When I Saw Snow for the First Time at Sar Pass!

When we started visiting mountains together, I used to break into a song and dance about any snow capped peak I could spot even if it was at a great distance. Sesha, who had trekked before would tease me a lot and always brag about his experiences of walking on snow for quite a few hours.

Finally, in the year 2002 we trekked through Saar Paas in Himanchal Pradesh. On day four of the trek, I spotted a brown dirty patch of snow for the first in my 30 years of life. It was a bit off the track, but I took pains to go near it and touch it. I again broke into a song and dance about it. But even in my wildest dreams I could never imagine the sight that waited for me a few hours later, when we reached our campsite, Nagaru. As far as the eye could see, there was snow everywhere, even beneath my feet. And that posed a problem. I was not wearing a proper trekking shoes, and for that day and the next, I slipped and slipped. Still, it is one of the most cherished memories of my life.

Another Tale from Kuari Pass Trek, Uttranchal Himalayas, India

A View from Kuari Pass Base

We met three fabulous people on the trek through Kuari Pass in Uttranchal Himalayas (India) this June. Sonu was our guide for the trek and Vikrant and Virendra owned the horses that carried our luggage. I have talked about our conversations in a post before.

This tale belongs to Sonu and he told it to us when we asked how he became a trekking guide? I am writing it from memory and in English, although our conversation happened in Hindi.

“I started as a porter on one of the treks that go beyond Badrinath. The first time around I had no idea what it involved. It was cold and I was not adequately dressed for the weather. On top of it, I was wearing thin-soled Tennis shoes. Every porter is supposed to carry 25 kg. of weight and I was not prepared for that either. Half way through, my shoes wore out and I gave up. I returned and they didn’t even pay me the full amount for the number of the days I worked. But after that, I was better prepared. I worked as a porter for a few years and when I learnt the routes well enough, I started working as a guide. Now, I only freelance and do not get tied with any one agency.”

All this was told with such good humor, without any trace of bitterness or malice toward anyone. It was only when I sat down later and talked to Sesha, we realized how tough it must have been for him initially. Otherwise, Sonu made it sound almost like fun!

Wish I Could Travel More!

There are days when I unnecessarily fret and fume and will not let myself have any rest. A direct result of too much work (unfinished) and too little travel. Longing for December and some travel (plans are to visit Sikkim, I hope it will work out). Till then, I will have to look more frequently at my photographs from the various trips and girn and bear it.

A Query for Ladakh that Brought a Smile to my Face on an Otherwise Lousy Day

Magical Ladakh

My day at work left me feeling very flat and drained today. My evening Table Tennis sessions are a perfect antidote to such stress but even that failed to lift my spirits which is truly rare. When I reached home and kept my keys next to the TV, Sesha left his violin and started fussing over me. He also offered to make tea for me, interrupting his violin session and that is even rarer! Still, I was finding it difficult to shake off the blues.

Then I remembered a lovely mail I got today. I went over it and shared it with my family. That did the trick. It is a query about Ladakh and anything to do with the region works like a charm with me. Here is the mail:

Hello Sweet Mridula

My name is ... I am a monk. My desire is to go to Ladakh (Leh). Precisely, I need to get to Phuktal Gompa (a monastery), in Phuktal in the Zanskar region, to finish a spiritual mission. I plan on leaving on November 1st, 2006. I plan on flying to Leh from Delhi.

The Problem is that I am not a tourist and I do not want to sight see. It is not my interest. Besides I do not have the money to run around. I do not want to visit the other monasteries either. Is there someone that you know in Leh, who I can pay to take me directly to Phuktal Gompa, without the frills and the thrills.

They say the Zanskar region is closed off by the end of November. So, am I safe to go at the beginning of November.

Please help me with a contact person and any words of advice that you may offer.

I had read the mail in hurry but it made me pause and smile. I immediately write to Rigzin, who is from Ladakh (but currently lives in another contry) and has shared with me pictures of the Leh Floods. I seeked his help and he was so kind with his reply.

I am a friend of Mridula so she has forwarded me your email. I belong to Leh.

Oct-May is a bad time for Zanskar as it is cut off from Leh. Local people and very few foreigners do ice trekking to reach zanskar during this time. Walking over frozen river (Indus river) is really tough. People also travel via Kargil to Zanskar.

