Day 1. date:04.06.2006.
At last we begin. Seemed almost like a year, it did, the previous day. The flight from new delhi to kathmandu was delayed by an 2 hours, which meant we reached at 1800 hrs instead of early noon. We were received by Dem Bahadur Mahat, or D.B., in a Toyota minivan, which would transport us to our hotel. The hotel, Soaltee Crown Plaza, as it turned out, was quite good (one of the best in the city, we would learn later), so our fatigue more or less evaporated. Had our food outside in a smallish joint…not too good but kaamchalau. Slept really well…me and pats while abhay with doc. The day was effectively washed out due to the delay in flight.
Day 2. date: 05.06.2006.
Got up late and groggy, around 0800 hrs. we decided to hit the in-house gym, which was half-decent. Me and Pats worked the treadmill, while Doc and AB splashed around in the pool. All this frolicking meant that we just about scraped through to breakfast, which was by far the best meal served at the place. Our local sightseeing car had arrived so we left for the Pashupatinath, Boudhanath and Swayambhunath temples, in that order. The Boudhanath temple is actually a Buddhist stupa..a quiet and serene place, it felt great just being there. Rushed back for lunch, but were too late. The hotel staff courteously obliged us though and despite the menu being limited, we didn’t mind and ate as if there was no tomorrow. Everyone, except me that is, hit the sack in right earnest, only to get up at 1800 hrs or so. So our poolside evening was history. Meanwhile our co-travelers had been arriving. But guess it was too early to mingle. Anyway, most of them were gujjubhais from Ahemdabad, so the cultural divide was a lot to bridge. Me and pats have been pulling AB’s leg mercilessly about his eating since we’ve started. Think we’re gonna get some back soon. AB’s been a great sport though. Meanwhile the pool was out, so we tried the casino next door. ‘twas the first time for everyone except doc, who’s been around. To cut a long story short, the casino sucked, and badly. Seemed to me that they never bothered redoing the place after putting it up. We were out within 20 minutes, most of them in the shopping arcade. Trooped back to the hotel with nothing much to do except wait. Watched half a hindi film,”Gambler”, half thanks to good ol’ doordarshan. Why did we have to wait for that song? Crashed out late. Started raining.
Day 3. date: 06.06.2006.
The day of the anti-christ, 06.06.06. we were suddenly informed that we would start today instead of tomorrow. Hit the treadmill and the pool later and everyone really worked up a serious sweat. After a rather excessively heavy breakfast, we were told to rearrange our luggage so that all unwanted stuff was to be left in the hotel cloak room. So we rearranged our stuff in the duffel bags FT provided us and optimized our baggage. Left at about 1600 hrs. we’ve been joined by 8-9 more yatrees from Pune and Bangalore, most of them over the hill, and halfway down the other side. Somewhere along the way we got transferred to a bigger bus which would take us to Dhulikhel, a hill station around 40 km from Kathmandu, a distance which took us, believe it or not, 2 hours. The route was crowded and dusty and the bus was cramped. Am hoping this torture ends soon.
It’s about 1800 hrs and we’ve reached this delightful place called Mirabel Resort in Dhulikhel, which is a sleepy little hill station, but is really great if you want to unwind. The rooms are actually better than in Soaltee, but here the loo is just about tolerable.
With nothing on the immediate agenda watched movies with the guys. Haven’t so many movies in so less days, ever. Have been meeting and chatting up with co-yatrees. Most are 60+ and in it for the religious angle, methinks. After a basic dinner, we attended briefing by the FT guys about the actual trek, i.e. the basic do’s and don’ts which all should try to remember. More dismay when we learnt that we won’t leave for the Kadori border post tomorrow as scheduled. The Chinese authorities had canceled/postponed the permits by one day due to overcrowding. Also, the Toyotas which we would meet there, were in short supply due to overcrowding. Not that we disliked where we were, but we are so looking forward to the action, that disappointment was obvious and much expressed, not just by us but by all and sundry. Still raining, too so cant go for a walk as well. But Shit, as they say, happens. Lets hope tomorrow brings better tidings. Plan to go for a baby trek tomorrow. Something’s better than ajibat nothing. Gotta sleep early. Or maybe not.
Day 4. date: 07.06.2006.
Got up late. What to do? We are like this only, as the guys at [V] often say. Leaving for the border was out so the FT guys planned a baby trek for us. One thing about the Nepalese though, the women are really nice and as doc says, nod, nod, nod. Pats and AB were also totally with us on this. Just about the only moment for 3 weeks when we would whole heartedly agree on something. So, the trek was nice and all that, but when you are taking the mother of all treks, nice is not a very useful word to describe your practice routine. This place was actually a hill station so the weather was extremely pleasant and hospitable. And the trek was a walk in disguise so all in all, majja. When we came back, we were informed that we would have to change rooms for the night. As I have repeatedly said, shit happens! I must mention here that our regular and constant companion in our rooms and a relentless source of inspiration has been the FTV channel. Great viewing! For all of us, if I may add! Need I say more? Why can’t the moral police in our country find some other issue? By this time we have seen all our co-passengers, and predictably, it’s a lot of relics and has-beens. A retired extra-friendly air-force pilot(called himself wing commander, no less! We called him WC, though), a retired cop look-alike, and a bunch of 30 odd from Gujarat make up the group. Mention must be made here of one particular lady of about 30+ with admirable assets, whom we called “torpedoes”. The name is mine but doc and AB seem to have taken quite a fancy for her name. More later!
