Notes from India

India 2007

2007-03-20T03:21:00.000Z

In Delhi Now ... Yay (2 Photos)
Drive to Noida (3 Photos)
Its been ten Days
*** Gujjar Family (7 Photos)
Gujjars lead a nomadic lifestyle and inhabit parts of the scenic himalayas.
*** Roads in Himalayas (8 Photos)
In this post, I want to share what it is like to travel in a bus in the mighty Himalayas of India.
** In my element Now (5 Photos)
Finally I reach the mountains that i love soo much.
Fantastic Trek .. But when will it stop raining.

CANADIAN GROUP ARRIVES IN DELHI

DRIVE FROM DELHI TO THE BASE OF TREK
** From Delhi to Manali (9 Photos)
Journey from Delhi where the group landed in India to Manali (Our base in the Himalayas for the adventure activities of the group).
** Manali to Lahaul + Crazy hike (8 Photos)
After acclimatization in Manali for three nights at an altitude of 2000 meters, it was time to raise the bar.
** Lahaul to Pang (13 Photos)
* Pang to Leh (10 Photos)
We crossed a total of 5 passes on our way from Manali to Leh, 2 of them were higher than 5000 meters.
*** Traditional House in Spituk & Ladakh Festival (13 Photos)
We stay in their almost 100 year old traditional house of our host family.
** Drive from Leh to Padum (22 Photos)
Bumpiest and dustiest stretch of the entire journey from Delhi to Padum/Raru.

TREK
** TREK: Padam to Phugtal (11 photos)
Finally we start Trekking
*** Phugtal Monastery (9 Photos)
The main highlight of our trip
** Phugtal to Darcha (26 Photos)
Took another 5 days to complete our trek from Phugtal to Darcha. The highest point of the trek was Shingola (5094 mt)

BACK IN MANALI
*** A visit to Orphanage (7 Photos)
Orphanage in Koshla, India (near Manali)
** Paragliding in Manali (8 Photos)
The Paragliding started at an altitude of 2500 meters and ended at 1600 meters approximately.
** Kullu Dushehra (7 Photos)
Dushehra is a Hindu festival that signifies the victory of good over evil.
* Farewell Manali (6 Photos)
Last few days we spent at Manali while recuperating from our tiring trek in the Zanskar.

LAST WEEK
** Dharamsala (10 Photos)
Dharmsala: The residence of his holiness Dalai Lama.
*** Delhi-Agra (9 Photos)
Visiting Delhi and Taj Mahal in Agra.

CANADIAN GROUP LEAVES; MY SOLO TRAVELS
*** Solo Trek: Hash, Getting Lost, Leopard

Solo Trek: Hash, Getting Lost, Leopard

2006-11-05T23:52:00.003Z

Namaste !!

I have just completed successfully my first solo trek of the year and wow what a trek it was. This trek was so full of danger, excitement, wildlife and beauty. In order to maintain the confidentiality of the people and villages I visited I will not mention the name of the places and people I met. But here is the synopsis of what happend.

Day 1: I leave Manali and reached this village from where my trail had to start.

Day 2: On first day of trek I stayed in a village where I was offered hashish in kilos and I also bump into illegal cutting of the forests where I also took some photos (not a very bright idea considering that I came into the limelight of all the villagers who sort of interrogated me laters). I stay overnight with a avery hospitable family in the village.

Day 3: Relying on my topographic sheets of the area I decide to leave for a meadow about 5 hours climb from the village. I temporarily loose my way in the jungle while going to the top and it takes me 9 hours to reach this meadow at 3500 meters. In the night I camped alone and it took me 2 hours to start a bonfire from the wet wood (I don't carry kerosene). The night was kind of scary considering that I was surrounded by dense jungle and many animals dewelling in it. Being afraid to sleep, I went for a 10 minutes climb from my tent in the moonlight to call some friends on my mobile and to let them know about my whereabouts. (The peak of the meadow was the only place where I could get the mobile phone reception and I was camping pretty close to that.) I sleep around 1 AM.

Day 4: Beautiful morning, I spent 4 hours just exploring the meadow and watching this huge gigantic hawk flying over the mountain. Finally around noon I decide to leave for my descent to the village on the other side of the meadow that should not have taken me more than 3 hours. After one hour of searching I finally found the trek that I trusted leading to my destination and whoaaaa ... what a trek it was ... it was right at the end of the cliff and very steep. After 4 km of downhill trekking where i desended 1200 meters in 4 hours I reach my destination village. My legs were sore due to the steep desent (despite the fact that I had been trekking on and off for 2 months in India). At the village everybody is very surprised and they tell me that the last trekkers that came from the route that I came from were some army personnel in the year 1999-2000. I am again very lucky to find an excellent family that took me to their house and I was given a kind of hero's welcome in the village. In the night I was again offered some hashish, but this time they also offer me a woman (for sex) ... whoa!! I refused both of them.

Day 5: I decide to rest this day as my legs are kind of sore. Walking around the village in the morning ...... Whoo ooooo aaaaa !! .... I found out that almost everybody in the village indulges in producing hash and they smuglle hashish as far as Europe. It was kind of funny to see almost everybody in the village making hashish, especially people doing it while they were walking around the village or talking with other people, they did this in such a casual manner. With the consent of my host I took some (actually many) photos around the village, people making hashish, portraits, landscape. hmmmm taking photos of people making hashish was again not such a bright idea as around midnight I heard knocks on my door and than I was surrounded by 3 people who sort of interrrogated about my intentions about trekking and staying in the village. They were kind of surprised that I did not accepted hashish and the fact that I had refused this woman from the village the previous night. I show them my passport and they seem to be calm and in order to scare them a bit I also told them that by mobile phone I was updating my friends about my whereabouts and the people I was staying with almost every few hours so that my friends could klnow where to send the rescue team or police in case they did not hear from me. Anyway one of the dude wanted me to stay for a week in the village in order to find more about me but I told them that I was leaving the next day in the morning.

