attachments

these days, most emails are allowing bigger attachment file size..  there was a time, when it couldn't be bigger than 1 mb..

anyway, this blog is not about that, and you might have guessed.  its about the real attachments in life we have with each other.  some people can be obsessed with them and some people are detached with everyone to the core.

there can be 2 poles.  the general eastern culture, or Indian culture is a collective one, where relatives, friends, teachers, co-workers, by-standers, total strangers have a say about what you should do in your life...   and other / another culture, where its very individualistic.  though changes are happening; cultural stereotypes are harder to predict.

but, even in these collective cultural melting pot, there are people who have very different life experiences.  who live alone, on their own, dont have to plead with half a dozen others to get permission to see a movie, and dont have to worry about 'what will people say'...   how will such a person with a decade of this kind of experience interact with a co-worker, who live like extension of their family, friends, neighbors and their dog?  both will feel the other is an alien.

that leads to another flash..   about people who use excessive amount of adjectives and superlatives to describe experiences.  how would you deal with someone, who will describe their mundane morning tea, as the most amazing experience in entire life, it was incredulous and changed me forever!!  i mean, that's their low rating..  kind of like the 1 out of 10.  i dont even want to imagine how he/she will describe their 10 level experience.   there is another question, "why do some people exaggerate so much - i.e. through superlative adjectives"?  are they trying to live a bigger life or cant deal with un-exaggerated life experiences? ...

well, is there an ideal life? or are we all simply chasing dreams??

 

SK25 May 2013 (Saurkundi pass trek)

Saurkundi pass trek, organized by YHAI - notes of our group 'sk25' journey in May 19th to 29th (2013):

19-5-2013 - Day1 : Reporting at base camp Youth Hostel Association of India (YHAI) at "15 Miles" -its the name of the place, its about 17km before Manali, and 23km after Kullu) –

as you enter the YHAI (Youth hostel association of India) camp site – about 10 tents on each side, left side mostly for women and right side tents for men – with a reception desk tent in the front gate, and kitchen nearby that.  There are separate bathrooms at the end of the camp for men & women.  A peaceful site overall. 

Nothing much to do on the first day, other than meeting other trek group members, and walking around the base camp to buy things you had missed out, such as torch, toilet paper etc.

20-5-2013 - Day2: Acclimatization and Orientation -

You get bed tea (generally not in your tent, but near camp mess/kitchen, and then At 6.30am, everyone is lined up for a run and exercise / stretching routine – this is a tough routine, but very very helpful in the coming days and the trek up is very demanding on your body.  The best exercise routine comes in the end, which is,

“Making a melody in my life, king of kings, thumps up, thumps up, thumps down,

Elbow bent, elbow up, Knee bent, back bent, neck bent, tongue out…  and turn around… ;)

Acclimatization, basically is, a walk up the mountains for a hour or so, while carrying a heavy (back pack) rack-sack, (or called as ‘Rakshak” by many ;) – this is very imp. As it helps you to realize how heavy should your back pack be, while you go up for the trek.  The necessities should be there, but it shouldn’t be too heavy, which is not easy, but you gotta do it.

In the early evening, general information, and directions and tips are given by the camp leaders to the group, and even though it might seem like ‘lecture’, it’s a useful session. 

And, yeah, shorts are not allowed in YHAI camps.. there is no reason as such, but its better to obey the rules of YHAI, like its some tradition, and overall, YHAI traditions are fun 90% of the time, so, just accept the rest of the 10% with a smile.

Its not easy like day 1 to go out of the camp, but think of it as the last chance to buy whatever items you gotta buy.

Today night, our group had to perform the cultural program at night, and the whole group did very well, and it’s a great opportunity to bond and laugh too. Don’t forget to boo at lousy performances as well, at your own group and other groups too ;)

21-5-2013 - Day3: Rock Climbing and Rappelling -

Up at 5.30am, as there was nothing to do at night, and the lights go off at 9pm, inside a tent with about 11 other people, it was easy to sleep early and wake up too.  In the cold morning, a hot morning tea is very inviting and without waiting to see whether it will reach the tent (its supposed to be bed-tea), walked over to kitchen area, where tea kettle is kept for it. 