Noon brought more grief! Our room had been allotted to someone else, meaning we were out in the middle of nothing until 1700 hrs. finally when were given one, it was a lousy room in a shit-pot hotel, named Gaurishankar, in the most godforsaken part of the town(felt like it, anyway). All of us were seething but decided to stay put. “Grin and bear it” was the motto for the day. Moreover when Narayan, FT boss, and his troupe turned up at about 2100 hrs we made our displeasure pretty much apparent. Though he didn’t offer much except regrets and sympathy. So much for our discomfort! The sherpas have also turned up with him. We also change our currency to Chinese Yuan (1 yuan = 6.25 INR). Most of them appear to be fit for the job and extremely friendly as well. But a couple of them are extremely energetic and enthusiastic. Absolutely livewires! Anyway we were told we would leave by 0400 hrs tomorrow, so trooped back to our room and had our baths at 2300 hrs so that morning won’t be a rush. Now, repacking done, we are ready to roll. Boy, we have a tough day tomorrow!
Day 5. date: 08.06.2006.
Where do I begin? We expected to have a eventful day at the office, and we weren’t disappointed. As I said, our scheduled departure was at 0400 hrs, so had to get up at 0300 hrs and we (as in the entire group) finally left dhulikhel at 04300 hrs. the drive to the Nepal china border, known as “Kadori” check-post or “Tatopani” border post, is a 2.5 to 3 hour drive from here. The sooner we reach there, the earlier we cross over to China. The town on the Chinese side is “Zhang Mu”. Our formalities were completed soon enough, but our luggage and the sherpas took a long time coming, almost 2 hours or more. The luggage has to be manually taken over to the Chinese side, as in, the trucks couldn’t cross over. The border is actually a sharp river, I forget the name, which is bridged by the “Friendship” bridge. FT and Narayan finally seemed to finally get his act together and things were moving, finally, as we had been told. The wait, however, was frustrating and there was little we could do to help or otherwise! The “Friendship Bridge” crossed, we were taken in ’62 Toyotas to Zhang Mu, the Chinese immigration and customs check post, a couple of km away. The clearance took time, and by now we had achieved expertise in waiting. So an hour later, we were out, in China. Finally. Or so we thought. We were set up for a third and even longer wait of almost 3 hours. Conflicting rumours flew thick and fast. We halt at Zhang Mu. No, we move on stay outside. No available vehicles. No available trucks. No available accommodation. No luggage. Finally, they turned out to be just that. Rumours. In the meanwhile, we(as in me, Pats and later AB) bought cowboy hats for ourselves(a darned good buy, I must add), which had everyone asking us where and how much we got them from. At about 1830 hrs or thereabouts the FT guys managed to get our luggage through and get some local vans as well, which would take us to “Nyalam”. Located at about 3800 or so meters, this was to be our first acclimatization halt. Narya informed us during the drive that we were really lucky to get away clean today itself from Zhang Mu. A couple of other groups had been stranded there over two to three days before us. we were, its seems, fortunate to get a good guide, who would be with the group through the entire 14 or so days. The local vans were atrocious and ill-equipped to take on the weight loaded in them, weather and the road which was gaining in altitude (from 2200 to 3800 meters) with every kilometer. As it turned out the drivers were their biggest enemies who threw the vehicles around the dirt track of a road for the entire stretch of 40 km which took almost 3 hrs. Along the way was one of the most enthralling terrain I have seen. Gushing waterfalls, driving through clouds, landslides, snow and what have you. Before I forget I must tell you about our driver…he was a real screamer. These Chinese drivers, I tell you are absolute nut cases. For them every trip is a race with the next car. Nothing else matters, not the passenger, the bad road, the inclement weather, not even his own car, nothing. Just drive as if there is just this moronic race. All of us were scared shitless. To top it all, it was getting really chilly. By the time we reached Nyalam it was almost 2130 hrs and just twilight. There is daylight here for almost 15 hrs, they tell me. The place stank and we were moved from one hotel to another finally landing at “Nyalam Hotel”, one of the better ones in the town, at about 2200 hrs or so. The hotel turned out to be much better than expected. Maybe Narya and FT had done the briefing too well. Or maybe we had taken it too seriously. Our tolerance levels have gone up. Augurs well for the future. We chewed on something and I am ready to crash out any minute. The overly horny WC has been allotted accommodation with us. No problem. We shall cure him of this ailment too. The temperature outside must be about 6-7 degrees and dropping every minute. Narya and Jaggu dada, the gujju gang leader, provided us with the extremely handy information that Nyalam and our next stop “Saga”, are prostitution hotbeds. As if we would do anything about that. We shall investigate this tomorrow. But we are now feeling the rush. This trip promises to be scorcher. Even the normally silent Doc is keyed up. Maybe its my imagination but I thought Pats was a little cranky towards the end, but he hasn’t had any food and little or no sleep. That reminds me. Gotta crash.
Day 6. date: 09.06.2006.