Day 6: I leave in the morning after a sumptuous breakfast. I loose my trail again and around noon I found myself on the cliff slightly protruding through the forest. This place had an excellent view and a very steep desecnt on all sides. There were not really any marked trails in this area, so finding the right way through the jungle was kind of hard and there was always a chance factor. Relying on my topo sheet and with some common sense I finally found the right trail around 4 Pm and than I reach my destination around 6 in the evening. Not such a dangerous day so far, besides that walk in the thick forest. I stay overnight in the forest guest house and the security guard over there cooks a fabulous meal for me. He cooked some birds and they tasted so yummy, I was happy to be eating some meat after many days. I go to bed thinking that it had been a pretty safe day ...... Oooops!!!! I had no idea what the night had in store for me. Around 2030, I hear this weird howling while laying in bed, than I heard knocking on the door of my guest house. It was a security guard and he told me that there was a leapord that was very close to us. I had never heard anything like that before. The howls of this animal were so shrilling and loud and they were echoing in the whole of valley. For the first time in my life I came to know what it means to get chills down the spine. The howling continued for almost an hour and so did the prayers on my end and promises to the God that I will never trek alone again.

Somehow I was able to get some sleep. In the morning, I was treated to a fabulous breakfast by the security guard of the guest house, after which I started what was supposed to be the last day of my trek. Before I left, some villagers told me to be cautious as I was going to be walking towards the direction from where the howls were coming the previous night. Once I reached the pass which was close to 4000 meters (low altitude my Himalayan standards), I was very enchanted by the views and decided to stay overnight on the pass in order to take some photos of the sunset. For 3-4 hours I collected as much wood as I could as I was going to be camping alone in the middle of nowhere and that too pretty close to the place from where the howls were coming in the previous night.

Although it was a bit of a scary night, I was able to get some excellent photos with which I was very happy. I was also happy that the mobile phone was working at this place as I was able to make some phone calls to my friends in India and Canada. It was good to connect with friends as I wasn't very sure that I was going to make it alive the next day or if I was going to be devoured by someone above the food chain. I think the big bonfire worked and I was also blessed with some awesome moonlight and the spectacle o the stars.

After the beautiful night over that pass, I woke up the next morning and hiked for three hours to the village at the road head from where I took the bus to Manali :D

Delhi - Agra

2006-11-05T22:33:00.000Z

Some people find it hard to believe but this year was the first time that I visited Taj Mahal. Yes I was born in India and I have travelled quite a lot in India, but I mostly restricted myself to the mountains only.

Chris and Yvan did the Delhi-Agra circuit by themselves as they were leaving India before Nathalie. They went through a lot of troubled waters. To read about thier ordeal, check out Chris's Blog. Me and Nathalie who travelled together for the last week, did'nt really had any serious issues as everything went pretty smoothly.

Contemplating on how to get train tickets @ Restaurant in Delhi

Getting the train tickets for Agra: This is a normal line up for getting an advanced ticket for a train. For current tickets, line up is usually much worse.

Train Ride to Agra: yes it was pretty comfortable 200 km in 2 hours (In India, it is quite a feat) and the food was soo yummy

Tombstone at Fatehpur Sikri

Fatehpur Sikri

The Taj Mahal @ Agra

Meditating at Taj: Silhoutte of a muslim woman meditating in front of the Taj :-) .. BTW Its the one and only Nat

Nathalie coming from the changing room?: Don't ask me the story here ... ask Nat what she was doing behind those clothes.

Nathalie's Last Dinner @ Delhi: My friends from Delhi joined us, watch out Nat in the mirror having a go at the dosa.

Dharamsala

2006-11-05T22:02:00.000Z

After spending 5 days in Manali, Chris and Yvan went to Delhi. Felix, Pat and Julie went to Amritsar. Nathalie and I went to Dharmsala, The residence of his holiness Dalai Lama.

Upper Dharamsala also called "Mcleod Ganj", at an altitude of 1700 meters is also the residence of his holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet. It is a home to many Tibetan settlements and institutions such as "Tibetan Government in exile", Namgayal Monastery, Norbuligka (Tibetan Handicrafts), TIPA (Tibetan Institute of Performing arts), Men-Tsee-Khang (Tibetan Medicine), TCV (Tibetan Children's Village). Sometimes McLeod Ganj is also called "Little Lhasa", after the capital city of Tibet.

Morning Newspaper: First time we heard about the Dengue fever outbreak in Delhi

Food offerings (Prasad) at the Namgayal Monastery (Where HH Dalai Lama lives)

Butter Lamps @ Namgayal Monastery

Curtains at the entrance to the monastery @ Norbulingka
I love this photo ... very sensual in my eyes

Nathalie sitting quietly (One of the rare times)

Tibetan Monks chanting prayers at Norbulingka Monastery

Devotees: Most of these were employees at Norbulingka who poured in the monsstery after their day shift was over.

Super Jovial Kids in front of the Monastery at Norbulingka. While the adults were praying inside the monastery, most of the kids were playing outside. I had a great photoshoot with these kids

Getting a Mehandi tatoo in Dharamsala.
Warning: Get an organic Mehandi tatoo not a chemical dye one.

PONG VIEW COTTAGE : The Cottage we stayed in while visiting Dharamsala.

