought truckloads of food and shared with everyone and their cousin! It had been Jayashree’s dream to do the Valley of Flowers and she left behind her family to go on this trek with friends. Archana, a CA had a very inspiring story and was on a holiday / trek without her family for the absolute first time! Vaidy and I had done the Everest Base camp trek last year and he joined at the very end, but was always amongst the first to reach the destination every day! Sheetal had missed the EBC last year so there was no way she was going to miss this trek. And she brought her husband Gaurav along who made the journey interesting with his poems. Rariyang is a hearing and speech impaired girl from my office, and a fun, happy and cheerful person who can make anyone laugh with her antics. She was the star of the trek! Dr. Kiran the dentist and wife Impa along with Sreekumar the techie and his wife Rashmi the lady boss of DRDO were the total strangers whom none of us had met but am sure we will stay connected. And of course, yours truly.

This motley group of people came together for the trek and created magic! We played Antakshari, dumb charades and other games, shared our bucket list items, along with our hopes and aspirations. We share d our joys, sorrows, food, jokes, helped each other when the trek was difficult and motivated and inspired each other. And everyone took care of Rariyang, and engaged with her, which was fabulous. She had an awesome time! When people gel well, conversations flow like a mountain stream, as everyone shares tales of past escapades, dream destinations, and the quirky quirks that make them unique. Whether it’s the synchronized laughter over a hilarious mishap or the collective awe inspired by a majestic panorama, every moment becomes a shared memory etched in time. A helping hand is extended without hesitation when a tricky rock or slippery slope tries to play spoilsport, forging a bond that transcends the physical journey. In these fleeting moments, conversations delve deep, venturing into the heart and soul, as strangers become confidants, and new friendships form like magic. Under the star-studded sky, the tales get taller, the jokes wilder, and inhibitions, lighter. By the end of the trek, all 14 strangers became close and bonded for life! We hope to keep in touch and do more treks / trips together.

Acknowledgements

All picture credits go the remaining 13 members as I took all of 5 pics!

I took help from ChatGPT for some of the sentences.

Dreamcatcher Adventure (https://www.dreamcatcheradventure.com/) had organized the trek and they were very good. The hotels, vehicle, food, guides – all top class!

Everest Base Camp Trek

Mission: Impossible!

This time I want to start with the ending! Yes, I am so thrilled and excited at having accomplished something I thought was very challenging and difficult, that I want to start by sharing that I successfully completed the Everest Base Camp Trek! I was not really prepared well for the trek, my fitness levels were far from satisfactory and age is catching up with me. In fact I told everyone that I am “attempting” the EBC trek this time. If I had just relied on my physical strength and stamina, there is no way I could have completed the trek. Instead, I relied on my mental strength and will power. That and only that made possible the Mission Impossible! I also felt sick during the trek with cold and cough and my temperature rising every evening making my eyes burn like raging balls of fire. And as you go higher in altitude, the oxygen levels reduce and breathing becomes difficult. On the day we were walking to Lobuche, my temperature was rising and nose completely blocked. Every step was a struggle due to physical exhaustion and difficulty in breathing. I could easily have given up and waited at the tea house for others to come back. But I tell my nieces and nephew to never give up, to be mentally strong and keep striving to accomplish one’s goals. So I had to keep going as much for my own sake, as for them. I had to walk the talk. I had to practice what I preach. And so I kept popping pills everyday and kept walking. Kinda felt like Forrest Gump! While there was a lot of activity around me with everyone walking and breathing heavily and clicking pictures, my mind was calm and still. I was just focusing on one step at a time. Not thinking of the destination, how far it is, how cold it is, how difficult it is. Just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. My brain was in charge of my body and not the other way around. My brain kept telling the body – You can do it. Keep going. And that’s what it did. It kept going, till it reached its destination – The Everest base camp at 18,000 feet above sea level! The human mind has the power to see the unseen, imagine the unimaginable, and make the impossible possible. And that is how I was able to make Mission Impossible possible! Even though the rest of my team also made it, success seems sweeter to me because I was sick and unfit and it was very challenging for me.

Team and route

So we were a group of 5 – Rajesh, Prasaad, myself, Vaidy and Aparna. My friend introduced me to Vaidy and Aparna was his friend, who was joining us from the US. The rest of us were from Bangalore. In fact, we all met Vaidy and Aparna for the first time at the Kathmandu airport. All of us reached EBC together but then Aparna and Vaidy’s return journey was faster. We had a couple of buffer days and so our return was slower paced. Which was good because Rajesh was sick on one day and so we rested at Gorakshep and it was raining in Pheriche so we decided to stay a day there instead of walk in the rain as we had buffer days. The route we took while going to EBC was – Lukla – Phakding – Namche – an acclimatizing day at Namche – Phortse – Dingboche – Acclimatizing day at Dingboche – Lobuche – Gorakshep and EBC. Next day the 3 of us had an extra day at Gorakshep whereas Vaidy and Aparna left. The return route was Gorakshep – Pheriche – Tengboche but we stayed at Kyangzuma – Namche – Phakding – Lukla

Tea houses

Unlike the Indian Himalayas where we stay overnight in tents and get a rustic feel, Nepal has tea houses along all trekking routes. These basically are like dorms with a long verandah lined with rooms made of plywood. Just bare walls and rooms with 2 cots. Some have a table between the cots, some don’t even have that. The cots have a mattress and a warm comforter. The tea houses have a dining room where all trekkers spend their evenings once they reach the destination. Usually the dining room is heated with coals in the heater. The rooms are cold and so everyone is huddled in the dining room to feel warm. And here, different trekking groups talk to each other, encourage, motivate and get to know each other. Breakfast and dinner are A-la-Carte where we can order what we want. Breakfast options include bread toast, eggs, muesli with milk, corn flakes with milk, Tibetan roti, pan cakes and a couple of other items. Dinner menu included dishes like Noodles, fried rice, pizza, pasta, Thukpa and other soups, burgers, sandwiches, chapati sabji, Nepali thali (which included rice, ,a vey thin dal, potato sabji, a green leafy vegetable usually bok choy and papad) and a couple more. For lunch we always stopped by at some tea house along the way and lunch was usually Nepali thali. Dinner always included garlic soup as that helps combat mountain sickness. So every single day at least till we reached EBC, we always started dinner with garlic soup. Towards the end, we were so fed up with garlic soup and potato, that we swore not to eat them for a month! We discovered hot lemon ginger tea this time and used to have this almost everyday for breakfast lunch and dinner! Like a true blue gujju, I had carried a lot of snacks like banana chips, cashews, bhujiya, avarabele seeds, chocolate, and mom made sesame laddoos. So we used to gorge on the snacks in the evening at the dining room. And we played cards some of the evenings and had engaging fun conversations.

At Namche, we stayed at a place called Khumbhu lodge which was a 50 year old tea house! It was quite popular and big and lots of people were staying there. The dining room had a great vibe and I loved the ambience. But within 3 days we were tired of eating the food. So we requested the owner to let us cook in their kitchen. And they agreed! Me being a gujju, wanted to have thepla and luckily they had all the ingredients. So I kneaded the floor and rolled out the theplas while Vaidy helped with making them on the tawa. We made more than 40 of them and we had a great time having thepla with sabji and aachar. We shared the theplas with the kitchen staff and some sherpas too and they all loved them!

The worst part of trekking are the stinking lousy common toilets in the tea houses! At lower altitudes, the toilets are decent with flush. But as you climb higher, there is no running water so no flush. There is a big drum of water with a mug which hardly anyone uses. So the toilets are always stinking and filthy. Since we have to drink lots of water, we need to keep going to pee and every night I had to go at least 3 to 4 times in the cold. Arrgh i hated the toilets more than anything else!

The Trek

From Kathmandu we drove 4 hours to Ramechhaap and took a flight to Lukla. The Lukla airport is called Tenzing Hillary airport, after Tenzing Norgay and Edmond Hillary, the first people to summit Mount Everest. Lukla was like a fish market with people from every nationality, religion, color, race, shape and size! The airport is very small so the flights are also very small – only 18 people per flight. The plane flew along and very close to the mountains and it was definitely scary as I thought we will hit a mountain. The engine was screeching and it felt it will give away and we will crash and die in the mountains! But the view was utterly beautiful with the valleys, quaint little houses, rivers flowing, waterfalls, trees, snow covered mountain tops. It gave us a bird’s eye view and we felt we were flying through a fantasy land! When we landed in Lukla, we realized it was a very small clearing. The plane went into a small enclosure, circled and came to a stop nose front. I was sure we were going to hit a wall! No wonder it is supposed to be the most dangerous landing in the world!

Once in Lukla, we stopped for tea and then started our trek towards Phakding. We saw many Buddhist stupas and temples and memorial structures. Nepal has 80% Hindus and 20% Buddhists and the Buddhist places of worship are mostly all in the mountains. I saw a leopard feathered pigeon on the way which was lined with pine trees on both sides. From Phakding we trekked to Namche which is I think the biggest melting pot of trekkers from all over the world. This is a starting point for many treks including Gokyo lake, Everst base camp, Chola pass etc. It’s a lovely settlement and every single house there is a tea house hosting trekkers. The whole country I think caters to trekkers and during season every single household makes a living in some way or the other off of trekkers. There were many hydro powered Buddhist prayer wheels. The Namche bazaar sells every single thing that a trekker or mountaineer may need and the team bought a few things too. We went to a Buddhist monastery in the evening, followed by a cafe and had hot chocolate and Capuccino.

We used to come to the dining room at 7 every morning and have breakfast by 7.30 and then start our trek by 8. Walk till about 12 noon and stop by at a tea house on the way for lunch which was usually the Nepali thali. And after some rest, once again started walking and reached destination anywhere between 3pm to 5pm depending on the distance and our speed. Of course we stopped by every now and then to capture the beauty of the mountains and rivers in our cameras and minds. When we started, it was hot and as we gained altitude it kept getting cold. At Gorakshep the last point, the temperature was -5^o Centigrade. As the days progressed, we kept adding layers of clothes. Lower altitudes also meant tall trees of pines and firs. There were rivers along the way that started from snow capped mountains and flowed all the way down to the valley. The Doodh Koshi river gave us company in the first few days.

