Gangotri 2013

It had been a while since I had been to the Himalayas & if you have been there even once, you can vouch for their siren call. 10 long years had passed since my Basic mountaineering course from Manali ,daily routine & devising means to pay the rent, had taken up much of the time .To cut a long story short , when my trekking companions suggested an outing to the Gangotri glacier , I grabbed it with both hands . 

We reached Uttarkashi & marvelled at how the small town had changed . Bhandari hotel which had seen many an expedition pass through its doors had sadly passed it's prime , but we took comfort in it's warm and familiar embrace, not minding the lack of a 'designed' interior or the latest in HD LED technology. We finalised our plan for the trip which included few days at Gangotri and then an excursion to Dayaara bugyaal .We were a group of seven which included a few senior citizens.They would stay back at Gangotri while we merrily trekked about.

As a portent of future events our departure from Uttarkashi was delayed due to landslides on the Uttarkashi Gangotri road .We persevered, persisted and finally persuaded a driver to take us to Gangotri , landslide notwithstanding .This journey was a bit on the risky side as we were negotiating the slipping sliding earth with the fast flowing river on the side .Thanks to our adroit driver we made it to Gangotri with life and limb intact. Our last outing to Gangotri was to climb Mount Rudugaira and the rushing torrent , the small shops( though much increased in number now) and the distinct bridge across the  Bhagirathi seemed to welcome us back .We planned  to lodge in  the Krishna Ashram on the opposite bank. Again old acquaintances were renewed and we felt a distinct sense of home coming  .We had 3 days in Gangotri & then we would proceed to Dayaara , a very laidback vacation compared to the hustle - bustle of an expedition.

Days 1 and 2 passed uneventfully with the temple being visited , the path to Gomukh explored and a short trip to the Pandav gufa along with Suryakund .It was Day 3 and we were excited to set off on our trek tomorrow. By evening we had packed our rucksacks & had given enough instructions to those who were staying back, that they wished we had started off today itself ! As we tucked ourselves into the warm blankets , a light rain started, and we were content to hear it pitter patter on the tin roof and drift off to sleep .Our plans were rudely interrupted by the sudden incessant pounding of the rain on the roof , it was as if we were experiencing the torrential monsoon of Mumbai in Gangotri , a statistical improbability , but who would explain that to the rain Gods ? The roar of the rain was suddenly pierced by the shrill whistles of humans & there was an urgent, almost desperate, character to them. Leaving all pretense of sleep, we got up & went to investigate the sudden disturbance.

There were waves of people frantically scrambling across the bridge & via any other place possible to reach our side of the river .But what were they so afraid of ? The answer came in the form of a low rumble initially, building up to a giant roar of a flowing mountain , scattering trees , boulders & concrete structures like hay in the wind  .The normally swift waters of the Bhagirathi had adopted an even more manic speed & it's level was rising exponentially .We reflexively turned around to see whether our side of the mountain too had designs of moving , thankfully it was solid rock and we were safe for the moment. After things had settled down a bit , we went inside again and fell into a disturbed sleep , the night was punctuated with rumbles and blasts, both near and far. Truth be told, we were scared .

The 4th day morning dawned & then the true nature of the night's events hit us , the mountain side had been scarred a dirty brown , huge pines were carelessly strewn about , rocks of all shapes and sizes occupied any flat ground that had stopped their flow , entire concrete structures, which till a day ago had served as hotels & shops, were  lying at crazy angles at the bottom of the valley .

Our side of the river had been providentially spared  . As we let the full purport of the happenings sink in, we also realised that we were looking  at ,quite oddly, a water crisis - water water everywhere but not a drop to drink ! The pipeline upstream had been ripped apart but thankfully the heavens were still pouring & we placed buckets & drums  at all possible collection spots .Since the ashram had food stocks which would last a couple of days we were not worried on that front .Day 4 thus went huddling in the verandahs looking for some sign of the rain to abate .By evening the rain had petered down to a drizzle & we were still hoping to continue our trek tomorrow .

The next day, news started trickling in that there had been unprecedented rainfall in and around Gangotri , precipitation at Kedarnath being so severe, that several lives were lost .The approach road to Gangotri had been severed at many points by rockfall and at others by  simply being swept away. There were rumours that the army would be attempting a heli rescue from Gangotri ,these were bolstered by a few IAF choppers flying over & even attempts at making a helipad at an area clear of debris ( admittedly hard to find ).Since there was nothing that we could do, save wait , we spent the day roaming about town and were exposed to even more destruction and devastation .The entry to Gangotri itself was walled by a huge mountain of rock & soil , ironically, a board of the Border Roads Organisation, welcomed you to Gangotri. We climbed over this latest hillock & continued a little further to see the condition of the road , very simply put- there was no road .A few drivers and locals were trying to move the smaller boulders so that a path could be carved for a jeep to move through .Having nothing better to do we decided to lend a hand and used all the destroyed pipes as effective levers .The sheer weight of the rocks was a revelation , even though we were fully expecting it .It took groups of 5- 10 men to move the smaller rocks , the larger ones were judiciously left for the JCBs.These were the same rocks which, yesterday, were flowing like water over the mountain and today to move them even an inch, was -  like moving a mountain ! 

After sufficient exertion we headed back to our rooms & were pleasantly surprised to see a small, hole in the wall, café ( actually ! )  up and running . Our host had 2 types of biscuits ,instant noodles & even soup , what more could you ask for ! In fact he had more , he had a small library of books donated by earlier patrons , the variety of languages reflecting the eclectic mix of his clientele. There were even  a few books on mountaineering & I was one contented soul , sipping on soup , book in hand & a clear view of Mount Sudarshan in front , almost felt like heaven !

The incoming news snapped me out of the reverie , the scale of destruction at Kedarnath was massive , the chances of a heli rescue from Gangotri seemed dim, there was no electricity , water depended on rain harvesting and food was slowly running out and lastly the 2 cell phone towers had stopped functioning as there was no diesel to run them .

It was Ganga Dasshera & the devout had lit up the banks of the river with hundreds of lamps , a feeble attempt at placating the furious Gods, or if you liked, a fervent appeal to an Almighty to help them tide over this Himalayan tragedy. But it was a disaster waiting to happen , with human greed & relentless ,merciless exploitation of Nature the overarching villain in this drama.

The rain had stopped , a new day had begun .Having nothing better to do and still awaiting news , we decided to walk in the direction of Gomukh .As we made our way onwards , we saw a low flying IAF chopper & waved to it .We were surprised to see it dropping some packages , some fell on the path , others in the valley & still others got stuck in the tall trees .We investigated the ones on the path and were pleasantly surprised to find a box of poori bhaji , the impact had made the contents spill , but I guess if one was hungry enough , it would have been eaten. Further on the trail , we saw some local children merrily collecting these treasures which had literally dropped from the skies .Their expanding list included such gems as butter cookies , sev , poori bhaji & light weight blankets even !They had their sights fixed on a newer treasure now , but alas it was fifty feet above the ground nestled on a pine and in spite of their heartwarming confidence in us, we were unable to get it down for them. Not ones to mope about , they immediately went about their next task , that of offering us a sampling of their treasures .These children were clearly from poor households ,their clothing and footwear or the lack of it indicating the same .They would be having food scarcity even in normal times ,these were especially difficult times , and here they were magnanimously opening up their stock to us - 'poor' indeed ! And as I was writing this , a message popped up on my phone , one of many forwards , but seemed apt and the timing nothing short of perfect -'What is richness ? It is not earning more , spending more and saving more , richness is when you need no more' .

Leaving our new friends to their devices , we continued ahead on the trail, the surroundings were straight out of a postcard- tall snow clad mountains , verdant slopes, blue skies ,and a winding, rushing river, deep below . After ten minutes or so we were  face to face with another aspect of reality - there was no road to Gomukh , it had simply been swept away and in it's place was a deep chasm  .There were also twisted ,broken pieces of pipe and we now knew why we weren't getting any water in the taps .The sight of the metal made us recall a few donkeys, laden with precious new pipes trudging the same trail some time earlier , then we had viewed them as a nuisance blocking the route , now they were nothing short of Divine !

We couldn't help but wonder about the family who had stayed next to us at the ashram , they had gone to Tapovan en route to Gomukh, the morning the rain had started, by this same route. As of now we had heard nothing of them.

With an uneventful trek back to the ashram we were confronted by uncertainty and indecision - what should we do ?! Krishna ashram was kind enough to accommodate us till food ran out , which could be in just a couple of days .Our present situation at Gangotri was safe and even bordering on comfortable. The road beyond Gangotri was definitely destroyed , there was to be no heli rescue from there , that had been confirmed. The army had set up an air evacuation camp at Harsil , around 25 kms away , the problem was reaching there , as at least half of the distance was through mountainous terrain. Should we wait till the earth movers , swiftly pressed into action by the army, cleared the road from Gangotri itself or should we walk till Harsil ? For some of us it would have been a natural extension of our trek , but some of us were above seventy .Reports were trickling in, that the camp at Harsil was being flooded, by people not water , but that meant that those who were late in reaching would more or less have to fend for themselves as there was limited space there. In the meantime the cell towers were being run for half an hour a day and well-meaning relatives were adding to the confusion by calling up and suggesting all sorts of remedies, ignorant of ground realities. Tempers were getting frayed and leadership decisions being challenged .To maintain a semblance of discipline , a one point contact in Pune was established who would relay any news whatsoever to all concerned , this would also save our precious cell batteries ! I had thankfully taken a solar charger along & that afforded me the luxury of music too !

