Himachal Journey - Day 8

This day I remember very well, at the end of this day, we reached an awesome campsite and it is where our chef cooked rotis in the open making around 45 rotis in 30 minutes without oil. mind you!

Breakfast - Corn Flakes + aloo Parotha + corn flakes + omlette

Day started with a walk around rocky zone plus a climb. the it was few rock fall zones. We could see the forest cover now, 2 days of snow rock was over, we had a huge climb in front of us.

In between a climb found sometime to finish lunch.

Packed lunch was - Mexican wrap with vegetables + egg + frooti + apple + diary milk!

Finally through a series of inclines we managed to cross a waterfall where we refilled, then it was all out climb to our campsite. One of the bestest campsite during all of our treks.

Dinner - Roti + Rice + moong channa dal + black tea + vegetables (potato + tomato).

Cheers,

Himachal Journey - Day 7

Day 7 appears to be vague in my memory. I do not recollect the events visually. I do not remember how the campsite looks like. I wonder how come that happened.

But I do remember by the pictures and the food prepared.

So I gotta write about only few things!

Cheers,

Breakfast - Poha + custard + egg burgi + tea

Lunch - Boiled potato + apple + frooti + diary milk

Dinner - Rice + Roti + Vegetables (potato/tomato/cauliflower) + rajma dal.

Reaching campsite - Tea + Biscuits.

Himachal Journey - Day 6

Yesterday had a big impact on our mindset.
- We had lost couple of team members owing to altitude sickness.
- We had climbed most part of the hill and were 45 minutes away from crossing the pass, yet we came back.
- Our spare day, which was  reserved for spending in BaraBhangal was exhausted and we now were seeing 12 continuous days of trek instead.
- Once we crossed this pass, there was a point of no return.

But we were quite  optimistic. With God's grace we were planning to cross through.

Breakfast - Corn Flakes with Musli + onion parotha + black tea

The day was long, we started the day with the climb and reached the top where it was ice ice and more ice. Another 2 hours we were almost near the pass crossing.

And then it happened, we reached the top of Kaliheni pass. Our second pass crossing in a 12 day trek, this one too at 14750 feet. Now we had a snow field, lake, a glacier which we had to cross, then we had to make way along the quarry full of stones.

In between took pictures next to the lake and then sat opposite to the lake finished lunch and then started again.

Lunch was - vegetable roll + boiled egg + munch + apple + frooti

Final part of the journey was very very tough. Full of descent on rocks and the campsite was way too long. We made it, it was around 4 45 pm. A very long day.

It would have been worrisome if we had tried this yesterday, because, seriously it was very long.

Dinner - Chowmen + fried rice + pasta + custard sweet + tea

Soup was tomato + garlic soup.

Heavy dinner owing to the success in crossing the pass, though at a second attempt.

Cheers,

Himachal Journey - Day 5

Today we had to cross Kaliheni pass. It was another high altitude pass and believe me it would be tough. We had a path laid out with stones on top of that, we had a lot of distance to cover. So it would be one of the tough tough days.

Breakfast was oat meal porridge + pancake + black tea

Once we start on the rocky path we reach a mountain trail where in we start the climb. Each one of us was walking at our own speed and me and few others were almost through to the top. We were only around 45 minutes from crossing the peak.

Few others were behind and all of a sudden we had a signal from the guide telling us to stop. We had crossed much distance in the tough tough mountain climb and here we were asked to stop.

After around 20 minutes time of waiting guide asked us to come back. We were camping on the mountain itself an inclined place. The reason being, one of the trekkers was having altitude sickness and as a result, we would not be crossing the pass today instead camping.

So today's climb was mostly 2.5 hours only. And then came back to the place where guide was and started helping him pitch the tents. This day we encountered a fresh snowfall. We were kind of upset that the other team member was not well. The views were fantastic.

