Chaos

It is interesting to see how we react as a society to even the slightest of changes. A small deviation from the so called 'normal' sequence of life, and everything goes haywire. The change may be as simple as an unexpected morning drizzle. City life gets thrown off balance when the city center gets a mild shower at 7 in the morning. Some kind of crazy panic grabs people which

prompts them to act weird. The traffic gets worse as everybody try to squeeze through or zoom past to 'safety' before the next cloud burst.

All this is not result of some flash floods or water clogging. The drizzle wasn't even strong enough to clean all that bird shit off poor Gandhi's face. Even a cloudy sky seem to provoke this behavior these days; one of those rare occasions that gets the crowd to work together towards a common goal.

Probably all the order and stability that we see around are just failed attempts at creating chaos! All the confusion and panic is perhaps a natural progression to a more logical conclusion beyond systems in equilibrium.

Another Onam !

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.. The Beatles

Onam had a very special place in life as a kid. Those ten days of freedom from school and studies were much anticipated. There were too many attractions - the swing, the early morning rush to pluck the flowers, the delicacies from all neighboring houses, the floral decorations and the general festive atmosphere. After the monsoon, every shrub and weed around the house had a bright colored flower at the end of every branch. I always wanted to keep that tradition alive, just to get a feel of the season and the excitement associated with it.

I was happy to get up today morning and go out searching for flowers with my sisters. It was drizzling, monsoon doesn't keep the schedule these days it seems. The Marsh Marigold patch was still there along the river. Apart from that there were very few flowers around the house. Lantana, one of the most abundant flowers during the season was not to be seen anywhere. The Morning Glory had just two flowers on it. Looks like most of the plants have deferred their flowering season to avoid their precious seeds being destroyed. Perhaps its evolution and natural selection in play, or perhaps I am reading too much into 'The Origin' these days.

The floral decoration is done, I am happy that we did not break the tradition. Its raining outside, nothing much to do than savor the delicacies... What a way to start a week!

The Men Who Stare at Goats

I should have gone ahead and sacrificed that goat the last time I had a bad experience during travel. Or when misfortune struck many times before that. But I just made fun of Hermes, boasted that there is no God of travel; that even if there is one he is busy picking on his opponents. I was terribly wrong in my assumptions and HE got back at me with vengeance. Looks like I have to put a leash on my blasphemous outbursts.

She looked almost like a female version of Jesus Christ...all the charm minus the mustache and the beard. I was on my way back home after visiting my cousin and she came and sat opposite to me in the bus. She had pink nail polish on, and was wearing a striped T-shirt. Though the horizontal stripes made her look a little chubby, I gave her a 9.5 on 10 in the looks department. As soon as she settled down, she had a gulp of water from the water bottle, stroked a strand of hair off her face and took out a book from her hand bag. I myself was reading 'Almost Like a Whale' and was eager to know what she got. But before I could figure out the title she opened the book and started reading. It is kind of an uncontrollable itch for me, till I find out what the other person is reading... just curiosity. So I kept looking up from my book every now and then, hoping to get a glimpse of the title.

Though I was very discreet in my attempts not to catch her attention, eventually she got wind of my glances. Two fiery eyes rose up from behind the book and directed a beam of deadly laser straight at my face. Then only I noticed that she was resting the book on her well endowed bosom, using it as a book-rest, and I've been constantly staring that way! I realized the blunder and looked apologetically at her. How can you explain a female-in-fury that you were looking at the titles and not at her vitals? I thought she might jump up from her seat and shout at the top of her voice. I had by then closed my eyes in anticipation of her Jesus fingers anointing my cheeks, but she was perhaps the forgiving kind! She shrugged her shoulders in contempt, stood up in a jiffy, and walked away to another empty seat towards the rear of the bus.

She was reading 'The Golden Gate' by Vikram Seth,... not 'The Men Who Stare at Goats'.

Goecha La Trek: Days 8 & 9 - To Darjeeling

A bunch of guys who used to get up at 3 and 4 in the morning, without the help of any alarm clock for the last one week, slept late into the morning that day, till the sunlight literally crept in and warmed our asses. Though there was one more day left before we finally say goodbye to the mountains, the lack of excitement was visible on the faces. Given a chance we would all have loved to stay back for a few more days, but then life doesn't work that way always. So with much difficulty we all dragged our tired bodies outside, had breakfast and packed the bags. The taxis were waiting to carry us back to Darjeeling and without much delay we started our journey waving goodbyes to the beautiful people of Yuksom.