Another day passed , the café was visited , only Parle G was available, and was duly consumed . Tempers were getting more volatile and the mountains were serene , still , as if nothing had happened ! By evening we came to the decision that hardship, whatever it entailed , was preferable to comfortable inaction. We would trek on to Harsil , let the seniors stay at the army camp & wait for the air evacuation and those of us fit enough would trek all the way to Uttarkashi or the nearest road head still functioning .This meant that we had to ruthlessly jettison most of our luggage as only that much as  what one could carry would be taken , seniors not exempted .That was some lesson in non-attachment !Our decision was conveyed to Pune with the caveat that we were taking the leap into the unknown , not sure of the implications.

The next day dawned and one of us went to the main entrance of Gangotri to gather more news about the way ahead .Till then we had another of our Parle Gs , the stock augmented by benevolent IAF choppers .They say that action has a peculiar potency to it , you take  one step forward and soon other things rearrange to support and further that particular act .Imagine our delight when our fellow came back with news that jeeps were available for particular sections of the blocked road ! That meant seniors could go that much further , that meant that we might even get some space at Harsil ! We bade a bitter sweet farewell to Gangotri and climbed into the jeep , a special mention has to be made of the Mahindra Max , it handled anything & everything thrown at it , loose rubble , slush , stones , rocks , water , you name it , it drove over it and that too without breaking any sweat .The jeep managed to get us to the foot of the mountain , the road would be visible once we navigated a portion of the landslide , a section of around 15 minutes .The road was expected to be plain without the rocks & debris of its mountain counterpart .

The stipulated 15 minutes was up and to our great surprise & relief there was an ITBP ( Indo Tibetan Border Police) truck waiting to pick up those stranded and to ferry them to Harsil , talk about small miracles ! We set off in the truck negotiating small areas of rockfall nonchalantly , speculating about Harsil and the helicopter waiting there to whisk us off to safety .The army & air force had deployed not just a single but many choppers and relief work was on at full swing , that surely brought a smile to our faces .A short chopper ride and we would be back at Bhandari hotel , savouring a hot bath . By now we should have known that man proposes and God disposes .

Our slowly but surely moving truck had come to a sudden halt & there was a loud complaining whine from the engine, the wheels were spinning wildly , but we were stationary. On peering out from the tarp , we saw that the truck was hopelessly mired in a sort of quicksand from the landslide , but this was different from the routine debris which we had encoutered so frequently. There was a lot of silt and with numerous streams adding to the mix , the result was a deep , unstable mass reaching to more than half the truck's wheel in height .And it had this particular truck in a vice .No amount of reversing or forwarding had any effect, other than sinking the truck deeper into the mud .We jumped out of the truck , there was no question of pushing it out, as firstly we ourselves were getting sucked into the muck, and secondly there was just no purchase point for any movement whatsoever , it was uniform ,deep slush for at least 50 metres either side .While helping one of our seniors out of the muck I didn't realise when I myself was more than ankle deep in it , after much manouvering managed to free myself and was pleasantly surprised to see that my Forclaz 500 shoes had kept my feet absolutely dry ( getting in a word for the sponsors here ) , though the rest of me was different shades of brown !  

As we stood contemplating this latest twist in the story , our resourceful truck driver used a radio to ask the army for a backup . Two things needed to be done , first arrange another truck to convey the passengers , second get a crane to remove the stuck truck out .Within half an hour both were achieved , an army 4 wheel drive truck came to pick us up and another, with a winch and hook attached, successfully  freed the ITBP truck. With the 4 wheel drive truck we were confident of navigating almost 99% of landslides  ,until we encountered the remaining 1% .

Similar to the earlier muck , this was a little bit drier but piled so high that entire houses were buried under it & unfortunately even the  4 wheel drive could not negotiate it .The ever resourceful and supremely efficient army had already deployed an excavator which was skillfully carving a way out of the debris .Particular parts of this village had been levelled to the ground by the rock and mud juggernaut , cars had been smashed , houses flattened , some even uprooted and carried to the water's edge .Sitting quaint and supremely unaffected were a few traditional dwellings, perhaps exhibiting a deeper understanding of the ecology.

Within the span of  a small tea break( we actually got tea) ,the excavator had done its job and we proceeded on our way , thankfully ,with no more surprises, all the way to Harsil .Harsil has been described as the Switzerland of India by some ( yes , I know that Kashmir & Himachal too have their own competing Switzerlands , but Harsil is a worthy contender) .Surrounded by tall mountains, the confluence of the Bhagirathi and  the Jalandhari , green meadows and apple orchards make it an idyllic tourist spot. Tourism was the last thing on our mind though , we wanted to catch the chopper as fast as possible ! Our original plan of trekking all the way to Uttarkashi had been dropped as the army officers had advised against it.

As we entered Harsil town , we were greeted by a sea of humanity , of all shapes , sizes and ages .The army camp which usually housed 300-400 soldiers was run over with at least 2000 people .When we reached the camp , one of the jawans patiently explained that since it was late in the evening there would be no more chopper flights today , we were welcome to stay in the camp and check for the next flight schedule. The barracks were full , the offices were full , the grounds were full and even the by lanes were full. It would have been pitiful , had we ourselves not been the subject of pity .By a stroke of providence, all seven of us managed to find space to sleep and keep our meagre luggage and the icing to it, was that all of us were in the same room .It was space alright , but chaotic would just about start to describe it .There were so many people crammed into that small room , the sounds , the shrieks , the light , the discussions , the fear , all took on a surreal feeling after some time .

After some time , a few officers came in & tried to impose some order to the endless confusion. They segregated people requiring immediate attention and evacuation , after that the elderly and the sick and then the rest .The choppers called 'Heli' in local parlance could take off only if the weather was conducive , there were continuous flights with 5 to 20 people in each ,depending on the type of the chopper. The flights would start around day break and continue till sundown or the weather deteriorated whichever was later .As soon as word got around that the choppers were flying, the entire lot used to go to the helipad and transfer the chaos from the camp to the flying area, this used to typically start from 4 am .To prevent this , the army issued tokens depending on when you had entered the camp or if you were critical and each night the jawans would call only the relevant tokens to the airfield the next day.

The choppers coming back would be laden with food ,which the army diligently served as many as possible. They had even made provisions for breakfast , tea and toast. The locals had pitched in with community lunches & dinners in one of the many scenic meadows .In fact so strong was this community spirit that the local hotels refused to serve any food in exchange for money , rather they directed everyone to the community events .The management was exemplary with all villagers taking turns to cook , serve , provide plates and all with a smile ! Keep in mind that they were as much affected by the events as the outsiders , some times more so. And all this while the Army also kept at it, providing shelter , treating the ill , evacuating hundreds a day , tirelessly , efficiently and round the clock.

In spite of this there were a few rotten apples , who managed to pick up a fight with the army jawans and officers and tried bulldozing their way by getting ministers and their ilk to bully them into preferential treatment, but to the credit of the army , they didn't tolerate any of this nonsense and went about their way methodically.Col.Pradeep Singh , who was managing operations , had only this to say - When my jawans , some of whom have lost dear ones and homes due to the floods , can work so hard just so that you can go home , can't you tolerate a delay of 1 or 2 days ? Case closed.

Our token was for 2 days later , so we had to make ourselves at home in the camp for 2 more days at least .Rather than stay in camp , we decided to enjoy the most of our forced vacation at this tourist spot , Harsil was indeed idyllic with the apple orchards , the old houses with slate roofs and the swiftly flowing streams .The crisp mountain air was also invigorating. We returned to camp in the evening and met a few trekkers who had gone to Kalindi khal ( beyond Gangotri , via the way to Gomukh) when the deluge struck, they were clearly in pain and shock . That they had managed to reach Harsil without a casualty was creditable and lucky. We had had it easy !

The next day we decided to explore the mountain behind the camp , the route led to an army settlement at a higher ground and beyond, to the top of the mountain. We must have spent at least 3 hours on top admiring the tall peaks , the deodar forests , the jumping ,rushing waters & the constant drone of  choppers ,either taking off or landing .When life gives you lemons, make lemonade - not quite lemons , but lots and lots of wild strawberries were growing wild on the mountain slope and actually having nothing better to do , we must have gorged ourselves on those delicious berries for at least two hours .Back in camp we noticed the army obstacle course used for training and had a great time trying various stunts. It had been a good day and we were now were just one night away from the blessed chopper ride.

We set our alarms to 4 am ( not necessary actually ,given the commotion at that time) gathered our stuff and started the trek to the airfield .It was around 1-2 kms away and we trudged onwards with our unwieldy luggage. We reached there and awaited day break .The sunrise wasn't visible , in it's place were huge clouds rising from the valley beyond towards the airfield.It was truly a stunning sight ! Though the clouds made for a spectacular view, they prevented the all-important Heli from flying , the officers told us to wait and watch and promised that even if a small weather window was available the heli would be airborne again. Such things happen & we had developed a stoicism which would have made Seneca proud .We had been awake since 4 am without any food or water , the jawans started distributing the ubiquitous Parle G and it was quite shameful to watch people taking packets , hiding them & then queuing up again to get more, primal survival instinct perhaps , who were we to judge. The Parle Gs were made more enjoyable by the steaming hot tea served by the Harsil ladies to anyone and everyone who they saw & yes, they even gave second and third helpings .