We saw many different butterflies – orange with black polka dots, orange with black stripes like a tiger, a lemon yellow one with black border and a complete white one which I think was puffin. There are very few plants animals or birds in blue color in nature, but we saw a couple of blue flowers in the Himalayas. In fact we saw so many different flowers that we don’t normally see in the plains. We saw an orange bottomed bird another one with green neck and orange bottom. There was a huge eagle with white feathers on the underside at Gorakshep. Once we saw two dragon flies doing a synchronized dance mid-air. On the way to Phortse from Namche it was raining and so we were in rain gear. We saw more than a 100 little waterfalls! Near the tea house, I saw an old woman with completely wrinkled skin and a hunch back, probably 80+ years old walking slowly and she gave the most beautiful smile when I wished her. I wished other old locals and the kindness and genuine love just flowed through to me. Some women were planting potatoes in the fields as potatoes and cabbage were the few vegetables that can grow well at that altitude.

At Dingboche we had an acclimatizing day and we trekked to a higher altitude. We saw the Ama Dablam mountain in all its might and glory. It was cloudy and foggy at times so Ama Dablam was playing peek-a-boo with us. But we managed to get some good shots. There were many stones placed precariously one on top of the other. People do this as a memorial / remembrance for their loved ones. So I too made one for my dad and got a bit emotional.

We crossed several bridges along the way. Some were as high as 250 meters above a river and maybe a 100 meters long. Once we saw two bridges at different heights one below the other. The long bridges were made of metal whereas the shorter ones were made of wood. Sometimes it was a bit scary as dozens of mules crossed the bridge and I felt the bridge will give away under the weight of so many animals! But the bridges were quite strong. As we kept going higher, the trees became smaller. After about 12000 feet, there were only small bushes and later only moss. Near Gorakshep there was absolutely no life, just rocks. We saw many yaks and naks (female yak) cows, mountain goats, rabbits, and dogs along the way. The walk to EBC from Gorakshep was via the Khumbhu glacier. We could feel the glacial water flowing below and Prasaad felt the ice crack once! We could see the dark blue color of the glacier at places. We were a little bit scared walking on the glacier but luckily all went well. The glacier keeps receding so this base camp may not exist in future! At times we had to cross huge rocks and boulders and needed some help as it was quite tricky to traverse them. I fell once but luckily did not hurt myself but Prasaad has a badly bruised knee.

So many snow capped peaks gave us company along the way – Everest of course, Ama Dablam which was a majestic and beautiful mountain, Lhotse, Nuptse, Chola che, Lobuche and many more whose names I have now forgotten. As we kept going higher, we got a 360^o view of these beautiful white mountains. It was snowing and so there was fresh powder snow on the mountains – so pristine and pure. The air so crisp and fresh. The world just seemed so much more beautiful. We could almost hear a lilting melody throughout. On the way to Phortse we saw one river from the Imja lake and one river from Everest merge into the Doodh Koshi river. The river was roaring and the many rocks on its path made the river look furious and in a hurry to go meet the ocean. I threw a stone into the river and wondered how far the river would take it…

On the return, between Phakding and Namche was like a hill station. Such beautiful lovely houses on the hills with chairs on the patio. So many potted plants and colorful flowers. At this altitude many fruits were available whereas up in the mountains we don’t get any fruits at all. I could hear Hindi movie songs on the radio in the houses. People were having a relaxed time and time was moving at a slow lazy pace. Extra large pine cones from the pine trees were fallen randomly on the path. We were lucky to see a beautiful rainbow near a waterfall on the way back with spectacular views of the mountains up above. Nepali kids with pink chubby cheeks were playing about and I just loved being there.

While I do like to see the snow capped peaks, what I love the most is walking through a path with tall trees on both sides and the smell of the wet earth and the soothing sound of the river flowing down below as an accompaniment. The flowers, the butterflies, the lichens, the moss, life growing on every inch of land and even dead tree trunks, all of this just makes me come alive. Makes me forget all the troubles and challenges and become one with nature. Makes me cheerful and happy and positive. It also gives time to ponder and I saw how total strangers can be very helpful and uplifting, while so called friends can take advantage of your situation and pull you down.

Day 1 was downhill so I managed well. Day 2 was uphill and Rajesh had problems with his back so I kept him company. But after that, either Vaidy or Aparna or both were always with me, motivating and cheering me. And it was their encouragement and support that kept me going and I should say that helped me reach EBC. They were with me every step of the way. We had a great connect, had so many wonderful conversations. Thanks a bunch folks, you were awesome! I sorely missed them after they left.

Mountain Sickness

After Lobuche which was at 4900 meters, the oxygen levels decreased to about 50% of sea levels. And so breathing was difficult and heavy. Every little thing was exhausting. Even when you bend to tie shoelaces, you start panting. When you cover yourself with the blanket and adjust yourself to go to bed, you start panting. So everything had to be done in slow motion. Climbing uphill was, well, an uphill task! So strenuous. We had to climb really slowly. As you keep climbing in altitude, you can feel the impact of having less oxygen in the air. You do adjust to it though. But you have to remember to do everything slowly. Each time we got to a higher altitude, we felt it was tough and I would be all exhausted. But the next day I’d feel better, though I was popping pills every night and many mornings too due to my rising temperature and blocked nose and incessant coughing. Also your appetite reduces so there are days when we hardly ate anything for lunch or for dinner. I survived on almonds and my snacks! Low levels of oxygen can cause AMS or Acute Mountain Sickness the symptoms include headache, nausea, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, shortness of breath, dizziness and palpitations. Drinking 3 to 4 litres of water everyday, and lots of garlic soup reduces the impact of low oxygen. Some of us had also taken the tablet Diamox which helps reduce the probability of mountain sickness.

People

Along the way during the trek and also at the tea houses we met so many people from almost every part of the world. And me being my extroverted self, chatted up with a lot of people along the way. I spoke to people from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Israel, UK, US, Canada, even Lithuania! You name a country and people from that country were there. I kept bumping into a group with a bunch of Americans everyday and soon we became friends. While on the way to EBC, they were returning, and I gave a high five to every single one of the group for having reached the destination! One bunch was clapping for another group that was returning from EBC and I told the group to hang in there and clap for us too. They immediately started applauding with a lot of noise and cheer and that was so uplifting! I also met a couple of groups of gujjus from Bombay. Gujjus are usually known to go to fancy resorts and chill and not really known for doing the difficult trekking. So was good to meet them and cheer for them.

On day 2, I met 3 girls from Paris who were on a tour for 3 months! They were to come to India after the trek and I invited them home for dinner. They were so excited and took up my offer and have taken my number. I look forward to hosting them! I also met so many trekkers from Israel. Indians apparently make up 50 to 55% of trekkers and amongst Indians, Maharashtrians are the most avid trekkers so obviously we met so many people from Maharashtra. One guy was wearing a black cape and I told him he looked like Batman. But he said his friends called him Phantom! So I know of the ghost who walks but I saw the ghost who treks for the first time! I met Amisha an Indian Brit from UK who has summitted many peaks across the world. We also happened to meet Samir from Adventure Pulse Pune who summitted Mount Everest in 2018 after 2 failed attempts! He is the first person I met personally and shook hands with, who has summitted Everest. He had come with a group of trekkers to EBC and he was going to summit Ama Dablam after the trek. My best wishes to him. One of the days I met a guy who was wearing a Star Wars Tee and when I said “May the force be with you” he gave a wide toothed smile and gave me a high five!

While I was finding it so difficult to trek, we met a family of 6 at EBC, an American family from New Zealand. Parents had come along with their 4 kids aged 2, 4, 6, and 8. Yes including a 2 year old toddler whom they carried in the front with the backpack on their backs for balance! I was amazed at how adventurous and courageous people can be. While we were huffing and puffing, the little kids were excitedly jumping about shouting – yay, we’re at EBC!

It is every trekker’s dream to do the EBC trek and so I too wanted to do it. But many of the other treks I have done are a lot more beautiful. The Base camp was also not very inspiring.

Unsung heroes

The guides or sherpas and the porters are the unsung heroes of trekking in Nepal. A 17 year old kid Phurwa was the porter for Rajesh, Prasaad and myself. He carried 3 bags weighing more than 35 Kgs on his back all the way and back! We were finding it difficult to walk every step with just a small backpack and here was this kid carrying so much weight and speeding up and down the mountains. Nawang, Phurwa’s younger brother was the porter for Vaidy and Aparna. Our guide was Gomba Sherpa. All Sherpa’s are Buddhists who came to Nepal from Tibet around 600 years ago. Since they have always lived high in the mountains, they are genetically suited to live and work comfortably in low oxygen environments. Hence no trek, especially summit can be completed without the help of Sherpas. There are about 300K Sherpas out of which close to 150K have moved to other countries in search of a better life. About 100 to 120K trekkers come to Nepal every year. And about 400 to 500 people attempt to summit Everest every year, out of which only 50% are successful. But they are able to do all of this, thanks to the guidance of the Sherpas. And our Sherpa was very good, kind and helpful. One of the days when I was very sick, he carried my backpack despite me saying I can carry it myself. He used to give me his water bottle at nights as it kept water warm for much longer. He was always helping me, supporting and encouraging me. Dorji his son was the assistant guide and one of them was always in the front and the other at the back.

On day 3 of our trek we got to know that Dorji had a son the previous day but was very unwell and in ICU. The hospital did not have the equipment to support and they had to move him to another hospital. The baby was on a ventilator and they said they did not have enough money to support him for too long. We were all worried for him. So we decided to pay the tips to them immediately instead of the end of the trip and all of us contributed generously. Towards the end of the trek, the kid had recovered and was out of the ICU. We heaved a sigh of relief.

