Sunday, February 16, 2020

A Walk in the Clouds


A WALK IN THE CLOUDS

Ajit Chaudhuri – October 2019

‘Life is a mountain; you go up, reach the top, and then go down!’


They say that gigolos don’t have sex for pleasure! And I, I suspect for similar reasons, do not travel for pleasure – I do plenty of it for work, and exotic locations, exciting people, designer hotels and Michelin starred menus hold few fascinations. My ideal holiday is one spent playing football in the early morning (preferably with my usual gang of middle-aged fatsos) with the rest of the day in a night suit in front of the TV or buried in a book, with fresh homemade food at mealtimes, chai and pakodas on demand, a cold beer in the evenings, and no visitors to entertain.


In fact, the only bit of travel I undertake out of choice is an annual trek in the Himalayas – usually between 6 and 8 days from roadhead to roadhead and elevations of about 4,000 meters. And no matter how one describes them post facto, these are not fun – rare is the day on trek that one is not wishing one was home instead, with a roof over, a chair under, and a bed at night. Why does one do them? For me; one – it is a system check on the body, and therefore on whether I can continue with my lifestyle or do I finally do healthy shit like go easy on the booze and fags and eat green stuff; two – phones don’t work, and I am therefore disconnected from day to day life; and three – a little time with the old lady, who usually joins me.


I have been visiting Nepal since April 2015, and these visits have followed a familiar pattern (many visits to Ladakh without seeing a gompa, to Andamans without a swim, to Kashmir without seeing Gulmarg, etc.) – work, work and work. My September 2019 visit was an exception in that I went to the trekking capital of the world to trek. I spent 8 days walking along the ridge lines between the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mountains (annexure 1 has details) – reached 4,300 meters, didn’t have any difficulty, but also didn’t see any mountains because of the continuous rain and mist in what was a late monsoon across the sub-continent. Trekking in Nepal is a little different from similar stuff in the Indian Himalayas, and this note attempts to describe it for those with an addiction to a few days every year spent walking in cold weather with a bit of weight on one’s back and soft ground under one’s feet.


Trekking in Nepal is far more developed! Most locations have tea houses that provide hot food, rooms with beds, and toilets, precluding the need to carry tents, sleeping bags and provisions. A solid roof over one’s head at night is a huge relief when the weather is inclement (as it was throughout this trek), and as someone who has sat through a Himalayan cloudburst inside a small tent it was a pleasure to know that I would not have to repeat the experience. One’s morning duties can be undertaken in comfort – I had an en suite room on 2 nights, and an English-style potty on 3. I even bathed twice! All the tea houses have electricity, some have a collection of books (I completed three novels en route), and one had a guitar. The routes are, for the most part, marked out and discernible to the untrained eye. Such arrangements make even a high-altitude trek feel like a multi-day teahouse-to-teahouse walk, and not something leaving one aching to return home by day 4.


Another key difference is that of entourage! One is encouraged to have a guide via policies that require trekking permits, route charges and all sorts stuff that keeps bureaucrats busy that these guys interface with, and one is encouraged to have a porter because this is a form of employment in a poor country. While there are claims of some sort of certification for guides, I found that the main difference between them and porters was the ability to speak English. My own porter, by virtue of both of us speaking Hindi, was more of a guide to me than my guide (who in turn was a good trek manager, but not a good guide – he was always rushing off to the next destination, and was usually a few drinks down by the time I reached).


The ability to communicate in Hindi sets one apart from other trekkers – every local understands it, and most speak it well too. It was a pleasure to indulge in light flirtation with the ladies who actually manage the teahouses, who would invariably put in a little extra care into my food, and to hear the old patriarchs recount their exploits in the British or the Indian Armies in this predominantly Gorkha area.


The walking itself was slightly schizophrenic; I spent four days at altitudes of over 3,500 m, where there were no other trekkers (we were also the sole occupants of teahouses), and four days getting there and back that felt like one was in Paharganj or Goa, with continuous groups of trekkers and their retinues moving up and down. The former was pretty much standard for good treks, and having spent time in mountains I did not miss actually seeing either Mt. Dhaulagiri or Mt. Annapurna because of the continuous cloud, mist and rain. And as for the latter, two additional aspects worthy of mention are the large number of steps that one had to negotiate, which were problematic on the knees both going up and down, and the leeches.