Farewell Manali

2006-11-05T21:08:00.000Z

These photos are from the last few days we spent at Manali while recuperating from our tiring trek in the Zanskar. We stayed at a fabulous place called "Hotel Manali Continental", where we were treated more like members of a family rather than tourists. It was kind of an emotional farewell to our hosts who offered us a very comfortable oasis from all the chaos of the Manali town.

After Manali, the group split up as all of them wanted to do different things for their last few days in India. Yvan and Chris had a week of stay left, so they left straight for Delhi and than for Agra. Felix was going to be around for another two weeks, so he left for Amritsar and than Dharamsala along with Pat and Julie. Nat had 10 days left, so she stayed with me till the festival of Dushehra started in the Kullu valley and than we went to Dharamsala, to Delhi and Agra.

Chris and Yvan decided to do the Delhi-Agra thing by themselves and they went through lots of troubled waters. To read more about them, you can check Chris's blog.

Roerich Gallery at Naggar, 20 kms from Manali

Cultural Show (Ram Leela) at Manali

DHAM: Family get together in Koshla Village, our hosts at Manali were very kind in extending an invitation to visit their ancestral house in the village.

Yvan and Chris saying goodbye before they left for Delhi and than to Agra.

Nathalie taking some Cooking Lessons at the private kitchen of our hosts in Manali

Hotel Manali Continental
"Home away from Home"
Oasis from all the Chaos of Manali

Kullu Dushehra

2006-11-05T20:33:00.000Z

Dushehra is a Hindu festival that signifies the victory of good over evil, yes ... (Hindus have been talking about the evil doers for a looooong time before Bush got a hang of it). Dushehra is usually celebrated in most of India for one day only but in Kullu valley (aka the valley of Gods) it takes another dimension. This festival lasts for one week in which Devtay (dieties) from many villages in and around the Kullu valley are brought together to Dushehra ground in Kullu. Bringing the diety from a village to this central location can involve many days of walking for the villagers/devotees. This year there were devtay from more than 200 villages spread all over Himachal.

Different aspects of the festival: This festival has religious, cultural as well as entertainment, financial/market components. I would have liked to go to some details to explain the significance of Kullu Dushehra (For now i will just let my photos do the talking).

Dieties (Devtay) from different villages being carried to the Kullu Dushehra ground.

The Crowd watching the procession of the diety of Raghunathji (The most important and sacred diety of this festival)

Maut ka kuan (Well of death): Daredevils performing their stunts with minimal safety. In case someone has doubts, I wanted to mention that the guy in the red shirt is the one driving the car.

Safe? The guy with a stripes on shirt was collecting money from the hands of people watching this show at the same time as driving.

Reaction: Nat's reaction to the acts of daredevils.

Cultural Performance at Dushehra: These dancers were from the state of Bihar in India.

The Sweet vendors at the festival.

TREK: Padam to Phugtal

2006-11-05T20:27:00.000Z

Finally after 24 hours in the flight from Toronto to Delhi, 17 hour bus ride from Delhi to Manali, and than 6 days of jeep safari from Manali to Padam (Total of 14 days inclusive of acclimatization at different altitudes), we started our trek to the Phugtal Monastery. It was another four days of walk before we made it to this fantastic monastery set in the rock face.

This is what Chris had to say about trekking in Zanskar "I'll never forget the stunning, stark beauty of Zanskar. It has truly touched me. There's so much more, so many things to tell". For more dose, you can check the last paragraphs of his blog.

Star Trails: I got this shot on the first day of the trek. Observe the Chorten in the village.

Nat and Julie helping out the family with their skills in Cooking

Kids in the Kitchen of the family we stayed with at Ichar Village. They were doing thier homework from school, or just playing around.

Purne: Where a silty stream from Shingo La meets the turquoise waters of the Tsarap River

On the way to Phugtal

Interaction
Photo Credit: Nathalie

Banks of the River Tsarap, enroute to Phugtal

Nat doing what she does best i.e. Interacting with locals ;)

The Maple in India: A young local kids showing their affection to the maple leaf. Photo Credit: Nathalie

Just a moment away: Last curve before the first glimpse of the Phugtal Monastery

Finally the jewel of all the monasteries in Ladakh.
PHUGTAL GOMPA

Phugtal Monastery

2006-11-05T07:36:00.000Z

Phugtal Monastery/Gompa was the main highlight of our trip. I can't say enough about this fantastic monastery, one has to visit this monastery in person in order to truly feel the essence of this fabulous place. After 22 hours of flight from Toronto to Delhi, 6 days of Bus/SUV ride from Delhi to Raru and finally the three days of walk, we finally made it to Phugtal; I would say that it was worth all the pain and troubles we went through in order to be at this place.

Phugtal Gompa: This Buddhist monastery (called Gompa in Ladakhi) is built on the rock face and lies in the interiors of Zanskar in India. Closest motorable road is three days of trek from here. This place had the most interesting Planning and Architecture that I saw in the entire Ladakh.The temperatures in winters tend to drop as much as -35C in the night and remember that these people do not have electricity and yet they live over there in the winters.

Finally at Phugtal Monastery: Yes we were quite tired when we finally made it to the monastery.

Phugtal Monastery: Perched in the cave, this is my favourite monsatery in India

Phugtal Monastery and Tsarap River

Monastery and the Monk: View of Phugtal from across the river

The Cave @ Phugtal: The close up view of the cave at Phugtal

Vertigo: The view from our room in the Monastery

View from The Monastery

TV Show: Monks of Phugtal Monastery watching some religious documentary on a VCR.