No one would be able to summit or complete their treks without the support of guides and porters. But these people don’t get paid well. Even though some Sherpas have summitted Everest several times, their financial situation has not improved. The porters usually only get Nepali rupees 1600 per day and they have to spend most of it on food. The food is very expensive up in the mountains so they hardly save any money and rely on tips. And Sherpas get paid marginally better. Our Sherpa said that Indians usually don’t tip well, which is such a shame. On almost all my trips, we try to help the local communities. At Har-ki-doon we had sent a whole carton of medicines for the locals as that is what they asked for. In Kashmir I gave money for notebooks for the children. And so here too I have promised Gomba Sherpa and Phurwa that I will wire money to them for Gomba’s daughter and for Phurwa’s education.

Celebrations!

As soon as we reached back Lukla from the trek, we celebrated with the local Khukri rum. In the evening, Gomba Sherpa took us to a local shack and we had a millet based drink called Tongba which was delicious. Once we reached Kathmandu, we were taken to a local Nepali place where they welcomed us with tika on our foreheads and a Nepali cultural evening. The food was typical Nepali food but with a lot more vegetables and Nepali local brewed wine! They also put silk shawls around our necks, celebrating our successful completion of the trek. Once I reached home, there were more celebrations. The entire Daxini family was at home to welcome me and celebrate my success. My favourite food and mithai and lots of hugs and pats on the back greeted me. But I most looked forward to a clean toilet!

Baltic Adventure

This was a trip that I most wanted. And this was a trip that almost did not happen. Everything that could go wrong, did. It was like the devil conspiring to make this NOT happen. But I’d like to think that I had a lot of good karma brownie points that eventually converted the googly that life had thrown at me, into a bouncer which I hit for a sixer that went out of the stadium! Due to delays with the Schengen visa, I had not received my passport even the morning prior to the day I was to fly out. I had sent several persuading mails to the Lithuanian Schengen embassy telling them how excited I was to visit their country and pleaded with them to grant me the visa, and send my passport soon. I don’t know why but I knew I would make it to this trip. I got my passport just 24 hours before I was to leave and just before I was going to cancel my flight tickets! Then I almost missed my connecting flight at Warsaw. Finally I reached Estonia. But my luggage didn’t. Next morning I got the luggage just in time before the tour started! And later I sprained my ankle so bad, I thought that was the end of the tour, but several home remedies did the trick and I was back on my feet quite literally the next day!. I am a survivor, a fighter, and a stubborn one at that. I make the most of my life. At least I try to. Like they say, when life gives me lemons, I make lemonade!

So, here’s why I was so very excited about this trip. It was a 1200 Km motorcycle riding trip across the 3 Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania! Before you pickup the phone to call me, let me tell you that I was not riding, but was a pillion rider with Kabir, the tour lead. Nevertheless, I was super excited about a riding tour. I have done a few car driving trips, but this was the first on a motorcycle. The difference between a car and a motorcycle is the difference between a regular movie and a 3D movie in IMAX! You feel you are in the middle of an action movie on a motorbike. A cocktail of hormones get released like dopamine, oxytocin, endorphin and of course an overdose of adrenaline! It gives you a high like no drug can. It’s exciting, there’s a deep fire in your belly and at the same time gives you a zen like feeling. If I felt this way, you can imagine what the riders felt! It must have been an absolutely exhilarating experience. And I know it because I used to ride a motorbike for a short time. The pandemic made me give it up and I really feel terrible I could not ride. But well, I did the next best thing which is ride pillion.

We started the tour at Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, the northern most Baltic country, just below Finland. We all met on Day 0 and got the super bikes – there were 3 BMW GS 1200 bikes and 4 Yamaha 700 Tracers. Both powerful mean looking beasts! There were 6 men, 2 women both pillion riders and the tour lead. 3 of the men were cousins from Delhi whom I named the Banga boys (though one was not a Banga but related to them). A couple from Hubli, one guy from Chennai, one from Pune, me from Bangalore and the tour guide from Pune. On day 1 we started our ride from the Estonian capital Tallinn to the university town Tartu. Of course we were all geared up – helmet, riding jacket, knee guards and gloves. Since it was the first day, everyone was kinda getting used to the new bikes. We stopped at Jagala waterfall and then stopped for coffee at the northern most point of the Baltic states – Vinistu. Then we stopped at Lake Piepus which was so beautiful and scenic, the cameras were on overdrive! We got many lovely shots there and finally reached Tartu. The roads were great and driving on the countryside was beautiful. There were lovely houses, each with a lawn and a vibrant garden. Trampolines are very popular there and I saw many gardens with a trampoline. Most houses had a small annexe with a sauna. Since winters are very cold, saunas are very popular in the Baltic states. Most houses also had a swing or a slide. The houses were quaint and beautiful, all similar in style. The parks and lakes along the way were also very charming. In fact there was beauty all around.

The next day we were riding from Tartu to the Latvian capital Riga and it started raining. Not just raining but pouring. And it was so thrilling to ride in the rains. We went on a max speed of 150 kmph at one time and my heart was beating rapidly! It was so thrilling. There was so much wind that when I had to move my head from left to right, there was so much resistance, I had to make an effort to move my head! I opened the visor for a while and the rain drops hit me like pin pricks. But the smell of wet earth was so intoxicating and the cold wind blowing on my face made me come alive. We stopped by at a quaint little cafe and the hot chocolate and cake were a blessing after riding in the rains. We had another stop at the Estonian and Latvian border and did a little celebratory dance there. Finally reached Riga in the evening and the next day we spent at this absolutely magnificent city. The day after we rode to the town of Klaipeda. On the way, Kabir had to stop for a while so when we started again we had to speed up to catch up with the gang. And Kabir throttled to a top speed of 176 kmph! Whoa that was the fastest I have gone on a motorbike. Or even a car I think. I was scared and excited at the same time. My heart was in my mouth and I was so focused, no amount of meditation has ever got me that focused! And when he came back to the speed limit, I heaved a sigh of relief that all was well and we were still in one piece! I will not forget that thrilling moment for a long time! The most beautiful ride of the trip for me was the ride from the city of Klaipeda to the Curonian Spit. We went on to a ferry from the city to the Curonian Spit and then rode through small fishing villages skirting the Baltic sea. Such beautiful villages and winding roads with pine trees on both sides. I did not want to leave the place. It was so utterly beautiful. There were so many yachts and sail boats on the sea, very relaxed and laid back, people on their bicycles, children hopping about, it was a typical European holiday town. Loved it! We then rode from Klaipeda to Kaunas and then to Vilnius the capital of Lithuania.

We had guided walking tours in each of the capital cities – Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. All of them very charming, but in terms of the architecture, I liked Riga the most. Each city had an old town square with lots of historical buildings each of which looked like a piece of art. And like any European town, there were cobble stoned streets lined with open air cafes and restaurants. Since they have very few months of summer and good weather, it seemed every single person was out on the streets, enjoying a coffee or drink or a meal. It was like a celebration of life. Europeans sure know how to live a good life. The parks had people lazing around, reading a book, or just admiring the lake in the park with children shooing away the pigeons, couples having a romantic time and families just generally spending time together. There was a general sense of cheerfulness all around. I cannot explain in words how beautiful it was, you have to go there and experience it for yourself. The population of all the 3 countries is very less. Estonia has about 1.4 million people, less than half a million of whom lived in and around the capital Tallinn. In comparison, Bangalore city alone has 12 million people! Each country has their own language. The Estonian language is similar to the Finnish though genetically Estonians are very close to Latvians. Riga is the most populous city though Vilnius is geographically the biggest. Vilnius is the party capital of the Baltics with a roaring night life and many watering holes. Klaipeda is a very charming town with a river cutting through the town and lots of music dance and lovely restaurants on the boardwalk. Albert street in Riga has several Art Nouveau buildings with motifs inspired from nature, sensual ornamentation, extensive use of arches and curves – you just cant stop admiring them. Estonia has only 10 % believers and the rest are atheists. Latvia has maybe 20% believers mostly Lutherans, but Lithuania is religious with 80% believers, mostly Catholics. There are so many old churches in Vilnius, some gothic some baroque, some not looking like a church at all. But all very magnificent. I happened to attend Sunday mass in a few of them and enjoyed the hymns and gospel kind of music. All the Baltic countries have a shared history with German and Russian occupation. Also, we saw support for Ukraine in all 3 countries with Ukranian blue and yellow flags everywhere.

In Riga, we went to a Motor museum which had so many antique cars. Basically it was like a history lesson in cars and motorcycles. From the very first cars to the latest ones, the museum had them all. Rolls Royce, BMW, Porsche, Ford, Audi, Volkswagen, Mercedes you name it, it was there. The royal hand made limited edition signature cars to the factory made fire engines and trucks. Luxury and necessity sitting side by side. It was a fabulous museum, worth a visit. In Lithuania we also visited an underground Soviet missile base from cold war times. The bunkers are maintained as is from the olden days and converted into a museum. From the surface one cannot make out that there would be a missile base underneath. The missile pit was made with so much precision and the whole thing was such a well kept secret. Just before we entered Vilnius we went to the Trakai island castle and the surroundings were absolutely breathtaking! The lake was so enchanting, with so many people boating lazily and soaking in the warmth of the sun. The houses nearby had apple orchards and life was moving at a slow lazy but charming pace. Another place I just did not feel like leaving! I would love to go back here some day and spend a lazy week.

Apart from riding, the most adventurous activity we did was on the last day in Vilnius. We fired 3 different actual military guns and rifles with live ammo! Steyr AUG, HK416 and American Sig Sauer automatic. We filled the magazine with bullets, loaded the gun with the magazine, aimed at a metal target and pulled the trigger. The shell flew out of the right side and the bullet hit the mark with a loud clank! What a high that gave me! In the first gun we had 10 bullets and the second and third had 5 each. I was able to hit every single one on the target. The noise was loud and we had to wear ear plugs to avoid being stunned by the noise. Next we drove a military tank! Yes that’s right, an actual military tank. This was a British tank from 1976. There is an accelerator and two break sticks, one for the left side and one for the right side. It was so cool to sit in the driver’s pit and ride down a dirt road, maneuvering the tank and going uphill and downhill. There were several other military artillery and weapons that we took pictures with, looking all macho and powerful!