The clouds had given way to frank rain and there was no way that a heli could take off , forget navigating through it , the writing on the wall was clear - head back to camp .We reached camp to see it bursting at the seams , a new lot of pilgrims had arrived & it was naïve of us to expect to  get back our sleeping spot , but we still tried and we failed .We did manage to find isolated spots that too on the ground and were just getting ready to stake our claim , when one of us who had stopped in the market to buy some essentials came running with a broad smile plastered on his face .There was a vacancy in the hotel nearby ! The pleasure of a hot bath and onion pakodas, after the past few days, was nothing short of heavenly .

The next day we again trekked to the airfield and this time we even got into the much sought after heli .Our heli was the Mi17 , used to ferry troops and equipment , after a short flight we landed at Chinyalisaur , a small town on the banks of the Bhagirathi .Here again we were privileged to accept the hospitality of the locals who had kept a kitchen running throughout to cater to all those brought in from the flood hit zones .There were special buses deputed to transport all those coming in, to all the major towns nearby .In all these days , we realised that we had spent very little money and had survived on the hospitality of complete strangers and the dedication and commitment of the armed forces.

By this time our hopes were up , we had a fighting chance to catch our original train from Delhi, which was the next day . We hired a jeep to take us to Hrishikesh , which we reached around 5 am .As the road from the mountains entered the town , our jeep was stopped . What we experienced next was at once heart wrenching and sobering .Our jeep had been stopped by numerous people holding up photos of loved ones who had gone to Kedarnath and Badrinath that fateful day. Had we seen them , they asked .With no courage to meet their eyes we quickly replied in the negative and drove off .Some distance beyond was a police check post which took down our details to prepare a list of all those who were safe or otherwise. At Hrishikesh bus stand , again there were special buses and again there were stalls offering food and tea .

As we entered Mumbai a bus passed by, with Bhagirathi Transcorp written on the side. Truly the Bhagirathi had transformed many a life in that short period and brought to the fore the entire range of human emotions from deep tragedy to quiet elation. Gratitude, though, was a constant companion for us.    

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Kaamandurg : A Saturday well spent

It had been some time since a 'real' trek, real being defined as having a certain amount of challenge ,mystery and exertion. The recent rock climbing course had only served to heighten this desire.So when Dnyanesh called up asking whether anything was planned for the weekend , Saturday preferably , I jumped at the chance and had Google working overtime.A random search of forts near Vasai-Virar ,threw up names, of some which were already completed and some which seemed too simple .One name stood out with dense forests and substantial rock patches,seeming to be the perfect mix , Kaamandurg it was then .Though it was Kaamandurg, trekkers were quite uncommon there ( sorry , couldn't resist )

With the rest of the T2B gang tied up in work, it was going to be just the two of us .The lack of transportation in the form of cars meant that we either use public transport or take the bike.The Indian Railways won this contract due to the never ending repair job at the Versova bridge at Ghondbundar junction and the horror that is Dahisar toll naka.

Waiting at Dahisar station, it was 05.55 ,the train was at 06.02 ,there was no sign of Dnyanesh and I roundly started cursing him , a sport in which I very freely indulge in, as I have known him since school days ( as if that is an excuse) .He came just in the nick of time and we were deciding which compartment to get in , so that we get space to sit , can de-train easily and other such matters of national importance.We casually checked the indicator on the platform which said that the next train was arriving after 24 minutes, simultaneously the 06.02 pulled nonchalantly away from the other platform .Now both of us cursed the railways and made a dash for the train, albeit very safely by using the underpass and not by crossing the tracks , as drilled in by the constant announcements .But our heroics were in vain and we ended up waving frustrated good byes to the motorman .But as the popular saying goes; in Mumbai you never run after trains and girls, as every 2 minutes another one comes ( feminists please note- it is a popular saying and I have no role in either creating or popularising said sentiment). And true to form , the next train pulled in , an empty Borivali - Vasai ,needless to say , we had ample space to set up camp in it .

Vasai was blanketed in pre dawn fog and had a surreal look to it , we were more concerned with matters gastronomic than artistic and our focussed eyes cut through the haze to try and spot eligible feeding spots .2 were narrowed down, we had no choice actually , these were the only 2 open .Candidate one's poha didn't look too appetising and to our luck , candidate 2 was just removing steaming hot wadas from the kadhai.He went one step ahead and announced that he had fresh idlis too , and to us that was reason enough for beatifying him.We had second and third helpings and thus fully satiated , turned towards organising transport .There were 2 options - an ST bus to Kaaman village or a rick beyond Kaaman, direct to the base village , Devkundi.Since we spotted a rick right in front , we haggled and settled at 200 rs. to Devkundi , 2-3 kms beyond Kaaman.Be forewarned he said , anything beyond 2 kms & I would charge you at least 50 rs more . With a sullen nod of the head , we started off and were 'admiring' the views of Vasai , the development , the buildings , the malls when suddenly our rick guy turned the rick to the side of the road .We thought it was probably a fuel halt , after all we had a long way to go ,didn't we . It turned out that the rick was punctured , hmm a good start .The next minute there was another rick , whose driver seemed much more cheerful and readily agreed to 200 rs to our destination , no terms and conditions .Happy at losing grumpy rick guy , we again started our Vasai darshan pastime. Our driver seemed quite chatty and with the conversation we didn't realise when we reached Kaaman .Here we asked a red Tshirt and jeans clad guy for directions , but he seemed clueless .But … his Chachu , a typical chachu with flowing beard , skull cap et al ,was only too eager to help and pointed us further towards a Jain mandir from where we were to take a left turn , if we wanted to go to the 'pahaad'. We went almost 5 kms and realised that we were in no way connected to Kaaman , in fact the board announced that this was Poman , the next village , yes, it was actually called that. As another gentleman had just finished pointing out the obvious, that we were lost and directing us to the correct path ,who should get down from a rick but Red T and his chachu ! They looked sheepish and apologetic enough and we spared them the verbal lashing.

We reached Kaaman village & were on our way to Devkundi where the road just gave up and in it's place was a beautiful off road track , perfect for cross country racing , stunt jumping and allied activities .Taking pity on the relatively new rick, we decided to walk the final 2 kms.Call me old fashioned but for some reason I am allergic to those wonderful harbingers of progress - the excavators , and their entire guild was represented here in the form of the JCB , the Tata-Hitachi and so on and so forth .Their deep rumbles and high pitched whines reassured one that progress and development had not left this hamlet untouched .If this was a Marathi essay , I would have said 'Aso' and moved on , loosely translated as an expression of resignation and acceptance and frustration.

Devkundi was the picture perfect hamlet , towering mountains in front , a river to the left and paddy fields dotted by tree houses to the right .A kindly soul lead us to the path towards Kaamandurg and we set off , 2 of us, old time friends, excited at prospecting a new trail .The fort itself was on our left , the path led us straight to the top of 1 mountain from whose ridge we would turn left ,climb down and then tackle the rocky slopes of the fort itself, this was internet knowledge , now we would test it for ourselves .Once on the trail , we started chatting , me cursing Dnyanesh for no rhyme or reason save for the fact that it felt good , and he presenting a more dignified outlook , or probably he couldn't find anything in me to curse about.The forest was dense with an early layer of tall evergreens transitioning to dense Karvi ( Strobilanthes callosa for the botanically inclined ) about 10 feet high and continuing for about an hour or so .The gradient was moderate , the path narrow but more or less distinct .Dnyanesh announced that he had an orange which we could have when we reached the end of this particular section .We did reach a clearing where the climbing for this particular stretch was done .There was a panorama composed of hills , forests and the sea. After having drunk in this figurative beauty , we turned towards actual means to quench our thirst and the solitary orange came out .The next round of admonitions were to discover why there was just a single orange , why didn't he get more ,Dnyanesh had a lame answer to that , something to the effect that more would have got crushed .Since the oranges are limited in number , please pass me the orange flavoured electrolyte drink at least .Forgot ?? And what followed was , you guessed it , curse Dnyanesh royally !

From the clearing , the path turned left and entered a sylvan paradise , an alcove with rocks strewn around on which you could sit easily , a stream running through and completely surrounded by trees whose branches formed a canopy, add to this petite flowers of various hues and the dream like scene is complete. The path true to it's nature wouldn't stop and stare but continued onward as this was just the first slope climbed and the woods ahead were indeed dark and deep .The Karvi gave way to dense bamboo of varying heights shielding the valleys on both side. After some time of this bamboo trail the path opened up to reveal the fort proper , and it was an exciting sight , hundreds of metres of rock ,not very sheer and not too pedestrian either , just perfect for unaided climbing, our eyes twinkled at this thrilling prospect. We tried reading the route through the rocks , Dnyanesh mentioned left and me right , final resolution was deferred till the actual location.

After this tantalising glimpse , the path again dove into the before mentioned deep woods only to descend this time. We were truly dismayed , a descent was all very well , but we would have to climb all of it again , that too in the blazing sun. And such are trails , if you don't want such twists , turns and descents , the PS4 dutifully awaits at home .


And finally the rocky mountain was reached , bereft of any trees , a complete contrast to the trail completed so far .The mountain solved our left or right conundrum , it was neither , it was straight up ! We made a flying start, negotiating the first rock patch in less than a minute or so , to be honest it was very simple with step like notches carved in for good effect. This effort put us on top of our first in a series of summits. From here we gazed upon the towering rock of the second summit , again checking whether left or right , again the mountain replying- straight on ! As if to seek blessings before this campaign was undertaken, there was a small stone deity, richly decorated with flowers and buntings .The net had assured us that there were 5 tanks on this particular fort and water wouldn't be a problem till January , at least. 2 of these 5 tanks were behind and to the right of the deity. These were large rectangular ,carved out of the rock, structures. Unlike other mountain reservoirs , they didn't have any live spring but served to harvest rain water .Currently they were in a bad state with styrofoam plates , plastic bottles and beer cans thrown in .There was about half a foot of water in them , but drinking it was out of question , given the less than clean conditions and trash.

