When life gives you lemon

Dec 1 2013, Jodhpur express 3AC compartment. We were searching our wallets and backpacks for some left out money and managed to get a ten rupee note and 20 bucks worth of coins. Next Station arrived, and two of us got down with the 30 bucks and headed towards a snack counter and ordered few vadas. #Tip1 do not hesitate to use coins even if you have to use only coins ;-) We were staring at the vadas the shopkeeper picked. We both wanted him to pick the bigger ones though they were oily #Tip2 when a vada is all that you can have for a day, be wise to pick the big and oily one:-P Finally we got our vadas and moved towards the train. At that time we were not aware that we were being noticed. We got back and had the vadas and filled the hungry tummies. Last proper meal we had was around 18 hours ago in Dandeli. We were so much into having fun that we did not have enough time to have food. #Tip3 Eating is part of travelling J do not skip that.

So why were we sitting there with no money, forced to eat just a vada? Because we were a bunch of idiots. #tip4 you may be a stupid, but make sure at least one of your friends is not! ;-) So after spending 4 good days of rambling and gambling in and around Goa and Dandeli, 5^th day we decided to go for some water sports in Dandeli and then head towards Hubli to catch our train @ 2pm on Dec 1 2013. So after having some good amount of off-road adventures in Dandeli, we started our journey in a Jeep without knowing we were going to have some on-road adventures as well. Yeah we were already late for the train and the driver had to do lots of stunts and finally we reached the station at 1 50 pm. We got into the train and were shocked to see our seats already taken. #Tip5 be prepared for surprises  so we started arguing with the people in our seats showing the ticket in our mobile. Just then I realized that our tickets were booked for Jan 1 and not Dec 1 and the train started to move already. We hurried ourselves out of the train and then sat in the platform thinking what to do next.

So we decided to talk to the TTEs of other trains to get seats. After few failed attempts in few trains, we managed to get 4 seats in Jodhpur express. #Tip6 you will meet wonderful people in your journey, and some of them could be greedy TTEs. He gave us the seats on a deal that he would not give receipts for the tickets but instead would give a missed call to alert us in case if there was a squad in train. With no option left out, we signed up for the deal. Just then we realized we were running out of money to pay the TTE and asked a friend of mine to get money from the ATM as there was enough time for train’s departure. He got the money and we paid 2500 bucks to TTE. Train departed and the catering people were selling food items. We were all very hungry. We asked the guy who came from the ATM to buy food packets and he gave us this puzzled look .That idiot had withdrawn money only for the tickets. #Tip7 you may realize all your friends are stupid as well. And so we were sitting there with still hungry tummies, trying different ways to sleep.

The train was about to reach the next station. A man appeared in front of us. We all were able to recognize him. We had just met him while talking to the TTE. We even exchanged couple of words with him before getting into the train. But now we were puzzled why he was there. He told that he had been noticing us from the time we got into the train and was asking us affectionately why we were not asking for help. And then he took one of our friends with him and they both returned with 4 food packets and gave us 500 bucks and insisted to take it saying we could return it once we reach Bangalore. #Tip8 Look for a Mangalam sir, when you need help:-P

So he introduced himself as Devraj, working as an electrical engineer in the Indian Army. He had been travelling in train for almost two days already. We introduced ourselves. He was happy to know that we were all maintaining our friendship from school days. He felt bad that he was not able to be in touch with such friends. He also mentioned that he was going to meet his pregnant wife. It was so inspiring and fascinating to listen to those small stories from back home and why he chose that career and all #Tip9 be all ears to people you meet in your travel. Listen to their stories.

Soon we reached Bangalore. He introduced us to his big gang of Army people and they advised us to take General compartment in Lal Bagh express as that would be the fastest way to reach Chennai. They also suggested we would all get into the train through the emergency exit even before the train comes to the platform. So Devraj found the train and we all jumped into the train through the emergency exit and were sitting inside the train expecting it to start and move towards the platform. #Tip10 Shit happens!! ;-) Suddenly there was an announcement that lal bagh express was arriving towards so and so platform and we see another train going towards that platform. Apparently we were sitting in the wrong train after doing so many stunts. #Tip11 Sometimes even the people you meet on travel can be stupid ;-)

So now we all were hopping from train to train and finally entered the right lal bagh express. But all seats were occupied by the time we got there. #Tip12 Be calm and believe in Mangalam Sir. Train departed, Devraj started talking to the passengers sitting in the train and he made sure to get us some space to sit before he got down at the next station. He even called us all individually and checked if we had reached home safely.