You can get in touch with Mr Odpal George, a local Ladakhi his contact details are:

Mobile + 91 9419179742

Ph- + 91 1982252638

Email: odpal@himalayansafaris.com

He is a travel agent, but if you write to him about your specific query, he should help you out, and is very reasonable in pricing. Since these months are off season you could ask for a discount.

Feel free to email me for any queries.

I consider such communications the biggest and the sweetest benefit of blogging. Three people currently living in three different countries interacting over Ladakh brought together by a blog, to borrow from MasterCard, feels priceless.

A Drive from Noida to Gurgaon

It has been a long time since I visited any new place and living in an urban concrete jungle gets on my soul after a while. This weekend we visited my brother-in-law and sister's place. We had a great time with them and their one year old terror, my lovely niece. For a rare change Sesha was driving and my elder nephew was with him in the front seat where they were debating the relative merits of Hindi and Tamil pronunciations! Left to my own devices I as usual started taking photographs, the only change being I was doing it from a moving car.

I was clicking pictures at random, trying to capture whatever caught my fancy at the moment. It was a Sunday and the roads were relatively empty. After capturing many blurred images I suddenly started noticing a pattern.

There were so many people on the sidewalks! I noticed it very clearly maybe because I was looking for things to record on my camera. Otherwise we have taken the same road so many times and they at the best remain a blurr for me.

I wonder how much they make in day, what are their dreams?

The pavement is a home for so many even now!

They seem to be so much at ease even on the dusty roadside. I hope these lovely flowers add some color to their lives too!

Almost every 50 meter or even less, I encountered some kind of an attempt to earn a livelyhood! And all this in our capital city of New Delhi or fast developing region known as the NCR.

In Search of an Indian Village: Travel Article From The Washington Post

I read an interesting travel article on the Washington Post recently. The author, Lisa Singh is in search of an authentic Indian village expeience. Not the Chokhi Dhani type.

I wanted to experience an overlooked side to Indian life. Nearly all Western travelers stick to India's cities. Here in Rajasthan, a largely desert land visited by nearly half of all tourists to the country, those wanting a taste of Indian rural life often settle on a place like Chokhi Dhani. Billed as an "ethnic village resort," it's an amusement park on the outskirts of Jaipur where visitors ride bullock carts, eat in mud huts and watch dancers perform under the open night sky. You'll also hear shrieks of fright from the crowd every time the electric lights inadvertently flicker off.

She is not willing to forgo the hot shower but quite a game not to let a few mice scare her off.

I didn't want to forgo hot showers, but I was eager to spend days away from the city -- and not a moment too soon. I'd flown into Jaipur in February as a three-week garbage strike gripped the city of more than 2 million and the smell of burning trash filled the air. The day the Hindustan Times reported that strikers "bayed for their leaders' blood," I hired a driver, met up with Mr. Agrawal and hit the road.

However, if you are willing to forgo the hot shower and not scared of a few mice or cockroches, I will suggest a different recipe for you.

1. Catch a state transport bus going in the direction of either Himanchal Pradesh or Uttranchal (or any other state you want to visit). You may get a few goats as your fellow passengers.

2. The most expensive room in the off season may cost you 150 rupees (3 dollars roughly) if you are lucky to find a proper hotel.

3. There will be a lot of friendly people around away from the big town madness that Delhi induces.

4. Sometimes the bus journey turns out to be a little bit too much even for me.

5. The places that are the last stop ( or almost te last stop) of a state transport bus are too beautiful for words in the state of Himanchal Pradesh and Uttranchal.

Dal Lake got Wi-Fi in 2003!

I was interacting with my students in a class and we were talking about Google's initiative to provide free wi-fi connection in Mountain View, California. A student said, ma'am "Dal Lake is also Wifi!" I jumped and I told him I will check it out later but it seems quite contrary to the security reasons touted there.

Soon enough, as the class got over I googled it and the kid was absolutely right! And this happened way back in 2003. Here it goes. And sure enough half an hour later the kid came to my office and asked, ma'am did you check it out? I am glad I had and I told him he was absolutel right!

CHENNAI: Dax Networks Ltd, part of Apcom Group, has Wi-Fi enabled Dal Lake, the second largest lake in the J&K state, thus making it the first Wi-Fi enabled lake in the world. The project which has been conceived by Dax Networks and was being implemented in partnership with the Department of Tourism, J&K and iPeaks, an ISP of the state, will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister of J&K Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on November 1, 2003.

I posted about this on India Mike too and asked people to share their experiences. One reply till now and in the negative. The person says she could not catch any Wifi signal on her laptop last year.