We turned our attention to the rock and started clambering over the scree . We passed another smaller tank which was filled in and after about 5 minutes of scree and slope we reached our first big (relatively) rock patch of around 20 feet .We tried 2 different routes simultaneously and were happy with the results .Then there was another patch again around 15 feet in height , again joyfully climbed up. Then there was another patch now about 50 feet high , and there was no route visible , we were not equipped to do technical climbs , a fall here would definitely have nasty consequences. And suddenly we noticed a well concealed path , a notch actually ,shielded by the rock, hence not visible very easily. This route was peppered with large and thick cactii and though not recommended , if you were very careful , you could get good holds in them. The cactus filled notch yielded to the 2nd and the most challenging summit. After that it was just a hop, skip and jump to the next summit , where the customary flag flew .

On this summit we saw 3 boys already chatting , we were very sure that we were the only ones climbing today , so how did they reach before us and from where ? All these and more questions were posed to the boys themselves and they told us that they had come from the other side from the village of Paygaon and were here hunting birds with their catapults. Today was a bad day , they hadn't managed a single kill , I am sure the birds would disagree. They directed us to the only water source on the fort top , a large rectangular tank , dirtier than the earlier tanks by several magnitudes & we politely declined their offer to drink from it .In fact there were disposable plates, remains of killed animals and liquor bottles and cans strewn all over the top .The boys mentioned that this was a popular party destination ,an answer which eluded me was why take so much trouble to reach the top and then party when you could have more inebriated bashes right there at sea level .To each his own , but in that we were losing out through mass degradation of historical as well as environmentally sensitive sites.

We decided to explore the fort some more , there were hardly any remnants worth mentioning. It was a small top with stunning views and scorching heat .We found the last of the 5 promised tanks , this too was small and filled in.The rock climbing in the heat had sapped us and we found a small ,shaded clearing to have our lunch .But it was not food that our bodies craved for but water , and there we realised the true meaning of why water is said to be life giving. We had only 1 litre remaining and about 3-4 hours of descent left .While discussing this Dnyanesh spotted the ridge towards Paygaon and it seemed to be a continuous gradual descent without all the theatrics involved in our current route .Plus there was a railhead nearby which we could tap to reach Vasai.Having all but made up our mind to descend to Paygaon , we set off in search of the boys for more detailed directions .Before that we went to the big tank with the dirty water , filled up a bottle attached it to a membrane filter which promised to keep out anything above 0.1 microns and prayed that it worked .We were so parched that we would have drunk the water straight, even without the filter , quite a turnaround from just an hour ago !

Dnyanesh had a conversation with the boys again and found their descriptions of the route beyond Paygaon contradicting, plus the entire descent was over the ridge , not affording any shade at all .With these factors favouring the original route we bade farewell to the boys who had just jumped into the tank for a quick bath and made our way down at around 1 pm . Though the climb over these patches was equally exciting and exhilarating , the descent was similarly tricky and treacherous. The first slope itself greeted us with scree and we became aware of gravity as a major force in our part of the universe. The forced careful descent set the pace for the rest of the journey and we were looking at descent times which would stretch longer than ascent times .The scree was followed by searing hot rock and invisible holds .We were consuming our last remaining 1 litre of water at an alarmingly fast rate and it did not take even 2 minutes by the watch to have it being sucked dry by the heat .We managed to reach the 1 st 2 tanks and Dnyanesh spying some shade immediately collapsed to recuperate.

Let me describe the 2 tanks , they were large rectangular ,carved out of the rock, structures. Unlike other mountain reservoirs , they didn't have any live spring but served to harvest rain water .Currently they were in an excellent state with just the odd styrofoam plate , 1-2 plastic bottles and beer cans thrown in .There was about half a foot of water in them , and boy did it resemble the Ganga itself descended onto earth. Drinking it was essential , so what if there was a bit of trash and lack of cleanliness.

How people change !

The art of obtaining the water was a matter of gymnastics .One had to carefully navigate to the centre of the tank (as that's where the cleanest water was ) using strategically fallen rocks ,it was imperative that nothing else other than the bottle make contact with the water , else you end up muddying it and getting squelchy shoes in the bargain.

Thus armed with 2 litres of tank water , we filtered 1 litre immediately , itself a time consuming process, and started the ascent back into the deep dark woods. This was accompanied by quite a bit of trepidation but thank God for small mercies , at least it wasn't directly exposed to the sun. Our minds had taken solace from the fact that once this ascent was complete it would be all plain sailing and a quick descent to Devkundi.We crossed the ridge at a surprisingly fast pace and started the descent .But something was wrong , it just kept going on and on and on , had we actually climbed up all this , without complaining even , hmm now that was a feather in our individual caps .How much ever we descended there didn't seem to be any height lost at all .And we discussed the possibility of a 'Chakva' - a paranormal activity where mischievous spirits take you for a ride in the guise of telling you directions and you just keep roaming in circles .Given the time spent and the apparent lack of distance being covered , the discussion was only half in jest .The knees and ankles were being punished over the rocky terrain and both of us vowed to lose weight . Suddenly a nostalgic tune started playing , it was the Nokia tune , Dnyanesh clarified that it was his cell , whew, no paranormal activities there ! Cell range meant that we were nearing civilisation and in some time the idyllic hamlet came into view ,our step quickened and we literally dropped ourselves at the first house which we saw .

The residents were threshing rice and very kindly offered us water .Pure H2O had never felt SO good .They enquired about our expedition and were surprised that it was just two of us. They were even more amazed about the route which we had chosen , mentioning that quite a few people go up by the Paygaon route but this one was difficult and fewer people attempted it .Getting local validation made our day and we were beaming from ear to ear .Then they offered to speak to the truck driver of one of those quarries and he would leave us till Kaaman.This was heaven sent , as 3 kms. on the tar road after all those shenanigans would be punishing, to put it mildly.Dnyanesh got into the truck cabin and it got full , not because of him but because there were already people inside. I was just about to squeeze in when the driver requested if I could stand behind in the carriage space. This was filled to the brim with freshly excavated mud , I climbed up and firmly planted my feet in the mud , holding onto the roof of the cabin for support .From my perch so high up it felt like I was riding a chariot , this changed to a jet ski when the truck started following the contours of the non existent road .I was engrossed in being Lord of the Waves expertly balancing by shifting weight etc when I was snapped out of fantasy by a tree branch scraping against my hand and drawing blood.Now ducking was added to my repertoire of moves and I was Lord of the Waves again .Suddenly I felt the truck veering to the far left of the path and was puzzled by this .While deliberating over the cause, suddenly out of nowhere I saw twin power cables approaching me at an alarming speed. The excellent fight or flight response decided that it was a moment for flight and I dropped instantly onto the mud saving myself from a dramatic decapitation. Later I came to know that the truck driver had deliberately swerved to the left to increase the space between the truck and the wires .Chalk one up for the Guardian Angel , that was literally a close shave !

We reached the warehouse of the truck's firm where the other trucks were parked and ours too slowed down .I made preparations to disembark and to my surprise the trek kept going .The surprise was due to the obvious river flowing in front of the warehouse and our truck was driving straight into it ! Hey Mr.Driver , Lord of the Waves was just a figure of speech ! We actually went into the water and the truck actually rocked like a boat and I actually rode the waves ! We pulled up at the opposite bank and that was where the journey ended .We thanked him profusely and went in search of ricks to take us to Vasai or Naigaon but they were acting pricey & suggested that we take the ST which had just pulled in .And we did just that , they were asking for 300 rs. & the conductor settled for 34 rs. all the way to Vasai .The smug grins on our faces stayed for a long time.

At Vasai we gorged ourselves on all the junk we could find but topped it off with a healthy lassi , thus lessening the guilt .The excessive fun we had made us promise each other that this should be a regular affair and we entered the Borivali local, drawing to a close an exciting, adventurous , tiring , thrilling ,chilling Saturday.

. . . & a year later, Stok the trek that was

After the previous year's heroics & theatrics , we were geared up once  again to try our luck at climbing Stok Kangri ,in the Zanskar range at Ladakh.Introducing the main characters , there was Savitha - someone who had started trekking around a year and a half ago & who had cried her heart out when denied the chance to climb Stok last year .Then came Rohit - another new trekker , who had agonisingly cancelled his trek last year due to a last minute illness. Third in line was Sameer - a dedicated family man, who though the eldest of us all , had the best fitness .Lastly was me , with a very hectic schedule leaving no time for preparation & the protagonist of last years drama.

Learning from previous experience on matters of acclimatisation , we decided to drive to Leh from Srinagar .It was a classic case of man proposes & God disposes , the protestors at Srinagar were least interested in our acclimatisation schedule & there were clashes galore in

the erstwhile paradise on earth. Having no option but to fly directly to Leh , we reluctantly modified our bookings.

Given the travails of last year , the buzz word for us was' judiciousness',  and we followed all the instructions given by all authorities to prevent altitude related issues.Day 1 in Leh passed off uneventfully with old acquaintances renewed & mild headaches tolerated.