Now we do not know where he is. We are not in touch with him nor do we have his contact details. But he added more value and memories to the entire trip than all the places we saw and all the fun we had in the previous days. #Tip13 If you don’t want yourself writing blogs about people you meet or friends you make, stay in touch ;-)

This trip, especially the return journey brought in a big change in our perspective towards travelling. Travelling is not just about visiting places, doing adventurous stuffs, having fun with friends etc. But it is also about the people you meet and the stories you hear. Travelling is an experience. It does not matter where you go nor with whom you go, but you need to experience it. There could be few let downs in your plans. But it all adds up as a good experience. You will learn a lot of life lessons in that small vacation you spend on travelling than what you learn throughout the rest of the year. Happy travelling.

Winter is here!!!

View from Kedarkantha

That night, I had a restless sleep. I was tossing and turning inside those compact sleeping bags. Outside the tent, the temperature was probably between -15 to -10. I finally got up and made my way out of the sleeping bag when Ghost, the dog started barking .I lighted the headlamp which was hanging at the top of the tent. I piled up some three rucksacks together and rested myself leaning back on it and trying to get little more sleep.

As I closed my eyes, I was remembering our first moments of this trek in Sankri. Sankri is a small hamlet in northern Uttarakand. We reached Sankri on Dec 27th around 5 PM. Weather was very cold and windy. Temperature was around 8 to 10 degrees. We were welcome by Rohan, our trek leader from Renok Adventures. He took us to our first campsite in that small village. The campsite was located in a beautiful location surrounded by never ending mountain ranges, farmlands, small streams and it also gave us the view of Swarga Rohini, one of the high altitude peaks in Uttarakand. We went around the camp site for a while and then settled for camp fire. Soon we had more people joining us in the camp fire. There were 24 of us by the time we started dinner and we had our introduction session over the dinner. As the darkness grew, it was getting much colder and we were reminding ourselves that it was just the beginning of the winter that was ahead.

Sankri camp site

Next day morning when we got up, people were already doing warm ups. Sankri looked too lively with men and women both starting to work, and the Sankri Kids playing around. They were even trying to talk with us in their own local language and passing comments about us and giggling among themselves. Soon we got ready and then we were introduced to Kamaji who is our other trek leader and also to Raju Bhai and other support staff. We started the Day 1 trek around 9 30 AM. Initial climb was quite steep but on a proper trail. After two hours of climbing, we started to see the first patches of snow. Many of us were already tired and exhausted because of the steep climb and the altitude gain. We were all running for the ORS sachets at one stage. As we climbed further up, we started trekking between snow covered woods. Finally after 6 hours of climbing through the woods with pine and dried apple trees, we were able to see a plain surface fully covered with snow and amidst the snow was our next camp site. We walked fast towards the campsite, dropped our bags and rushed for tea. We were having tea and biscuits and looking at the snow covered woods around us. And then we notice a golden furry dog running down to the campsite through the woods in a completely different trail. Being a person who is dead scared of dogs, I initially was taking back steps whenever that dog came close. But slowly I realized how adorable the dog was. Later that day we named it “Ghost”.

After lunch, we spent the whole evening playing games which included some kindergarten games too. Some of us were making some confessions which made us all laugh. All of these we were able to do in that weather just because of the campfire that our group made. And that made the difference between the other trekking organizations and Renok. As the whole area was covered with snow, it was really difficult to find wood. We had to either climb up or down to get some wood to get the fire running all day and night. So our leader suggested us to form a human chain passing the wood all the way up to the campsite. And that way we got the camp fire running till the next morning.Finally we all retired to sleep around 11 PM. The temperature was around -5 to -7 degrees that time. Thanks to the campfire and the quality sleeping bags and at last the tents.

Next day morning when I got up, I was able to hear people already involved in early morning conversations. Two of my friends from my tent were already out. And I knew the temperature must be really cold already. So added up one more layer and decided to move out and that’s when I realized that there was already a group waiting near the tent. As soon as I got out, 8 of them were there and some of them were throwing snow at me and few really tried to put the snow inside my jacket. And they were shouting “Happy birthday”. Yes, I had just turned 26 that day and It was good to be there with eight of my friends from different phases of my life. Some of them were from school, some from my first work place and one from my college days.