A word about the leeches – I had experienced them before and knew that they differed from their human equivalents in two important ways. First, once they get their hooks into you, they are difficult to dislodge (and the residual wounds from dislodging them have a high chance of itching for days and going septic). And second, they drop off and go their own way once they have had their fill of sucking your blood. And therefore, they are best left alone. But here, possibly encouraged by the rain, they were out in numbers and my feet were a bloody mess every time I opened my boots – I would spend time every evening getting the remnant leeches off, and sleep with a nagging doubt that I had not completely succeeded.


Trekking in Nepal is not cheap; the system is used to customers who earn in dollars, and the costs of guides, porters and transport to and from roadheads add up. Stay at teahouses is nominal, but food is not (and one is expected to eat where one stays). It is, however, hassle-free – one just has to walk, and not carry things, cook, put up tents, etc. One does not require a group (I went alone) or too much pre-planning (I had 5 days’ notice). The food is good; I would have one Nepali thali every day (unlimited rice and dal with one vegetable, one crispy spinach and one salad), one light snack (a pasta or something), and a breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs and local bread washed down with coffee. And, last but not least, booze is freely available, both the local hooch (I recommend ‘Gurung Coffee’) and the fancy stuff.


Would I do another? Hell, yes!! But with my regular trekking group, and possibly to the western base camp of Mt. Kanchenjunga, in the eastern part of the country.


Annexure 1: Trek Details

Date
Journey
Distance (km)
Altitude (m)
20th Sep
Kathmandu to Pokhara by bus


21st Sep
Pokhara to Nayapul by car, then trek to Ghandruk
12
1,940
22nd Sep
Ghandruk to Tadapani
8
2,630
23rd Sep
Tadapani to Bayali via Dobayo
10
3,540
24th Sep
Bayali to Khopra Ridge via Dhankarka
12
3,700
25th Sep
Khopra Ridge to Khopra Lake and back
11
4,300
26th Sep
Khopra Ridge to Gorepani via Swata
16
3,400
27th Sep
Ghorepani to Uleri
6
1,960
28th Sep
Uleri, Hile, Nayapul, then vehicle to Pokhara
5

29th Sep
Pokhara to Kathmandu by bus




6 comments:

Ajit Chaudhuri said...

I read the Nepal trek story with interest having done the trip twenty years ago flying from Pokhra to Jomsom and then walking upto Muktinath and the back to Pokhra in late October/early November  in excellent weather, with great views of all the mountains you didn’t  see ! Yes I sympathise with your complaints about the many steps up and down but all the the other benefits of a tea house trek made up for the pain. We didn’t have to take a porter and carried our own backpacks and took a guide (arranged from Khatmandu who was a great companion.

Re Kanchenjunga forget the western route and do the Greenlake version to the North base camp climbing route starting  from Lachen in North Sikkim it’s a  really beautiful trip, not too strenuous and one can go as high as one desires or stop lower as one chooses. The views are stupendous and despite a late monsoon the year we went there in November there was practically no snow on the ground although a part of the way up was very boggy underfoot( we needed  to wear gumboots to negotiate that stretch).

Viveck Crishna

Ajit Chaudhuri said...

Love your style of writing and thoroughly enjoyed this piece! I am sure you continue to dazzle at work despite your modesty.

Nivedita Gupta

Ajit Chaudhuri said...

Hi Ajit,

Really enjoyed reading your trek experiences. Was wondering all along how someone is motivated for a challenge like this (with or without someone, especially alone!). So I can only be in awe of something like this.

Good wishes for many more such adventures,
Vibha Chhabra

Ajit Chaudhuri said...

Lovely piece Ajit .. you write extremely well, though somehow the book i did not enjoy as much. in fact, could not complete it since it seemed to be stretching and could not keep me engaged. you should really develop the short piece format, and publish some of these one-pagers as a collection .. i think that will really be lovely.

Sorry for this unsolicited advice :)

Warm regards,
Neelima Khetan

Ajit Chaudhuri said...

That was a most enjoyable read. Btw, the best way to get leeches off one is to put a lot of salt around the area and they fall off quite easily rather than wait till they have their fill of your blood. The trouble is it’s hard to notice them while they’re at it unless you actually SEE them!

Mekhala Deva

Ajit Chaudhuri said...

That was a wonderful read!
Sedentary now I love the adventures that you take us on.
Keep on trekking!
Jitu Pasricha (Dad)