A Czech tourist; Michala we met at Phugtal.

Phugtal to Darcha

2006-10-23T20:09:00.000Z

It took us another 5 days to complete our trek from Phugtal to Darcha. The highest point of the trek was Shingola (5094 mt). Kargayak was the last village before Shingola. This village at an altitude of about 4200 meters is believed to be the highest village in the Zanskar region of Himalayas.

Ascent to the base of the Shingola was pretty steep and prepared us good for the big climb to the shingola the next day. Ascent to Shingola was pretty moderate by Himalayan standards. But it is the high altitude along with cold weather and chilly winds that can act like a killer in the Zanskar.

At the end of the trek I was proud of everybody in the group as this trek was not only the test of their physical endurance but it also took the mental endurance to the next level. hmmmm ... well, I was also proud of myself for acclimatizing all the group members properly, taking care of the technical as well as logistical issues and finally leading the expedition successfully over the oh sooo high Shingola ;) ... this was for speaking modestly .... lols.

Resting at Testa Village after a strenous half-a-day of trekking.

Testa: Note the photovoltaic cells on rooftops of the village.

Family at Kuru: The family we stayed with in the Kuru Village. The people of the house did not speak Hindi or English or french for that matter ;) ... so the only way we could communicate with them was through gestures.

Prayer Flags

Sacred Engraving of "Om Mane Padme Hung" on the Mane wall.

Mane Wall: Budhists in this area engrave the stones with prayers and put them in a big heap, making a wall out them

Trekking: On our way to the village of Kargayak

Yak at Kargayak (I like the way it rhymes)

Meeting some interesting Chzech and Tibetan people working for an NGO at Kargayak.

Evening Beauty: We could view this peak from our room in the village.

Morning Glory: The same peak in the morning light.

Resting before the big ascent to the base of the Shingola.

Ascent: To the base of Shingola

Stream Crossing: Nat taking it easy and crossing the stream on the back of our horseman Tenzin.

Camping at the base of Shingola.

Resting at the end fo the day: Planning our strategy for the final ascent to Shingola in our horseman Tenzin's tent.

Hot Tea, well deserved after a hard day of hike.

At the base of Shingola: Pondering over the big next day.

The Mule and the Mountain

Star Trail @ the base camp of Shingola

Shingola (5094 meters) : Prayer flags at Shingola. Budhist people put the prayer flags at places where there is a lot of wind due to the belief that the wind will take thier prayers to Gods.

@ Shingola A trekker's sexy pose for my camera ;-)

Group photo at Shingola (5094 meters): Photo that makes me feel proud of all of my group members. I feel proud of my group's endurance (Physical as well as Mental) in tackling this high altitude pass.

Nathalie @ Shingola, watch the image in the funky shades.

Party at Darcha (3200 mts): Everybody was happy after finishing this 9 day trek, we celebrated the successful completion with an Old Monk (Rum from India) and some beer.

Bus Ride: Finally the Bus ride back to the good ole Manali ... I guess some of us were not happy that trek finished .... well the trek finished but the fond memroy remains.

Drive from Leh to Padum

2006-10-23T18:20:00.000Z

The road from Leh to Padum is around 450 km and is usually covered in two days with an overnight stay in Kargil. The road condition from Leh to Kargil (230 km) is somewhat okay, but after that it is more of a rugged dirt track fit for mountain biking rather than for cars and SUVs. This stretch from Kargil onwards was probaly the bumpiest and dustiest stretch of the entire journey from Delhi to Padum/Raru.

On day 1 we had decided to drive all the way to Parkachik from Leh, but one of the group member was suffering from motion sickness by the time we reached Kargil, so we decided to stay overnight in Kargil only, which was'nt such a bright idea as it was a very big town, not really to the likings of the group members.

The road from Parkachik to Padum (140 km approx) was actually even more bumpier and dustier than the stretch from Kargil to Parkachik, but if you think about the altitude at which this road was built (average altitude of 3750 meters) and if you also consider the physiographic conditions in which this road was built, one should really have admiration for the people who built this road.

Prominent monasteries and ambient stops between Leh and Padam are Alchi, Lamayuru, Rungdum and Durung Durung Glacier. Penzila (4400 mt), is the solitary pass on the highway from Kargil to Padum (One enters the Zanskar Valley on crossing the Penzila). Durung Durung is a massive glacier close to Penzila.

For more dose about the journey from Leh to Padam, please Click Here to read up on Chris Feela's Blog.

Road to Kargil: One of the rare stretch where we had a straight road rather than winding road all the time

Concfluence: Confluence of the River Indus with River Zanskar at Nimoo.

Photo Time on the banks of River Indus: This is where Chris dropped the remains of the dread locks of his friend's hair into the river Indus.

River Indus

Moonscape: Terrain that resembled more like something on the moon, (shortly before Lamayuru 3800 mts).

Lamayuru: Monastery at Lamayuru

Lamayuru Village

Caravan: Caravan of army trucks near Fotu La (4100 mts), shortly after leaving Lamayuru.

Ladakhi Landscape

Dry Riverbed: The riverbed was sooo dry, I almost felt emotional for the dry river ;-)

Mt. Nun and Kun: These are the highest peaks of the region at an altitude of 7135 mt and 7070 mt respectively.

Indus View: Enjoying the view of river Indus.
Photo Credit: Nathalie

Check Post @ Parkachik in Suru Valley

Washroom(s): Ladakhi Stylee

Highway to Zanskar: The road from Kargil to Padum was more like a dirt road, but this road offers some spectacular views and is at an average altitude of 3750 meters

The long road: few kms before Rangdum

Lunch Time: @ Rangudm Express Restaurant and hotel in Rangdum.
Photo Credit: Nathalie

Chocolate Swirl: This mountain reminded me of the chocolate icecream big times.