Day 2 was spent in the Leh market stocking up on trek essentials .On our way back , we spotted a government run 'Oxygen bar' for tourists, and decided to give it a visit .Our main objective was to reassure ourselves that everyone was in good shape , and secondarily to calibrate our now famous  portable pulse oxy meter with the more robust & reliable model at the bar . Savitha was as usual at a heady reading of 90 , Rohit in the high 80s & me languishing in the 70s .Sameer had decided to rest in the hotel.The nurse in the facility felt that it would be judicious to take a 15 minute swig of the life giving gas & then proceed.Not ones to argue with judiciousness , we immediately agreed.With O2 sats raised & shopping completed we headed back to Palace View & rested .The oxygen bar also confirmed that our oxymeter gave a higher reading as compared to the actual picture.

Evening drew closer & with headaches still not completely eliminated, we decided to check O2 levels .My reading was not very comforting , though not very alarming .Keeping in line with our philosophy of a stitch in time , we decided that it would be better to let the specialists come up with a diagnosis, rather than speculate .We trooped into a cab and drove to the now familiar Sonam Norboo hospital .The doctor was of the opinion that a shot of steroids , tab diamox and an hour of O2 should do me good .The nurse in the tourist ward recognised us & roundly admonished me for coming back to her ward , not learning any lessons from the previous year . The hour of O2 still didn't push up the oxygen in my blood to desired levels & the sister felt that an overnight stay would do me good. Agreeing to this & the fact that there was nothing else overtly wrong with me  , the gang decided to go back to the hotel.

Morning dawned and carried with it the promise of happy RBCs sloshing about in a saturated pool of O2.With an uneventful discharge , we proceeded to the hotel to face a different kind of emergency .Sameer , it seems ,still had a bad headache & absolutely , positively and immediately wanted to go home to Mumbai .The fact that his daughter has been distraught as he had prepared to leave ,helped strengthen his resolve further. All our attempts at explaining to him that it was a transient state of suffering were futile & we resigned ourselves to find a travel agent & book his return tickets .Fortunately or unfortunately for him , we failed in our attempts to find an agent and reassured him that by tomorrow morning he would have the ticket in hand .Sameer was one of our fittest members and to lose him so early in the day was disheartening to say the least .

Day 3 woke us up with brilliant sunshine & wonder of wonders ,Sameer, not only cheerful but also actively and vigorously practicing all sorts of exercises .When asked as to what we should do with his tickets , he looked at us in a genuinely puzzled way and asked ,What tickets ? So much for that ! Leh Palace even though just a stones throw from our hotel had still not been visited & we set about to rectify this .The climb up to the palace would also do us some good by way of practice.With all plans finalised and welcoming Sameer back to the fold , we decided to set off .

A small problem prevented all four of us from setting off , and it turned out that after the lack of oxygen , it was the turn of my stomach to have its say .Confined to the hotel room and, by now, too stoic to be affected by the turn of events,wishing the others luck , I curled up in bed with my Kindle . The gang returned after a few hours and were enthused by the speed and progress of their ascent , that augured well for us and we were pretty sure that the stomach upset would just be a momentary blip in our plans .

Thus we spent a few more days exploring Leh & shopping to our hearts content for the trek & otherwise .The day of the briefing arrived and we were introduced to our trek mates for the first time .It was a truly mixed , multinational crowd with participants from Austria , Malaysia,Netherlands ,the US ,Singapore ,Dubai & of course India. There was a wide range in the ages too, right from 20 years to 50 years and above .The fitness levels too varied from people who were football coaches to people who had completed numerous Himalayan treks to people who led sedentary lifestyles in front of computers ( guess who ) .We were already forming opinions as to who would reach the summit & who would fall short .As compared to us ,excluding Sameer, the majority of the lot looked much more fitter than us .We decided to stop speculating and to tackle events as they came, to the best of our abilities .

Day 1 of the trek : The bus deposited us at Stok village , about 15 kms away from Leh and this was to be our starting point for the Stok Kangri expedition.To say that Stok village was picturesque would be an understatement , there were clear Himalayan streams gushing through green meadows , a variety of trees adding to the beauty , the Stok palace  ,regal, at a height above the village, robins flitting around from field to field & most of all the backdrop .We had the mighty Himalayan ranges forming a fitting backdrop to Nature's bounty , and into these mountains we were to head .Our Sherpa guide was Dhanbahadur , who was on his fifth trip to the Stok summit and he set off at a slow deliberate pace , making sure that we progressed as a cohesive group. The landscape was simultaneously awe inspiring , ruggedly beautiful and harsh .It showcased the formation of the young mountains beautifully , there were entire river beds which had been pushed skywards by the relentless tectonic activity, inclined scarps hinting that they were horizontal about 50 million years ago and vast moraines reminiscent of ancient glacial activity. The bare mountains though lacking in vegetation had  myriad green , purple & red hues owing to the various mineral deposits .The sheer scale of the mountains did full justice to the term Himalayan !

The meandering path led us to an ascent which culminated in a pass .This was defended by a stone watch tower , an outpost of the fort at Chang Ma, incidentally our first camp. We were to have 3 camps before our final summit attempt - Chang Ma at 13,087 feet,Mankarmo at 14,200 feet , and the base camp at 16,300 feet. It was difficult to imagine  warriors actually fighting at these heights , where even walking was a task ,but then they must have been born here and would be one with  the local conditions. The initial part of the climb to Chang Ma was a pleasure , but as the incline became steeper I was hyperventilating as though in a 100 metre sprint .Usually there is a bit of panting as the body warms up but once in its groove further progress is a pleasure .But this just was not happening & every 2 steps were accomplished as though I was climbing the last few steps to the Everest summit,with superlative effort.This didn't bode well and my only goal was to reach ChangMa by whatever means possible .

ChangMa was a small camping site with a permanent tent providing all sorts of snacks , bottled water and coke even ( the drinking variety , not the snorting one ) .We had the river for company on one side & were surrounded by the mountains on three sides .We were issued tents & taught how to pitch them & very soon we had a small camp of blue tents  dotting the ChangMa landscape .Our team was doing well , with all three members, save me ,making good time.I was pretty disheartened by the dismal show & the effort needed to reach just the first camp , if things proceeded in this way , reaching Mankarmo would be a  herculean task , leave alone attempting the summit .To add to  the merry mix , my left ankle tendon and right knee had excruciating pain , Rohit had to pull me up every time I sat down , with the tented accommodation, problems were only compounded . Our schedule at each camp was fixed - food & liquids at designated times & an acclimatisation walk to a higher place , keeping with the adage of climb high & sleep low .

I dug in deep and tried to bring to the fore all the accumulated experience, wisdom and what have you, to carry on & not quit at that instance itself .What had happened to me ? Agreed that I hadn't been able to put in the requisite hours of training , but I was pretty sure of myself when it came to the mountains & this most definitely wasn't my first Himalayan experience .I was unravelling and it wasn't a pretty sight .

I was a pathetic caricature of the normally self assured nay even overconfident self which I was used to . This manifested in my outward behaviour & Savitha nicknamed me not only Radu but also Chidu !

First things first , just hang in there ! I made a deal with myself that as long as my O2 sats were within limits , I would go as far as I could .That could have been the next camp or even to the summit ,and I didn't care how long I took or how much I hyperventilated .

The night's rest did me good & from the foggy recesses of my brain I tried recollecting how Diamox worked. It plays around with your acid base balance & to re establish it , the body has a higher frequency as well as depth of breathing , which probably is  good if you are static at one place but if you add a continuous climb then continuous hyperventilation it was & not a very pretty sight I assure you.It was a catch 22 , couldn't stop diamox & couldn't climb with it .

O2 sats were good so no excuses & off to Mankarmo it was .It was a 3-4 hour trek and surprisingly I was feeling good .Etoshine had taken care of the tendon & the knee and since I was acclimatised to that height there was no panting just smooth,swift progress to the next camp .This lifted my spirits & it was with a happy heart that I set about pitching our tent.My tent mate was a Singaporean of Indian origin ,who too was finding the going tough .Emboldened by my recent climb I proceeded to give him a pep talk & promised him that however long it took , we would do it together! 

Mankarmo's acclimatisation walk was special , there had been a light rain & a seven coloured arch spread across the sky .Since we were at an elevation we were treated to an almost 270 degrees of the rainbow.The view from our elevated perch was stunning to say the least , the mountains had acquired a lunar feel with closely spaced crags & stunning colours .The valley on the other side was cut across by the river & the prayer flags fluttering in the evening breeze imparted an other worldly feel to the already surreal landscape .

This was turning to be a roller coaster of a trek , yesterday I was fully convinced to turn back , today I was raring to go & as if afraid of losing momentum was even ready to go to the next camp today itself .

We wound up camp from Mankarmo the next morning & proceeded towards base camp .It was smooth sailing till the final ascent when the hyperventilation hit again , somehow managing to reach the clearing of the base camp,the first thing to strike us was the extreme cold , coupled with a persistent ,bone chilling wind .Pitching a tent here was no mean task ,given the cold , the wind & the lowered oxygen levels - we were at 16,000 feet ,no less.But pitching the tent was the urgent need of the moment as that would protect us from the elements as well as help us change into the various layers needed to stave off the numbing cold .

At base camp the climate had changed drastically and it was difficult to get people out of their tents .It was here that the full purport of a Himalayan expedition hit us & there were reactions ranging from a dogged determination to outright despair .We went for our customary acclimatisation walk and saw part of the route which we were going to take for the summit .My tent mate had decided that he was not going to continue any further and conveyed his decision to the trek leader .The night was chilling with a fierce wind and occasional rain .The typical layers which we wore consisted of a thermal , a t shirt , a fleece jacket and a down jacket , but the cold made a mockery of this and cut straight through it all .Thus we spent the night trying to get the best possible position in the sleeping bag , which would afford us maximum protection from the cold .You could prepare for everything else in a place like Mumbai , but where would you get this cold ?