We reached Jorethang via Nayabazar, where we changed vehicles and finally checked into Hotel Mohit at Darjeeling by 12 noon. We had rest of the day to explore the town and without wasting any time we hit the Mall road. Some of us had Pork Thungpa at Devkar's while others were busy hogging apple pies at Glanarys. We all convened back at the hotel by 2 for a city tour. The first stops were the Peace Pagoda and the Japanese temple. Both the places were beautiful, but crowded with tourists, unlike the deserted terrains we witnessed the week before. We also visited the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and the tomb of Tenzing Norge. The HMI museum had quite a few interesting exhibits - equipments used by the Everest conquerors, paper clippings explaining the triumphs and failures of many such expeditions and some awesome photographs of Everest, K2 and other peaks. The Darjeeling zoological park is also in the same compound where the main attractions were the Red Panda and the Snow Leopard.

After the city tour we again split up into small groups and roamed around the streets, tasting delicacies and buying souvenirs. I went to a pub called "The Buzz" with Ketan and Alfonso after seeing a poster about live music there. An acoustic trio was playing but we got to hear only the last part of their performance. The pub looked more like an English tavern with more foreigners than locals in there. We had a couple of beers and got back to the hotel in time for dinner. Tamal had arranged for a nice farewell dinner and after a couple of drinks everyone hit the dance floor. Dinner was served by 10 as an early morning journey to the airport was on cards for everyone, except Robert and myself. For the two of us one adventure had ended and the other was about to begin. We had plans to stay back for another week, exploring the North-East. There was no concrete plan or schedule in place, and that was the beauty of the second leg of our adventure!

I dreamed of Buddhist monasteries, snow clad peaks, mountain passes and beautiful ladies that night. It was time to say goodbyes by the time I got back from dreamland. After an early breakfast, warm hugs and well wishes the rest of the gang left to catch their flights, while myself and Robert retired to our rooms. So many things to do, so many places to visit, so much more to experience.. the excitement was creeping back into us. After a leisurely bath and some tea we too walked out into the streets of Darjeeling, trying to figure out where to start, what to do...

Fortunately we had no immediate time-lines to meet, no commitments to fulfill and lot of time to spend. We decided to take things as they come and started walking North... well, towards Glanarys, to have some apple pies for our second breakfast!

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Day 1: To Yuksom
Day 2: Yuksom to Tshoka
Day 3: Tshoka to Dzongri
Day 4: Dzongri to Lamuney
Day 5: To Samiti & Kockchurung
Days 6 & 7: Back to Tshoka & Yuksom
Days 8 & 9: To Darjeeling


Pictures from the trek here

Goecha La Trek: Days 6 & 7 - Back to Tshokha & Yuksom

Morning was refreshing at Kockchurung. After breakfast we started the day's trek by 8 in the morning. The plan was to bypass Dzongri and reach Tshokha by evening. This takes a longer route which joins the Phedang-Dzongri trail. The rains had made this trail quite slippery and people kept falling down at regular intervals. The injured Russian lady was being carried down to Yuksom this very route on a stretcher by some porters. It sure was quite an ordeal for the poor lady as it rained most of the day. We stopped over at Phedang for lunch where we met another group from China who were on their way up. They were a bit apprehensive about the rest of the journey seeing the plight of the Russian.

We picked lot of wild strawberries on our way down and it was quite an enjoyable walk to Tshokha. Even the dogs were enjoying the trip back to base camp, by this time we had five of them with us - Wolfi, Zulu, Dusty, Almost Dusty & Philippe. Marco (short for Marcus Aurelius) had decided to stay back at Kockchurung and try his luck with the other groups. We reached Tshokha quite early in the evening which gave us ample time to roam around the village clicking some pictures. There was a small souvenir shop from where I picked up a bunch of prayer flags. We ordered for some Thongmba and celebrated our return in style. Post dinner, there was a special session with Krishna on stars and constellations. He had amazing knowledge not just in locating the stars and planets, but also explaining the mythology behind the constellations and their names. By the time we retired to our tents all of us had picked up few tips from him on star gazing.

We woke up to some spectacular light show the next day morning. Sun was dancing in and out of the clouds, creating some awesome patterns in the sky. Soon everything from the Yaks to the horses to the dogs became subjects to a dozen cameras. After lazing around the campsite for an hour or so we packed up one last time for the base camp - Yuksom. Weather was really pleasant the whole day and it did not rain till we reached Yuksom. After unloading our bags in the travelers hut we all went to town.. back to civilization after 7 days! There was a queue in front of the hair cutting saloon for some much needed cutting and shaving. We also visited the Kathok lake, another sacred lake in Yuksom. It has quite scenic surroundings with lush green grasslands and prayer flags all around it, not to mention the crystal clear waters. The belief is that leaves don't fall into the lake or rather the birds won't let them fall into the lake.