Travel is not just about the places and beautiful destinations but also the people and the memories you create together. And we were a fun bunch of people with varied interests with a common passion for riding. And there is a unique kind of brotherhood with people who ride together and explore together. Sonali was the only other woman and both us sat in the van (that carried our luggage and was in the lead with the Estonian Marco at the wheel) a couple of times for a break so I had a nice connect with her. Her husband Dharam is an experienced and avid biker so everyone looked up to him and took tips from him. Deepak from Chennai was usually by himself. Abhishek with his quirky antics and great photography skills and Kabir the tour lead were both from Pune. And then there were the Banga boys the 3 cousins, two of whom were from Delhi – Amit Banga and Sandeep Banga and one from Florida – Sumit Nagpal. I had loads of fun with them and hung out mostly with them. We shared so many meals, hearty laughs, interesting conversations and debates on topics ranging from politics to sustainability and business ideas to the war in Ukraine. We were out till late night enjoying the European summer and wine! We also went dancing one evening. Amit and Sumit have truck loads of energy and can be the last men on the floor! My holiday was that much more fun and interesting because of these two and I have so many fond memories with them. Thank you guys! You were awesome! And lastly, Marco the van driver was so much fun with a good sense of humor and made for great company, answering all our weird questions and giving interesting tidbits about the Baltics.

I am back home now and already preparing for my next adventure! Watch out for the next blog, ladies and gentlemen!

Trip notes:

I did this trip with MotoRover who organize motorcycle riding and car driving trips in several countries. This trip had good hotels, absolutely lovely lunch stops and good tour guides – basically a very well curated and planned trip. Lunches are included on all riding days and dinners are on your own which gives free time for you to do things you like. I highly recommend them. In fact I want to do a car driving trip in Kyrgyztaan where we drive cars in the snow. Check out their tours here – https://www.motorover.in

The tour was for 6 days and 7 nights. But I stayed back an extra day for the shooting and tank riding experience which were not part of the tour. On day 0, they also organized a dinner which was great so we could all get to know each other.

Scuba diving in Andaman

One of the items on my bucket list is (“is” has now become “was”!) scuba diving. And it has been there for a long long time. I have done a lot of adventure sports but diving has somehow never happened. Probably because I am not very fond of water, a little afraid too of swimming in the vast ocean. In fact I barely manage to swim 20 meters. But this year I was determined to check off this long pending adventure. So I picked this along with 2 other items from my bucket list for the year 2022.

I planned to go to Andaman with a friend in April but unfortunately she was unable to make it. So then I pestered Ruchi to go on a diving holiday with me. We decided on Bali, but there was a 3 day mandatory quarantine in Indonesia due to covid. We circled on Philippines but the tickets were very expensive. Then we thought let’s skip diving, and go visit Bhutan but the country was in lockdown. Next option was Burma but Burma was completely closed to international travelers, and Vietnam had 2lakh daily infections so that was out too. And I was so very disappointed. Travel is the most important thing in my life and not having traveled out of India in the last two years of the pandemic, I was really looking forward to it. But it was not to be and we finally decided to not venture out of India and settled on Andaman islands.  Ruchi had dived with Lacadives in the past and recommended we go to Chidiya Tapu. I was all game. I could go anywhere in the world to fulfill my bucket list item and readily agreed.

We landed in Port Blair on 18^th April and the heat and humidity hit us hard. But the drive to the Big Tree resort in Chidiya Tapu was lovely with the taxi skirting the ocean on the left and a green jungle on the right. The resort was quaint and lovely with log cabins in a huge organic farm amidst a reserve forest, fringed by the ocean. It was literally a slice of paradise. The next day was my first dive. Since I don’t swim, I could only do the Discover Scuba dive where someone dives along and controls everything. Basically a sightseeing trip for me! I had to do nothing but see the sights! I wore a wet suit, flippers and a mask over my eyes and nose so basically one cannot breathe through the nose, can breathe only through the mouth. We went in a boat to a bigger boat a little further away as the big boat cannot come to the shore. Then in the big boat we went to the dive site called Fish Point. I got into the water climbing down a ladder on the side of the boat. My buddy Satish kit me up i.e. helped me wear a jacket with the oxygen tank behind. A mouthpiece from the oxygen tank went into my mouth. So basically I had to breathe through my mouth. Satish managed my buoyancy and down we went!

And it was a colorful beautiful world out there below the surface of the water. I was swimming past hundreds of colorful fishes with many fan shaped corals around. There were fishes of all shapes and sizes with so many brilliant colors and patterns on them – brilliant blue, shiny purple, lemon yellow, pitch black, rust red, green, white, silver, all colors you can imagine and many I had not seen on land. A big red one was right next to me looking me in the eye! I saw clams, big fat lazy sea cucumbers that stirred ever so lightly. Then there were Humbug damsels, Clarke’s anemone fish, Emperor angelfish, Regal angelfish, Moorish Idol, Parrotfish, Coral rock cod, slugs, and many more whose names I have forgotten. It was so peaceful in there, you can only hear your own breathing. It was so meditative. Like a little girl I was so excited turning and looking all around all at once. There were so many rocks, caves and crevices on the ocean bed and the fishes went in and out, some were shy and hiding and some hunting for food. The fishes all glide so smoothly, wagging their tails and suddenly turn direction with an abrupt movement. It’s a very different world out there with movement all around you, never a still moment. A student diver had come along and was taking pictures and videos of me. And suddenly I saw Nemo! I found Nemo, the orange and white clownfish playing around at the edge of a tube coral! I was so overjoyed at finding Nemo as though I had found some long lost treasure! An hour went by in the blink of an eye and it was time to come up. I didn’t really want to go back but had to. Once I surfaced, I removed my kit and climbed up the boat. My mouth was very dry as I was breathing from the mouth for an hour. I enjoyed the dive so much that I decided to do another one the next day!

The next day I went snorkeling in the morning at a site called Lighthouse. I had done snorkeling in the red sea in Egypt and at Koh Sa Mui in Thailand so while I enjoyed it here it was not as exciting as the first time I did it. But it was fun nevertheless. I took off my swimming ring and tried swimming in the ocean and it was so easy to float! Then from there we went to another site called Chhe Nala where I went diving again. This time they kit me up on the boat itself and I had to jump backwards into the water! It was a bit scary but I jumped nevertheless as my buddy Satish was very careful and always around and I felt safe. This time there were some ruins, 3 long iron poles and several large tyres in the ocean floor. I also touched the ocean floor and picked up some sand. It was great to swim around the wreckage, glide in between the poles and touch the tyres and wooden planks. And while I was swimming around, Satish pointed in the front. There hidden in the sand like a spy was a blue spotted sting ray! I went close to it and saw the sand stir. The stingray recognizing an alien, disappeared in a split second! It was so swift and it glided so smoothly in the water, it was a wonder to see it! And then we saw another one slowly gliding and we kept swimming along with it for a while before it disappeared. We saw a few more of the stingrays, it was such a delight! Diving is so meditative, I could go on and on enjoying the beauty and wonder of nature.

Back from the dives, we used to be tired and laze around the resort. There was a lovely pond a hammock and couple of lounge chairs on the edge of the pond. We spent the next few days lazing on the hammock, reading books we had picked up from the airport. I had picked up Isabel Allende’s In the midst of winter – a beautiful tale about three very different people who are brought together in a mesmerizing story that journeys from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil. It was so relaxing and peaceful. It was such a contrast to city life where we are rushing to work, attending many meetings and zoom calls, giving status updates to stakeholders, stressing about a program gone wrong etc. Time went by at a slow pace here. It felt like we were living in a time warp. The evenings were so very still with no breeze and without a single leaf moving. The deafening sound of cicadas drowning out conversations. Island life is so idyllic. It gave us time to think and ponder. Ruchi and I had so many interesting intimate conversations, reflecting on many things from our lives, creating bucket lists and figuring out our happiness quotient and how to get it to a full 10! There was a general feeling of contentment and bliss.

Ruchi and I both loved the vibe of the dive center and the resort. Rajendra and Diya who run the resort chat up with all the guests, They join us on our tables, ask how the day was. It was very informal and friendly. They encourage all guests to talk to each other. The dining area is a lovely place open on all sides with great décor. The guests were a motley group of people, all divers as Big Tree is a dive resort run by Lacadives, so usually people who want to dive with them, stay here. There were several young women doing various diving courses. One of them from West Bengal was there since a month and had done 60 dives! One was from Delhi working at an NGO a sister concern of the dive center called Reef watch where they do reef conservation, marine life study etc. So they dive down every day for work. What fun! One from Bangalore and one from Hyderabad were also doing their course but were staying elsewhere. There was a Britisher who had studied medical science in Britain. He was learning diving and also studying Ayurveda. He also planned to go to China and learn acupuncture and other Chinese traditional treatments. His idea was to learn indigenous medicine from all parts of the world, and then use all these sciences to provide a holistic healing approach. Very fascinating! Mitali Kakkar one of the co-owners of Lacadives and the resort was also there. She and her husband ad-man Prahlad Kakkar were the ones who brought scuba diving to India by starting Lacadives couple of decades ago. She was such a lovely, graceful and down to earth person, joining all tables and having conversations with the guests. It was one of the Reef watch staff’s birthday on one of the days and her parents were staying at the resort. On her birthday she invited all the guests of the resort, and staff of both the dive center and the NGO for her party. This was the first time I was on a holiday and got invited to a birthday party by someone I had just met! We had a great time. There was food, alcohol, cake, music and dancing. And what was most wonderful was that everyone from the owner of the place to the help at the dive center the lowest in the rung in the hierarchy, were all treated equally and with respect. There was so much camaraderie amongst everyone, and it was such a happy, cheerful fun atmosphere. I totally recommend Lacadives to everyone especially first timers as the crew is fun, helpful and most importantly, very safe.