Glacier Durung Durung: This is a massive glacier close to Penzila (4400 meters).

Group Shot: Shiny Happy People posing @ Durung Durung

Motion Sickness: Almost everybody experienced some sort of motion sickness on this long, bumpy and dusty ride from Kargil to Padum.

Dusty: Yes it was a dusty ride

Paragliding

2006-10-12T19:24:00.000Z

Here are some photos from the Paragliding trip near Sarsai, Manali. The Paragliding started at an altitude of 2500 meters and ended at 1600 meters approximately.

2:Ready
Photo Credit: Snowbird Adventures

1: Run off the cliff
Photo Credit: Snowbird Adventures

0: Take Off
Photo Credit: Snowbird Adventures

Enjoying the Ride

Way up in the sky is that a bird ?: No !! that is Nathalie.
If you look very carefully, you can see Nat's Paraglider in the top left corner of the photo.

Air Borne: Nathalie enjoying the paraglide, at this point I could hear her screams.

Landing: The chute landing few meters away from its supposed landing space where I was standing waiting to take the pictures.

The Chute, The Girl and The Guide who landed the paraglider.

A Visit to Orphanage

2006-10-12T18:31:00.000Z

I had a chance to visit an orphanage in Koshla, India (near Manali) where I was deeply touched by the resilience of the young kids living over there. The kids seemed to be so happy and full of life despite so very few materialistic pleasures. There were also two westerners volunteering their time at this orphanage. When Nathalie visited the orphanage she was definitely the star attraction due to her bubbly and happy persona. She taught the kids many games and songs and everybody seemed to be touched by her at the end of the day.

When I visited this orphanage again after one week, all the kids asked me about where the crazy girl from Canada was ... the girl who taught them the Moose Song.

Moose Song: Nat teaching the kids "Moose Song"

Dancing: Kids being kids.

Nathalie teaching the kids some new game.
I had a hard time in grasping the rules of this game

Abstraction: Hands and Feet

Star Attraction "The Nathalie" : From Canada with Love

Making Space: Jolanda making some space for herself by dragging back one of the kids (no kids were hurt in the process)

Inner Circle: Nathalie seems to be telling a very interesting story.

Traditional House in Spituk & Ladakh Festival

2006-10-12T18:27:00.001Z

On reaching Leh, we decided to stay at my friend Spalgon's tradtional house in Spituk instead of staying in the touristic Leh (Spituk is 10 km from Leh). Our host family in Spituk was very friendly and nice as they let us stay in their almost 100 year old traditional house. There was no running water in the traditonal house and just to get some water to drink we had to come down this hillock, but the feeling of being so lucky to stay in such an old house was awesome and all of us were very happy and felt honoured.

From 1st to 15th Sept was a Ladakh Festival at Leh. We managed to reach Leh on Sept 14 just in time to experience the festivities of the last day. The festival was a cultural extravaganza that showcased cultural dances and shows from different parts of Ladakh.

Spituk: 10 km from Leh, we stayed in this small village along the river Indus.

Jigmet: Grandaughter of our host at Togochay house.
She was very comfortable with my camera and very photogenic also.

Gompa: Monastery within the traditional Ladakhi house we stayed in at Spituk.

Kitchen: Traditional Ladakhi kitchen of our hosts at Spituk.

Star Trails: Captured this star trail from the rooftop of the house in Spituk.

OUR VERY HOSPITABLE HOSTS @ Spituk

@ Ladakh Festival: This was at Polo ground in Leh where Ladakh festival was going on. The big muddy building in the background is Leh Palace

Ladkhi Dancers in their Traditional dresses

Leh Palace and the Mosque: Although Ladakh is predominantly Buddhist, there are some areas where Muslim presence can be felt.

ICI On Parle .... ? .. Yes, some of us were sooo very happy to read that sign.

Veg Burger: It was more of some vegetables stuffed between two Rotis (traditional indian thing that some people call bread)... but Pat loved it neways ... :-)))

Leh Town: As viewed from Shanti Stupa

Dancing to the rhythm at Shanti Stupa: Indian and Spanish women creating some sort of crazy fusion of dances.

Pang to Leh

2006-10-12T18:26:00.001Z

On the second day of our journey from Lahaul to Leh, we travelled from Pang to Leh. Here are some photos from that stretch of the journey.

Winding Road to More Planes: This was few kms after we had left our camp at Pang.

More Planes: After Pang the road to Leh passes through a flat area at an average altitude of 5100 meters. This area is known as More Planes (Pronounced Moray) and it stretches for approx 50 km.

Caught in the act

Ascent to Taglang La (The highest point on the Manali-Leh road)

Tanglangla: The highest point on the Manali Leh road at an altitude of 5360 meters

Workers from the state of Bihar working on a road near Tanglangla

Rumtse: Few kms after we crossed the first village in Ladakh, on the way to Leh.

Upshi: This is where one gets to see the first glimpse of the mighty river Indus

Thicksey Monsatery: 35 km before Leh

Finally at Leh: Gang with the driver of the Van (Kusum)
In the background you can see the Leh airport

Lahaul to Pang

2006-10-12T18:24:00.000Z

After staying for three days at my friend Ravi's house in Pattan Valley, everybody in the group seemed to be decently acclimatized and ready to deal with even higher altititudes, So we continued with our safari to Ladakh. It took us two more days in the SUV to reach Leh. On this stretch of roughly 250 km, there were no permanant settlements from Stingri in Lahaul to Rumtsey in Ladakh (A stretch of roughly 200 km). We only came across temporary tea stalls and tents for overnight stay put up by enterpreneuring locals. We crossed a total of 5 passes on our way from Manali to Leh, 2 of them were higher than 5000 meters.