Yuksom is a small but beautiful village and few of us took a walk across the village to the market and back. Most of the houses are made of wood and are neatly lined up on either side of the road. The roads also look beautiful with the prayer flags on long masts planted all along. Cute looking kids were busy picking an orange berry called 'ilusun'. We tried Tibetan bread, fried potatoes and momos at a roadside restaurant. We had chicken for dinner that night, after which we once again convened around the table outside, for a few hours of singing and dancing. The celebrations went on for quite a while and sometime early the next morning I hit the sack!

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Day 1: To Yuksom
Day 2: Yuksom to Tshoka
Day 3: Tshoka to Dzongri
Day 4: Dzongri to Lamuney
Day 5: To Samiti & Kockchurung
Days 6 & 7: Back to Tshoka & Yuksom
Days 8 & 9: To Darjeeling


Pictures from the trek here

Goecha La Trek: Day 5 - To Samiti & Kokchurung

That was by far the wildest night of my life. The temperature had fallen to minus ten degrees and the snowfall continued through the night. The fear that the tent might collapse on us kept us awake, tapping the roof every now and then not letting the soft snow accumulate on the top. Though it worked for a while, the snow started piling up on the sides and the metal poles holding the tent slowly started bending inwards. But it wasn't quite frightening as we slipped in and out of sleep, till we had a look at the situation the next morning. By 3 in the morning the snowfall stopped and we got out onto a carpet of soft snow. As the weather looked relatively good, we decided to walk up to Goecha La pass. The Russian contingent who were camping nearby were also getting ready for the early morning trek.

By four in the morning 9 of us started for Goecha La, while the rest of the gang decided to sleep for a while more. As we started the climb in the sub zero temperatures I could feel the cold and altitude finally getting on to me. The arrogance of wearing shorts in that climate was being dearly paid for. After a 45 minutes walk we reached the other side of the hill and got the first glimpse of Samiti Lake. There was an abandoned log cabin by the lake and the whole setting looked awesome in the morning light. By then it started snowing again, this time accompanied by strong winds. As the morning sun colored the skies a dull blue, myself and Gokul decided to spend some time around the lake clicking pictures. Once the sun is fully out, the reflection from the snow is so blinding that the pictures will all be washed out. Though the intention was to resume the climb a little later, we were so captivated by the beauty of the place and finally decided to abandon the climb, a decision which proved wise as the day progressed.

Samiti lake looked so serene and calm, bordered by snow clad peaks on all sides. Brightly colored birds flying around the shores, prayer flags fluttering in the wind, howling sound of the wind and the snowflakes together gave a special charm to the morning. We walked around the lake a few times and soon realized we were in fact walking over the frozen lake itself, carefully camouflaged under the soft snow. We soon moved towards the log cabin and started working on Snowie, the snowman. We used a biscuit packet for his nose, some branches and twigs for his arms and hair. By the time we were done with Snowie, the guys who had gone ahead also came back, the weather was so bad that they could not proceed much, though they got a nice glimpse of Kanchenjunga from another view point. We also learned that one of the ladies from the Russian contingent had severe bleeding and will have to be airlifted for urgent medical treatment. Inspite of some great protective gear (far superior to ours) and precautions, nature at times have the last laugh!

By the time we walked back to the camp site the guys were all up and running and were busy making their own snowman. Miles and miles of white snow was all that we could see from the hilltop, with the tents looking like stray droplets of color on an otherwise blank canvas. Some of the Yaks had ran away in the night and the porters had gone to fetch them. We had some nice hot breakfast and started packing the stuff for our return journey, playing with snow all the while. By 11 we started the day's trek and after lunch at Thangshing, we finally reached the cabin at Kokchurung by 4 in the evening. This stretch was mostly through flat terrain and intermittent rains made it all the more fun. We were planning to stay inside the cabin for the night, but as it was too crowded for the 25 of us, Alfonso, Robert and myself decided to pitch a tent by the riverside. We had a terrific view of mount Pandim from there and the gushing waters of Prek Chu made it even more an experience to camp outside than in the log cabin.

After setting up the tent few of us went exploring the area, the bridges, rhododendron forests and the crystal clear Prek Chu. Alfonso wanted to take a dip and it took just about 35 seconds for him to get out of his clothes, take a dip and get back inside them! Perched on the rocks outside the tent, with 'Almost Dusty' for company, I took out my harmonica and played a few tunes to my heart's content. The feeling you get as the sound waves reverberate through the valleys and the pine forests, is something my limited vocabulary is incapable of reproducing.