Shaktivel took us bird watching one early morning along with his tripod and telescope. We spotted close to 35 species of birds like sand piper, brown shrike, common warbler, plume toed swiftlet, magpie robin, Andaman coucal, Andaman serpent eagle ( a beautiful and majestic bird), vernal hanging parrot, racquet tailed drongo, freckle breasted woodpecker, Alexandrian parakeet, oriental dwarf kingfisher (which is very rare and serious birders also don’t get to spot it!), minivets, chestnut headed bee eater and so many more. Another day we went to a biological park with Joelson who was a 3^rd generation Burmese living in the Andamans and knew all the trees and animals and was a delight to have as a guide. On the last but one day, we were about to go on an inter-tidal walk (explore the sea life in small pools that get formed when the high tide goes out and the tide is low). But just as Ruchi started walking from the lawn to go down the steps to the beach, she tripped and sprained her ankle. It hurt her a lot and we had to cancel our walk. Back in the hotel, everyone was so helpful. Mitali came to our cottage with medicines for Ruchi. Sheelu came with her ointment which Mitali applied for Ruchi and everyone pitched in to carry Ruchi to the dining area and back and made sure she was comfortable. Next day I went to see the cellular jail or kala paani on my own as Ruchi was resting. The architecture of the jail was very innovative to ensure prisoners do not see each other and cannot escape. But it was shocking to realize how our freedom fighters were made to suffer by the British before we got independence from them. Also happened to see the cell in which Veer Savarkar spent 10 years of his life. I then went to Ross island where the British officers lived. It was a small but an extremely beautiful tropical island with coconut trees, sand and the brilliant blue water of the Bay of Bengal. I also managed to do para sailing there and came back to the hotel happy and feeling triumphant!

Next day we were back to civilization. It was one of my most memorable, fun and relaxing holidays at the same time! I think all of us should reduce the pace of life a little more often than we do. Since I was back from my holiday, I have checked off my second bucket list item for the year. I am hoping I can check off the third one also which is planned in October, which I will definitely write about. So until then, so long, farewell.

North-East Road Trip

When my friend Hemant Soreng of Rustik Travel told me he was going on an All India Road trip across all the states and union territories of India, I was green with envy. That is something I would have loved to be a part of, but unfortunately I could not take 6 months off from work which was the planned duration of his road trip in his Honda City. But then I could definitely take a week off and join him for one small leg of his epic driving expedition. And that’s what I did. I joined him for 8 days in the North East India leg of his road trip.

North East India is a lesser known region among travelers but utterly beautiful with dramatic landscapes, rich cultural heritage and warm loving people. I landed at the Dimapur airport in Nagaland on Saturday 25th Dec 2021 and was picked up by Hemant along with Ranjit, Kshitija, Preeti and Ram Prasad who had joined him a few days ago. Since we were so many, we had another Toyota Innova also with us driven by Chandan, a wonderful person and a great driver. We drove to Kohima, the capital and reached there after dark. Since India has only one time zone with the meridian crossing Mirzapur almost central India, the sun rises very early in the entire north east, and sets very early too. So by 5 o clock it is pitch dark. Kohima is on the hills and since it was Christmas, the whole town was lit up and we could see the shimmering lights from across the opposite hill. Early next morning we went on a trek to the stunning Dzukou valley at an altitude of close to 2450 meters. It was an arduous trek but totally worth it when we reached the main valley. The rolling hills sitting high among the clouds, green hillocks paving the way for blue mountaintops are a sight to behold. Dzukou Valley is most famous for its multicolored carpets of flowers that bloom in summer, most notably the Dzukou lily which is found only in Dzukou Valley. It started snowing while we were climbing and it was wonderful to see snow patches, though thankfully it didn’t snow a lot else we may not have been able to continue. We took lots of photos and selfies that I will definitely put up as my dp! If you have the proper gear, Dzukou Valley is also a great place to camp, but we returned back the same day. I have carried so many wonderful memories of the valley, the hills and the scenic beauty of the valley.

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Next morning I went for a walk to the local market called T.Khel market. It was a maze with hundreds of stores across the ground and 3 floors underground. They had everything one could think of from fruits, vegetables, meat, clothes, shoes, to luggage, toys, home needs and anything else you could think of. It also had a wet market where they sold live animals to be eaten. There were frogs jumping inside a polythene, white mice in a cage, rabbits, snails, silk worms and a lot more. I was told Dog meat is very popular with the Nagas. We tried some different fruits like the ground apple. Most of the stores were manned by women! The Naga women are extremely beautiful and well dressed. The dominant religion in Nagaland is Christianity and so most of the shops and stores were closed. We then went to the Kisama heritage village is the main site for the Hornbill festival which is held every year in December. This year though it was canceled in protest of some civilians who were accidentally killed by the army. The village has replicas of Morungs or schools where the culture and ways of the Naga tribes are taught. There are 16 major tribes in Nagaland and each has their own style of making houses, weapons and rituals. And all of these are displayed in this heritage village. During the hornbill festival there are dances, food and cultural activities by all tribes on display which am sure would be a fascinating event. I will definitely visit it someday.

The next stop was the Kohima war memorial, the site of the Kohima battle of World War II. It is a beautiful site atop a hill from where you can see the Kohima city. There are graves for all soldiers martyred in the war across several levels. Beautiful flowers and plants adorn the graves. Several epitaphs indicate the unidentified soldiers. The epitaphs also have the age of the soldiers which show many of them were very young as young as 20 years. Our guide Theja told us that till today families of these soldiers come here and pay their respects. On 28th Dec we drove to Imphal to capital of Manipur, which means the land of jewels. Imphal is a lot more developed than Kohima. All major brands have a presence there, there are good wide roads, and the city was buzzing with activity.  We reached in the afternoon and Vikas from Bangalore had joined us today and so we were 7 of us. Our first destination was the Kangla Fort. Situated close to the banks of the Imphal River, the Kangla Fort is a symbol of Manipur’s glory and has a special place in the hearts and minds of the Manipuri people. The word ‘Kangla’ means dry land in Manipuri.  The fort dates back to 33 AD when the mythical God-King Pakhangba first ascended the throne. In 1891 the fort was taken over by the British army after the Anglo Manipur war. Later the Assam Rifle took control till 2004 when it was handed over to the Manipur State government. The fort is spread over 200 acres. It still dotted with several shrines that are still revered by the locals. At the entrance of the palace there are two mythical creatures called Kanglaishah which has the head of a dragon with deer antlers and the body of a lion. The fort has well-manicured lawns and the world’s first polo ground. Close by is the Shree Govindaji temple, a historic Vaishnavite center. We reached just in time for the evening Aarti. It is a huge temple made of marble and entirely white in color. I have not seen more open space in any other temple. The priests were singing and beating drums while performing a subtle dance to the rhythm of the drums. It was a beautiful experience.

We started the next day with a visit to Ima Keithel or mother’s market. The market that has hundreds of shops is run entirely by women from several centuries. In fact no one quite remembers when it started. In Manipur, women play an important role in the family and in society and have a say in important decisions. The shops sold everything like shawls, handicrafts, knives, pooja essentials, food, meat, veggies etc. We picked up a few snacks and fruits that tasted delicious. Loktak lake in Moirang district was the next stop. It is the largest natural freshwater lake in India spread over around 287 sq. km. 50% or more of the lake is covered in floating vegetation called phumdis. These phumdis do not reach the floor and are floating in water. But they are so strong that one can stand on them and not sink. We climbed a hill nearby and the view from there was absolutely breathtaking! I have not seen anything like this before and I have traveled quite a bit. The fisherman create circular enclosures with the vegetation to trap fishes. And when you see from the top, it is quite amazing to see the circular patterns interspersed with  phumdis and boatmen leisurely wading through the waters. We also took a boat ride through the miracle and had lunch on the boat. Wonderful experience this. On the way back, we stopped by at the INA museum in honor of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj. There are many personal effects of Netaji and his photographs in this small but lovely museum. Since Manipur has several sporting heroes like Mary Kom, Mirabai Chanu, Kunjarani Devi and others, we kept asking our guides and drivers to take us to their homes! Obviously we were being overzealous! But Manipuris are very athletic and sports is an important part of their lives. Driving through the city of Imphal, we saw many stadiums and grounds with kids playing football and other sports. Apparently 7 players of the Indian football team are from Manipur!

The drive to Silchar the next day was a long and arduous journey. The roads are almost non-existent. In some places the potholes were so deep I wonder how we managed to cross them. I was at the wheel for a few hours – to earn bragging rights for being a part of the exquisite road trip! Ram Prasad’s playlist of yesteryear Bollywood songs made good company. On the way, we came across a bunch of local men and women in traditional Manipuri clothes performing a ritual taking blessings from their ancestors. They were singing and dancing and it was so colorful and lively, that we had to stop by. When there are beats, I cannot stop myself from dancing and so I joined the group and matched their steps performing their ritual dance. It was so much fun! They welcomed us, and a woman tied their stole around me. We performed a few dances and then their local priest blessed all of us! It was such a wonderful experience. I had admired the earrings of one of the women and she happily gifted them to me.

The next day was again a drive but this drive from Silchar to Aizawl the capital of Mizoram was the most scenic and the best drive of the trip. We were constantly driving at an elevation from one hill to the next through valleys and spectacular forests and betelnut plantations. Thoroughly enjoyed the drive through quaint little villages with the locals going about performing their daily tasks. Men and women had laid out their wares and children were playing about. It was such an idyllic landscape, I just could not take my eyes off the panorama. Of course we made many pit stops for selfies. We had packed lunch on the steps of a roadside abandoned brick building. Everything about the day was charming and alluring. As we neared Aizawl we could feel the hip vibe of the city. Like Kohima, Aizawl is on the hills and we could see the beautiful city from the opposite hill. Young men and women were zipping past us in their cool motorbikes. There was a young and happening pulse to the place. The roads there are winding with ups and downs, In fact there is not a single straight road. I don’t think i have the confidence to drive through the steep roads there! It was 31st evening and we went for a walk through the main street which was buzzing with activity and young crowd out to celebrate. Due to Covid there was night curfew after 9pm. So we went to a cafe called Chocolate room, had their local wine and some finger food. It was Ranjit and Kshitija’s wedding anniversary so we raised a toast for them. We then went back to our hotel and talked about old times and shared our stories. Ram Prasad is a great conversationalist and having worked in the ad industry and marketing for a long time had a lot of interesting anecdotes to share.