Ouch! My head feels like a football that’s been kicked around for two matches, back to back and then clamped in a vice. The altitude was taking effect. The throb was relentless. Doc and AB had given in and decided to go for “Diamox”. Me and Pats were prevailing, thus far. I have almost stopped all milk intake and been having black coffee for the past few days, so the throb lessened after mid-day. AB, despite the dose, was not 100% and was uneasy and groggy when he got up. Thus the diamox. After breakfast, a trek was fixed up on a nearby hillock. On the way we picked up a few bargains, did me and pats. Today was acclimatization day, so we were generally taking it easy. The trek turned out to be a little more than we bargained for, ‘cause the ‘hill’ was in fact quite a sharp little number. But we made it comfortably in the end. Although some didn’t. After lunch, the headache got the better of us and everyone slept. Our Toyota Land Cruisers had still not arrived so weren’t 100% sure about leaving tomorrow. Though we knew that if we didn’t, we would be a day behind schedule. Having been in the same room with the WC for over a day now, our initial skepticism has given way to a grudging admiration. The old fox was as fit as anyone out there and enjoyed his life every bit. Every night before dinner he would fetch his bottle of rum and have a peg or two. Also has an eye for pretty young women, I may add. He has asked us to join him tonight. Let’s see. And, BTW, he is 65.
Our evening stroll around the town got us some VFM luggage and gloves. But as with every evening, it started to rain so we bailed out back to the hotel. On coming back, we learnt that our cars (may) arrive by 0900 hrs tomorrow, so we should be ready for a 1000 hrs departure. BTW, we had our first dropout in a gujjubhai from Mumbai, who developed a respiratory problem. More a crisis of confidence, methinks. So he and his wife are going back home and they would leave Nyalam tomorrow as well. Considering the place, circumstances and obstacles, I think FT has done a commendable job in keeping our trip on schedule, yet! We have learnt of a couple of groups being stranded in Nyalam and Zhang Mu for 2-3 days. The sherpas, too have been great and the food quality, good, given that we are in Tibet.
Because we came back late from our evening walk, we missed our drink with the WC, though, D.B., Narya’s second-in-command, filled our shoes, and glasses if I may say so, admirably. The best part about any meal had always been the soup, and today was no exception. Simply superb. All of us tripped on it. Dinner was khichdi kadhi,(lots of gandabhais around) with achaar and aloo sabzi. By the time we finished its 2300 hrs and I’m ready to light a fuse. Tomorrow’s journey to “Saga” of around 230 kms takes us to an altitude of 4580 meters with respect to the 3800 meters we are at now. So it’s not gonna be a cakewalk. G’night.
Day 7. date: 10.06.2006.
By no means had this trip been easy and the morning did not make things easier. The cars did arrive as scheduled but carrying yatrees, who were returning from the yatra who looked so messed up that they were ready to jump on anything and everything. They were told to get off here, while the deal was that they would be dropped at Zhang Mu. So ensued a dogfight between the two parties, with either refusing to give up position. At the end of it, the organizers relented and let the cars move on to Zhang Mu. This put a big wrench in our scheme of things. We were to leave before lunch but now would have to delay it until the cars came back from Zhang Mu, by at least 5-6 hours.
And turn up they did, one by one, by 1900 hrs or such. Our car number was 3 and we were hoping that it would be a good car, but as luck would have it, the car was a bit of a damper. It looked as though its best days were well and truly gone. Worse still, the stereo did not work, so all the cassettes AB and Doc had got, we could play dominoes with them. The driver though looked composed, which was a relief. Our sherpa was Dandy, a smart 20 something ever-smiling chap. He was one of the best the FT guys had. The journey to Saga would be of 8 hours duration and the section would have the roughest terrain of the trip. To top it, we would be doing it at night. Let’s see.
At the brief at Dhulikhel, Mallick of FT had told us of a few pointers to remember if we are having high altitude sickness.
- The altitude did strange things to people and normal people become unnecessarily agitated. So no antagonism and back off from confrontations and arguments.
- The toilets would be horrible so we would have to be mentally prepared for the same.
Little did I know how useful this advice would turn out to be. Our cars started in a convoy, all 25-30 of them. Another group of 60 odd was also a part of our convoy. The road, as expected was pretty much horrible and dozing off was impossible. Our threesome however had no such problems. I have never been able to sleep well in a moving car and these were the worst conditions imaginable. This, despite the car being a 4500 cc Toyota Land Cruiser. About 3 hours later, we reached “Lalong La” pass, where one of our vehicles developed a snag, for which all vehicles stopped, a normal practice, since the drivers repaired the ailing car in a group. This pass was at altitude of 5200 meters and a day short of full moon night. Me and Paatya were going ballistic on our cameras, from inside the car (at 0030 hrs) when on of our co-yatrees, a bearded chap from the gujjubhai group (who seemed to fancy himself a muscleman) started shouting obscenities at me, thinking that I fancied his wife, a frumpy lady of 45 odd. It took all of our patience and the communication skills of AB, Doc and Pats to convince him of his error after all the photos in my camera were shown to him. Quite a scene.
About an hour or so later our driver took a sharp hair pin bend and suddenly we smack in the middle of nowhere, no cars ahead or behind us. Picture this. No lights could be seen, no sound heard. We were in the middle of this cold unforgiving desert in the middle of the night and alone, miles away from any civilization. We were frozen in to silence, since there was nothing we could do to help then. Worse, our driver Pempa, seemingly unshaken by the turn of events, let go a huge yawn, stretched out, switched off the engine and dozed off on the steering wheel. Me and doc looked at each other, since I knew he would be tensed up. He was so stunned he couldn't say a word. AB was sleeping, blissfully unaware. Pats was keyed up too. But we were scared into silence. A good twenty minutes later a pair of headlights came up from behind us. We let a collective audible sigh of relief. But this has to be one the scariest half hour for me, ever. Now rejoined with our convoy, we dozed off once more. The saga of Saga, tomorrow.
Day 8. date: 11.06.2006.
Dawn brought us to Saga, on the banks of the “Brahmaputra”, or “Tsang Po”, as it is known in China. No sooner had we reached, the next car got along Mr. Muscles and by then his tone and anger had died down. Made up and moved on. All this drama to play out one’s own insecurities. What a loser!
