Sept. 13, 2008. Restful rest day at Zangla.

First, to recap Sept. 12. I slept well on the 11th and as noted my health turned the corner by the morning. It was a relatively short and easy day, perhaps 6 hours of steady descent to the roadhead. The lower part actually featured a trail. T. led out in front and M. and I pushed down behind him. Not counting A. who sped down with the porters. Great weather. We passed a few large animal shelters just prior to hitting the road, on a major, impossibly blue river.

Our porters had arrived first. They were set to walk up-stream, across a high pass and eventually to the Keylong area of Lahaul and after that to Manali. Our fate was to travel down-stream on a bus to Padum, the administrative centre of Zanskar, and then across the main Zanskar valley to our camp near the village of Zangla. So...goodbye to the porters. I gave a little speech in Hindi starting with the politician's neutral word भाईयो ("brothers") in the vocative case...handy when you are not sure what level of politeness to use, and don't want to offend. The porters were paid by Joel and got a tip from us. Our सामान (saman, luggage) was loaded onto the roof of a big bus. Then, at the least minute, Joel asked for some help with a porter with a health complaint. Let's just say it could have been related to some professional ladies. In the end the porters wanted to take off and not wait for our medications to get unloaded from roof. Something about visiting a chemist for some दवा (medicine) in town. But, they were headed uphill, away from civilization.

The bus trip was across typical Himalayan roads (that is, frightening). We stopped in Padum for a snack, alcohol (for those inclined) and email opportunity. I ran into a group of American "gap year" students at the cybercafe, carefully and slowly grooming their Facebook pages. In the end, an hour got me 1 or 2 emails. It was fun to see a bunch of 18-20 year old Americans, mostly from Vermont and New Hampshire prep schools, adapting to tourist life in the Indian outback. They had a Ladakhi guide and also an older (late 20's) American shepherd with them. At the email joint, a local kid walked in with a plain brown bag and surreptitiously placed it on the counter. The proprietor took a look inside and I got a glance also: a very plump, nice looking 12-14 inch long white fish with a prominent yellow stripe down the side, still obviously alive! 100 Rs was exchanged and the fish swept behind the counter for dinner. Padum is technically a dry town that has a quite a long Shiite Muslim heritage. I have read that they historically looked to Lucknow for cultural leadership (rather than directly to Iran). However, Indian military staff get a rum allotment, and the material ends up on the market somehow or other.

We re-boarded the bus at 5:30 with a few local kids and खास दोस्त (khas dost, special friends) of our cook staff (? one in in every port). There was a political rally in the area and transportation was in short supply, leading to some delicate Hungarian negotiations. On the drive to Zangla, we had to stop to re-pack the luggage on the top of the bus as it was piled up too high to clear some bridge cables. Finally, towards dark we arrived at "horse piss camp". This was a large expanse of grass on the Zanskar river near Zangla. Beautiful, but animalistic. We met here our 21 horses, and horsemen (4) for the second part of the trip. Certain indulgences ensued in the dining tent that night that are better documented elsewhere. The night was also marked by A.'s departure at about 3 A.M. He was to leave the group to return to work. For A., a very long jeep trip to Leh will be followed by a flight to Delhi and home.

Today (the 13th), 6 of the remaining trekkers and L.C. went on a monastery tour of Zanskar. Joel was not feeling too well, got up late and then heroically worked on the solar chargers. My iPOD nano (old model) was able to catch a nearly full charge off the small green solar charger (see picture) in 60-90 minutes. Lithium AA cells did me fine for my Sony digital camera. Those people with proprietary batteries were slaves to the recharger. Because sun and time were at a premium on this trip, their cameras were not always charged and ready, unfortunately.

The main group caught the local bus up on the road above camp about 9 AM, and as I understand after breakfast #2 in Padum, rented a jeep and visited 3 gompas. Highlights included W. buying a "yellow hat" and participating in a puja. They returned about 6:30 PM, too late to order custom pizzas but not too late to eat. Most people had some laundry done today too. A. was not, I think, feeling too well today, and I was just lazy and I've seen plenty of monasteries before. A. and myself chose to laze around camp all morning, reading and eating. I think yesterday or today was A.'s birthday.