On the last day of the trip, we went to see the Solomon temple, which apparently looks similar to the namesake church of Jerusalem. The church has a seating capacity of 2500 and the courtyard can accommodate 10,000 people. Reportedly the church has been made using especially imported white marble. There is a lovely park with trees and flowers in the courtyard. From there we went to a view point on the hill opposite the main town from where we could see magnificent views of the town. It was then time for us to go to the airport and thus came the end of our whirlwind road trip of the north east.

This was the first time I went on a trip with total strangers. In fact I had met Hemant just a couple of times and did not know anyone else. But it was a motley group of very interesting and fun people and I had a great time with all of them, made new friends and learnt many new things. It’s always a pleasure to meet new people with different world views and life stories. It makes your life that much richer. One thing that I missed was trying the local cuisine. All the local food is non-veg and me being a vegetarian there was hardly anything I could try apart from some snacks and fruits. I had the Zobai vegetarian curry in Aizawl which was quite nice but nothing apart from that. But all in all, it was a fantastic trip and I have brought back a sack load of wonderful memories that I will cherish for a long time. I wish Hemant and Rustik Travel the very best for the rest of the journey and hope to embark on my own personal journey someday.

The Open Library

I recently came across this lovely project run by Swati from US – https://pod.servicespace.org/my/projects?mid=215243

But since it requires people to login, I have extracted key information from there and included here:

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I would like to create a colorful library with an outer space access for Kids from every strata of the society. Where for a minimal membership fee or free if you can’t afford you can come read books, enjoy story time, have fun hands on projects run by volunteers. This will be a place where a child can come nurture love for reading and be part of a creative world. Would want to emphasize access to kids that have low access to books.

Children will cultivate love for reading and knowing more about the world beyond where they live. Kids from lower socioeconomic areas as well other parts of society will all come together under one roof just for the love of reading and sharing books. This will build bridge between these two parts of the society.

This will be mostly a volunteer run program. When they see the fruits of this community space and their labor of love blossom will be nothing like it. 

Once the place is build and set I will need some donations of books / funds for the books.
Will need to build a group of dedicated volunteers for this cause. As it establishes itself in this initial period we can set remote libraries in needed parts of the city.

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I really like this concept and maybe we can replicate it. Maybe start with just one, understand the challenges, improve it and then expand to more locations.

So looking for inputs from everyone. Need a location, preferably where:

• There are many lower income families and children
• Someone can offer a space for the library and the kids to read. Could be in someone’s house, backyard, garage of an office…
• We can find one or more volunteers to run this place even if for a limited number of hours per day
• Few more volunteers on an ad-hoc basis who can run events like story telling, book reading, etc. to engage the children

Please share your ideas, suggestions below as comments so everyone can add to it and expand.

Traditional Cooking methods and recipes

• Create a website with a section for each state
• Include recipes of only home made dishes that are usually not available in restaurants
• Source recipes from senior citizens to include traditional ingredients (freshly ground masalas instead of ready made powders)and methods of making including tools like the stone grinders, etc.
• Allow people to contribute but follow a set template to maintain consistency
• Any new contributions to be vetted by the admin
• Create a movement like the 100 sarees pact on FaceBook and get people to try out these recipes and post on FB with pictures, their experience
• Encourage people in apartment complexes to meet and try out these recipes and post
• We can even hold cookout sessions in different cities where people can come together to make starter, main course, dessert etc. each from a different region

Education for rural children

• Several educated senior citizens in urban India have time on their hands and are getting bored with not much to do.
• Almost everyone has cheap smart phones and internet is cheap and available in many rural places. Digital India initiative will make it ubiquitous soon hopefully.
• We can collaborate with telecom providers like Airtel, Reliance and others to provide free internet to select government schools in rural areas that we shortlist to work with initially. We can add more later on
• Sign-up senior citizens to teach subjects to children in rural schools over WhatsApp call or Skype at agreed times let’s say 2 to 4 times a week on Maths, Science and English. And another important subject is Values.
• This does not replace schools, but more like collaboration to teach difficult topics and get doubts cleared.
• Batch of 15 to 20 students per teacher
• Could have different teachers per subject or same teacher depending on teacher’s comfort and availability
• We could collaborate with NGOs like MagicBus and others to identify schools in rural areas
• We can collaborate with corporates to donate smart phones, projectors, laptops to these schools. As per legal requirements, all corporates are mandated to donate 2% of their profits to social causes so hopefully not too difficult to get them to donate.

Challenges and Opportunities

There are so many challenges and opportunities around us that can be solved either for profit or not for profit. This is an attempt to come up with at least 100 problems / challenges / opportunities.  Listed below are the ones I have gathered so far (there could be duplicates).  Let’s do some more ideating. Can you please think of problems we see around us and add to the list.

Click on the links (Only on some items) to go the the page with solution ideas for that challenge.

1. Urban solitude – people moving cities and houses, families don’t have time for each other. Lack of initiative of meeting people or calling them. We tend to use WhatsApp and don’t put enough effort in meeting people in person
2. Excessive packaging waste due to e-commerce – Amazon, Swiggy
3. Lack of quality education in govt. schools especially rural India
4. Traditional cooking methods and recipes dying
5. Excessive traffic jams, single occupant cars
6. Insensitivity of people towards road accident victims
7. Growing cases of non-communicable diseases like heart, diabetes, etc.  owing to unhealthy lifestyle and food
8. Road rage / growing impatience of people on roads leading to fatal accidents. No fear of breaking traffic rules
9. Rise in suicide cases among teens owing to depression
10. Absence of top class affordable healthcare for the poor
11. Absence of quality family time. How about family sit down dinner.  There is always one kid or parent missing at the dinner table
12. Invasion of social media
13. Lack of support for senior citizens – Elderly couple who live alone, whose kids are settled abroad, they need support for daily chores
14. Lack of support for working mothers
15. Urban housing for poorest of poor
16. Disposal of plastic, electronic waste and in general waste management
17. Severe air pollution
18. Screen time for Adults and Kids
19. Awareness of avenues to do service back to the community
20. Food waste – everywhere (especially social functions) and hunger everywhere else
21. Save river water – Help Isha foundation with planting Trees
22. Mental Health
23. Physical Health
24. Jobs (Future of work), Poor employability skills at present
25. Support structure (Safety nets) -Family, Friends, Social, -changing dynamics
26. Excessive usage of non bio degradable (disposable) products during social events
27. Higher level of expectations from family and society and stress levels for students and professionals to succeed. Education and Life was much simpler when we were kids.
28. Talking from Bangalore: potholes to be fixed, garbage on roadside to be cleaned, planting more trees
29. Corruption
30. Migrants from other states unable to have smooth integration primarily because of language barrier (how to teach state language to migrants in first 6 months of their stay..)
31. Lack of awareness about Sanitation and Hygiene
32. Ultra-dependency on instant relief from ailments using drugs that are really harmful in long term usage
33. Low literacy levels
34. Children sexually abused
35. Lack of mechanization of agriculture
36. Rising instances of rape
37. Lack of sanitization and hygiene
38. Lack of clean drinking water
39. Chemicals/pesticides in vegetables/animal products, Need Organic food
40. Losing proficiency in Indian languages
41. Child labor
42. Lack of counseling for elderly parents shoved in to old homes
43. Declining art of wearing a saree
44. The lost arts – hand weaving, stone carving, etc.
45. Home economics – basic life skills – sewing on a button, mending a hem, changing a car tyre, unclogging a sink / toilet, etc.
46. Willing Retired folks with lot of skills but unutilized
47. New mothers who don’t want to take up a full time role. Very few part time 3-4 HR jobs available.
48. Dependency on private transport due to inadequate public transport system.
49. Indian traditional knowledge and wisdom, written or told in Indian languages slowly being lost or ignored due to linguistic focus shifted to English and other modern languages – Losing skills in our epics, our Maha Kavya, poems by our great poets (basically related to our culture and literature)
50. Food products adulteration in eateries
51. Heavy book load for school children
52. Pressure on women to zero size
53. No value based education for kids
54. People are always looking for shortcuts in everything
55. Unfriendly transport facilities and buildings for the differently abled
56. Plastic everywhere-  Find easy solutions to replace common usage of plastic ( e.g. bamboo tooth brushes, paper or l lead straws)
57. Water shortage
58. Population explosion and overcrowding in cities
59. Teenage obesity
60. Stray dogs
61. Drainage in all small towns
62. Uneducated people suffering under Government officials
63. Children / mentally ill women made to beg on the streets and abused
64. Need socio economic inclusion for rural india
65. Eve teasing
66. Health and well-being for corporate employees
67. Supporting employment/ business start-up support to people with reduced mobility
68. Community farming (we bring project management and risk management skills)
69. Volunteer service at hospitals to support care givers and help them manage multiple tasks and self
70. Religious violence
71. Cattle menace on streets
72. Low focus on sustainable  agriculture
73. Upskilling opportunity for unorganized labor like domestic help, house cooks, infant care etc.
74. Fast food and highly processed food becoming popular
75. Marriage declining singles rising
76. Sex education
77. Too many Temple and religious processions
78. Obsession with Virtual Reality Vs Reality per se
79. Access to electricity
80. Superstition
81. Decreasing number of parks and community centers
82. Decreasing trend of physical library and books being replaced by electronic media
83. Kids playing more indoor games as outdoor is no more safe and/or they are addicted to online content
84. Rising insensitivity – people only concerned about themselves, no one thinks of society or environment

 

Are there any issues that you are passionate about and want to pick up? Right now, let’s just come up with some proposed solutions. We can think of execution later. If we are able to think of solutions which are for profit, that would be great.