Then at 6.30am, usual jogging and exercise – in a nearby area, which is about half a km away.  Then breakfast by 8am or so, and at 8.45am, gathered together to send off group no. 23, who will be going up to Saurkundi trek, and they walked away with lots of pride… 

Our group too walked few minutes later for rappelling about couple of km away rocky area – there were lots of people – 52 to be exact, so it took a long time of waiting, but also a time to observe how others are climbing down the rock with help of a rope tied on their waist – the secret is to let go, and allow yourself to hang by your waist – which is not easy when you are on steep incline… anyway, many people were able to rappel down well. 

There was no rock climbing lessons in the noon, and many spent packing their bags for the trek, and packing another bag to keep at the cloak room at base camp – its tricky, but the back-pack for trek should be light, yet contain all essentials.  There is a long list, but couple of things to do is –

Use lunch box as your plate for breakfast and dinner – so you can reduce couple of things.  Instead of rain jacket, use a poncho/ rain sheet, which can be used as a sheet to sit on as well.  Dry fruits are not required, as YHAI provides enough food – I experimented and avoided outside food totally (except once) and it was totally ok.  

You can avoid taking inner cloth cover for sleeping bag – it’s a heavy item. 

22-5-2013 - Day4: Trek to Youth Hostel Segli 8kms – (7100ft) 5hrs

No morning jog today for our group.  We did stretching exercises in mini groups anyway.  At 8.45am, we were all eager to begin the trek and the other new groups gave us a rousing send off.  It really feels great to walk off from the camp, with pride bursting our chest… though soon, the steep incline leads to breathlessness, and regret at not making yourself fit for this trek.

YHAI gives a pack lunch – generally of chapatti and bhendi (little finger) vegetable, but the altitude and tough walk upwards can get to your appetite. 

There were plenty of resting points and at lunch point, we got more than an hour of rest among beautiful hillside, with lots of tree cover.  Our group pushed themselves to reach the next camp by around 4 pm and we got a welcome drink and after an hour time, tomato soup (ideal as the evening was getting cold) and early dinner, and then a camp fire – cultural program by our group for our own group, which ends with hot chocolate drink and ends around 930pm – most people go to bed after that.  Oh yes, there is a shock when we discover that for the whole group, there are only 2 toilets each for men and women – and we learn to live with less facilities as we keep going up. 

23-5-2013 - Day5 : Trek to Youth hostel Hora Thatch (9000ft) 10km – 7hrs

We had bed-tea at 5.30am, tea at 630am, breakfast at 730am and pack-lunch at 830am, and left the camp at 8-45am.  The camp leader was a no-nonsense person and made sure discipline and punctuality were kept – it was a cold morning, but everyone of us cooperated with the schedule, as we were eager to go up. 

The climb was less tough than yesterday, but by a fraction.  It was the same routine as yesterday for noon and evening. Only difference was there was no camp leader, so our group leader and co-leader managed those duties. The camp fire (cultural program) is fast degenerating into Antakshari style singing, but its all fun, when the views around you are amazing like this.   

The nights are cold, and woolen gloves, socks, monkey cap etc become a must, when you crawl into the sleeping bag provided at each camp.  The hot drinks and food are great too, and provided on time even these difficult terrains.

24-5-2013 - Day6 : Trek to Youth hostel Maylee Thatch (10500ft) 9kms – 7hrs

Bed tea, tea, breakfast, pack lunch and going off to next camp…  usual routine now.  Left maylee thatch (maylee meadows) and went up to daura thatch – the highest camp of our entire trek.

The morning was usual thing, thought the climb was tougher, and one steep hill after another lead the way up.  Later our co-leader told us, its called ‘tel ki chadai’ (oil climb), as it takes out the oil from the best of the climbers… persistence, where you keep pushing yourself to take the next step was the only way to complete this difficult climb and the whole group did it together.