In the afternoon, A. and myself had a lazy uphill walk to the village of Zangla. The area is literally closed off to the outside world for 8 months of the year and is connected by on tenuous road at other times. While we saw big satellite dishes, our trekking group was not getting cell service, and the locals told us that only one channel of Indian state TV was available. Certainly, the email was on a very slow connection. The locals were threshing barley in circular areas in which 5 or 6 yaks/cows were roped to a central axis. The animals would walk over the grain. We saw a bunch of tourists standing around on the roof of a white-washed building. After thrashing around asking for the door in Hindi, we found a pathway in and then St. popped his head out of a window. St. was our Zanskari guide and was in the village visiting his mother. The white-washed building was the royal palace. "King" of Zangla invited us into his house for tea (both the salt/butter and sweet varieties) and cookies. We met his wife, 3 of his 4 kids, his mother, and also his brother, who perhaps has epilepsy or a similar disorder and is on medication. He sat quietly, sewing. The palace gompa had books, tankas, mask, wood carvings, etc. We left Rs. 500 towards restoration. The "King" seemed bright and even knowledgable and concerned about Zangla and we communicated the best we could in Hindi/English. Then, tea and cookies again at St.'s house. His cute niece was sleeping away. I tried and failed to diagnose the problem with Ts.'s digital camera. We skipped the nunnery, left about 3 to go back to the camp, and had a shower. How glorious, if temporary, to feel clean. Things were a little more subdued in the dining tent that night although not queiscent.

Sept. 11, 2008. Crossing the Kang La.

High pass day! Miyar nala! Kang La-5450 meters! We had perfect weather. After another night of fitful (crap) sleep with a few perambulations, at 5050 meters, we were up at 5 AM for a shady, bitterly cold 7 AM start. Second straight night camped on the ice. Everyone was very high energy during the day. One trekker was feeling a little weak but had a normal neurologic exam; they got a pack-carry assist on the uphill, maintained high spirits and did fine. One slight oddity was passing a solitary bone lying high and dry on the snow that did look more than a little like a human radius (lower arm). I was too spooked to really hunker down for a close look. In addition to the "Swedish woman in the crevasse" we had also heard about the "body of a sadhu" supposedly up near the pass somewhere.

The route finding by T. and L.C. was amazing. We covered about 400 meters vertical over about 4 hours on the uphill from camp to the pass. Occasionally we waited a bit while the way was sorted out, but basically we kept moving. The perfect weather helped a lot. Many of our Nepali porters had supposedly been up and over already this season. The porters passed us (the trekkers) about 2/3 of the way up on the ascent. For the lower portion, during which the trekkers were out front, T. was the first route-founder. We wove around crevasse fields and picked our way up looker's right of the glacier to negotiate a lower icefall. In this section, we strayed partially onto rocks where a steep face formed the right margin of the glacier. For the crux (upper) portion, after the porters passed us, L.C. lead out front to guide the porters, while T. stayed with us at the front of the trekking group. The little personal two-way radios that one sees at ski areas, etc. in the US were brought out for really the only time on the trek, and used sparingly by Joel and L.C. to stay in touch. L.C. led the porters on a long leftwards end-run around a crevasse field and then a big right turn to the pass. The trekkers followed shortly thereafter. When we reached the pass we could easily see the porters dropping the north, descending glacier to Zanskar. We stepped over many crevasses. The snow of the last several days ranged from 0 to 6 inches deep. It made everything white and provided good purchase for our boots and shoes; there was little slippage and crampons were not even remotely needed. On the down side, the new snow might have obscured some crevasses. Those that we saw were not tremendously deep or frightening.

Achieving the pass at about 11 AM was a tremendous high point. Hugs and photos all around. The sky was crystal clear and we were surrounded by peaks and glaciers. To the north-west, the glacier (?unnamed) we were to descend dropped steadily into the brownness of Zanskar. Seemingly straight ahead, a very crevassed glacier continued for what seemed like several more kilometers, and at least several hundred meters more vertical rise. A map lists at least one 6200 meter peak in this general area. In reality, the Kang La is kind of a side exit off the Miyar glacier into Zanskar, with the main uphill energy continuing onto this large icefield. No one seemed to know much about the terrain up in that direction. In all, we hung about for about 30 minutes on top. A. as the youngest helped string up some fresh prayer flags.