We had started our return journey, but it was far from over yet. After some hot rice and rice kheer we all went to sleep, happy and contented at a mission almost accomplished!

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Day 1: To Yuksom
Day 2: Yuksom to Tshoka
Day 3: Tshoka to Dzongri
Day 4: Dzongri to Lamuney
Day 5: To Samiti & Kockchurung
Days 6 & 7: Back to Tshoka & Yuksom
Days 8 & 9: To Darjeeling


Pictures from the trek here

Goecha La Trek: Day 4 - Dzongri to Lamuney

'What time is it, is it 3 yet?', someone or other kept yelling every hour that night. Such was the excitement on the prospect of seeing mount Kanchenjunga up close and personal the next morning, in fact one of the major attractions of the trek. Dabla Khang, the view point near Dzongri is one of the best places to witness the majesty of Kanchenjunga and its brithers Kabru, Rathong, Simvo, Tensinghan and Pandim. This view point is atop a hillock some 2 kilometers from the cabin. Some of the gang decided to skip this four kilometer warm up session and decided to conserve energy for the day's long trek to Lamuney. The rest of us didn't want to miss the sunrise and started by 3 in the morning. It wasn't an easy climb in the starlight, and the Overnight dew and resultant frost had given a white coat to all the shrubs and grass, making the terrain all the more slippery. It was freezing cold too and we had a tough time climbing so early in the morning. Arghaya, our guide, had already downed a few glasses of Roxy and he was running up the hill, giggling like a small kid who is about to view something majestic. And majestic it was!

We reached the view point well ahead of the sunrise. There was another group of Australians, who were camping on the other side of this hillock, also joined us on top. There is a small Buddhist altar of worship where Arghaya offered some incense, as we all sang "Om Mani Padme Hum". Soon sunny boy came out of his slumber and the hue of the horizon slowly changed from gray to Red to orange and finally to a fine yellow. we all stood in awe as KJ and brothers put up a show amidst the golden rays of a rejuvenated sun. Our campsite was visible as a tiny spec of blue towards one side and the vast Lamuney valley towards the other side of the hillock. After a few photos with KJ and bros, we soon started our descent. We had a pretty long walk ahead of us for the day. Instead of camping either at Kokchrung or Thangshing, our plan was to walk all the way to Lamuney valley, and camp there overnight. To accomplish this we had to start as early as possible.

After giving the folks who stayed back in the cabin an exaggerated account of the Kanchenjunga darshan, we soon packed our stuff and started the day's trek. From Dzongri it is a steep climb initially, followed by some vast grasslands, at the end of which you get a magnificent view of Lamuney valley with Prek Chu flowing right through the middle. The snow clad mountains of Pandim stands guard on one side of the valley while another rocky cliff borders the other. The descent down to Kokchrung is quite steep and hard on the knees, though the rhododendrons in all different colors are everywhere along the path. By the time we reached the log hut at Kokchrung, we had also lost about 1200 feet in altitude. The thought of gaining this altitude back on our return trip was quite terrifying, but thankfully we had other plans. We had a short break at Kokchrung, from where we crossed the gushing Prek Chu river to the other side of the valley. Rest of the 3 kilometers walk to Thangshing was entirely through a pine forest where every piece of wood was covered by bright yellow moss. It was kind of spooky at some places, even at noon.

We stopped at Thangshing for lunch, where you have a nice grassland for camping and a dilapidated stone hut for some protection from the winds. Mount Pandim looms large on the other side of the hut and some prefer to camp here for the night. We decided to walk another 4 kilometers to Lamuney, and camp on this side of Samiti lake. It would have been better had we camped at Thangshing, from safety point of view. But then we would have definitely missed out the fun of huddling inside the tent in the night, as it snowed from 9PM to 2AM, hoping that the tent won't come down on us! We all reached Lamuney by 5 in the evening and started with the pakodas and horlicks. By the time we finished dinner it was getting real cold and in no time it started snowing. For most of us, this was the first encounter with soft snow, and the darkness or cold could not stop us from running around, clicking snaps and howling at the stop of our voices like a pack of wolves!

Our destination for the next day was Goecha La mountain pass, but the snowfall made us think twice about attempting the pass. It is always treacherous to climb to that heights when there is snowfall. Tracing your way back to the camp becomes a herculean task in the constant snowfall, even if you assume that you won't run into avalanches or slippery ice. The best time to reach Goecha La is before sunrise and this made it even more risky. We decided to postpone the decision till the next day morning at 3, after analyzing the situation. When we took our positions in the tents, we all had mixed feelings - the prospect of playing around in soft snow next morning and the possibility of canceling any further climb. Soon I slipped into sleep, listening to the sound of 'snowflakes falling on the tent'.