Saga was another sleepy Chinese town at an altitude of around 4600 meters, where we were to halt and rest for about 3 hours or so before moving on. This, ‘cause we had a lost day to catch up on. So we slept, two on each bed. Woke up a couple of hours later to the worst headache I’ve ever had. Period. Just wouldn’t go. To make matters worse we had the first real glimpse of the first real Tibetan Toilet. The loo was so bad, one had to actually convince oneself to use it. Had a headache pill and a black coffee! After a brief breakfast (that didn’t work for me), we left Saga for our next halt, “Paryang” at about 1130 hrs or so. AB had taken the suicide seat so he had been fiddling with the stereo, trying to get it started. Just when I thought he would give up, he managed to kick-start it and decently enough too. The person most pleased was undeniably Pempa, who gave us a lopsided grin and made his pleasure apparent. Chalo, at least the rest of the journey would be more bearable.
By this time we had plateaued at 4500 meters and needed to acclimatize real fast. The road to Paryang, about 180 or so kms, passed trough a dustbowl with no real deviations. Lunch was served at Dongba, a one horse town. Though it was noon we were absolutely chilled to our bones ‘cause the typical day temps were about 10-12 degrees which would drop close to zero during nighttime. The FT team had made decent provisions and made sure we got all our meals and reasonably on time. We had been given a wind/rain cheater and a down jacket at Nyalam and both were excellent, especially the latter. Reached Paryang around 2000 hrs in broad daylight. We had been forewarned about the facilities here, so the place where we were put up came as a surprise. Just behind us was a beautiful mountain range, we learnt later was the “Annapoorna” range in Nepal. The Nepal border, it seems was quite near, though not connected by road. Hence the Tibet tour.
A little stuffy with 6 beds in a room but good enough for us and we were rejoined by the WC and later by Narya. We were absolutely bushed by all the traveling and couldn’t wait to crash out. The lack of sleep was really getting to me now. The WC got out his rum a while later, and AB his brandy. A few strong gulps did a world of good. AB and Doc joined in as well. I munched on an apple as I didn’t feel like having dinner. Was feeling the warmth of the brandy and crashed out without having dinner. Just about had enough!
Day 9. date: 12.06.2006.
I woke up feeling like a new person. Sleep caught up with and the headaches gone thanks to the brandy, it felt like a new start. As bad as they were we hit the loos with gusto and were out of there before you could finish saying “crap”. Kya Karen? It was either them or the open air loo where the local dogs apparently try to sniff up one’s wrong end. After a decent breakfast we left for “Manasarovar”, about 200 kms further on, at 1030 hrs. Our journey has been reasonably uneventful thus far bar a few breakdowns. But even they have been minor and Pempa has proven even to the task.
The audio cassettes that AB and doc had got was an excellent but limited collection and ranged from the brilliant Gulzar and R.D.Burman to selected marathi numbers by hridaynath and sudhir phadke to some kathan by va pu kale and shankar patil. The last was not a great favourite with us for the simple reason that road dynamics prevented us from getting the words right. Pempa also made his displeasure obvious.
On leaving Paryang, we see the mighty Annapoorna range and peak to our left, which are in Nepal. Quite a gorgeous sight! Me and pats have been going overboard with our cameras thought the ones that the Puneites, Ajit Sane, Amit Kulkarni(Bhau) and Vishwanath Bhide(Bhidya), had were simply too good. The one that bhau had for instance was a Canon digi-slr that set him back by a cool lakh or thereabouts. Wow!
The landscape during the journey appeared a lot repetitive so I should be forgiven for not writing about it too much than I have. We did see some fabulous mountain ranges and yesterday night me and AB saw a wolf running into the darkness. Just a couple of hours ago we saw a couple of Tibetan antelopes which ran across our vehicle path. No other animals did we see across the unforgiving Tibetan landscape. The only constants were flocks of sheep and hundreds of Yak grazing across the never-ending horizon. At about 1600 hrs or so we crossed the mighty Brahmaputra which originates from Manasarovar. At this point its size and presence is absolutely indomitable and no amount of photos can do enough justice to the beautiful vastness of this place. By this time we were constantly querying Pempa about when we would reach. At 1800 hrs or thereabouts we sensed that were somewhere close. Suddenly, after we crossed yet another hill, I noticed a speck of light reflection and knew instinctively that this was it. A short drive over a couple of small mountains and the vision was suddenly before us. What we saw then has to be “the” most awe-inspiring sight in my life. And the guys all concurred. That moment, I feel, cemented my belief in God or a supernatural power as He alone can create something so wondrous. No camera can do justice to the magnificent sight that we were fortunate to witness. The wind was so strong, it was difficult to stand straight or even keep one’s eyes open without eye-wear. The brightness of the place was almost blinding, nay dazzling. Most of all, though the spiritual aura of the place drained me and I guess everyone else as well. I think no person there was unaffected by what he saw. All logic, practicality and common sense go out of the window here. And you are overcome by the Manasorvar’s absolute tranquility. We turned to our right and saw the magnificent Mount Kailash. If Manasarovar was all about tranquility and vastness, mount Kailash was the epitome of supreme power. The majestic Kailash stood clear above the other mountains in the vicinity and was distinctive cause because of its stand alone appearance. It exuded a raw kind of energy which was similar in intensity but characteristically different to the one the holy lake had. The effect both entities had on me was profound yet different in effect. I could really go on and on about this and get nowhere as it’s difficult to recreate our thoughts we had then. An hour or so later we drove right down to the banks of the lake, where our tents would be put up. We all walked down to the lake and washed our faces and heads with the holy water. The feeling was amazingly refreshing. The sundown at manasarovar was an event of a lifetime and something absolutely memorable. Our next job was to get our tent in place ‘coz it was so windy that the sherpas were having a nightmare getting them up. Our truck was also stuck in the sand and no soon that they got him out, the moron of a driver got it stuck again a few meters away. They would tow him out later. We helped to put up the tents and hopped into ours since it was really cold by then. After a few gulps of brandy and we skipped dinner and some hot soup instead. We are done for the day.