Baralacha La: This was the first big pass on our way to Ladakh from Lahaul. It is at an altitude of 4300 meters. Trek to the lake Chandra Tal originates from this place.

Lunch Time: Stopping over for a lunch in what looked like a Mongolian Yurt.

Suraj Tal: A small lake on the way
(Suraj = Sun, Tal = Lake)

The blue Sky: The bluish tone of the sky was incredible.

The Road

Liqour Store: We were very happy to see a liqour store in the middle of nowhere. Warning: Human body is less resistant to alcohol at high altitude

Felix enjoying the beer at 4500 meters.

River Tsarap on our way to Leh.

Ibex: We were very lucky on the safari to have seen the Ibex (wild mountain goat). Eventhough I was born in the himalayas and than travellend and organized treks in the Himalayas for 7 years, I had never seen so many Ibex before.

Nakeela: Prayer flags flutterig at Nakeela (4740 meters). Buddhists believe that the wind can take the prayers to the Gods, so they put the prayer flags where there is a lot of wind.

Lachulung La: Altitude 5065 meters. The group's first encounter with the altitude of more than 5000 meters.

Aeolian Erosion : Beautiful landscape formed by wind erosion, few Kms before Pang (our halt for the night)

Pang: Party at 4600 meters
After dinner everybody started dancing and the Canadian gang was more than happy to join the local folks eventhouth dancing at 4600 meters was quite tiring because of the thin air.

Manali to Lahaul + Crazy Hike

2006-09-29T14:34:00.000Z

After acclimatization in Manali for three nights at an altitude of 2000 meters, it was time to raise the bar. So we moved to Pattan valley (Altitude 3200 meters) in the Lahaul and Spiti ditrict of the Himachal Pradesh in India. We stayed in a small village of only six houses with the family of my friend "Ravi" whom I knew from my college days in Chandigarh, India. Pattan Valley was approximately 160 kms from Manali and it took us 10-12 hours to cover this distance. The prominent landmark enroute was Rohtang Pass on the inner Himalayan range at an altitude of 3975 meters. This was the highest point of the road from Manali to Pattan and it offered some excellent views of the Lahaul and Spiti valley towards north and Kullu Valley towards south. The ascent from Manali to Rohtang was very steep (2000 meters in 51 km) and the road was always winding.

0911 - Sweet Nathalie amidst not so sweet Bollywood extras from a movie being filmed at Marhi (Altitude: 3300 meters) on our way to Rohtang Pass. Marhi means "Pile of dead bodies" in Hindi.

0911 - Yvan surrounded by the prayer flags at Marhi.

0911 - Rohtang La (Pass, Altitude: 3975 mt.) After 5 hours in the Van/SUV from Manali in which we covered 51 km, we reached this pass on the inner Himalayan range.

Lahauli Kitchen: Group enjoying a sumptuous meal in the Kithchen of our hosts in the Pattan Valley.

Our Hosts in Pattan Valley, Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India

Acclimatization Hike (Part Deux): A crazy hike to the caves (3800 meters) in Pattan valley that prepared the trekkers not to be scared of heights.

Yvan: Enjoying the view from the top.
Don't ask me how I took this photo.

Not for the faint at heart : It was quite a view from the top of the cliff but not everybody could make it. On dropping the stones from the top it took them 4 seconds to hit the ground.

From Delhi to Manali

2006-09-29T07:02:00.000Z

Journey from Delhi where the group landed in India to Manali (Our base in the Himalayas for the adventure activities of the group).

Flight from Canada to India was the longest flight ever for most of the people in the group. It varied from 20 to 24 hours with one stop in Europe. To escape the chaos and heat of Delhi, after 18 hours of our landing, we boarded on a 17 hours bus ride to Manali. It was an always winding road. Manali at an altitude of 2000 meters was a fantastic place and despite such a tiring journey, it was great to be there and we felt alive and sooo full of energy.

0907 - Smiling in Terror: Trying to smile while being terrorized by the traffic in the crazy Auto Rick ride of New Delhi.

0907 - First day in Delhi: Enjoying the fine and authentic South Indian Cusine in Delhi. My friend from Leh (Spalgon) also joined us for the lunch.

0908 - Second Day in India (Longest Bus Ride) : After the longest flight in the lives of most of the people in the group (20 to 24 hours with one stop in Europe), we boarded on the longest bus ride of our lives, 575 kms in 17 hours.

0908-Severely jet lagged Chris. Chris displaying his ability to sleep pretty much anywhere. (In the balcony of Vashistha Cottage in Manali.) We had an excellent view of the Manali valley from this location.

Vashishta Cottage and Hotel Manali Continental: Group's base for trekking in Indian Himalayas. (I would highly recommend this place for anybody visiting Manali for the excellent hospitality and homely atmosphere offered over there).

0909 - Mouth watering authentic local Supper and Drinks (from Kullu Region) that the group enjoyed, courtesy of our hosts at Manali.

0911- Group shot with our hosts at Manali: Few moments before we left for a 4 day jeep safari from Manali to Leh.

Splendid view from the Vashistha Cottage in Manali

(Photo Credit: Raju)

NO COMMENTS: Main road in Manali. Life is full of surprises in India. BTW this was a nomad taking his herd from the higher reaches of the Himalayas to his winter residence in Punjab.