Time was 12 30 and we had a long day to cover. Sitting here and there seeing mountains is what we all did on this day. And all of a sudden in the evening, the team member felt even more worse. So that person along with one more team member and a guide withdrew from the trek and returned back to Manali leaving us with only 9 team members. We felt sad, but at high altitude, we cannot take chances

Packed lunch was Biryani rice + banana + egg + frooti + dairy milk.

We were served soup 2 times, once garlic soup with noodles and other time corn soup.

Dinner - Roti + Soya Bean + vegetable + tomato + potato + dal + rice.

Cheers,

Pictures include.

Himachal Journey - Day 4

With one high altitude pass crossing done and two more pending, we were looking for more. The trek was getting better each day and we were having the time of our lives.

Woke up early around 6:30 am, were served tea at our tents itself. Before we reached campsite yesterday, we had descended quite a bit and today we had to make ascends yet again.

We were surrounded by multiple small streams of water and as a result, had no time in finding water, for freshening up. As usual no chance to take bath.

Breakfast was bread + egg omlette + corn flakes + milk powder tea
Packed lunch was - Potato + vegetable curry + cheese + apple + 5 star chocolate + frooti energy drink.

Started around 9 30 am. Passed through many shepard tents who had a stock of over 200-300 sheep along with them and few dogs also. Found couple of streams on the way to refill water as well.

Finally we had to cross one more stream and then it was ascend into a mountain. It was again a day of terrific climb, with around 2 hours spent climbing. Found first glacier on the way, where in we had few snacks and refreshments of our packed lunch. Then one more climb came and we were fully exhausted climbing.

Finally got to walk on a ridge where the horses and horsemen caught up with us and crossed us. Finished the lunch sitting on the ridge and then it was one more climb on to a different mountain altogether.

One done with climbing we got to move around flat terrain finally. Meanwhile the horsemen had reached campsite and pitched tents, so we too quickly made way to our campsite. The view from the campsite was nothing short of heaven.

Few pictures from the day

Snacks were fried pakoda comprising of onion and potato at (14k feet)
Prior to dinner mushroom soup,
Dinner comprising of kheer with dry fruits + roti + dal + rice + vegetables sabji + black tea.

Cheers,

Himachal Journey - Day 3

Woke up early on Day 3, probably, it was around 6 30 am. Freshened up and as usual no chance to take bath. This was our second day of the trek and believe me, we were supposed to cross a high altitude pass today.

Khanperi pass is at about 14500+ feet this time. Breakfast was ready and guide insisted we leave by around 9 am.

Breakfast was Bread + Omlette + oat meal porridge + Cheese + Jam + Honey.

We quickly packed and started with the day. The day began with a climb and the climb went on till noon almost 3 hours of climb climb and more climb. Then we took a break finished lunch and then made one more attempt to reach the top.

It was incredible, pass crossing on the second day itself that too 14500+ feet. It was a boon. Rested for 20 minutes at the top where it was very windy. Nice views throughout, it was nothing short of excellent. Worth every inch of effort every drop of sweat drained while I trained.

Then we crossed a the pass a small path between two mountains and then there was a steep descend all the way to the campsite which took almost 2 more hours. Finally at around 4pm reached campsite Riyali Taj.

Evening, were served with garlic soup, plus tea and biscuits late into the evening. One of our team members was having altitude related sickness and as a result, mood was a bit somber in the camp.
Dinner was Roti + Rice + Dal + Beans + Potato.

Some pictures from the day include.

Himachal Journey - Day 2 - Part 2

Seeking blessings from God, we started our trek. We all had been given plastic containers containing packed lunch. Initial trek was through medium climb, where in we met few people who had come for a day's trek. When they heard our side of the story that we would be crossing 3 high altitude passes over a 12 day trek and reaching Dharamshala, they were in awe.

So were we, it was so much fun thinking, where we started and where we would end, all by crossing mountains, awesome!

Soon, it started to drizzle and we had to take out our rain gear. The last bit of kit I wish to remove from my bag is the rain gear, because its literally a pain, to wear it across myself, my bag. But once done, it gets second to none in protecting from rain.