The less than optimal conditions of the base camp prompted varied responses from all the participants .The fact that the summit was shrouded in thick fog and clouds didn't help matters any further.Sameer had once again made up his mind that the cold was not his forte and he would prefer staying at base camp itself else go back down .Once he had vocalised this, he found sympathy with other group members notably 2 senior trekkers from Sangli who reasserted that it was not worth risking life and limb and they too decided to go back .Incidentally these 3 were among the fittest of the group.Rohit who had mentioned his aversion to the cold many a times earlier ,appeared to be swayed by these concerns ,but then made up his mind and decided to give it his all , come hell or high water.The confined quarters of the tent , the rain and the long absence from home had taken its toll on Savitha too & she was all set to go back home , but that was at 2 am in the night .Now she had stabilised and was raring to tackle the summit . I too couldn't see the point in carrying on , given the extreme cold , the demanding climb and my less than optimal physical condition.Not wanting to act as a dampener for Rohit and Savitha , I kept these thoughts to myself and reasserted my deal that I would go on till it was impossible to go on further.

Today was a rest day and we would be attempting the climb at night .Since the summit attempt would need anything from 12 - 16 hours , we were advised rest in the day time .By evening we were allotted our equipment like crampons , harnesses and carabiners apart from instructions on how to use them .The plan was to start off at 9 pm & target the summit by 5 am , 15 minutes on the summit followed by the descent .The climb would involve crossing a glacier , climbing an incline till a shoulder was reached , from where the final summit ridge would be climbed . From 21 our group had shrunk to 16 now , another of our forerunners was down with altitude sickness and our football coach was also showing signs of being affected by the height .Our cooks had prepared a lavish spread to boost our spirits as well as provide the requisite energy, creditable given the adverse conditions .It was a nervous gathering of 16 which assembled outside the mess tent , ready to summit Stok Kangri at a height of 20,080 feet .The night was still , with the stars visible , and without further ado we set off .

Our fears of the cold and the rain seemed to be unfounded , but with the mountains you never know when everything can change .We made good pace up yesterday's acclimatisation slope & were actually feeling quite warm after the physical exertion .From the slope the path took a horizontal route to the left & continued over a lot of rocks carelessly strewn by ancient glacial activity.This was taxing to the shoes as well as to the ankles , one had to be alert so as not to slip and fall over the loose rocks .This continued for about an hour & we passed a small clearing ,charmingly called as the advanced base camp , this was no more than a 10 x 10 foot space where a tent could be pitched . By this time I was hyperventilating but not to the point of collapsing and decided to trudge on .One of the participants who was always in the lead was just behind me & she was too was hyperventilating like crazy , she too was on Diamox .At the advanced base camp , she expressed her inability to proceed further , all of us were very surprised and shocked , as she had been among the leaders for all 3 days .After a little coaxing by the trek leader and redistribution of her sack contents, she agreed to continue .

With this minor scare behind us , we continued for some more time over the unforgiving terrain and reached the glacier.By this time one of the participants who had completed 7 Himalayan treks was in a bad shape , constantly bending over & attempting to throw up , classic signs of altitude sickness.In spite of this she wanted to continue and the trek leader relented .Our football coach was not so lucky though , his O2 sats were very low ,coupled with a nagging headache ,his summit attempt met a sad end there .The distressed face said it all , but life being more precious than the summit he reluctantly turned back .One of the Malaysians was also in a bad shape , constantly stopping and throwing up .

Now the weather had changed and there was a numbing wind, followed by snow fall , visibility had dropped too .The glacier, though ,was fun to negotiate with our crampons.I had promised Rohit that come what may I would make it to the glacier ,and was glad to make it thus far .Our guides expertly negotiated us through the vast icefield ,pointing out crevasses & nonchalantly avoiding other pitfalls .The sound of the water furiously  rushing below the ice was at once awe inspiring as well as a bit scary. Imagine taking a tumble into that ice cold water in this chilly night  ! As the glacier climbed upwards , the air grew thinner and everyone was labouring to put their best foot forward .Our guide had thankfully built in rest stops into the route and we gratefully dropped our loads , sipping energy drinks ,trying to get our strength back .The problem with the rest stops was that as soon as your body stopped moving it was subject to the icy winds and the lack of locomotion led to a sudden drop in body temperature.During one of these stops I felt a sudden chill & felt a physical presence of a cold ice slab bearing down on my chest , no I wasn’t hallucinating , it was actually that cold !

The glacial ice gave way to a steep incline of a vast randomly strewn rock field .Apart from the hyperventilation , I was now coughing violently , with each effort draining whatever residual energy I had .It became hard to maintain my pace & I progressively dropped behind in the file of climbers .The cough was alarming as it was very frequent and at the same time very intense , going by previous experience , it could be a precursor to HAPE i.e. pulmonary oedema & neither the mountain slope nor base camp was geared to handle a medical emergency of that scale .

Having troubled people enough with a string of problems till now , I was reluctant to further bother them. The final straw was when the trek leader announced that this particular climb would last for another 4 hours followed by a steeper one of 2 hours . My body had given up & I could have still carried on on sheer will power but at the cost of a collapse sooner than later .With mixed feelings I informed the trek leader about the decision to return , there was relief that the physical torture was to end , resignation that if the mountain doesn't want then you can't ,a wistful longing to carry on with Rohit & Savitha and admiration that both of them were still soldiering on .These thoughts were rudely interrupted by a fresh bout of coughing and my feet, in a final adieu to Stok, turned valley wards .

Continuing with our determined duo , they clambered up the rocky incline , each rest stop proving colder than the previous one , the compounding factor being the drowsiness induced by the lack of sleep . The mind screaming out that this was it , no further , but a dogged determination overruling these thoughts with a simple agenda to just keep walking.There was no turning back now , come what may, the summit had to be reached .And Nature to test their resolve unleashed a fresh bout of snow with further reduction in visibility , unfazed, our climbers climbed on and were rewarded by reaching the shoulder .

Beyond the shoulder it was risky business , hence everyone was roped up into groups of 5 each .The idea was that if one of the climbers fell the others would collectively arrest the fall .Once beyond the shoulder ,one was confronted with the summit ridge , a narrow band of ice and rock barely a foot wide with dizzying falls all the way to the valley floor .Once on the ridge the summit was visible and that put renewed vigour into all the climbers , but it was a false alarm , the so called summit turned out to be one in a series of elevations which was obscuring the actual summit. An agonising hour later , the actual summit embellished with wildly fluttering prayer flags came into view .And that was that , no more steps , no more climbing ,just a blessed relief that it was all over .The preparation , the heartache , the determination all had culminated in this moment of wind & ice , a triumph of the human spirit where mental toughness mattered much more than physical .The ghosts of last year were silenced at last & Rohit & Savitha could breathe easy now .Their daily vigil of the Stok summit could now be relaxed .

Epilogue :

 I reached camp and to everyone's relief the cough was secondary to infection , deduced by the normal O2 levels .Our guide Dhanbahadur got 2 clients & he went up the mountain , blizzards , fatigue not withstanding .Would he / we have undertaken this perilous journey so soon had it not been for financial considerations .The young veteran of 7 Himalayan treks went on a bit further and unfortunately had to return as her health was just not coping up .13  people summited from our batch of 21. Rohit & Savitha staggered into camp at 1 pm and it was our privilege to provide them a guard of honour .

Stok - The trek that wasn't

Stok - The trek that wasn't 

The mountains defy easy description & deciphering , and probably that is why one is so drawn to their siren call .It is said that once you have been to the Himalayas , you are compelled to visit them time and again , an irresistible pull , a primal tug .And it was something similar with me , having visited Rohtang pass just after my SSC exams , it was the Himalayan allure which drove me back to a full-fledged expedition on Mount Rudugaira , high above the Gangotri glacier , a basic mountaineering course at Manali & again another trek at the Gangotri glacier , the latter coinciding to the day with the tragic cloudburst at Kedarnath.

In short , my last Himalayan trip was truly an adventure, but in a different, unpredictable way, without the trek being completed , hence I was restless for another crack at the mighty mountains .Around December 2014 Urvi was asking around if anyone was interested in the Chadar trek , which was basically an arduous walk over a frozen river in Ladakh. While surfing for information on the same , I happened to chance upon the Stok Kangri expedition.

Stok was 20,000 feet high , a respectable height , didn't require any technical expertise & was quite affordable .Stok it was for me , situated in the Zanskar range near Leh , it seemed to be a perfect outing to reconnect with Himalayan mountaineering .

I floated the idea on the group with almost immediate confirmation from Savitha , Guptaji & Rohit, our very own Dongardev.Initially we approached a group called India Hikes , but they had very strict inclusion criteria ,which included prior high altitude treks etc. ,hence only 2 of us were selected .We decided to ditch that particular group & were ecstatic when a group called Trek the Himalayas confirmed all four of us , it was one of the best new year present we could ask for ! Once the registrations were confirmed we set about the serious business of preparing for the expedition , none of us had any illusions of it being easy .First things first , create a Whatsapp group , and we called ourselves Leh Climbers & Bikers .That done , flight tickets were booked , almost 7 months in advance !