Day 10. date: 13.06.2006.
We got to find that the valley had turned white overnight. It had snowed, albeit not so heavily, early in the morning and had covered the mountains and the plateau in a white veil. Was looking, as doc put, surreal. Got up late, true to our form, cause it was biting cold. We decided to wait until breakfast to decide further POA. But sixty brains, that too at high altitude, meant that we had twice that many ideas for everything and the Kailash Parikrama and the Manasarovar Holy Bath were no exceptions. Finally two options emerged, one to keep moving on to mount Kailash post breakfast and the other to wait here until noon for the holy bath. The snowfall had really compounded our dilemma and we were at our wits’ end. Finally, we decided to move on simply ‘cos we didn’t want to jeopardize our Kailash Parikrama as that was one of the principal reasons for our yatra. Plus as I told the others we didn’t have sins at all to wash off (sorry, couldn’t resist that one!). So, we formed a group of 8 and started just before noon. The POA was to start with Manasarovar parikrama, a distance of 88 kms which would take about 3 hours. With the serene lake on one side and the glorious mountains on the other, the Manasarovar parikrama offers a simply breathtaking experience. We saw the magnificent “Korla Mandhata”, another religious mountain like the mount Kailash one cannot ascend, to our left. At one point the cloud cover suddenly cleared to give us a unobstructed view of the peak. Believe me, to see the holy mountain along with the lake is a sight for fortunate humans. The view of Mount Kailash kept changing with every kilometer and we kept stopping every 15-20 minutes to take photos, but every frame was better than the earlier one. We almost drove ol’ Pempa up the wall with our unscheduled stops. Late noon, we reached “Rakshas Tal”, where Ravana was said to have done his penance for Lord Shiva. Rakshas Tal is a lake adjoining Manasarovar, separated by a land body. We were not supposed to consume the water here, AB told us. Apparently from no point on land, are both the lakes simultaneously visible. Weird! Soon, we reached the hot springs, which true to Chinese tradition had been piped and was sold at an astronomical price, 20 yuan per head (125INR). Atrocious! Scalding hot water at near zero temperatures, Amazing! Each took almost his own time although Doc took a bit of ours as well. But the bath was the best we had felt in days. Fresh clothes and more importantly, fresh underclothes had never felt so good. We left for “Darchen” at about 1700 hrs and reached in 90 mins or so. The Guest House was, well, as guest houses were in Tibet, another depreciated looking place. The rooms inside though, were decidedly better than at Saga and Paryang. Another matter about the toilets though! Impossible for me to use them. Doc, however, has no such qualms and uses them cheerfully and sometimes, multiple times in a day. Enough said.
Meanwhile the internal dynamics within our group had gone slightly awry, what with the “G” gang making their displeasure about the facilities apparent to all and sundry. They had a valid reason. Being as they were on his case at all times, Narya and his team was seen as being pro-mumbai group, something which we didn’t mind. His contention was that the “G” gang were clients of Jaggu and hence he was not directly answerable to them. Bottom line, we were VIP’s. Even the sherpas, who were ill-treated and mis-behaved to by the “G” gang, were seen to be far friendlier towards us.
Meanwhile, the weather was taking a turn for the worse. It was so chilly that we almost did not have dinner today either. You may be thinking that we had been starving ourselves. On the contrary we were busy polishing of our internal supplies. That much less weight to carry around. Again the soup tonight was superb. The rest of it wasn’t bad either. Just before dinner we learnt that one of the Puneites, Ajit Sane had taken very ill. A few visits by Doc did not help much either. It was decided to move him immediately to a lower altitude, preferably a warmer place as well. Doc says it could be bad for him if it worsens. Can you imagine, you reach right at the base of the mighty mount Kailash and then you have to go back! Tough! We were far fortunate, though. I was caught up with the feeling of anticipation and couldn’t wait to start. Rumours about not being able to start tomorrow due to the bad weather, were doing the rounds. We were quite helpless though and prayed that our hope would prevail. We slept.
Day 11. date: 14.06.2006.