Post lunch, on way we found patches of snow, which lead to snow ball fighting immediately.  But before the next camp was reached, it started to rain, and suddenly the temperature dipped and we had a changed format of weather.  Usually at the end of the camp, it was sunny enough to get your sweat covered socks and clothes dry by hanging them out of your tent, but today it was not possible.

Though soon the sun came back and the rain stopped.  The camp leader here was tough and focused on punctuality, but, the sun cheered up everyone. There were lots of green meadows (went barefoot running and explored around and found ‘Llangoors’ or black faced monkeys, which were scared of humans).  Then the guides – who take us through the mud paths to next camp, got a cricket bat and twain ball, and we had a great game of cricket at 11000 ft. 

The camp fire was chaotic but energetic with 2 groups fighting it out fully with antakshari… 

25-5-2013 - Day7 : Trek to Youth Hostel Daura Thatch (11300ft) 10kms - 7hrs

It was a sunny morning and best day to go across the main part of our trek – the saurkundi pass… we started early, and found enough snow to practice sliding and making snow man (my first in life) and snow ball fight etc.  then we reached the saurkundi pass (and beyond a hill was a frozen lake of saur).

After passing it, we found a big pile of snow, which lead to a long snow slide for everyone.  It was one of the bestest experiences of the whole trek, where you can slide through snow at thrilling speeds. 

Then, it was steep climb down, but everyone was thrilled to bits and filled with energy.  We reached the next camp Longa thatch, and were kind of realizing the ascent of trek is over.  Clouds started filling up the sky towards late evening and everything cooled down by night. I got into a new tent – or a new mini group and started playing ‘wolf’ which is just like ‘mafia’, and it’s a great game for such treks.

26-5-2013 - Day8 : Trek to Youth Hostel Longa Thatch (10800ft) via Saurkundi Pass (12900ft) 12kms – 8hrs

Around middle of night, it started to rain.  Most people didn’t want to get out in the rain to keep their clothes / shoes in dry places. 

The morning saw more rain and bed-tea in the tent was greatly welcomed.  Getting next tea and breakfast and pack-lunch were a chore in the rain drenched morning.  The rain was very cold too, and people were already slipping in the wet mud inside the camp.  The dark clouds seemed to cover up the entire sky and it seemed it will rain for couple of days at least.

This could be one of the lowest points, as we had a very steep descent, and a wet muddy path to go through.  Irritation and chaos prevailed, but a new challenge of dealing with rain and taking up the descent also arouse, and we pushed ourselves to climb down in the pouring rain.  It was tough, with many slipping down, but without any real harm or danger.  After couple of hours (or less than that), rain stopped and sun came out.  The path down was still wet, but it was a great relief.  The sun remained and soon the path dried out enough for a decent climb down.

Reached the Lekhni camp, which was a wooden house, and after many days of tent living, we got into a permanent structure.

27-5-2013 - Day9 : Trek to Youth Hostel Lekhni (8100ft) 10kms – 4hrs

Most of the trek was now over, and everyone was in relaxed mode.  There were strawberry farms here and everyone had freshly picked strawberries to their fill.  Schedules were more relaxed and small group chatting increased and emails and phone numbers exchanged.  It was a relaxed night; with more wolf game for some, and just relaxing sleep for many others.

28-5-2013 - Day10 : Trek to Alu Ground (Manali) Road head, transfer by bus to 15 Miles Base camp, Valedictory function.

Around 9am, we started the walk down.  It was a fast walk as sun was shining and the conditions were nice.  Reached the aloo ground, from where you can take bus to base-camp.  I got a shave (3 months of long beard to clean shave) and at base camp, got certificate, returned ruck-sack and inner cloth of sleeping bag, and got back my YHAI id card.

Many left around afternoon for further exploration before going home, and some stayed back till tomorrow!

29-5-2013 - Day11: Group departs after Breakfast.