Trekking in the Himalayas
Mood:
lucky
Topic: Asia Trip
Greetings from India, where we will only be for another 3 days before we head off to Thailand. We've had quite an adventure over the past 3+ weeks. We've just returned from a trekking trip in the Indian Himalayans. It was the most quiet and remote place we've ever been -- the only sounds were a roaring river in the bottom of the valley and an occasional bird. No planes with flight
patterns in the skies, no roads, and only small mountain villages, accessed via steep mountain trails on foot or horse.
I'll preface our trekking trip by saying that in India, we have come to learn a few phrases: 1) TIDI -- This is definitely India; 2) "Only in India"; 3) Things can definitely get worse (the
opposite of the notion -- "Things can only get better"). Well, the theme in our trekking adventure is most heavily dominated by #3.
Our group: Our leader, Vipin, is a cool, long haired Indian who grew up in the mountains. He owns
the outfitter we went with and has a laid back attitude. Natalie, from Belgium, is a jounalist,
and a born traveler. She's been to Ethiopia, Cuba, etc. Very nice and down to earth. The rest of the group, four Americans, are traveling together. They live in Delhi and are Christian Missionaries working at an orphanage. Mostly they are Texans. Sweet, loving and nice to be around.
We began our trip with Red Chilli Adventures (their tagline is "We Add Spice to Your Life" and you better believe they did!) from Rishikesh at 6:00 AM on Sunday morning, where it was cool and rainy -- approx 500m elevation. About 20 minutes into the drive our car got a flat tire. After a quick change we were on our way. We climbed for several hours along the edge or numerous mountains weaving our way deep into the Yamuna Valley and on into Tons Valley. The scenery was breathtaking -- super green, lush mountains topped with trees and steep drops from top to thebottom carved by a river, all visible in one view. The sides of the mountains had been carved into terrace gardens of bright yellow and red crop colors.
The deeper into the mountains we drove, the rain had started to make sections of the road too muddy for our HM Ambassador (classic India car) to pass. We got to one section where we all had to get out of the car -- I (Marisa) chose to get out of the car on the wrong side...and my feet sank into about a foot of mud covering my shoes and socks. Little did I know this would seem insignificant compared to what was ahead. We were supposed to arrive to camp the first night by 6:00 PM -- nightfall. At 6:00 PM, we were negotiating with the first set of local jeeps in a small village to get us past one section of road (if you can call a one-car wide dirt/rocky pathy along the edge of a mountain with cliff sides and no guard rail...a "road") that had been washed away in several places from land slides due to the monsoons.
(OK, Moms and Dads...look away and don't read this next part :) )
Between 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM, we switched a few times into different jeeps, each one leading us
to the edge of the next landslide. It was raining, cold and very dark. The hightlight was when our jeep hit a huge section of muddy road, fishtailed, and then skidded off the side of the mountain with the front left wheel hanging over the edge. The car was miraculously stopped by the front axel which caught us and prevented us from rolling down the cliff. We leaped from the jeep only to spend the next two hours pulling and tugging to get the vehicle back on the road. At this point, Marisa told our very cool and calm Indian guide, who was communicating nothing to us during this time, that "this was not ok!" He agreed that we could walk the remaining 3 km to camp rather than get back into the car. We made it safely to camp in the end, a bit shaken up to say the least.
The next day we had a beautiful day for hiking, 12 km in to the village of Osla, following the roaring glacial waters in the Supin River -- a beautiful green/grey color. On our third day we were supposed to hike uphill 14 km to Har Ki Dun, Valley of the Gods, but we awoke to a snow storm...yes, a snow storm. Molly and I had gear with us for maybe a low of 50 degrees -- 3 t-shirts, one polypropolene shirt, hiking pants, socks, a rain poncho, and a pashmena shall which
saved us as we wrapped them around our heads like a turban to keep warm! We got stuck in the valley at camp and enjoyed the incredible gourmet cooking of our cook, Ashok. The service on the trip was amazing and the food better than any we have had anywhere in India (fried pineapple with chocolate sauce and fresh banana pudding for desserts). We all sat in the dining tent and told stories and played cards drinking chai and trying not to shiver.
The weather cleared the next day and we used the opportunity to hike back towards our starting point, rather than further into the valley. We hoped that a lower elevation would bring warmer temperatures. On the way, we stopped at the village of Gangar. The children were so excited to see us. This village is so remote that it is completely self sufficient. No electricity etc. For men to marry, they must still pay a dowry to their wife's family -- money earned by the men being porters etc. for trekkers passing through the valley. That night, as soon as we arrived to camp, the skies opened and the rain poured long into the night -- which was heavy snow where we had camped the night before, so it was a good thing that we headed back when we did and not onward to Har Ki Dun.
The trip got easier as the days passed, with skies turning blue and temperatures reaching the 40s and 50s. The drive back out of the valley in local India SUVs was hair raising to say the least. And for some reason, we're noticing a pattern of all India drivers we hire...as we enter a village or town, they seem to speed up dodging people, animals, vehicles etc. at a faster speed than they chose on the open road. Only in India.
We are back in Rishikesh -- yoga capital. We met two American men today who had moved to India --
deep in the Himalayan mountains -- five years ago to create an ashram and live a simple life based around transidental meditation. We had a nice conversation about politics -- we shared similar views, but it was amazing how little they knew about what had transpired over the past several years. They have not been in the US since pre-Sept. 11th. They gave us good advice to go and vote at the US Embassy in Delhi -- a good option for us to get our absentee ballots in before the election.
We're off to Thailand on Tuesday the 19th and actually think we will miss India a lot, accept for
the cow shit.
Love to you all. We're doing our best to load photos to Snapfish, and we'll post the link to our
Website once their up.
xo,
Marisa and Molly
Posted by marisaandmolly
at 9:02 AM EDT
Updated: Saturday, 16 October 2004 9:24 AM EDT