Later that morning we had tea, breakfast and some medical checkup followed by warm up sessions. Soon we started the trek. The first one hour climb was extremely slippery and steep. For major part of that stretch, I was not at all confident on just the two legs that we were all manufactured with. It was extremely slippery at most places because of the icy path. It was like, if one of us had fallen, it would have resulted in a cascading effect. Our trek leaders and the support staff did an amazing job in helping us all do it. After almost an hour's climb, we reached Juda-ka-talab a small lake on the way to the next camp site. The lake was completely frozen and covered by snow filled woods. We sat there resting for a while and admiring it for some time and then we continued our climb which was even more tedious. The whole path was very narrow that we all had to move in a line, one after the other. Sometimes we had these mules with huge load crossing us and hiking up in full speed to overtake us and we had to push and crush ourselves towards the hill side holding on to something.

On the way to talab

Juda-ka-talab

Finally after 3 hours of struggle, we saw a huge campsite with India hikes, YHAI and everybody else. Renok had their tents in the best spot on a corner of that hill top from where you can see many hill ranges of the Himalayas and also the majestic Kedarkantha peak which looked very close from its base camp. This campsite was situated at 11000+ feet and the temperature was hitting 0 in the late afternoon only. This campsite was the real test for our tolerance to the Himalayan winters. After grabbing some rest, we went around the campsite taking pictures and collecting wood for the next two days and we met some friends who had come through India hikes.

Kedarkantha basecamp

We spent most part of the evening and night around the campfire and the kitchen:-P Team Renok was providing us yummy pakodas, soups and finally the dinner. This night they asked us to sleep early as we had to start trekking early in the morning around 4 AM. So we retired to sleep around 10 PM but then there I was sitting back against those rucksacks trying different ways to sleep. As nothing could help and as the Ghost kept barking, I decided to walk out of the tent. The time was around 3 AM and I came out to witness the most spectacular view of this whole trek and even my whole life till then. Sky was fully lit with Stars and the Moon. It was a perfect twilight. And the headlamp seemed useless. The snow was glowing because of the twilight and the Kedarkantha peak was still visible even at that time of the night. There was very less noise and it was just the sound of the night and those of the mountains and of course the sound of Ghost too:-D

Finally everybody was up and ready by 4 AM. We all had some parathas and oats. And we started to hike again and in dark this time. For the summit climb, we all got our crampons as it was expected to be extremely slippery. We were walking in a line. I was at the end of the line walking slowly accompanied by Aman and Ganesh who actually helped me summit the peak despite the back pain that I had acquired over the past few days. Sometimes they even made me forget the manufacturing defect and fact that we all have only two legs ;-)

Summit climb 

The summit trek was really tiring and it was damn cold as well. Many of us had our first snow fall as well on the way to the peak. The wind was strong and cold and it was pushing us. Whenever there was heavy wind, we had to hold on to our trekking poles firmly. After hours of climbing, the peak started to appear closer. The closer we moved, it looked as though the peak kept moving away. At one point, I was not sure whether I would be able to make it up and even the guide asked me that directly. But there were a lot of positive vibe from the people around. People were encouraging each other. There were guys who could have done it with ease and much faster but waiting for others to help them do it. A guy who was walking all alone, taking rest once in a while and then start hiking again like a mad man. There was this adorable couple helping each other and also others throughout the journey. A guy stuck with mountain sickness still wanting to do it. There was a whole group hiking without the crampons on the shoes. And there was a guy from the previous day who was actually a porter carrying around 45 Kg on his back and still running up and down the hill helping people to climb. This whole trek had many flavors. May be all these motivated every one of us made our way to the peak to witness the spectacular views of the never ending Himalayan ranges of the Himachal and Uttarakand.

View from kedarkantha

After summiting Kedarkantha

We spent some quality time in the peak and then started descending to the base camp. The downhill was quite easy and fun. We had good fun sliding in the snow. Wherever we found an opportunity, we tried sliding down and finally after we lost all our energy we reached back to our tents and rushed for food .We spent this evening inside the tents only. It was the coldest day of the trip. Even holding the plate for dinner was extremely difficult. But we all somehow managed to get a decent sleep because of the tiring trek we had that day.

Next day, we had to go downhill all the way up to Sankri in a single stretch. But in a different route through Hargaon. Half of the downhill trek was tricky due to the icy trails. But we all reached back safely and it was a happy ending that all of us from our group completed the trek. Soon people started leaving after sharing good byes and sharing the hope that we may meet each other in some trek some day.