The upper part of descent, on north-northwest facing slopes, had literally 5-10 inches of light fluffy powder overlying the glacier. A. and myself were lusting for skis. As it was, the snow was deep enough that it was pretty slow going. The risk of crevasses enforced a fairly single-file approach. We finally stopped for lunch about 1:30. By this time, exhaustion was definitely beginning to set in. After lunch, more glacier and more glacier. Finally, we got to the usual terminal moraine, a foreshortened but nonetheless equally complex version of the toe of the Miyar. After leaving the glacier and more descent, we got to the junction of our side valley and the route to the Poat La. Looking up that valley, we saw incredibly jagged snow peaks and no obvious pass. Then we had 2 more hours of mind-numbing yet attention-requiring no-trail descent over boulderfields, wild streams, grassy hillsides, etc. etc. to camp. As we approached camp I felt progressively more and more feverish, and had pretty much melted down by arrival. Blessedly, my tent had been set up by our hardworking staff (L.C., St., and T.). Fortunately, camp was down at 4300 meters. We got into camp at 5 PM, making it a 10 hour day.

Medical note. I did find that clearing a little sputum from deep in the chest on this afternoon was followed by a rapid lysis of the fever. This presaged my recovery from the febrile respiratory syndrome. At most I had a touch of purulent bronchitis, and certainly not pneumonia. For those inclined to clinical medicine, I now believe in the pulmonary phenomenon of "mucous plugging". A small amount of inspisated secretions can block a small/medium airway and lead to downstream atelectasis and inflammation. I don't think that the 3 days of amoxicillin/clavulanate or 5 days of azithromycin that I took really did anything for me. After today, (not before, interestingly) I had a strikingly secretory, localized rhinitis. While the drippiness was inconvenient and embarrasing at times, it was much better to be runny than to be plugged up with a "dehydrated" sinusy head cold. The old surgical saw, "pus must drain", is very true. The respiratory syndrome seemed to move rapidly through the group, effecting some more than others. The hardest hit trekker had a sort throat for literally more than 2 weeks, despite anti-bacterials. Most respiratory infections are spread hand-to-hand, rather than by droplets or aerosols. We really tried with alcohol-based hand cleanser, etc., but many food items were finger food, and the quarters were close.

Sept. 10, 2008. Up a long Himalayan glacier.

The Miyar glacier is readily visible from space and is a bit of an anomaly in this part of the Indian Himalaya. It is situated on the south side of the Great Himalaya range. As such, it is separated from the Deccan plateau and the monsoon by preliminary ranges such as the Pir Panjal and Dhauladar. Nevertheless, Lahaul seems to attract a lot of moisture, supporting long valley glaciers such as the Miyar. It's total length is perhaps 15 miles. Today, we trekked for 7-7 1/2 hours uphill in perfect weather. Tonight we are camping at about 5000 meters. This seems too high for comfort and our rate of ascent somewhat violates the usual recommendations about acclimitization. However, we have had two rest days so far, and I suppose this high camp will lead to a shorter day tomorrow. No one seems to have anything resembling HAPE or HACE and spirits are generally very high, given the upturn in the weather.

There was the usual 1/2 - 3/4 of an hour confusion setting up the tents on arrival. We beat the porters (barely) to camp. A. has agreed to let me use his double wall tent tonight...nice. I actually slept great last night courtesy of xxx. Now I need to pound fluids. P. and A. were slow but nobody is really slow; M. and W. are rockets. I was 3rd into camp. I have occasional thick sputum but overall feel OK albeit dirty.

Really unbelievable scenery all day today. There are large mountains, perhaps 5500-6000 meters, lining both sides of the Miyar glacier. They feature a mix of big blank vertical walls and tremendous piles of debris and rockfall. In between these features, there are many side glaciers, of both the steep hanging and river of ice varieties. Looking down-valley, we can see the 6000 meter peak Menthosa, located about the village of Urgos and our trek starting area. As we look uphill from camp, we see a white horizon and distant rock peaks that must delineate the general region of tomorrow's pass.