Fantastic Trek .... but when will it stop raining in Dsala

2006-09-02T11:56:00.000Z

I am in Dharamsala now where it has been raining continously for the past two days. Well there are periods when it drizzels and when there is a heavy downpour, but it never stops raining ... this is Monsoons my friends. I am just staying at my friends house and enjoying good food and above all I am recuperating from my last trek that was kind of pretty demanding. For those of you who do not know, Dharamsala is famous as Dalai Lama stays here. This place is surrounded by mountains on the three sides so it gets incessant rainfall during the monsoons.

The trek that I completed yesterday from Lahaul Valley to Bharmour was fantastic.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LAST TREK:
1. I crossed two high altitude passes (5040 mt. and 4750 meters).
2. Experienced heavy snowfall and snowstorm while crossing the second high altititude pass.
3. Stayed in the natural caves in the mountains on three nights. Stayed with Nomads, watched many ethnic ceremonies (one of them in which they sacrificed 20 sheeps for the gods). On one of the nights I also stayed in a a very psychedelic temple of Kelang and got some very interesting pictures (sorry no pics of the sheeps being sacrificed as the photography was prohibited over there).

Overall it was a fantasitic trek and I loved it, but I am happy that it is over ... :-) Eventually I will try to process my photos and give you guys more info about the people I met on this trek, the ceremonies I experienced and above all the fantastic places I visited. Till than ... Ciao !!!!

In my Element now

2006-08-12T06:19:00.000Z

Finally I have reached the mountains that i love soo much. The monsoons have still not subsided and it is still raining over here, but I am not complaining as I love the show of clouds in the mountains. Here are some photos to let you guys know that I am in my element now. Yes, I am very happy as I am doing what I like to do the most i.e. trekking in the Himalayas.

Vertigo: Look at the vertical drop beyond me in this photo (It was a drop of 800 meters). Lush greeen meadows, clouds on the mountains, fresh himalayan air, spring water to drink and bathe, beautiful people to photograph .... can life get better than this?

The Photographer: In Action :-) ... This is my new baby ... The 30D

Offering Alcohol to Gods: Thats me offering some alcohol to the Gods in a small temple after crossing a moutain pass successfully (It was an "Old Monk" Rum.)

Seduction: I love travelling in the Himalayas during the monsoons. I love the way cloud/fog seems to be seducing the mountains in the background.

Watchman and my mate: Thats me along with the watchman of the guest house we stayed in, and my mate Lovey from Delhi

Roads in Himalayas

2006-08-12T04:54:00.000Z

In this post, I want to share what it is like to travel in a bus in the mighty Himalayas of India. Only thing I will say is that there is never a dull moment in the journey. I will let my photos speak the rest.

Yappu: This is my mascot for August, travelling in a bus from Delhi to Manali. This was the first time that he was looking at Himalayas; You can see that he is very happy.

SSS: Sunlight Seducing the Shoulder: There was this very soothing light shining on the shoulder of this girl travelling next to me, I could'nt resist to take her photo (I did ask her permission before taking the photo).

Bus Ride: Bus ride in Kullu district.

Landslides: Travelling during the monsoons means that one has to come across some landslides. At such places the buses on both the sides of the landslide tend to reach at same time and than passengers walk across the landslide and continue their journey.

Top of the Bus: I took this photo while travelling on the top of the bus, most of the time drivers do not let you travel on the top, but this time I was able to convice him as the bus was very crowded. It was quite a ride so very full of adrenalin rush and I was very impressed by the driving skill of the driver. In Indian Himalayas there is very impressive road network. Although the condition of most roads is not that good, but considering the fact there are roads that traverse through many passes more than 5000 meters, I tend not to complain.

Riding on Top: If you had doubts about the fact that I rode on top of the bus, I guess this poto will convince you about it.

Chaddi Friends: This was when I was coming back from Shimla to Chandigarh with a good friend of mine from Rohru in Shimla district.

Cruising in Kullu: My friend from Delhi (Lovey) took this photo on our way to a my first two day trek of 2007 in India.

Gujjar Family

2006-08-08T11:23:00.000Z

On my recent trek in the Kullu district of the Himalays, I had an honour and good fortune of visiting a Gujjar family. Gujjars lead a nomadic lifestyle and also inhabit parts of the scenic himalayas, besides staying in other parts of North India. They migrate to higher altitude in the summers and lower reaches during winters. For more information on the Gujjars check out this link on Wikipedia.

STORY: I was on a trek in the Kullu district of the Himalays with another friend from Delhi when it started raining very hard, which is very much expected when you trek in the monsoon season. We were lucky to find one solitary hut on big meadow. The hut belonged to a Gujjar family that was very kind. They not only give us shelter in thier hut but they also cooked some excellent organic delicacies and and gave us fresh buffalo milk. I was very overwhelmed and deeply touched by the hospitality that this family showered upon us. We continued our trek when it stopped raining after four hours. I took many photos of this family and printing them and sending back the photos is the least that I can do.

PHOTOGENIC: I would consider this girl as the most photogenic gujjar person I photographed on my trip to India.

THE POSE: This dude was hard to photograph, I guess his pose gives a good idea about how moody he was. I was pretty happy with some of the portraits that he gave me.

THE MOTHER: Mother of the family.

THE KIDS: Children of the family, watch out the stare of thier mother over the shoulder of the girls.

THE FAMILY: The whole family huddled together around the fire for cooking food.

CURIOSITY: Curious children looking at thier photos on the LCD of my camera.

THE MILK: Yes this is me, relishing the super hot fresh buffalo milk.

Its been Ten days

2006-08-04T14:55:00.000Z

Lots of things have been happening at my end.