We could even combine a couple of issues to come up with a solution e.g. getting ignored / bored senior citizens to teach the rural children using video call

Even for execution, some of it can just be a hobby like creating a website for traditional recipes from all over India i.e. recipes of dishes usually made at home and not available in restaurants

If we can form a few groups with each group taking up one or two challenges, we can come up with a lot of solutions. Maybe have some get-togethers with family / friends and brain storm to find solutions.

There are so many non-working people who just need some inspiration and guidance to do something. We can give our ideas to them and maybe some of us can also be a part of some initiatives.

Post your comments below. Let’s all add comments related to other challenges and problems in one thread and interests about participating in the solutions in another thread. I will create a separate group / page for each challenge we want to pick up and add people interested in solutioning it to that group.

Let’s all be a part of finding the solution instead of just complaining!

 

Trek to Paradise – Kashmir Great lakes Trek

Gar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,

Hameen ast-o, hameen ast-o, hameen ast

This is a Farsi couplet about Kashmir by the famous poet Amir Khusro and it translates to – If there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.

I have just returned from Kashmir. Cradled in the lap of the majestic mountains of the Himalayas, Kashmir is indeed the most beautiful place on earth, worthy of being called a paradise. I got to see the “real” Kashmir as I saw it on foot as part of the Kashmir Great lakes trek.

 

 Highlight of the trek

To me the highlight of this trek was trekking on snow! I have never before trekked on snow and this was my first time trekking with spikes on, to get a better grip on the snow. There was snow as far as the eyes could see. Marching along while the snow goes crunch, crunch was thrilling & exhilarating! We trekked through hills and valleys, alongside rivers and horses. At times where the snow was soft, my leg would go deep into the snow till the knee and sometimes my walking stick would go in. I even fell down a few times where the snow was slippery. At one point where there was a steep downward slope, all of us got the thrill of sliding down the snow for about 200/300 meters! This was so cool. Literally and figuratively! We were all screaming with excitement like little children as we slid down with our voices going hoarse, adrenaline pumping furiously and a tinge of fear in case we don’t stop when we had to! But we all ended safely and had huge dollops of fun. And of course where there is snow there HAD to be some snow fighting and snow going down people’s backs!

Best day

Snow and snow-capped peaks are beautiful and I do enjoy them. But green mountains and valleys with flowing rivers and streams is what stirs and lifts my soul. So my best day of the trek was the day before the last day where we camped on the table top. As soon as I reached there, I became quiet. When I am amidst extreme beauty, I have to be by myself, in my zone, absorbing and soaking in everything around me. I didn’t want to talk to anyone or do anything. After lunch, I took my camera, a notebook and pen and started on my own journey. We were camped on the table top mountain and there was a stream down below in the valley. On the other side, the hill was green with several tall birches, rocks and grass everywhere. I lied down for a short nap on the base of a tree trunk and kept drifting in and out of sleep. When I partly opened my eyes, I could see the slanting trees and birds and butterflies and there was unspeakable beauty around me. I didn’t want this to end. I wish I could get this view every time I woke up from my slumber. If wishes were horses….

As I was lying on a rock looking up at the sky, I could see two clouds closing in towards each other. They looked like two faces, one of a man and one of a woman. As they came closer, they stole a furtive kiss, hoping no one looked. But I did! They remained lip-locked for a few minutes, only to part with a longing, a goodbye and a promise to meet again tomorrow same time same place. Only I will not be there tomorrow to enjoy their romance.

It was such an idyllic scene with a mother and daughter playing outside their hut in the distance, cows mooing, horses neighing, a soft breeze sweeping the entire mountain top in a gentle caress. And just when I started to feel cold, the sun came out of its hiding and warmed me up from inside out. Now and then you could hear the laughter of a kid. There were little flowers all around and butterflies flitting about. Big huge mushrooms on dead tree trunks and big & small rocks strewn around here and there added character to the place. No words or camera can do justice to this enchanting Friday afternoon scene. Maybe a poetry could come close. But Alas, I am no poet. Hopefully a poet would come here someday and make the scene eternal with her poem.

Trek mates

I usually go for treks only with friends / known people. This time though, I had decided to do this on short notice and none of my friends could join. So I went solo but there were 22 other people in the group and I must say I had the time of my life! Almost everyone helped me at some point, walking along with me when I slowed down, gave me a hand when the path was difficult or slippery and in general motivated me and gave my company. I went alone but came back with 22 friends! There were 6 people from Malaysia, 4 of whom were doctors. I always thought doctors were serious (not you Amee, you are awesome!) and boring but these doctors were all adventurous! There were 3 IT folks from Goa, one from Indore and the rest were all from Bangalore. I must say, most people in the group were from the IT industry. It was a fun and motley group of people with very contrasting personalities.

Siddharth was my most favorite person. He is so down to earth, fun, genuine and a good human being. On one of the days when I was walking alone on the snow, he kept waiting for me when I was slow. Did not bother me or ask me to come along but always looked out for me, gave me a hand when I needed, and ensured I was OK and waited if the gap increased. Thank you so much my friend. If I can ever help you in any way, you just have to ask.  

Hisham, the doctor from Malaysia was my savior on Day 2 which was really the first day of trekking. The sun was harsh and I was totally sapped of energy. The last kilometer was extremely difficult and every step was a struggle. Hisham and I were the last ones and he kept motivating me. We finally reached our destination and heaved a sigh of relief. The next day too Hisham was with me for the most time. Paritosh and Utkarsh from Goa kindly walked along with me on the return one evening and Kiran did the honors another evening. Some of the Malaysians spoke Tamil so I enjoyed conversing with Mohan, Ugesh and Hamid. Prem Preet is a Panjabi and a wonderful person. Goh is a Chinese Malay and the fittest of the lot. He was almost always the first to reach the destination and a very friendly person. I had a good time with all of them. They plan to climb Kilimanjaro next year and I hope to go with them!

Harshika and Dipti are friends and are a cool bunch of kids, helpful and fun. Harshika is a total bindaas and a fab dancer. Dipti helped me when I suddenly freaked out on a narrow ledge high up on a mountain with a steep cliff down! Thanks my friend! Akshay was the dude from Goa who kept taking selfies, Sunil, Kiran and Sushruth were friends from Bangalore and each of them was so different from the other. Sushruth was in a pensive mood many a times, sitting by himself and introspecting. Sunil was the boisterous chap, always with a smile on his face and a positive attitude. Kiran was somewhere in between, neither as much of a loner nor as brash. Was so nice to see a couple come for the trek – Shilpa and Gautam and they happen to live very close to me. Gopika and Ravi were another couple who got along their cousins Koushik the youngest and Ravi Senior the oldest in our group. I was maha impressed with Ravi Senior who is an agriculturist. In his late 50s, he was always one of the first, very fit and strong. And last but not the least, Madhu (Maddy) who is also from Bangalore and with whom I connected with even before the trek started, but who was also very helpful even after the trek. So though I went alone, I came back with so many awesome friends!

 Kashmiriyat

The people of Kashmir are very warm, loving and kind. I know many of us think of terrorists when we think of Kashmiris, but that is far from reality. I had such wonderful experiences with so many of them. Our guides Aijaz and Naseer were always there to help us. Naseer was a cool dude sporting a smart haircut and blue aviators. Naseer was with me and Hisham on day 3 morning and kept making fun comments and helping us all along. Mushtaq was from another trekking group but helped me so many times. On the last day I wanted to give him some money for all the help, but he refused to take it. He said he didn’t help me for money and that it was his duty to help. Then a few children asked for pens which I didn’t have, so I gave him the money to buy pens and books for the kids. Aijaz invited me to his house when we returned to Sonmarg, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time so I had to pass that.

At the table top mountain, there were a few huts of shepherds. I said “Salaam Walekum” in front of a hut and a voice came from inside – “Walekum assalaam”. I shamelessly asked if I can come in and I was invited in. I was given such a warm welcome, made to sit on their lovely carpet. They were having their evening tea and they offered me their namkeen (salty) tea along with a crisp roti that they call chot roti. It is similar to khakhra and they dip that in the tea and have it. I enjoyed both the chai-roti and their hospitality. Roshni was the lady of the house, Mushtaq her husband, Ghulam Rasool her father-in-law, her children Munira, Mudassar and her niece Mobina. They were very poor but their hearts were rich and warm.

The day I landed in Srinagar, I wanted to do some sight-seeing before I start my trek. I hired an auto-rickshaw to take me to Dal lake. Ishtiyak bhai was the auto driver and he was so warm and genuine that I decided to ditch Dal lake and ask him to take me around to places he thought I should see and keep Dal lake for the return (as I had done Dal lake and the Mughal gardens a few years ago). He carried my backpack everywhere and took me to Hazratbal dargah, a sufi dargah called Hazrat Mir Syed Ali which was decorated with exquisite carvings and mirror work and finally the Jama Masjid. He said he will take me around on my return and invited me to his house for lunch. I was not sure about going to his house so kept it open. But on my return to Srinagar after the trek and after having had a wonderful experience with the locals, I decided to take up his offer. On Sunday morning he came to my hotel just after 8 and first took me to Nishat bagh. He got me masla –  a Kashmiri sandwich as he called it – which was some local fastfood. Then we saw Shalimar bagh and then stopped for chai at a local café. Then he took me to his home. And I got so much love and affection there from his mother, father, wife, brother, sis-in-law, their pretty kids Ahmed and Zainaab, and uncle. They treated me like family, all the women hugged and kissed me and his mother even asked me to stay back with them for a couple of days. There was so much excitement in the house and they had cooked a lavish meal for me. There was Nadroo yakhni, kaddoo yakhni, saag, some tomato dish, pudina chatni and special basmati rice for me. Kheer with coconut was the dessert. The food was so yummy, I literally licked my fingers clean. I was served in real silverware and they brought a finger bowl for me to wash my hands. Felt like Noor Jehan!  This food was so much better than what I had on the first day. I guess because it had the special ingredient called love! His uncle’s son Fardeen was visually impaired. I promised to get him a job as soon as he finishes his studies. I am very passionate about inclusion and equal job opportunities for people with disabilities and have been able to place many. So getting Fardeen a job would be easy. The least I can do for all the love I got.