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Day 1: To Yuksom
Day 2: Yuksom to Tshoka
Day 3: Tshoka to Dzongri
Day 4: Dzongri to Lamuney
Day 5: To Samiti & Kockchurung
Days 6 & 7: Back to Tshoka & Yuksom
Days 8 & 9: To Darjeeling


Pictures from the trek here

Goecha La Trek: Day 3 - Tshoka to Dzongri

The day starts quite early in the mountains. By 4 in the morning people will be up and on with the day's chores. I woke up to the sound of the Yak bells. The Yaks are let loose every evening for grazing and then rounded up the next morning. They rarely stray too far, generally stay together as a herd and the bells on their neck help to locate them. I was treated with an awesome view of the snow clad mount Pandim as I crept out of the tent. The sun was almost out and Tshoka looked beautiful in the morning light.

Tshoka is a small village with some 10 houses and a couple of wooden cabins for the trekkers. There is a small lake right in the middle of the village and a small Buddhist temple on a hillock. The whole arrangement of houses and the green pastures reminded me of the Shire from LOTR. After some hot coffee and a quick breakfast of Chole-Batura, we started the day's trek by 7. Our destination was a log cabin at Dzongri, at an altitude of 4,020 meters. Altitude had started taking its toll and a few in our group were having headaches and dizziness even after a good night's acclimatisation. We had to gain another 1,000 meters altitude to reach Dzongri and the rains in the night had made the pathways a lot slippery. At some places where it is steep and muddy, wooden logs were laden along the pathway and this made an otherwise strenuous climb a lot easy. It was around Tshoka that we saw the first Rhododendrons.

We were passing through Rhododendron territory and they were all around, in all colors ranging from the reds to the purples to the yellows to the whites. You find them in patches of a single color, painting an entire hillside or valley red or yellow. Almost midway to Dzongri, in the middle of red and yellow rhododendron forest is a meadow called Phedang. There is a small log cabin there as well and trekkers generally stop here for lunch. Soon we unpacked all the left over chole-bature from breakfast and sat down for some much needed rest and lunch. There was heavy mist all around and with the swift winds it was playing hide and seek on the landscape. It was wonderful to sit there amidst all the color and enjoy the lunch on a Tuesday afternoon. The dogs, Wolfi, Zulu and Dusty were running all around chasing pieces of cloud here and there, when they are not sharing lunch with one of us.

It was getting too misty to walk as we finished dinner, nevertheless we resumed our journey to Dzongri. Phedang to Dzongri is a wonderful climb through dense Rhododendron forests; there are more than 400 flowering species it seems! After a few hours of walk the vegetation gets thinner and you find only small bushes and shrubs. The sky was looking menacing already, with some heavy clouds and the guide warned us about possible hailstorms. As he rightly guesssed it came upon us in no time. It was fun initially to enjoy the pieces of ice that fall all over you. Though we ran around the place in the initial enthusiasm, hail storms can soon get frustrating, especially when you are a long way away from the destination. Thankfully this one was short and only lasted for some 15 minutes. We picked up pace as we had some flat land ahead of us and soon we could see the log cabin at Dzongri.

We were the last to reach Dzongri, taking all the time in the world to enjoy the beauty all around. Rest of the gang was huddled around hot pakodas and tea by the time we reached, and it is a great feeling to walk into such a reception from a hailstorm. Almost minutes after we started munching on the Onion and Potato pakodas another hailstorm and rain started. This one was heavy and we were happy to watch the spectacle from the security of the log cabin. After the storm the sun came out in all its glory and we were treated to some beautiful landscapes all around. Sinsinayya Subba and her family takes care of the log hut at Dzongri, who lives there 6 months a year, growing carrots, peas and tomatoes. She had some home made rice wine called Roxy, with her and few of us decided to taste it out. It tasted much like Vodka and was such a help in fighting the cold.

As night progressed it became extremely cold at Dzongri and we decided not to pitch tents and instead sleep inside the cabin. Space was never a constraint as 20 odd people squeezed themselves into the two small rooms! With the plan to start the next day's trek at 3 in the morning, we all slept early in the anticipation of seeing the 'five treasures of snow' the next morning. That is the meaning of the word 'Kangchenjunga', the third tallest mountain in the world.

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Day 1: To Yuksom
Day 2: Yuksom to Tshoka
Day 3: Tshoka to Dzongri
Day 4: Dzongri to Lamuney
Day 5: To Samiti & Kockchurung
Days 6 & 7: Back to Tshoka & Yuksom
Days 8 & 9: To Darjeeling

Pictures from the trek here