Adventures in India

The famous destination that tempts many trekkers, also tempted our Sanjay Joshi.

The endless, bottomless and restless sea, The stretches of undulating sand dunes that is desert, The awesome mountains and ravines, The star filled sky,

Amongst all these and other natural phenomena, it is the awe-inspiring mountains and deep tree encrusted ravines, which captivate me.

<p align="left">The wader lust has taken me to more than 400 treks in Sayhadri Mountain ranges and 10 High Altitude treks in Himalayas . To climb Mount Everest , the highest peak in the world, is the privilege of few fortunate adventurous. But even to go Kala Patthar, undoubtedly the most majestic Mountain View point in the world had been a distant dream for me.

<p align="left">In the month of September my colleague Mr. Tendulkar and I decided to take up the expedition to Kala Patthar.

The Himalayas has been known as "The abode of Gods". It also harbors many holy temples, shrines, monasteries, and sacred lakes. Almost third of its stretches, formidable 800 kms, lies in Nepal . It has a convergence of 1310 magnificent peaks of over 6000 meters including eight of the worlds highest fourteen peaks of over 8000 meters.

In this Nepal Himalayas stands the majestic mighty MOUNT EVEREST , the highest peak in the world. Sherpas call it "Chomolongma" Nepali call it "Sagarmatha".

We took a Royal Airways flight to Kathmandu and stayed there for the night. Next day we caught a small plane to fly to Lukla. This flight was an experience to remember. The 12 seater small plane flew at about 25000 feet. The view of the green valleys and tall snow-clad mountains was breath taking. We saw the Mount Everest range which was even higher than our plane!

The flight lasted for o­nly 50 minutes and after crossing the ridge of a mountain the plane started to descend in the valley. It appeared to be going straight at the mountain in the front. Then suddenly a make shift run way o­n the mountain side appeared and plane landed at an inclined runway, an engineering marvel indeed! This was a journey to remember and we completed it with bated breath and heaved a sigh to relief after Landing!

The trek started from here. To avoid acute mountain sickness (AMS), we had planned our itinerary in such a way, that we did not gain more than 500/800 meters o­n a day. We had also planned an extra day a Namchebazar for acclimatization.

The best part is that at all the halts o­n our trek, minimum amenities such as rooms to stay and hot simple food is available. After staying at Thamserku lodge at Namehebazar for two days, we proceeded to Thyangboche. This is a unique place. The Thyanghoche, monastery with the backdrop of snow-clad mountains is a sight to behold. Everyday the trek provided great vistas of nature. The mountain passes, the valleys adorned with flora and fauna are simply fantastic.

As we went higher above 15000 feet, the weather became very, very cold. Fortunately we had taken two down feather jackets o­n hire from Namchebazar.

It took us eight days of very tough but enjoyable trek to reach Gorakshep (18,500 ft.) We booked ourselves in a dormitory, kept our rucksacks, took our camera and started to climb Kala Patthar. At this height every step becomes an effort as oxygen in the air is almost 1/3 if compared to the air at sea level.

There were many people atop the Kala Patthar. Every body was engrossed in the spectacular sight of Khumbhu glacier, Pumori, Lohtse, Nuptse and above all Mount Everest . The serenity we felt here was an experience in itself. The sheer vastness of this beautiful sight took our breath away. For next two hours we just sat there. Almost 25/30 people were there but no body was talking. All of us were busy in storing this magnificent sight in the heart of our hearts. Our distant dream was no more a dream but reality!!

The weather here is fickle and we had a taste of this. Suddenly clouds started to converge from Khumbhu glacier and the sunny day turned into cloudy day. The temperature dropped substantially and it started snowing. This night was o­ne of the coldest I have experienced. We were lying in our bunks in our sleeping bags, covered from head to toe in protective gear. The cold easily penetrated all of it and reached our bones.

Next day when we came out what we saw was what is called white out. Everything was covered under snow. It was still snowing. The flakes were coming down and with the wind it was very cold. According to the hotel owner this weather could clear in an hour or may be it could take even a week to clear.

We had planned to go to Everest base camp. About ten other people also joined us. We descended o­n the Khumbhu glacier and started walking towards the base camp. This walk o­n the Khumbhu glacier is a memorable o­ne. The ice, the crevasses, the boulders lying around and the snow driven by wind made every step difficult. After a five hour trek, we reached base camp. Not many people visit here as Everest is not seen from here. But every Everest climbing expedition from Nepal starts from here. The sheer immensity of Khumbhu glacier is mind blowing. The Ice formation at the beginning of the crevasses field is spectacular.

Due to weather we did not spend much time here. Two people from Germany decided to camp here! We returned to Gorakshep and spent the night there.

Next day our return journey began. As we were going down, acclimatization was not a problem. We decided to halt o­nly at Periche, Namchebazar and reach Lukla. We walked about 8 to 10 hours o­n each day and reached Lukla.

We wanted to catch a plane to Katnmandu but due to bad weather this was not possible. Moreover the private Airlines were taking foreigners and not us. The charge for Nepalis and Indians was Rs. 800/- while others charged US $ 60!

Our return ticket from Katnamndu to Mumbai was booked well in advance. We could not afford to spend yet another day there.

We decided to trek from Lukla to Jiri. A six-day trek had to be completed in four days. We thought that it will be an easy task as we will be descending but it was not to be!

From Lukla (8200 ft) to Jiri (6200 ft.), we crossed four to five 8 to 10 thousand feet passes and covered these two hundred kms in four days. We used to get up at 5.00 am and started to cover almost 45 to 50 kms by evening. The passes we encountered were very beautiful. The forest was very dense and all along this trek we had a very close look at the simple but hard life these mountain people lead. Their hospitality and their helping nature were very evident.

On the fourth night we were very tired and could not reach Jiri as planned. We stayed at Shivalaya. Next day we got up before sunrise and started to climb last pass before Jiri. We had to catch 9.00 am Bus from Jiri to Kathmandu . We reached Jiri at 8.30 am . The Bus at 9.00 was cancelled! We did not lose heart and managed to catch a ride in a Tempo.

We reached Kathmandu by evening. We settled in a hotel. We took a hot water bath and rested. Next day we visited Pashupatinath temple and did some shopping.

We did manage to catch our afternoon flight to Mumbai.

So off to Mumbai then. We never realized how so many days had passed by. The nature at its best gave us bliss and happiness. We met many people from Canada to Korea , from USA to Australia , young and old, men and women. Every body enjoyed this trek immensely.

In a way, it was a pilgrimage to happiness.

I am indebted to God, for giving me the strength and the courage to undertake this adventurous journey.

Article by Sanjay