Star Trek#4

2.5.2009
Pleasure trip ends! Here starts the toil and turmoil for the daughters (and sons) of the soil! lol..bahut filmi tha kya?!
so it was acclamatisation day for us and we trekked upto dumpa lake at a height of 3193 metres (I just googled that info to make it sound impressive!) and dumpa gumpa (which is the monastery furthur up)
En route we experienced some fab examples of wind erosion en route...sculpted mountain and hillsides..crossed a laxman jhula kinda suspension bridge! Also experienced Damchi our local trek guide and well my first hour was spent charging ahead solely in his company which started off as somewhat informative then bordered on being tolerable till he erupted to his full self whence I discovered nehadi, mom, madhavi,geet (of jab-we-met fame) and me were mere mortals before this boundless, bounceless eternity of verbal outpour! call it verbal outpour he was cherrapunji..choose to be cliche..his verbal diarrhoea was John Snow's Cholera! thankfully found respite in my iPOD and rita-shamini who were quick to the rescue..abhijit later and deepa sometimes!
dumpa lake is a glacial pond an odd 300 metres up from where we began and is the most unimaginably beautiful blue water I have ever seen..its a colour to be seen not to be believed and undoubtedly beyond description ..toh photo dekho no point my trying!
after the paparazzi had their pics and my unsuccessful effort to brave the chilly waters to reach a white rock 10-12 metres away from its shore everyone decided to trek up to the gumpa! My natural disobedience permitted me to stay as did rita's fraternity!
no sooner did the rest turn their backs..rita charged with defiance suggested we attempt the rock again!
I must admit that was not the real reason I stayed back but nothing tempts like temptation so we vented and ventures out avoiding/ rather ignoring the voyeuristic glare! not surprisingly we managed the same distance with the same success and same fate as my earlier attempt only this time with twice the fun..we regret having just missed a fall and hence returned only half-drenched! we trailed behind the gumpa group ..stopped for a song and reached the monastery that offered a fantastic view encopassing snow mountains, desert, plains. river, clouds, the glacial pond..to my mind it was everything nature could offer!
few of us climbed furthur to the hill atop the gumpa worth experiencing only for the wind that was literally mind-blowing! (well if I wasn't so strong-headed I would be left anatomically mindless as well) prakash and uday sir warned me I would get blown off the hill and again u need to see the wind to believe it...for those who have not seen my profile pic on facebook!
reached back to jomson mountain resort all tired and compltely unwilling for the climb upto the hotl so while shamini took the motorable road rita and abhijit upon my encouragement and joy's too took the path less trodden along the rocky hillside to cut short our weary adventure! 5 minutes inot that route and I was a quadruped anand pleading anand pleading behind me to hurry..rita and abhijit hauled me/anand and joy up to what we thought was half-distance up only to announce there was no way furthur up! :)
going down seemed impossible..we clambered onto the hillside abhijit showed me a path with loose stones and bade me to follow...seemed like an impossible task with the gravel slipping beneath my feet (I was literally loosing ground!) abandoned the plan and without attempting to formulate a backup sat down midway up the hillside!
what I did not realise is I was obscured to vision from the top...sure enough the most famous words of our trip came rumbling down the hillside in abhijit's distressed voice...shruti kya chhe?! I was rescued in no time by divine intervention and of course the magic mantra that continued to echo till I had my feet firmly planted on firm ground!
lunch..sleep and then german bakery down the same road to hot chocolate and black coffee, apple crumble and cinnamon rolls! dinner time and sound sleep!
love
shruti