Sept. 9, 2008. Chaotic transition onto the ice.

We ascended for 8 long hours to 4660 meters. There was a very tiresome ascent of the terminal and then lateral moraine. The glacier appears to be retreating and the ablation zone was long (miles long) and complex. The first picture shows T., our local Lahauli guide, with portions of the snout of the glacier behind him. There really is no single terminus, more of a morass of pools, debris piles and exposed ice mini-walls. We first crossed over what might be termed the lower toe of the glacier, and then ascended loose rocky hillsides on the looker's left of the glacier. After a long time paralleling the glacier on rocky and grassy slopes, we had a dangerous descent back to the glacier. L. had a bad wrist that prevented full balancing use of one arm, and as a consequence she really banged a shin.

Today's track really exemplified one of the more remarkable aspects of this trek: the need to constantly pay attention. A turned ankle or dinged knee could have had really unpleasant consequences. Therefore, constant visual and mental focus was required. See L.'s general demeanor in this photo. I remember at one point wondering what would happen if I relaxed for a step or two. Sometime later (maybe days later) I tried this and promptly tripped and stumbled. Certainly there were portions of the trek with trails, tracks, or easy going, but by and large the footing was tricky. Many of the boulderfields gave the impression of virgin rock, with random movement from small or large stones at unexpected intervals. Those with strong ankles and good balance had an advantage.

After gaining real white ice, we ascended about 90 minutes on the glacier proper to camp. As usual, when I first spotted the tents I thought they were impossibly far away and that I would never get to them. At least it was easier going just trudging up to the horizon. Tonight we are camping on snow/ice and I have a single wall tent. It is cold as s)(*% and the tent stakes do not want to hold. However it is really beautiful and weather is good. I feel tolerable. Last night I had a nightmare in Hindi, was "stuck" in the langauge and and after this could not get back to sleep!

Sept. 8, 2008. Non-restful rest day.

My diary says s*&$( day. Today was a rest day at 4000 meters at the toe of the Miyar glacier. We awoke to 1-1.5 inches of snow on the tent, and on my (*&(*&% tent it weighs down heavily and is not shed. I started azithromycin yesterday and had a tight feeling in my chest all night and could not sleep, and also a dry cough. Today the cough persisted, and was a tiny bit productive. No obvious fever. On the positive side I rinsed some clothes and cleaned up a bit. Tomorrow is supposed to be 6 hours up on the looker's left side of the glacier (as one faces the toe); two hours up on rubble and then 4 hours on the glacier. At least I am breathing comfortable lying flat and my O2 sat is ~ 90% with pulse about 70.

5 PM. My throat is sorer than ever. I may start Augmentin in addition as it seemed to work for L.

Sept. 7, 2008. To the toe of the Miyar glacier.

6 AM. I felt poorly at bedtime last night: cold and headachy. Tylenol worked and I slept OK. This morning, the weather is good for a change and I don't have a headache. The planned stage is 5 hours or so today. My camera is working again. Another trekker is on antibiotics for their "chest". L.'s throat is better very quickly. Perhaps I should carry my down jacket today in my day pack. One lesson...don't leave the hydration bladder outside at night: it can freeze. My O2 sat was 93% and pulse 70 last night: good.

6 PM: good day. We left camp about 8:30 AM. The weather was decent and cloudy glacier and peak views. We got to camp about 2:30 PM, with the porters dragging in later. We set up our tents. I took a tylenol about 11 AM and that seems to have prevented an incipient headache from worsening. Not much real elevation gain today. It is about 4000 meters here. We will have a rest day tomorrow. O2 saturation 89 to 90, with heart rate good and low. W. and L. are generally healthy. It rained a bit in the afternoon. I am dirty but otherwise OK. There are amazing, spectacular peaks all around and I am listening to tunes on the iPod.

We passed some major expedition tent ensembles later in the day, just before our campsite. We passed some guys cleaning their underwear. Turns out they are Italian and this fits their black undies. There was a whole phalanx of deluxe tents but no one was home. Some locals told us there were five expeditions in the area including Koreans. There are sheer rock walls everywhere around here that look attactive for big wall climbers. Up at our camp, there is a small set of tents for a couple..we think they are Russians.

