Hi Folks !
How's life been with you?!
It taught me a few lessons in the last month !
As I had mentioned in my last post, I had gone on a 14 - day trip to Kailash and Manasarovar.
It was from Kathmandu so almost 2 dozen of us reached there, quite excited and thrilled.
Many from this group were regular trekkers since many years and some of us were not,
I had prepared by going for very brisk walks, climbing a close by (though small ) hill, taking the stairs etc.
Do you remember - there had been a big landslide in Nepal on this route some time in August and there were flood warnings in Bihar which is downstream.
The Nepali govt managed to break the lake which had got created in the free flowing river because of the huge rocks and mud which had come down and avoided the flooding too.
But now, there was no road !
We went by bus to that point where it had been completely washed out and started walking over the makeshift path made by people who had to go back and forth every day for their livelihood, schools, markets, whatever.
There were scores of people - women, children and for us, it was not easy as we were climbing up too.
On the left were tall mountains which now stood like wounded, bleeding sentinels, devoid of the thick vegetation and tree cover.
There were huge boulders, some still precarious, stones and soil and mud and some streams.
It was as if the skin had peeled off.
On the right was the river, flowing fast.
In some places, we could see the tops of houses, broken walls and stuff which had once been a living breathing part of the village.
Over 40 houses and a hundred people are said to have died in the tragedy.
There was a different bus on the other side and we finally made it to Kodari, which is the border between Nepal and Tibet.
We had to wait an extra day for our truck of baggage and other stuff to arrive.
It had to take a long, round about narrow village road, the truck in front of it had broken down leaving a long line of traffic stuck on both sides and they could manage to extricate and reach only the next day.
The reactions of us city folks were typical!
How can the govt let this happen?
This is their only few months of making money on this route.
Why cant they put many more JCBs and work on a war footing?
And so on !
There are sulphur springs in Kodari, in a place called Tattopani where they have made excellent arrangements to have hot showers or a tub bath !
I had my first sulphur tub bath and it was truly more relaxing and healing than the usual ones.
The next day, we crossed into China after very thorough checking of our names on the list for a group visa.
A stern - they were all very stern and unsmiling - soldier in uniform even placed a tiny instrument on our foreheads to check if are having any kind of fever, or are unwell, we were told.
Anyone they suspect of being ill or with any fever, is not allowed.
Then we got into our Land Rovers and started our forward journey.
For up to an hour, the nature around is very, very thick vegetation, tall mountains, scores of small and big waterfalls and ferns and creepers and - oh, it was beautiful !
We were constantly climbing and in less than an hour, the trees vanished completely.
Now there were barley fields and some vegetable patches, homes which were few in number, far apart and Tibetan.
Then they too gave way to beautiful , many hued but completely barren hills and lands and snaking, long roads.
The roads are marvellous, the scenery awesome.
We had a halt before we reached Manasarovar. for a day to adjust to the reducing oxygen in the air and still climb up and down a small hillock for practice.
I could not and came down back to the hotel though in the evening, I could go down to the local market as it was not so steep.
The journey continued but my oxygen level kept sneaking down and by the time we reached Manasarovar, I had all the symptoms of High Altitude Sickness.
I was having splitting headaches, severe body ache and difficulty in breathing.
Taking the short route out to the loo was also a big task.
The tablets given by the Doctor who was part of the group helped, as did deep breathing.
Manasarovar is beautiful. It is about 300' at its deepest, but large and serene.
The colour of the water changes, is different at the shores and various shades of green, brown and blue as you scan it all over.
Right behind, standing majestically, is Kailash.
How's life been with you?!
It taught me a few lessons in the last month !
As I had mentioned in my last post, I had gone on a 14 - day trip to Kailash and Manasarovar.
It was from Kathmandu so almost 2 dozen of us reached there, quite excited and thrilled.
Many from this group were regular trekkers since many years and some of us were not,
I had prepared by going for very brisk walks, climbing a close by (though small ) hill, taking the stairs etc.
Do you remember - there had been a big landslide in Nepal on this route some time in August and there were flood warnings in Bihar which is downstream.
The Nepali govt managed to break the lake which had got created in the free flowing river because of the huge rocks and mud which had come down and avoided the flooding too.
But now, there was no road !
We went by bus to that point where it had been completely washed out and started walking over the makeshift path made by people who had to go back and forth every day for their livelihood, schools, markets, whatever.
There were scores of people - women, children and for us, it was not easy as we were climbing up too.
On the left were tall mountains which now stood like wounded, bleeding sentinels, devoid of the thick vegetation and tree cover.
There were huge boulders, some still precarious, stones and soil and mud and some streams.
It was as if the skin had peeled off.
On the right was the river, flowing fast.
In some places, we could see the tops of houses, broken walls and stuff which had once been a living breathing part of the village.
Over 40 houses and a hundred people are said to have died in the tragedy.
There was a different bus on the other side and we finally made it to Kodari, which is the border between Nepal and Tibet.
We had to wait an extra day for our truck of baggage and other stuff to arrive.
It had to take a long, round about narrow village road, the truck in front of it had broken down leaving a long line of traffic stuck on both sides and they could manage to extricate and reach only the next day.
The reactions of us city folks were typical!
How can the govt let this happen?
This is their only few months of making money on this route.
Why cant they put many more JCBs and work on a war footing?
And so on !
There are sulphur springs in Kodari, in a place called Tattopani where they have made excellent arrangements to have hot showers or a tub bath !
I had my first sulphur tub bath and it was truly more relaxing and healing than the usual ones.
The next day, we crossed into China after very thorough checking of our names on the list for a group visa.
A stern - they were all very stern and unsmiling - soldier in uniform even placed a tiny instrument on our foreheads to check if are having any kind of fever, or are unwell, we were told.
Anyone they suspect of being ill or with any fever, is not allowed.
Then we got into our Land Rovers and started our forward journey.
For up to an hour, the nature around is very, very thick vegetation, tall mountains, scores of small and big waterfalls and ferns and creepers and - oh, it was beautiful !
We were constantly climbing and in less than an hour, the trees vanished completely.
Now there were barley fields and some vegetable patches, homes which were few in number, far apart and Tibetan.
Then they too gave way to beautiful , many hued but completely barren hills and lands and snaking, long roads.
The roads are marvellous, the scenery awesome.
We had a halt before we reached Manasarovar. for a day to adjust to the reducing oxygen in the air and still climb up and down a small hillock for practice.
I could not and came down back to the hotel though in the evening, I could go down to the local market as it was not so steep.
The journey continued but my oxygen level kept sneaking down and by the time we reached Manasarovar, I had all the symptoms of High Altitude Sickness.
I was having splitting headaches, severe body ache and difficulty in breathing.
Taking the short route out to the loo was also a big task.
The tablets given by the Doctor who was part of the group helped, as did deep breathing.
Manasarovar is beautiful. It is about 300' at its deepest, but large and serene.
The colour of the water changes, is different at the shores and various shades of green, brown and blue as you scan it all over.
Right behind, standing majestically, is Kailash.
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