Star Trek#3

1.5.2009

May Day So Do as u may! lol..banging begins by Joy and abhijit as the first media event(read sunrise on the peaks or the pink glow as they called it) unfolds! believe it if u may..the horizon which looked clear yesterday was actually cleared by the night's rain to unfold an array of snow-capped peaks, which were lit up by the first (alright some of the first!) rays of the sun to reveal the pink glow..an unforgettable sight (unforgettable because of the ethereal beauty and also bec we revised it each morning thereafter thanks to the thundering slaps that set sounds waves running amok on our room doors each morning!) shamini and I reached the edge of the lake rubbing our eyes witnessing more clicks than google managed in years! rita sniggered at the "media men" and their untiring camera lens! jokes apart..we saw the machhipucha or fish tail mountain from which our lovely lodge derives its name. Also seen in the spectrum spectacular were nilgiri and annapurna peaks! not having stayed a day longer at the fishtail lodge was perhaps the only regret of the entire trip! (didn't feel a tenth as bad about my sunburn!) left without breaking fast (naturally we were still afraid of 15 of us missing a 15-seater flight!) lol...to board the flight to jomson! shamini relived her marlin Monroe experience! we watched encaptured as we flew alongside the Himalyas (almost capturing the same view as one of abhijit's birds!)reached jomson airport where the pleasantly cold winds reminded me shorts were not such a good idea! I fished out my overcoat likewise fished for abhijit's "Miss White from Stockholm where's the pet poodle" comments (yes I am still quite withdrawn from fishtail!) the airport was a sight to behold..surrounded by sand dunes and mountains on one side..the river at a distance and snow-capped Himalayas seemingly in the proximity! after some photo shoot, we step out to our airport transfer to jomson's only 5 star resort! "Jomson mountain resort airport shuttle" proudly hand painted across ..essentially a tractor with a wagon hooked onto it! lol..this beat the baggage claim, security checks and flight announcements hands down! we out our bags into it and decided to take on our first trek on Labour Day! :)) a ten minute climb upto the resort magnificently located atop a hill! halfway through shamini and I park ourselves on a bench and picnic with our breakfast packs. the view from the hotel was indescribable (what do u think I clicked photo for?!) twin snow capped peaks peeked into the room like next door neighbours! a lovely pool was overlooked by glass walls with peeking peaks again! slept a bit ate a lot and walked down to downtown (where else!)..hehehe..jomson downtown is perhaps 500-700m maybe a 50 odd shops and restaurants and unforgettable for the tibetan tea and dried apple, if not the german tea.."happy colour" mufflers and exorbitant communication prices (phones to India Rs. 40/m internet Rs. 10/m...reminded me of the good ol' telegraph days!) tibetan tea...stopped at a tea stall for a phone call! (shamu to aastha! aur kya?!) we ask for refreshments..rita joy and I culturally endowed souls insist on tibetan tea...smirking abhijit tries to sway us by mumbling yak buuter a couple of times in a soft, muffled voice! but we are adamant..kids choose hot chocolate (ok no one thought I was one of them till then), abhijit votes for black tea. what arrives in ceramic mugs is the perhaps the most ruthless atyachar I have subjected my taste buds to (rita of course can't stake the claim..she never did learn the yak lesson!)hehehe..ok not that bad but tibetan tea is black tea made light brown by addition of yak butter (the smell of which endears u once u have been-there-done-that) and salt! dried apple...about 80 vrieties of apple grow in marfa village downhill from jomson..we tasted only one but there is exotic stuff like apple brandy (for the grown-ups) and dried apple quite like a marshmallow (cleared 3 packets in 20 minutes!) happy-colours...my choice of bright coloured mufflers for the otherwise boringly dressed men and look how their pics (and their lives) have lit up therafter!

Star Trek#2

30.4.2009

was perhaps the only day in the trek when my slumber was not stirred by abhijit or joy's thunderous claps on the door! lolwoke up delightfully early and rita and I set off for a fantastic morning walk that encircled

1. all of kathmandu,

2. our respective takes on professional atyachaar: common denominator good bosses (and unhappy rest!),

3. a stop for masala chai and coffee (there was no bournvita!)

4. my famous fall and a bruised knee

5. lost paths one lost map and one newly found nepali novel (at the same bookstore where someone hopelessly tried to draw us directions)

6. journey beneath the jarcandas

7. several pics hearding the start of rita's modeeling career(all of this on one morning! ab trek kya..cakewalk!)