BANK ACCOUNT: After coming to India, I had put all of my money in ICICI bank where they had assured that my account will be activated in three days, well it has been ten days now and I still can't access the money in my account as my account has not been activated. Luckily for me I borrowed some money from my friends so I am okay. I also opened another bank account in the SBI today. SBI is a governement run bank where things move slowly but are much more safer and cheaper than private bank like ICICI. I hope things will get sorted out in the near future.

HEALTH: I am sick my friends, I have got stomach problems as I had been eating food with too much of chillies and I also got some flu as I had been spending considerable amount of time in the Air Conditioned environment and than venturing out in the hot humid sun in Delhi.
NOTE to my friends coming to India for treks: I have been a bit too careless about myself as I wanted to suffer from all the diseases that one has the probability of experiencing after coming to India. I did this in order to regain my immunity to indian stuff ... lols (you might consider it as bad logic, but it works for me .. lols) BTW folks, don't worry, I will take good care of you guys and will guide you well.

On a POSITIVE NOTE:
I had an excellent short trek ... I loved it, I will post the photos as soon as I finish doing some PP on them. I am having a great time over here, meeting my old friends/Networking (I have already got something like 45 contacts on my mobile, so you can well imagine the kind of networking I have been doing lately). I got some excellent maps from Survey of India and I also finally got the kind of mobile service that I was striving for, so you guys can contact me on my mobile whenever you feel like.

Drive to Noida !!

2006-07-24T10:18:00.000Z

The drive from Delhi to Noida in the morning rush hour traffic was full of Fear, Shock, Anger, Happiness and Excitement. I was Fearful of being hit, Shocked by suprises on the road, Angry at people jumping ahead of our car by breaking the traffic rules, Happy to be alive and Excited on being in a city so very full of variety, divesity, life and death. In other words, lets just say that I could feel the adrenalin rush all the time. Emotion that I experienced the most during this ride was that of fear, this is despite the fact that I was born in India and lived in Chandigarh till 2001. (BTW Chandigarh is 250 km north of Delhi).

Delhi in my opinion has the craziest traffic in India. Considering the way people drive in this city, one would be really surprised :O at the road accident rate for Delhi (too low IMHO for this kind of traffic) and one would also admire the ability of the Delhites to drive and avoid accidents.

I took few photos during this ride, but trust me, I am not exaggerating when I say that most of the time during this ride I was in too much of a state of shock for my body and mind to function properly in order to take photos, So I missed to freeze some very interesting and shocking moments (to the western mind) on my CCD sensor (for the curious mind, I was using my P&S camera while shooting from inside the car).

Here are some highlights of the ride from Delhi to Noida
1. The lanes on the road are just for ...... hmm ...... let me think ... still thinking ... I really don't know what they are for. I can't figure why do they go through the pains of painting the lanes when nobody is going to drive in them .
2. Near traffic lights there were on an average of 5 files of vehicles (cars) in no particular order jammed in three lanes on the road.
3. On my way, I saw two accidents on the road and one person running towards the hospital emergency while carrying an old lady in his arms.
4. A cyclists in the fastest lane of the supposedly freeway where many people were doing 120+ kmph.
5. I saw many Mercedez and BMW's, even one Austin Martin.
6. I saw many people driving on the wrong side of the road, one driver even drove his car over the road divider to the right side of the road (In India, just like England one is supposed to drive on left side). Anyways, this driver drove few meters on the wrong side and than again crossed over the road divider to the left side of the road, just in time to avoid the on-coming traffic after the red light had turned green. Please keep in mind that this driver went over the real physical barrier that proved to be too small to prevent his car from crossing over to the other side.

Lanes and Traffic: Look at the position of cars wrt to different lanes on the road.

Space between: This was a moving traffic.

Chaos: Watch the closed side mirror of red van.
Delhites usually close the side mirrors of their cars as they want to minimise the chances of these mirrors getting broken. I don't think they use these mirrors anywasys.

In Delhi now .... yay !!

2006-07-24T10:15:00.000Z

Yay !!!! ..... I have finally made it to India. It was a pretty comfortable flight with pretty decent food. Jet lag was relatively manageable as I did'nt really had much of a sleep pattern in Canada either. From the duty free, I bought a stuffed Canadian moose, who might be travelling with me for a while, but than I might change him for a something in blue. But for now you can say Namaste to Yappu. The moose from Canada who is super-interested in Yoga and would be travelling with me for the first month atleast.

I had a nice surprise in the morning when I was woken up by my friend's maid who had made some Bed Tea for me. Yes ... I had completely forgotten about bed tea while staying in Canada. For those of you who do not know, bed tea is the first tea that you drink in the morning. People drink it just to feel motivated to get out of bed. Yes I had the pleasures of relishing the luxury of bed tea. Well I have never been much of a tea drinker, but I drank some bed tea on the first morning as this is something that i had'nt done for a long time and I am the kind of person who is always looking for experiences.

In Brief:
1. The night was a bit too cold for me brrrrrrr. I could not find my blanket or the controls for the AC, I think I was too tired to find them as I had slept for 3 hours in the last 36 hours.
2. It was nice and heart warming in a way to see few types of tropical insects that I had'nt seen for four years (last time I visited India).
3. Bringing in my Twinrix vaccine from Canada was quite a feat.
4. Enormous number of people holding placards with names at the Delhi airport.

This is the camera (my beloved) and and my travellig partner Yappu (The Moose)

View of the room where I spent my first night in India

Flying

2006-07-07T06:11:00.000Z

I will be flying to new Delhi from Toronto on July 22.
The stories and pictures will start trickling after that.