Next we had to work on our fitness , apart from a daily schedule , we also organised the now  famous / infamous endurance trek series , which were medium to hard grade treks at least once a month in the Sahyadris .We sweated & swore our way through such draining treks like Mahuli & Sumargad at the height of summer , always keeping the bigger picture in mind .Special equipment purchase outings were organised to Decathlon at Thane & everyone was pretty much professionally geared up now , with good shoes , hiking poles , high intensity headlights & the works .

We were now about a month away from D-day which was the 29th of July , the day we were flying to Leh , and Savitha couldn't contain her excitement & was truly frustrated at how slowly time was passing .She started a countdown from the one month mark itself .Rohit had a different problem altogether , he wasn't finding the specialised clothing in his size ! After a lot of effort , he did manage to locate some , stitch some & be basically done with it once & for all .He took expert guidance from quite a few people on how to pack the entire lot into his brand new sack . With that done he breathed a sigh of relief , in the meantime Guptaji came up with a new doubt .He said that whoever he spoke to was ridiculing his decision to directly fly to Leh & instead were suggesting driving from Srinagar / Manali to avoid mountain sickness.We agreed to his valid line of reasoning , but it was too late in the day to address them , if he so wished , he could meet us directly at Leh but time & money constraints forbade us from making last minute changes to our itinerary.Speaking of itineraries , we were reaching Leh on the 30th & our trek was starting on the 3rd , this not only gave us sufficient time for acclimatisation but also a day or two to squeeze in the local sights .Guptaji by now had resigned to the fact of flying directly to Leh , as he said that he was a team man & would go along with what everyone was doing .

It was the 24th of July , just 5 days more & each day was crawling so slowly ! Around noon that day we got a message from Rohit, which turned our cosy world upside down. He had chills and fever ,blood tests confirmed malaria. We couldn't believe ourselves , was this really happening ? 5 days to go & a diagnosis of malaria pretty much ruled out Rohit joining us . I don't know who felt more bad , Rohit or us ? The poor chap had endured all the endurance treks , invested heavily in new equipment & was truly raring to go , this being his first Himalayan experience .We were still hoping against hope that somehow , just somehow, he could still join us. This slender hope was dashed when his physician suspected dengue too .

With Rohit pretty much out of the game , we decided to meet him & present him the specially designed T2B t shirt & take Dongardev's blessings for our onward journey .29th July dawned & from Leh Climbers & Bikers we had become the 3 Idiots now .We reached Delhi airport around midnight & bought special chocolates to be opened only when we reached the summit .We nearly missed our Delhi Leh flight due to an altered state of consciousness brought about by a sleepless night at the airport .We made sure that everyone of us had window seats to soak in the imminent display of majestic beauty , and it proved to be a wise decision .Each one of us was awe struck by the sheer raw beauty of the snowcapped towering peaks & once we recovered from the initial wonder, we were merrily clicking all the sights , to try and capture a slice of the Mountain that is the Himalaya.

Day 1 at Leh was a mixture of drowsiness , slight headaches  & stunning views of the Stok range which dominated the skyline .We were booked into the Palace View guest house , situated right below the Leh Palace & next to the Polo ground .Guptaji had been instructed by Savitha to carry a pulse oximeter & it became our obsession for the next 10 days , with someone or the other poking their finger towards whoever was carrying it .Any activity / walk was followed by a mandatory SpO2 check .Savitha's was a heady 90 , Guptaji was in the 80s & I languished in 3rd place in the high 70s .Guptaji had to pick up a few trek essentials & by evening we were much more acclimatised to the reduced oxygen content , so we set out into the market .Once in the market we were ravenously hungry & gobbled down bowls of Thukpa ( a soup noodle preparation) & plates of momos .Guptaji ,true to his resourcefulness ,located an army materials supplier & managed to get Indian army grade trekking stuff like gloves , jackets & balaclavas. Tummies & shopping hampers full ,   we turned our attention towards the serious task of hiring bikes for tomorrows ride to Pangong Tso.We were delighted to get spanking new 350 cc Bullets with helmets thrown in for no extra charge .Tasks accomplished we headed back to Palace view for a good night's sleep , we had a long day ahead tomorrow.

Pangong was around 170 kms. away from Leh & the road was through what was described as the ' mighty Chang La ' , the world's third highest pass at 17,688 feet . Considering the distance we decided to do the trip in 2 days & accordingly packed our bags , filled the bikes up & also carried around 10 litres of extra fuel .The road to Pangong was Leh-Karu-Sakti-Chang La-Durbuk-Tangste-Lukung.Online portals mentioned that 'this route provides the best road conditions among all other routes'.We started off around 10 am, sufficiently satiated with bowls of Thukpa, and drove along a dream of a road , the mountains on the left & the Sindhu river on the right.On the way we saw a regal structure built atop & into the hill , as we neared it , the sign board announced that it was the Shey Palace , erstwhile residence of the Leh royal family .It also housed a 2 storey high gilded Buddha statue .Eager to experience as much as possible , we took the 2 minute short drive upto the palace parking & were rewarded by stunning landscapes all around .After visiting the temple , we made haste, mindful that we still had a long way to go. The drive upto Karu was excellent, with us clocking good time. At Karu you take the left fork towards Sakti which climbs into the mountains .Initially the gradients are pleasant and one actually starts enjoying the twisty turny nature of the mountain road .As you climb higher you can see that the Border Roads Organisation BRO has a very tough , to say the very least , job on its hands .Just maintaining a level ground , forget the tarmac & other embellishments in this harsh environment , is a harsh & life threatening endeavour. Unlike the Sahyadris which are built of solid igneous rock ,the Himalayas are a loose aggregation of rocks embedded in a fine sand , remnants of a sea dried long ago & whose bed is being progressively pushed up by tectonic plate activity .Cutting a long story short , the roads on these mountains are very unstable , because the mountains themselves are unstable .So you are riding / driving on compacted silt /sand without any real foundation .The difficulty is compounded by the fact that the melt waters from the mountain tops flow directly over these roads creating beautiful babbling brooks and raging torrents   , beautiful to look at but a real danger to ride through.

One had to consider navigating over the least slippery of stones , these stones were the kind found on river beds , round & slippery , but they were not directly visible as the water flowing over them was muddied .If you didn't slip while doing this , the next challenge was to drive fast enough to try & prevent water from entering your silencer , as the currents were quite deep at some places .Having achieved these 2 feats , the crowning achievement would be not having your shoes soaking wet , a very necessary requirement considering the upcoming attempt at 20,000 feet. And there were so many of these patches that we frankly lost count .A point to be mentioned about the 350 cc Bullet was that it lacked torque in a very disturbing way & this was manifested when you tried to climb over smaller boulders & the bike refused to budge .The only alternative was to reverse & try a different approach , this was easier said than done, as firstly that meant putting your feet into the chilling water and secondly the bike seemed to weigh a ton and reversing was easier said than done.

These patches successfully  navigated without a spill , we reached Chang La top standing mighty at 17,688 feet . Apart from an army post & a tea stall there is a temple dedicated to Changla Baba built by the army , which is said to protect visitors from mishaps during the crossing .A BRO plaque at Chang La is worth mentioning, that this road was possible due to some nameless individual who stayed with his machine in the face of immense hardship without wavering from his duty , true heroes these. A quick tea break and we were on our way again. If we thought that reaching the top would be the end of our wading woes , we were sadly mistaken , as obviously the other part of the mountain was going to be similar to the part climbed up, with the same raging currents & all .By this time we were desensitised to it all & drove at a speed bordering on reckless ,aided by the experience of climbing up & sheer luck .We just wanted to get done with the rocks and the water as fast as possible ,hence the hurry. Once we had descended we reached Durbuk , a small post of 3 - 4 huts & kept going on .On our way we passed what seemed to be a small wayside hotel colourfully decorated with various flags ,unknown to us this was going to play a major role in upcoming events .

As the ground more or less levelled off , we saw huge storm clouds around 10 minutes away. Not only could we see it pouring into the valley below ,but could also see lightning in a different way, we are accustomed to see lightning in the skies above , here it was we who were above & the lightning below .The fast approaching clouds snapped us out of our reverie & Guptaji insisted that we go back to the small wayside hotel for shelter .It was a race against the clouds but we managed, just in the nick of time .The hotel was basically a tent which was closed for business currently .We moved the make shift door & got inside to see torrential rain lashing the spot where we were, just a minute ago , talk about close calls .

The first thing we did was remove our drenched shoes & that made us feel a little better, next we realised that it was almost 4 pm & we had not eaten anything since morning ! Naagrik snacks to the rescue ! We settled into a semi comfortable state only to discover that the roof had started leaking ,unable to withstand the continuous onslaught of the sheets of rain .Had we not been cold , wet & miserable , we may even had enjoyed the scene , with tall mountains , pouring rain & intermittent lightning. The rain was showing no signs of letting up & dry areas within were getting scarce & rare , when suddenly we heard voices , human ones , we weren't hallucinating as yet , and they spoke - Gujarati ! Talk about ubiquitous , welcome to the party guys .Gujju guys & Guptaji decided to build a bonfire with the cardboard cartons lying around , small problem - the cardboard was damp .This was solved by liberally dousing the cartons with petrol from our surplus stock & voila , there you have it, a raging fire .I was in no mood to give up my dry perch for the fire , which anyways soon started spluttering & giving off more smoke than heat & light .The gujjus had a back up vehicle into which they piled & drove off shortly .The intensity of the rain had reduced, though it was far from finished .Given the impending darkness & the distance to be covered to Tangste , we decided to brave the rain & ride on.Before that we professed our eternal gratitude to the unknown owner of the hotel & left some money for him. Savitha & I were frantically trying to find our waterproof stuff ,while Guptaji was getting annoyed at our delay .He started off while we were still trying to locate our gloves .These were desolate roads in hostile conditions and the last thing we wanted was for the 2 bikes to be separated , hence we set off after him in hot pursuit , which in hindsight proved to be not such a good decision .