Woke up in the morning to find that it had been snowing since dawn and heavily at that, which put our “Kora”, as the parikrama is known in Tibetan, in serious jeopardy. But Narya and his team were confident that eight of us would definitely make the cut. We four, the WC, Bhau and Bhidya and Narya formed the group. This was a whittled down number, from a wannabe group of 25 which until yesterday was a surety. After packing in bare essentials we left for “Sharten”, a 20 minutes drive from Darchen. A brief symbolic pooja later we moved to “Yam Dwar”, from where we physically begin the “Kora”. Just as we were about to start, the “G” gang got into a verbal duel with the FT team, about some of them wanting to join us. After a painful hour or so, the gujjubhais prevailed and six of them joined us, two of them on horseback. We set off. Our first base camp was to be “Dera Puk”, 14 kms away at an altitude of 5000 meters. The Yam Dwar is at the base of the South-west face of Mount Kailash. Here we are closest to the mountain. The path is obviously rough, but not too daunting and most made it to Dera-puk in relative ease after about 4-5 hours. The sight of the west face of Mount Kailash from a worm’s eye-view is just unbeatable. Me and doc reached along with the WC who was accompanied by Nikita(from the “G” gang). Dera-puk lies at the base of the North face of Mount Kailash and offers, what is possibly the best view of the mountain. Every line, every snow speck, every contour on it is clearly visible from here. The sight was amazing and it was surprising that Doc and AB sneaked away into their tents as soon as they were put up. Since our group was small, we had just 4 sherpas with us, one of them bringing up the back-markers. So we helped put up the tents, but a few minutes of work made us breathless and we had to stop. The sherpas, Dorche A, Dorche B and Dandy though just kept going and the they were up soon enough. We had reached Dera-puk at about 1800 hours and we wanted to view the Kailash at sunset and decided to wait for the late evening rays to fall on the holy mountain. By the time sunset came, it was almost 2130 hrs. But the sight was worth every minute of the wait. The sight changed every 15 seconds or so and we didn’t know whether to look and gape or click photos. Absolutely fantastic! I for one was just hypnotized by the sight of the mountain. It has a certain something, which I can’t put my finger on, but you can’t remain unaffected by it’s presence. I just gaped and so did pats and doc for some time. And I don’t think either of us is very religious.
Night fallen, we decided to bail out, tired as we were. We were served hot soup few minutes later in our tents and it was followed by dinner. Dunno what it was, just gobbled it up! We could feel the cold coming in though. Just imagine this! A thermal inner-wear, then a tee, then sweater, and then another and lastly a down jacket (North Face, no less), then inside an excellent hi-altitude sleeping bag. And still the cold is felt. Despite all this, I slept very erratically and kept waking up because of the extreme cold. Did not realize when I crashed out. Tomorrow’s trek would be the definitive one though! We have been keeping our fingers crossed for the weather. Bam Bam Bhole!
ZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!
Day 12. date: 15.06.2006.
Whenever I have seen an adventure or expedition feelers or promos on channels like Nat-Geo or A1, I have wondered how cold it could be for the guys in it. Well, now I know. It’s BAD cold, felt right down to the innermost tissue in your body. And no amount of thermal-wear insulates you 100%. I remember at a certain point in our drive at Lalong La, when we got out of the car at well past midnight, the temperatures were hovering sub-zero, probably, and the shock of the cold was so abrupt and extreme, it chilled me right to my bones, and by the time I rushed back to our car’s safety, I was shaking in my knees. The wind chill factor magnifies the cold by almost 5 degrees at times.
And so it was when I woke up. Mind numbing cold, that’s all I felt! Everything freaking chilled, no other sensation! So much so, that I was at a loss for words, or action or even thought. Gulped down a couple of mugs of hot water which got some sanity back! The rest of us were not much different from what I was. We had to leave Dera-Puk ASAP, so we finished our morning chores fast as we could and got moving. The distance right up to “Zuthul Puk” was a good 22 km. The wind was screaming across the valley and we were as cold as we could get. The place where we had put up our tents was a rough terrain and that had screwed up our sleep as well. The weather was constantly threatening us and we had to move quickly. The sight of the holy mountain early in the morning was such a divine one, I was almost hypnotized by the vision. The first climb, leading up-to “Drolma-La Pass” was tough enough and we all were huffing and puffing. We knew that AB & Doc would have to be slightly pushed but they made the first ascent with relative ease. I was slightly ahead of the rest as I didn’t want to upset the rhythm I had generated. Paatya though, was herding the twosome, especially AB, who needed a few hard prods in his posterior. The worst though was yet to come. No sooner we started our climb to the pass, the weather worsened and it stated snowing. By the time we reached halfway, we had a blizzard on our path. And in this, Tibetan monks were using their body length to cover the distance. I had to see this to believe it. An hour so into the climb, reached the Drolma La Pass at 5620 meters or 18500 feet. Right behind me was the WC and La femme. They were followed by Doc, AB and Pats. As expected we were all thrilled to bits. That joy tough was short-lived, the descent right up to Zuthul Puk was the major distance to be covered for the day, and would take about 10-11 hours. The snow meanwhile kept falling though it had weakened. We passed the “Gauri Kund” where goddess Parvati is said to have her bath. According to folklore, the birth story of lord Ganpati also pertains to this very Gauri Kund. Right now it was covered with a sheet of ice and we had no intention of dipping our hands in it. As we descended, the terrain got tougher. We crossed a glacier and then descended a sharp slope into a beautiful valley which bore no relation to the land a kilometer before. It had transformed into a vale with green lawns and an endless river bed. By this time me and Bhidya had left most everyone except Bhau, who had galloped ahead with the yaks, behind. AB joined us a few kilometers later though. We soon realized how fickle and deceptive the weather could be. About 7-8 kilometers before our base camp, the sky suddenly turned murky and before we knew it we were in the middle of the scariest snowstorm I have ever seen. We continued walking but 10 minutes later realized that it was useless. We had walked right into the mother of all blizzards. Our jackets and cheaters were rendered useless as the wind was so strong it was blowing the snow horizontally in our faces. Walking was impossible and we took shelter behind a largish rock. 15 minutes later who should walk through the snow but our remaining gang of Doc, Pats, the WC and La Femme. The rock was not going to be enough and we hadn’t a choice, so we trooped off once more. Almost zombie-like we walked for about an hour or so before the storm ebbed. We were almost drenched and wanted to get the wet stuff off us before we got sick. Five minutes later we turned a corner and there they were, five of the most beautiful things I had seen for the past week, our tents. The sherpas and the yakpa team had reached earlier and had already put up the tents, God Bless them, 2 km before Zuthul Puk. We removed our wet attire and moved in ASAP. The sherpas, as efficient as ever, had hot coffee and soup ready and served a fab dinner, in our tents. Whew! What a day! I personally think that the 90-100 minutes of blizzard that we walked through was thrilling and scaring at the same time. Doc thinks that we have been pushing our bodies too far and methinks he had had enough of treks for a while. I too, am just about having enough of this cold now. I guess the rest of us feel the same too. Am too tired to get out of my sleeping bag. Just have to crash…even if its’ just 2100 hrs.