Here is a Wikimap image of the toe of the glacier and a link to a larger map you can look around on. The link opens to center near the junction of the Chandrabhaga river (running basically right to left) and the Miyar nala (running "up" to the north). You can move "up" to the glacier, look along it's length, etc. The Kang La is also marked, and the descent glacier is the short one running due north to very slightly northwest.

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=32.763315&lon=76.739845&z=12&l=0&m=a&v=2

Sept. 6, 2008. Onward into the fog.

We walked uphill 3 hours in the driving snow. Upon awakening there were odd, very low clouds hovering just above the ground and then upper overcast. As we got started hiking the snow started. It was a real test of outdoor gear, with wet snow just below freezing, and M.F. for example got pretty cold and wet. With extra clothing and a rapid change of clothes upon arriving at camp she did fine but this indicates possible clothing challenges in the future. We stopped 1 hour short of the planned camp. So, a long day tomorrow, perhaps a 5 AM get-up. We will see about the high pass. I am sitting in the tent relaxing after lunch.

4 PM: my camera is broken. Peter has a backup he can lend me. It has a proprietary battery that may be rechargable. It snowed all morning, and is snowing off and on now. My camera did get moisture in the case and I have given it to L.C. to dry out (armpit technique). Maybe it will dry out and reboot. (Of note, it did dry out and re-boot, and performed well for the rest of the trip. Moral: condensation and moisture can be bad for lower-end digital cameras). Tomorrow is supposed to have bad stream crossings and to be pretty easy. Today's going was actually pretty easy, in truth. I should not feel too sorry for myself. L. has a sore throat and started antibiotics. W. has a health challenge and is on medication, and some people's gear is not up to snuff. My gear did pretty well today. Another delicious dinner courtesy of T and the rest of the kitchen crew.

Sept. 5, 2008. Day hike up side valley.

It's 3 PM and raining again. I slept pretty well last night and due to dehydration did not get up that much. Lots of dreams. Cake and port liquer for W's birthday. The weather was nice this morning and I was able to dry my sleeping bag. I had to repair my sleeping bag (courtesy of W's needle and thread) yesterday, because the zipper came unsewn down at it's base with down fluffing out everywhere. Today we took a day hike from camp at ~ 3800 meters to about ~4100 meters at the high point. Great views; slight headache.

The satellite phone situation seems unstable; the chargers have dodgey connections. I hope this will not be a big problem. When we get across the Kang La we need jeeps to meet us. We hear again about a Swedish lady dying up here 2-3 years ago.

5PM: it is raining biblically. I hope it is not snowing too much higher up.

6:30 PM: it is getting dark in the tent and I think it just started snowing. There are flaky looking things on the tent.

Sept. 4, 2008. First full day on trek.

It's 6:45 AM and I am sitting in my tent. Despite Joel's explicit instructions to "pick a yellow or green tent", I successfully picked the red-brown one. More on this later. This was last night. Yesterday's bus trip was long but beautiful. We started about 8:30 AM and were all packed into a "ten seater" van. A.R. had "shotgun" part of the day and I had a right mid window seat. First it was up and over Rhotang Pass. When I was here years ago, there was a wall of snow everwhere; this time it was high and dry. Lots of switchbacks. From the pass there are impressive snow views but the pass itself is not an overwhelming mountain environment. Down and down to a passport checkpoint and dhaba, where we had curds and Indian food. After this, we headed downstream on the Chandra (moon) and then combined Chandra-Bhaga river. This is the same route I travelled in 1985. The road is greatly improved. After the usual road blocks, etc. we arrived in Udiapur, which I hardly recognized, it has grown so much. We then turned up the Miyar Nala. In 1985, I hiked from the river. Unfortunately, at least for me, we drove up perhaps 20 miles up the Miyar, and bypassed the villages of my fond memories. There is electricity all the way up and very definite deforestation. We arrived at our campsite quite close to the onset of darkness. Our tents and 29 Nepali porters (and food, etc.) had arrived earlier in the day, leaving Manali with L.C. in a bus at about 3 AM. It was raining lightly and our gear got a little wet. After a sprint for the tents and my ill choice, we spent a night in the steady rain. Wet gear in the tent meant damp sleeping bags.