The landscape was divine , you had tall mountains of varied hues all around , the road was descending into a valley which you could spot through breaks in the clouds and the rain had created streams & rivulets which were running by the road .One scene which stands out was of small stones on the road , which were breaking up the water flow in such a manner so as to create very tiny waterfalls over them , the collective effect was of tiny diamonds strewn all over the road .I was brought back to a harsher reality, when I noticed that I couldn't feel my hands at all. Hypothermia which is as alien to a Mumbaikar as a Martian suddenly started making sense. My jeans was soaking wet , yes I was wearing jeans to protect against the cold , my hands were beyond numb & feet were in individual pools of their own .This was supposed to be a rain shadow region , a cold desert , so how come the torrential rain ?? I had not factored this in at all .I had felt very clever when deciding that we would go via one of the high altitude passes to the lakes , this would take us high & we would sleep low , a perfect recipe for acclimatisation .Forget acclimatisation , here was death by hypothermia staring right at me !

Fortunately for us Tangste was around 20 kms from where we were & digging deep into unknown reserves my only goal was to reach it rather than collapsing in the middle of nowhere . With this resolve , I eked out the most that the poor Bullet could muster & set out at an almost maniacal pace , the only thing which mattered was Tangste ! Our speed soon made us catch up with Guptaji & judging by the smashed petrol can , he seemed to have had some incident of his own .Later he narrated that his bike had got stuck twice in the sand & only through supreme effort , willpower & screaming his lungs out, did he manage to get his act together again.

We had descended into the valley now & the road to Tangste was much more level now , the rain too had mercifully stopped .We checked into the first hotel which we saw , the Pangong residency & it promised us a good room with hot food & even hot water to nurse our extremities back to life .I was shivering uncontrollably now & could feel the cold seep in to my very core .Reviewing our day's proceedings ,we discussed how this was one of the most difficult rides one could complete & the sense of achievement on completing this was much more than climbing the relatively easy Stok . I was so exhausted that for the life of me I couldn't get myself to go to the dining room. Dinner was simple but hot stuff & we headed back to our room & hit the bed .

Morning dawned with me being in a state of extreme exhaustion , with even the simplest task seeming Herculean .Guptaji was a little better , but there was no way in which we could drive the bikes back all the way to Leh.We managed to find a jeep which could take both us & the bikes back to Leh & since we were so close to Pangong , cover that too.

Before setting off for Pangong , we decided to find some Glucon D to ramp up my energy a bit , the medical store person told Savitha that Glucon etc. doesn't help but there was a PHC in Tangste and it would be wiser to have a consult there.Feeling that things weren't so bad as to warrant a PHC visit , we bought some juice & drove off towards Pangong .The road to Pangong is through the mountains again , a sort of road which if you are prone to motion sickness , then you would definitely throw up .And that's what I did , coupled with the acidity of having a negligible breakfast & the twisty turny road . Feeling a little better , we drove on & horror of horrors my gut couldn't even hold the pure water which I had just had & out that came .So this wasn't acidity / motion  sickness but I was too gone to trouble my brain to come up with a diagnosis which tied all the symptoms together .I do remember trying to figure out if any viral infection has respiratory plus GI symptoms but finding it too taxing, just gave up . After the last bout of throwing up, Savitha instructed the driver to turn back & drop the idea of Pangong, but since we were so agonisingly close to it , I didn't want to deny them the pleasure of seeing it ,and we went on .

Pangong is huge ; 5 kms at its widest & around 130 kms long.Its beauty lies in the varied hues of blue & aquamarine which the water reflects on clear days , we had no such luck as the sky was overcast from yesterday's rains .After the photos we drove back to Tangste , where we had the unenviable task of lifting 2 super heavy Bullets onto the Jeep, this was accomplished with the help of the hotel staff & we set off for Leh via Chang La .This journey was pretty much uneventful except for a few heart stopping moments where the bikes seemed to roll out of the jeep on the steep inclines .The lack of oxygen also led to frayed tempers between Savitha & Guptaji , but nothing which descending from Chang La couldn't sort out .I, for most part of the journey, had my head down & was drifitng in & out of sleep.

Thus we reached Palace View ,Leh around 6 pm & I immediately snuggled into bed .Going by how difficult it was for me to do routine tasks , Savitha felt it prudent to buy a portable oxygen cylinder , just in case .The oxygen supplier was just across the road , but unfortunately was shut for the day & unwillingly she had to ask the hotel manager about alternatives .I say unwillingly because once you have been hooked up to oxygen , the trek is pretty much over for you .There was still one entire day & I was confident that proper rest & food should see me through , hence we didn't want to jeopardise our trek plans . Anyways the hotel manager came to check & conferred with Guptaji that such a condition was consistent with GI upset & if oxygen was really required they had a vehicle which could be used to procure it .In the meantime Guptaji had managed to get us some food & the minute I got up from the dining hall all my gastric contents were duly deposited into the loo .There was something seriously wrong , damn that virus !

It was 2 am at night & Savitha was woken up by sounds of constant cough and distressed breathing , but it wasn't just shortness of breath , there was a distinct gurgling sound accompanying it too , no prizes for guessing , it was me .Savitha felt that we should go to the hospital , 2 am at night for a respiratory infection seemed a bit far-fetched for me.She said that in case of Pulmonary Oedema , the accumulated fluid caused such a sound , I countered with the argument that clogged mucous would also create the same effect .To end the logjam , I went to the washroom & expectorated the lung contents & was jolted to see frothy , blood tinged sputum - this was no respiratory infection ! Help ! Ok , so no infection , but whatever it was could wait till morning , why spoil everyone's sleep over it ?

Savitha had had enough of my arguments & announced firmly that we were going to the hospital & that too now .She had the presence of mind of taking down the hotel owner's phone number earlier in the day & called him up immediately .It was decided not to spoil Guptaji's sleep as he himself was very tired .SpO2 was hovering around 56 , the owner came in & said that the hospital would only admit people who couldn't even stand on their feet , & here I was merrily walking around .Savitha was firm & said that she was interested in a qualified diagnosis & would abide by whatever the doctor would say . A quick ride to the hospital & we were in the casualty , the attending Dr. was an MD physician .He hooked me to the medical grade pulse oximeter & . . . .

SpO2 was 33 %  !  He was justifiably wild & ranted at us for coming in so late , 10 more points decrease & you wouldn't have to come at all .He also mentioned in passing that we were lucky to have him attending to me , as just a few days earlier,the junior doctors had treated a similar case of vomitting with IV fluids , which in fact was pulmonary oedema & the patient had died due to fluid overdose .So it was confirmed , I had full blown HAPE or high altitude pulmonary edema & needed to be admitted stat .HAPE was life threatening with a high mortality rate & the patient could succumb within hours if appropriate treatment wasn't given .Why someone will / will not have HAPE has not yet been solved. It can occur to anyone ,irrespective of how many mountains you have climbed / courses you have done, a true leveller . With the oxygen cannula down my nose & the wonder drugs of modern medicine coursing through my veins HAPE had been denied its latest victim & I could literally breathe a sigh of relief.

The emergency had passed , the morning dawned with some difficult decisions to take .

I was lucky to have survived the night , so climbing a 20,000er was out of the question , but Guptaji & Savitha were doing good , there was still one complete day in hand & Stok seemed tantalisingly within reach for them. The last thing I would want was for them to miss out on this opportunity , considering the efforts we had put in to reach this stage.The medical aspect was taken care of by the excellent staff of the Government Hospital & the hotel owner & manager had promised to take care of the food & other stuff. I wasn't critical anymore and it was just a  matter of biding time till I recovered.

Guptaji mentioned that he had made up his mind at Tangste itself considering the rainy conditions , give him proper sunshine & he was willing to exert to the top of any mountain , but pouring rains was a no-no for him & there was no way that he could abandon me & go for the trek .He also mentioned that there were a lot of responsibilities on his shoulder & he didn't want to take undue risks . That sealed the matter , now that Guptaji was staying back ,Savitha was free to go & she really had this on her mind since the past 7 months , she was fit , had a keen desire bordering on an obsession , this was going to be her first Himalayan peak & there was no imminent danger of me sliding into the netherworld. All factors which were screaming Go Savitha Go ! You could actually see the various conflicts playing out in her mind & finally her sense of perceived duty came to the fore and she decided to stay back .We tried very hard to convince her ,but it was like 'Ek baar jo maine commitment kar di . . . '

And so you had it , Stok the trek that wasn't. But what it was , was much more than any trek could be , the preparation , the heart break , the adventure ,the arrogance ,death at close quarters ,lack of information ,heroic courage and a sense of togetherness , a feeling that together you can achieve anything .This is a tribute to the dedicated staff at Sonam Norbu Memorial hospital , Guptaji & Savitha. Sometimes we look far and wide for examples of heroism but fail to notice what is right next to us , Savitha is one such amazing individual .She not only displayed immense courage , but kept a calm mind , did all that was necessary in a pressure situation , mobilised resources & ultimately saw to it that the mission was a success , that we can read these lines today is all because of her , because if I had had my way , then there was no budging till morning and that would have been too . . .