Day 13. date: 16.06.2006.
When we stopped 2 km before Zuthul Puk, it meant that we had to walk that much more today, a total of 15 or so km. Drolma La pass done with, we couldn’t wait to finish the trip now. We woke up to bedside coffee and later an elementary breakfast. The sherpas were wrapping up the camp site and folding the tents when one of them called out saying he had found a stray pair of trousers. I hadn’t changed at all, so I knew it wasn’t mine. Turned out that they belonged to Doc. The strange part was that the tent where they had been found was the one adjacent to his, and occupied by La Femme. We ribbed him incessantly about it but we are yet to get a believable explanation. Doc was, of course, suitably red-faced and we played it up a lot more. Think we quite succeeded. So we left all 19-20 of us, at 0930 hrs or so. The walk to Dar Chen would take three to four hours. The walk turned out to be far less strenuous than yesterday, with the weather turning friendly again. Beautiful valleys and a vibrant fauna were quite evident throughout as opposed to the rest of the region. Saw some lovely birds, actual ones and what seemed to me like prairie dogs. Managed to catch some frames of them as well. Bhau was a little over the top, but then everyone has their idiosyncrasies. At 1400 hrs or so, we turned a mountain corner and we found our cars and truck in our view. We had done it. It was more of a relief since we had completed the yatra without any health problems to our entire group, despite the variations in age within it. The lion’s share of the credit however has to go to the Sherpas, Dorche 1, Dorche 2, Dorche 3 and the youngest of the lot, Dandy, who toiled gamely and smilingly throughout it all, making sure we got all our meals where and when we wanted, our tents were put up
Our team was waiting for us, though there was a difference from what we had thought. Apparently the rest of the group had decided that morning to move on to Paryang, and that’s where we shall be going as well. I was extremely disappointed and so were the rest of us. it meant that we wouldn’t get to bathe in Manasarovar. But kya kare? We were too tired even to protest and decided to go with what Narya had decided. Pempa was all geared up, having rid the car of its minor niggles (I hope), and we moved. Paryang meant 7-8 hrs of drive and we were a car short, due to a breakdown. So Bhidya and Bhau hopped in the truck cabin and Narya came in of our car along with Dandy. It was tough going for the poor chap and it wasn’t until a couple of hours down the road that the replacement car came along. Narya, Bhidya, Bhau and our Guide hopped on and we moved on once again. We finally reached Paryang only at 2030 hours and were put up in a different hotel this time. We couldn’t wait to back in Mumbai. The fatigue had set in with most of us and the frustrating part was it would be another week by the time we reach home. Probably, the incessant traveling coupled with the fact that the yatra was successfully negotiated, had got to our psyche. I cant wait to get my butt in a proper bed in a proper room preferably my own at home. Adjoining our room was a bar, which had a TV set so watched a soccer match till half time. The landlady after dropping too many hints for us to leave, finally closed shop and we too downed shutters for the day.
Day 14. date: 17.06.2006.
Forgot to mention yesterday that soon as we reached Paryang, most of our co-yatrees actually touched our feet coz we had completed the Kailash parikrama successfully. A bit much I thought. Can’t argue with over-religious gandabhais, though. All throughout the trip, Doc has been on call at least a couple of times daily. At times I think he was called because he was available, if you know what I mean.
Moved form Paryang late, 1030 hrs or so, and halted at Dong Ba after and uneventful 3-4 hours for lunch. Reached Saga at 1700 hrs so had a lot of time with nothing much to do. Someone mentioned the word ‘bath’, and we jumped at it. We scouted the market and hit a lottery, a bath for 8 yuan(48 INR). A bit costly, but we would have paid have twice that amount today and not regretted it. Bathed , shaved and scrubbed up, came back to our guest house for some great dinner. Narya had arranged for “Gulab jamuns” as dessert, and really good ones at that. Unbelievable! How do you manage that in the middle of Tibet?
Nothing else today so guess that’s it for the day. Really getting tired of this journey now. Called up home and spoke to everyone one, it felt like a year. Shit!
Day 15. date: 18.06.2006.
Had to leave Saga early at 0600 hours or so if we had to reach Zhang Mu. In reality, we managed to leave only at 0900. Even as we were leaving, doc got a call from some other group, whose guys stopped us on the road for Doc, for a lady who was unwell. Doc, though, graciously obliged and gave even gave the medicines that he had in his bag. The yatra has not been easy for most and we learnt in Paryang that out of our current lot of 500 yatrees, there had been 3 casualties thus far, most of them succumbing to the altitude and the cold. One lady apparently collapsed the police check-post after she’d completed the parikrama, and was on her way back. All in all we had reason to feel contented about completing what we set out to do. We were especially happy for Doc and AB, who were not fully cut out for this sort of stuff, despite AB’s claims to the contrary. He has done the basic Himalayan mountaineering course, he had told us, conveniently forgetting to tell us when. Turned out it was when he was eight! Ha! So we found another point to pull his leg. I think AB just needs a point to get back at us, especially me.