returned to yak yeti to a sumptious breakfast that reminded me so much of Fariyas! rita-abhijit-shamini(kotharis) joy-anand and me then visited the pashupathinath temple which has 1001 shivalingasat the entrance typical teenager shamini announces I am an aethist..are u religious! lol..I mumbled something about not being very (why did I) and blah blahed abt some faith that binds us all..etc(all this I was accused of later when she became my roomie and watched me pray everyday!) abhijit got us a guide..who somehow took to detailing. This took care of rita's lingering interests! drying (throats) dribbling (sweats) and dazzling (foreheads) we dashed to the airport lest we miss our flight to pokhara by reaching less than 2 hours in advance! I must warn u that from here on till the rest of my trip u will not know me bec we reached hours before to catch a flight we could have never missed (bec it was us us us us us us us us us us us us us us and only us!) internal flights are 15 seaters..and if u haven't counted the us's in the previous sentence pleas do..I could not be more literal. we were the flight we were afraid to miss! hehehe..of course the propeller experience was something in itself..airpockets that lacked excitement rita and I sought but sufficed to summon chants!to shamini she was marlyn monroe out of casalanca and what u will..to me the baggage claim took the cake..a long table which served as partition bet inside and outside as well..bags from the flight dumped on them remniscent of red red coolies and their overfull handcarts! and a man loud voiced as platform announcement systems only much higher on clarity would call out..pokhara agni air and we rush to the ration line..oops baggage claim area! jokes apart pokhara turned out to be something out of a dream...we reached phewa lake by road and then rafted to our fish tail lodge across the lakeside! shamini no longer e-stranged me (pun intended if identified) we shared a room, bhajiyas, liking for me and also bournvita, prayers to Indradevta (yes it rained heavily that night though only I chose to get drenched) went boating on the lake..got introduced to the girls and the rain in quick succesion.. also got my first lessons on bird watching courtesy abhijit kothari! then we all sing...I sing, rita sing and abhijit sing.. and discover all do singh but none of us is sic(kh) (but for this joke!) pardon me..control nahi hua! the night ends with hot chocolate for dinner, drip-drip weather and drab-drab topic of my lovelife! lessons on bird watching#2..by rita kothari! a refreshingly new perspective!

Star Trek

star trek#1
29.4.2009 Departed Mumbai admist much nagging that I was gonna miss elections for a mere holiday and how I would lose ground in any political argument for the next 5 years..echoes are still persistent! neways I departed and naturally almost missed the flight both at mumbai (bec I am me) and at Delhi (eyeing a subway with my growling stomach still awaiting the security check)had a glimpse of the Himalayas from the delhi katmandu flight almost like a welcome note! kathmandu airport is nestled admist greens..like landing in a valley. It was a welcome change to walk past without needing a visa stamp bec I am Indian and watch red passports que up! (red tape sirf red [passports ke liye?! lol]checked into hotel yak yeti..u must check it out on the net..city's oldest and perhaps best hotel (thanbk God for packages!) the remaining 14 from the group had yet 3 hours to arrive despite leaving mumbai an hour earlier! so I pampered myself to a bubble bath and beauty sleep! lol...drew the curtains to discover a pond with ducklings in the garden just outside my room..in fact i could walk into the garden through my window! had the room/bathroom cleaned in anticipation of the arrival of my roomie shamini kothari who as a typical 13-y old refused to sleep with a stranger! lol..so not so strange me had the room to myself when I say joy knocked at my door I am being perhaps metaphoric bec the fun was about to begin! lol..joy is dr joy desai the only person I knew on the group! so joy arrives with joyous abhijit (his school friend/ shamini's father/ rita's husband/ visiting prof social sciences/ ornithologist and now a Ph D..phew!) they tell me rita and shamini are knocked off after the flight so the 3 of us join the rest of the gang to thamel..thamel is nepal's local market for tourists a visual treat..full of handicrafts/ curios (also curious us!)/ and trekking gear (everything possible!) here abhijit and I hit it off as he discovers I am wild with my bargaining skills and wildest in my tastes! well I got purple shoes for me green for dhruti and a "free gift" flowery clip that stuck onto my hair for the rest of the trip! hehehe at dinner we decided on a traditional nepali place called "chulo" but the "peacock" welcome overscored at flamboyance with rita..lol (standing at the restaurant door we are yet deciding if the place is an oversell of nepali culture..a man dressed as a peacock hip swings ..actually swings in all entirety to and forth and helps us decide that we march forth!) so we settled on momos at a modest option! back at the hotel I fancy myself with the new clip! lol..then fanasize into sweet dreams