With slight drizzle we climbed and climbed. Soon the drizzle stopped and sun was out. It was a nice relief. We took a small break for lunch and left soon after. Reached campsite by around 3 30pm, though we started close to 10 30 am.

Packed lunch comprised of a boiled egg, a 5 star energy bar, Frooti energy drink plus banana and couple of rotis!

Once reaching the campsite we were provided with tea and biscuits. Our tents were laid and then we took a break for sometime. Climbed a nearby peak and then it was sunset time. All in all a glorious way to start a 12 day Himalayan trek. We met couple of shepards who were busy butchering mutton and smoking Hukka!

It was bear territory and we were warned not to roam far from the camp!

Cheers,

A picture from day 1 campsite goes like this! 

Himachal Journey - Day 2 - Part 1

Okay, there you go, actual trek day starts. We woke up early, got ready took bath, our last one in the next 11 days. Few others were ahead of us in getting ready and had already gotten down to finish breakfast.

Few others checked into Hotel Chauhan just opposite to our lodge in Vashisht. Ate like crazy, aloo parothas X 2, bread sandwiches, plus tea.

Then went ahead for the indemnity form signing, plus emergency details etc etc. Two vehicles were arranged, to drop us to Hidimba temple from where our actual trek starts.

So started towards Manali Hidimba temple. Over there, our guide was waiting for us, along with horsemen X 2, plus 10 horses, plus an additional two guys for help!

They were loading the rations on to the horses. Luckily, in this trek though few of them called it an expedition of 12 days, we had the company of horses to carry rations. Without whom our trek would not have been that enjoyable.

No horses meaning, porters carrying luggage and rations and thus lesser porters equals lesser rations and less food across days. But this one was otherwise!

Cheers,

Himachal Journey - Day 1 - Part 2

I was peacefully asleep after 14 hour bus journey, thought it was a volvo, it was really a pain. I recommend one to fly to Chandigarh or Amritsar instead!

All of a sudden, I was woken up by our trek leader who told us not to sleep instead to get acclimatized by keeping awake. We chose to do a small hike around the waterfalls within the Vashist area itself, while others had left towars Manali market for late lunch and shopping!

I'm re-iterating, it feels so good to be relieved of the day to day responsibilities and wander around like a mad cap seeing nature, greeting people, plucking apples, yes please it is Himachal! I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Manali/Vashisht though it was only a day and mind you, we had to start the 12 day trek (or rather expedition) tomorrow!

Evening brought in another surprise. We had our guide changed, he was supposed to join us today, but due to a unforseen circumstance, we had to get a new guide. It appeared we had to spend one more day in Manali, but luckily we found a new guide!

Finished dinner at a local restaurant and boy it was fun! Vashisht area got less crowded and it felt nice. With lanes empty, shops closed off, we were all for ourselves,

It was time to go to bed.

Cheers,

Himachal Journey - Day 1 - Part 1

At around 10pm we reached Manali, but not before stopping at Kullu for a while. So now we could tell officially we were in Himachal! Awesome place, having been to Uttarakhand, Sikkim. Kashmir, I could feel it resembled them in one way or the other.

What made me happy was the fact that, I was away from the concrete jungle amidst flowing rivers, mountains. Yep, the feeling just gets to you.

We had booked our stay in Vashisht area of Manali, so we had to travel around 5 kilometers away from the main Manali market. We took two auto rickshaws and landed at Vashisht area of Manali.

Got our rooms allocated. Since it was off-season literally zero crowd at the Hotel Dharmaa in Vashisht.

After dropping our luggage. started casual conversation with others and few others decided to go out for breakfast. Since me and other two guys were not interested in food, we rather chose to sit down in the hotel campus watching the hills and flowing rivers.

There were foreigners all around but only a limited few. It felt nice where we could totally forget about work!

So we three people sat there, then ordered sandwiches and tea. I drank 2 cups of tea and ate 2 sandwiches. Felt nice. Started chatting with the owner of the Hotel Dharma.