The road between Saga and Nyalam is probably the worst of the journey, which implies that it’s the most picturesque as well. We missed this part during the toward journey coz we did it at night, so we had no intention of missing it now. The landscape has to be the best I have seen for ages. A real photographer’s delight! The Pikochu valley and lake is absolutely glorious in size and serenity. The road leading upto the lake was a nightmare to drive on, and Pempa gave us quite a few thrills, desert safari style. Must be the only place on earth where one gets snow-clad mountains, sand dunes and fresh water, all in one frame. Amazing! Standing out of the car was still a tough affair coz of the gusty strong wind and the dust. So we stayed in our car and eat much when we halted right on the lake banks. Later we crossed the Lalong La pass, at 5200 meters, which just too good. Finally reached Nyalam at 1700 hours or so and we were shacked up in another decrepit hotel called Snowland. Looked ready for crumble-time any moment! I guess all these hotels have a yearly competition going for the worst loo. And must be a tough fight for the top prize! We got some cards and played well into the night. Bhidya and Bhau had joined us by then. After dinner watched a Brazil soccer match until we couldn’t keep our eyes open and slept well past midnight.
Day 16. date: 19.06.2006.
So today we would reach Kathmandu. Never thought I would have so much relief and pleasure saying this. Packed and left really early so reached Zhang Mu at about 1100 hrs, cleared immigration, Nepal customs and the rest by 1300 hrs and waited for our luggage. And waited. And then waited some more. Like every other yatree, the buses, too had arrived but the truck carrying our stuff took time to negotiate the traffic at the narrow China border road. So we waited some more. The luggage finally arrived at 1630 hrs. By then we were almost at breaking point. After some more ruckus about where the luggage should be kept, we left. Our bus was the smaller and supposedly the better one of the two. In reality, however, the wretched thing was slow and lethargic and took 5 hours and more for a 3.5 hour journey. By the way, just short of Dhulikhel, our bus was stopped by Maoists for some donation/extortion/small change. Narya dealt with it but apparently last year they had detained a bus for a day when the group refused to pay up. At 2130 we reached Soaltee, checked in, and don’t know when I slept while watching soccer. Learnt later that Doc and AB had gone to the casino! More tomorrow!
Day 17. date: 20.06.2006.
We had decided that we wouldn’t do much today and tomorrow. So we went to Thamel, a shopping district, and bought all sort of stuff. Lost Pats as he was copying camera data onto a CD! For some reason AB refused to switch on his cellphone. Said that he gets calls from business associates which he can't avoid. Isn’t it simple? Just don’t answer the bloody call! But you miss the obvious, sometimes.
We came back and slept after a late lunch. Doc told us about the casino which has a dance show between 2200 hrs and 0100 hrs every night featuring young nepali guys and gals dancing to latest hindi film tracks. Entry is free and what is free how good can it be? Well, pretty good, in fact, as we found out later. Me and doc were the only two since Pats and AB opted out. True to form the WC was right at the front next to the stage. The music was well, as hindi film music is, but the local boys were dancing were dancing well enough and the girls dressed minimally enough to elicit interest. I was feeling sleepy but stayed on with Doc and the WC. Nice. Different but nice!
Day 18. date: 21.06.2006.
Got up early since me and Pats opted for a “Mountain View” flight. The company is Buddha Air and charges a bomb for the flight, 3600 INR, but believe me it was worth every penny. The sigh if the magnificent Himalayas from high above is privileged and to see Mount Everest, the big daddy of them all, is truly a dream come true. Came back in time for breakfast and slept again. Did some more shopping in the evening, mostly for the kids! Packed and then repacked. After dinner, did the casino round, this time all four of us. Pats wanted to get friendly with one of the dancers, but it was mostly drama, I think. Came back! Slept while soccer was going on!
Day 19. date: 22.06.2006.
So by tonight we should be home. Notwithstanding the flight from delhi to Mumbai, which was with air deccan. Got our air tickets and Manasarovar water from D.B. who had come to drop us off to the airport. And we were off. The flight left late by an hour due to rain. We reached New Delhi hoping to rest for some time in the lounge. No such luck. We had exceeded our luggage weight quota by a fair margin and Paatya and Doc got into a frightfully heated argument which raged for well over an hour. I prayed and hoped that we wouldn’t get offloaded. To make matters worse the flight got delayed, true Air Deccan style, by almost 2 hours. We took off at 2315 and by the time got our luggage back it was well past 0100. I had called baba and ritu to receive me so I would drop off AB and Doc. Pats had minu, his sister. So finally our nineteen days draw to a close. The delayed flight meant that the kids had slept. Damn you, Air Deccan! Gotta wait for another night to see them, now.
Epilogue.
This trip, by far the longest in my life, was also the most arduous. So despite the fantastic experience, we made it safely for a few reasons. A. We had age on our side. B. We all were relatively fit. C. We took enough precautions about our diet and water intake during the journey D. We had oodles of luck. Could never make it without the last one! This travelogue was also possible only coz’ AB, Doc and Pats kept prodding me till the very end and even after reaching Mumbai. I had almost lost patience midway!
The events have been written from my perspective and no one need take any offense from the narration. But, all in all, a trip of a lifetime! Bam Bam Bhole!