So much warmth and love from complete strangers. I was bowled over both by Kashmir and the Kashmiris. The Kashmiris are very simple, loving and kind people. It is so very sad that because of a few terrorists, all the people of Kashmir are suffering from terrorism, curfews, fighting, and lack of jobs & development. I wish there was a magic wand and with one wave, I could make all hatred, bigotry, xenophobia and false beliefs disappear from the face of the earth. And World peace truly prevails on this otherwise beautiful planet. Insha Allah!

 Fan club

Oh yes, I have two newly minted fan clubs, minted at 13800 feet above sea level! Not even Shah Rukh Khan can claim that 😉 Most of the people on the treks were in their twenties and thirties. Even if there were 40+ people, they were mostly men. So when people saw a 40+ woman trekking high up in the mountains, they were all mighty impressed. I met Vani on the trek who had also crossed 40 but was younger than me. And when I told her about all my other adventures, she was in awe of me and shared this with her trek mates. So when I happened to meet her group, they all wished me, took my number and wanted to know more about my shenanigans.

 Then there was Anshul from another group who saw me walking non-stop, not taking any rest unlike everyone else. So he chatted up with me and me being me, I told him about all the other fun things I had done. And he instantly became a convert. So when I met his group next, another fan club was formed and they took my number and pictures with me with promises to keep in touch. I was very much in awe of Shaili a young kid from Delhi who carried her entire luggage of about 10 kgs. She is the only woman I saw in all my treks who carried her own luggage while the rest of us offload the luggage to be carried by mules. My salaam to you Shaili!

 Trek

 Day 1

There were 23 of us for the trek and I met 5 of them at the pickup point in Srinagar from where we were taken in a jeep to Sonmarg. It was a beautiful drive through mountains, rivers and tall trees. The view from the window was stunning and we reached the campsite where we will sleep for the night.

Soon other fellow trekkers reached in other jeeps and we met everyone and introduced each other. But soon it was as if we had all known each other for ages! We also met our crew. Aditya was our trek lead and Aijaz & Naseer were our trek guides. There were 2 per tent and since we were 23, I got a tent to myself which is a luxury! There was a dinner tent where we all had dinner together and then retired into our tents.

Day2

Our daily routine in the morning was 6-7-8. Tea at 6am, breakfast at 7am and start the trek at 8am. We wake up every day to hot ginger black tea. It felt so good to hold the hot steel glass and warm our cold hands with them! Breakfast was different everyday – bread and jam / Poha / Chole bhature / omelette / dalia etc.

Today we trekked from Sonmarg to Nichnai. We had stunning views of tall birch trees with white barks, snow-capped peaks in the distance and greenery all around. I felt like Alice in wonderland who had jumped into a hole and found herself surrounded by the most magnificent views and insanely beautiful mountains, valleys and the Sindhu river to keep company. We had maggi and Kahwa at a mountainside restaurant a couple of hours into the trek. It was such a welcome break. After a while, we stopped at a scenic place to have packed lunch of roti and sabji. Some days we would have rice. Today was a difficult climb as we reached an altitude of 11600 feet and I was extremely exhausted. But the campsite was so utterly beautiful that I forgot all my aches and pains and tiredness and I jumped around like a little girl in a candy store. We got chai and popcorn soon after we reached the campsite. And a little later we got hot soup and pakoda. Once the sun set, it started getting cold and we all sat in the dinner tent which could house all of us. We played the game mafia and since I have played it earlier, I did a good job of it.  Dinner consisted of roti, sabji, daal, rice and dessert. Every day the sabji, daal and dessert would be different. They kept us well fed and cook Bhupi who was from Himachal Pradesh was a great cook who deserved to be a Masterchef!

 Day 3

Today was mostly downhill so I was fast! And we trekked through snow! My dream come true. We wore spikes on our shoes and went crunch crunch on the snow using the walking pole for support and to get a grip on the snow. Must have trekked close to 4km on snow. We had already reached a height above treeline so there were no trees, only grass and small bushes. We had to cross over several boulders for almost half a kilometre and in some places it was difficult. But whenever I needed help, magically someone would come to my help and give me a hand. Once we crossed the snow, when I turned around a corner, suddenly a bunch of shiny wild sunflowers appeared out of nowhere, it was such a pleasant surprise. The petals were so shiny I actually bent down to feel them. I love sunflowers, they make me so happy and cheerful! And as we walked along, we saw patches of pink flowers and then purple flowers. Alice was truly in a wonderland that was getting prettier by the day. As we walked along, we saw a pond that had red water! No this was no Agatha Christie land with bloody water. There was red algae in the pond that made the water look blood red! A little ahead we saw snow had become ice on the surface but just below, water was flowing and making lovely patterns that we could see through the translucent ice. Nature never stops amazing me. The guide Naseer was walking along with me this morning. As we were walking along the snow, I saw a lot of plastic and candy wrappers on the snow. Like a good citizen and in support of Swachch Bharat, I picked up all the wrappers and plastic along the way and emptied my pockets at the maggi point. I had done my good deed for the day and was proud of myself.

We then came back to our camp for the day and this time Hisham and Kiran gave me company. When we reached the camp, we saw several of the group were playing cricket with the guides and other locals. There were two other camps close by and I walked around and chatted up with a few folks from Oman. I proudly asked if they found my country beautiful and they all praised eloquent about the country and about Kashmir. It made me so proud!

Day 4

Today was the day we were waiting for, to visit the twin lakes of Vishansar and Kishansar and then go on to the highest point of the trek – Gadsar pass at 13800 feet. We had to climb about 2000 feet today and so was a difficult day.

Vishansar lake was close by and we quickly reached the destination at 12000+ feet above sea level. When something is so very beautiful, it is difficult to describe it in words. Let’s just say everyone was speechless when they reached the lake. Literally. Everyone just sat by the lake looking into the distance and was silent, taking in the serene tranquillity. It touched our souls. A little further and we saw Kishansar lake. Now was the difficult climb uphill to Gadsar pass. But by now I had found my rhythm and pace and walked about 50 steps, took a breath and then started again. In fact I was not even very tired. I soon reached the summit and got a standing ovation from the Omanis! The summit was so beautiful and we all clicked pictures. The Malaysians had got their flag and clicked pics with the flag. I must remember to carry a flag when I go for the Kilimanjaro trek.

Unfortunately there was way too much snow and so we could not go beyond the Gadsar pass as the path was steep and the mules carrying our luggage, tents, food could not cross. So we came back to the same camp and will go for other treks in the neighbourhood and cannot see the other lakes planned as part of the trek. A bit of a downer but just being in the mountains amidst unspeakable beauty was enough for me. On the way down, I met with a small accident as I stepped on my poncho (it was raining) and I tripped. The path was very slippery and I could not get back up. I shouted for help and Sid and a guide both came to help the damsel in distress and all was fine!

Day 5

Today we went on a trek to another nearby lake and had to cross a river and its tributaries at 6 places. We had to undo our shoes, and walk across the freezing cold water of the river. Just a couple of minutes in the icy cold water and the feet started to hurt. I thought my toes would just break off! At places the current was very strong and we needed help to cross. This was quite an experience! Once we crossed the river, we walked up to a lovely valley and climbed a hill. And all around, we could see rolling hills, very green with a carpet of flowers on the grass. If there was a Bollywood movie being shot here, am sure the hero and heroine would have rolled down these hills! As I mentioned this, our guide Aijaz said that he and Naseer had acted in the Bollywood movie “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” and not surprisingly Bhaijaan (Salman Khan) was their favourite actor.

Day 6

There was a lot of trekking on the snow today and like Maddy kept saying, I was in my zone and was mostly trekking alone. There was a 360 degree view of the majestic mountains of the Himalayas and I could not have asked for better company. Met a lot of interesting people and exchanged numbers. As I passed through splendid landscaped, I thought how wonderful it would be to own a mountain instead of a 3BHK. In fact, I even dared to ask a local how much a mountain would cost but alas, Indians cannot buy land in Kashmir. And my wish got trampled upon as soon as it was born 😦

Day 7

There was not much of a trek today, just a couple of hours of trek though the most enchanting woods! We ripped the bark off the birch tree and I had Mushtaq write Khusro’s couplet in Urdu on the bark. I was walking at a very leisurely pace and admiring every little flower, butterfly, bee, towering tree and lichen. Met up with Anshul’s group and walked along with them as they were walking at my pace. The whole group and the guides treated me as one of their own, offered me chai and food and then they started pitching their tents. I then went along to our campsite which was on a table top mountain, the awesomest campsite of the whole trek! There were two pretty kids Ulfat and Munavvar playing around leisurely. Time was moving at a very slow pace and I was loving it.

Day 8

This was the last day and we were headed back to Sonmarg. Again it was a short trek and I did it very leisurely. Met a lot of local kids all with pink cheeks and a lovely smile. On reaching Sonmarg we all congratulated each other. It was sad to say goodbye to all our guides and take the jeep back to Srinagar. I managed to convince the driver to drive the jeep for a while through the most picturesque landscapes of Sonmarg. As soon as I reached the hotel in Srinagar, I rushed to take a hot shower. I was stinking without a bath for 7 days and was never before so excited at the prospect of a shower!

Khuda Hafiz

I have come back with burnt lips, tanned face and blistered feet and I am proud of all of them! Wouldn’t trade them for anything, because along with them I also brought back a sack full of wonderful memories and experiences that will remain with me for a lifetime! Khuda Hafiz mere pyare Kashmiri doston. Aapse phir mulaqat ki tamanna rakhte hue, ijazat lete hain. Shabba Khair.