He was a lad in his youth, who had completed his education in Chandigarh and had come back over here. Spoke to him about employement opportunities for the chef, helpers, whether they tend to abruptly end their service and return to their places. He insisted, he pays them well, and looks after them well,so attrition rate was not that high.

He mentioned about the curse of the sage Vashishst (the sage who meditated in this place). The curse was that, one who visits Vashisht once, will keep on visiting this place again and again. I hope I get there again.

Spoke to him about Brighu lake trek which was 3-4 days thing. Also spoke about agriculture few other things. Then retired to the room and slept off. Meanwhile others had too completed their breakfast and were resting in their rooms. Mind you the sun was present!

Himachal Journey - Day 0

It was Day 0 of the journey towards the mountains. My flight was at 11 am, and at 8 am when I planned to leave home, it was drizzling, my backpack got wet slightly, but made it to the airport in an hours time!

Check-in happened and then reached Delhi around 2 40pm. All of the people were supposed to meet up at NDLS metro station. Since each one of us were reaching Delhi at their own times, the meetup was decided at 4 30pm. I waited for around 30 minutes within the T3 airport itself doing nothing.

Then took the airport metro to NDLS station and reached there around 4 pm. Few others were already there at the Cafe Coffee Day at NDLS. It was my second time there and around 6th time in Delhi and all of these in transit only! (Shame on me).

We then introduced ourselves, it felt nice to be connecting with an altogether new group of like minded people. We then spent time talking over there and around 6 45 pm we moved towards ISBT, where our Hima Suta, Volvo bus journey to Manali would start.

Around 7 15 pm, we took a break to finish dinner. and boarded the bus around 8 pm. I expected the volvo bus journey to be comfortable and smooth. It was but it was a 14 hour journey.

So thus brought an end to Day 0

Cheers,

Himachal Journey - Prologue

No sooner, I came back from Uttarakhand, I saw one more mail from my friend, calling upon participants for another Himalayan trek. Believe me, it happened so quick, I initially lost interest in it.

But then, all of a sudden, I re-read the mail, mentioning it to be the Shepard's trail and very scenic, I was very much tempted. But how can I get leave for almost 10 days, 2 weeks! Fingers crossed and I approached my manager for leave. It took almost 3 days and then it got approved. I was training, and I had no reason not to trek this route.

It was Himachal Pradesh this time and believe me, I was very excited. The trek was close to 3 months away and I was living a dream, I thought.

Everything fell in place so quickly, that, I am in so awe of that eternal energy which made this trip and trek happen.

Thanks to God, my teachers and my parents!

Cheers, more to follow.

PS - This trek is called the Bara Bhangal trek aka Shepard's trail. It happens to pass through one of the villages of India called Bara Bhangal which happens to be (if not) the only village which has no access via motorable roads, we have to cross through mountains of 14k feet or pass through forests to reach the same.

Routine blogging.

Reason for not blogging regularly is utter laziness. How I wish to sit down and write stuffs which have been pending since quite long. Unfortunately blogging has to wait. These days reading has taken some priority. Though I can blog from office, I wish not to be unethical!

I can come home and write, but hooking again to internet at that hour of the night, seems utterly tasteless. So I avoid writing during weekdays. I can do it during the day time, by waking up early, but again, I do not do it.

Another weekend, somehow, I get time in between going out, reading, listening to music, office work and there you go, I made my mind on blogging about my himalayan experience in 2015, its been 2 times in 2015, and I wish to write about it, today and tomorrow.

Though, I prefer to keep it to my personal side, things like exact altitude distance, time etc, I prefer not to write about, since there are few other blogs which do that, plus, I intend to read posts myself only, so hoping to keep things abstract, for my remembrance only!

I also intend to keep the posts short.

Cheers, wish me luck.

One more such tale

I have been fortunate enough to have gotten the opportunity to travel via the T3 IGI Airport in Delhi multiple times. Each time, I was walking and walking to reach gates up to 40+. Yes please, it has been gate 47, gate 50 for the last couple of occasions.

So this time, too, in the month of october 2015, I ended up at T3, hoping to catch a flight back to Bangalore. And before I could walk myself away to gate #47, I chose to visit the rest room.

The rest room appears to be immediately on the left after few shops selling stores. I enter the rest room where in find huge crowd, and there were couple of house keeping attending to the hoards of travelers who were using the rest room.

The house keeping staff in order to disperse the crowd quickly, in their own ways. One of them was pulling out the tissues and handing it out to the people who needed them, while the other was rapidly cleaning the floors trying to keep them clean.

It left me wondering, they were doing a very good job. But one more person who observed this, took out his wallet and handed them money, for their efforts. I mean, it was a nice gesture, and I least expected that to happen though!

Very rare occasion though, so thought of writing it!

Cheers,

Wake up to a Gold Morning!

With such a fast pace of life, days are going by so quick. It appears soon I will turn 60 and then retire. There are no moments left to introspect in a day. In order to do that, I would have to stay awake late or rather wake up early.

I would rather prefer to wake up early. And believe me, there was a post running Indiblogger on waking up to a golden morning or rather #Colgate360GoldMornings,  where in I could provide few details of mine in return for a surprise gift! That sounded pretty straight forward and boy I did get a gift.

It was such a nice box, it left me wondering what could it be. It turned out to be comprising of  a huge mug, a tooth brush rather a 'Colgate 360 Charcoal Gold toothbrush' and a nice bottle which could hold hot water as well. I was indeed looking for a mug and believe me, it turns everyone's eyes when they see something which resembles gold. I have been putting it to good use drinking coffee / hot water pondering over the previous day as well as planning for the current day.

Now what more can I expect, as a boost, in order to wake up even more early and turn my good mornings into a gold morning. It's been a couple of weeks since I am waking up early making most of my morning time before I head out to train and then to work.

Thanks to #Colgate360GoldMornings!

Cheers,

IT industry rant part 2

So. the answer for the IT related query in the previous post, is pretty simple rather.

Where would I end up in the coming years, well, depends whether I work for a product company or services based company!

A product based company can afford to hire people with more experiences to do the technical work. So we can work independently or with minimum supervision or whatever. 

But a services based company, would make us a manager sort of thing, where in, I would be the most paid guy in the team, which would comprise of lesser experienced people, in the 2 - 6 years experience range. So how would a services company actually make profit?

Well, they will bill the same amount to the client, even the 10 year experienced guy gets billed the same, and 6 year experienced guy gets billed the same. Only difference being, the salary given to the 10 year experienced differs from the one given to 5 year experienced. 

The services company actually makes profit because of the billing. So going by a services company standard, if I chose to be in one, will have to manage a team of some n number of people, getting from them the dumbest possible work done.

Regarding innovation and path breaking technology, well, I assume, that's best left for countries other than India. We are very happy making profits on billing rather.

Cheers to the Indian IT Industry!

IT industry and random personal ranting

While we were doing engineering, we were always wondering, how awesome it would be to write code, to develop software applications which many end users are going to use. How cool it would be to spend years together, growing old writing code.

And years after turning a professional, we just realized, writing code and writing software applications do exist, but in reality what we do exactly is more often than not repairing software applications written by someone else. 

The truth hurts but you got to accept it. So after a while in the IT industry,  you find the intellectually stimulating stuffs are over, what you got to do, where do you prefer to go. It has been such a cross road for me in recent times, where in I rather pretty much question myself each day as to where do I end up in coming years.

In a way, I found the answer in fitness for almost 2 years, where in I worked at it and it kept me super-busy. Well, I got to write about it in another post. I did a lot of treks earned a good reputation and have maintained a certain amount of discipline. 

Now, there is one more trivial thing which just cropped up. Whilst engaging myself with treks and travels and other activities, I never realized the so called age passing through. And all of a sudden, it hits me, very hard, knowing the fact that, I have crossed certain age and this whole society and other things come into picture.

This side of me, is the one which is very receptive to what society perceives, what the so called society talks about behind our back when we are not around. So now, I am in a crisis kind of sorts, where in 

- the technical stimulant which is a part of the job seems to be missing. There appears to be more and more politics, bureaucracy and lesser intellectual stuffs on the professional front.

- the trekking, travelling or the physical activities part, where in each time my age hampers me from packing my backpack and going trekking. 

So couple of things which stare at me, while I look for answers really, how do I enjoy myself work-wise and how do I enjoy myself when not at work. I took to reading stuffs but when the above two questions come to mind, reading comes to a halt altogether. I am not that old to start cribbing about stuffs, but still, its this stupid society or rather mentality which calls you absurd when things do not work out according to their time!

Wondering, whether applying a work permit of a different country altogether and move out of India, change my job and meet new people, hope for some new learning. I never really was thinking of **** atleast till 3 months back, now when, while attending any occasional function for that matter, this question just pops up.

Well, hopefully, there is going to be a new direction. I wish to get answers on both work as well as personal front. Hoping to gear up for job interviews soon.

Cheers,

Sorting personal mailbox / emails

Starting today, I decided to organize my mailbox. I have been using this mailbox for almost 15 years now, I thought, it deserves some more respect. I have the same email login for linkedin, for facebook, for goodreads, for twitter, so  many places and yet this mailbox of mine is full of junk.

I do not know, how morons end up sending spam mails to this email id. I have registered the same with job portals for banks etc. With things looking so unclean, as of today, I somehow made a concrete mind to clean up the inbox, un-subscribe from junk alerts.

Hopefully it will look cool in coming days,

Wish me luck,

Cheers,

New contest on Indiblogger

There is a new contest on Indiblogger, namely marathon blogging contest. The participants are expected to blog about some topics for a period of 30 days. At the end of 30 days, the person with maximum number of entries across multiple genres shall be entitled for a prize.

That prize is nothing but a TATA car. Well, thats nice to hear. But what a person can blog for 30 days. I am thinking of this opportunity of participating in this contest in order to write off all of my blogs pertaining to Himalayan treks.

Well, there are certain drawbacks,
- it would fall under a single genre
- Lack of time to compose in detail.
- It will take off my reading time.

Considering I am reading also these days, I wonder, if that new re-discovered habit of mine could be strained. But worth trying for sure.

I wonder how come such a contest came into existence. Reminds me of a scenario where ..............(I wish not to mention the scenario though).

Cheers,

One such tale

These days, I end up reading more than writing, I haven't been travelling much, office work has become repetitive, nothing much to adore about.

I have not even gone out to buy new clothes, tomorrow seems to be the day, I hope to do that. I have become so monotonous with the tasks I get to do that, I lose track of even the topics which I wish to write. I had planned to write about two things, but I forgot one of the topic.

Now I am remembering one of the topic which I write now, as I yawn and yawn, I did not get to sleep during the day and I feel very sleepy as I write this.

I am generally against feeding street dogs, not that I hate dogs, just that, I am kind of pissed off when the same dogs attack small kids or other people or stories like that. My mother has a different opinion of feeding left over food if any to the dog, which I strongly disagree. They feed, multiply and create more nuisance in the neighborhood.

So she told me one such tale, in the office where my mother worked, there used to work a lady, who would each day cook a cauldron full of rice and feed it to stray dogs near her house and then come to work. She also told, dogs from nearby places came and consumed the cooked rice.

Once what happened, this lady who used to do this gem of a job, fell sick, and was hospitalized. She fell sick to that extent that the doctors had given up any hope. Finally miraculously, she survived and even came back to work completed her service and then retired.

To which, my mother told about a conversation which happened around this miracle some days later. It was perceived that, the dogs, which were missing their daily meal, when the woman was hospitalized prayed to god for a quick recovery or rather prayed regarding obtaining their daily food, that God cured the lady who was the source of their food.

I do not know what to say about this incidence. Long live the lady and she still cooks the cauldron of rice each day.

Cheers,

I'm glad I could remember this and finish typing this tale, instead of forgetting.