We passed around the oxygen saturation meter in the dining tent. My O2 sat was 93%: not as good as Joel at 95% or L at 97%. My pulse was a little high at 80-90. To summarize this game from throughout the trek, in general my O2 sats were among the lower, but my pulse quickly went low, and in terms of aerobic capacity, as measured by being if front vs. lagging, I generally did fine. I have a few comments here in my diary about the trekkers, but these random observations don't warrant dissemination. My goal for today is to keep things dry.

3 PM: It is raining again, and has been raining on and off all day. We passed through the village of Khanjar and are camping at the basam of the Tarsalamu La at about 3810 meters. The pass is a high one (5450 meters). We will stay here for one day to acclimitize. The next stage looks quite flat too...only a few hundred meters elevation gain maximum. Hopefully we will acclimitize well. I am listening to Johnny Winter and various yelling outside...perhaps horses?

I passed the pictures of the Miyar Nala from 1985 to two locals. Unfortunately, as we drove in about 22 km, we passed the key lower villages. This AM a lady came to camp to sell socks. I bought some as did M.F. The sock-seller recognized some people in the pictures and I have her a copy. She pointed to on woman and indicated she was dead (I got this in Hindi and expressed my regrets). Later in the day, a local came up to see us on the trail. Ditto, she recognized a few people. I asked L to ask her to let others look at the pictures.

It is really raining now and very windy. I have the single wall tent...the chump tent!. But it is fast to put up. It will be colder with no dead air space between walls. It did stay pretty dry last night. It is really raining. It rained most of last night and hardly any on the trail today.

Joel has given a run down of the days to come. He summarized the 3 trade routes across Ladakh: the Shingo La, a summer route with 8 passes, the winter Chadar route, and the Jumlam or Zumlam, the middle way that we will be taking. It is only open in September and October and goes to Kharnak and Nimaling.

Sept. 2, 2008. Last day in Manali.

I had a little Delhi-Manali belly last night (actually a lot) but am OK today. In retrospect, this was the only episode of looseness for me during the entire month, and the group was also generally spared severe GI distress. I have had two bowls of yogurt (curd, Hindi name dahee) and am now going for some pasta. It is nice and sunny today. After lunch, off for some shopping.

The beginning intimations of our trek group dynamics are coming together. I have deleted my personal observations here...you know who you are!

3 PM: I have been out and about. I took an Rs50 3-wheeler taxi uphill to Vashist and walked back. I bought two Kulu caps (the red velvet front variety) for Rs 50 each, and a shawl for Rs 700. The later was mainly white wool with red trim. I ended up giving it to my mom. The proprietor of the store I bought it in said she made it herself. She also said she is from the first village where the Manali-Leh road hits the Chandra-Bhaga river. I am now sitting in the Sher-E-Punjab ("Lion of Punjab") restaurant in downtown Manali. I met Karen and Usha from the bus here; they are headed back this afternoon on the same bus. They tell me the unique decor is "typical Punjabi".

I composed and sent a Hindi postcard to my teacher in the US (as he requested). Several people looked at it and were generally impressed. While I tried to hit my Hindi books a little whilst in India, in general I was too exhausted and busy meeting everyday challenges to do too much on the intellectual front. The postcard postage was cheap (Rs 10 = about 25 cents US) and I think all my postcards made it. I posted them from the internet cafe just uphill from Johnson's Hotel. This was an interesting place as one of the proprietors was also involved in the trekking businesss. He said he was involved in the recovery effort for the body of a Swedish woman who had died on the Kang La last year (2007).

One minor note concerns the foriegners who congregate in the garden restaurant at Johnson's. This afternoon there was a big guy with a swastika tattoo (German style, not Hindu) on his shoulder. He generally seemed a )(*%)$(*. The hotel security gaurd and myself exchanged a few words in Hindi about this jerk. Enough to put a damper on my spirits for a while.

Sept. 1, 2008. Visit to Dhakpo Gompa.

11:30 AM. This morning P.S. and I walked down to the ATM. It seemed to work for him, but I am note sure as the rate of exchange he recieved. We found the Lady Willingdon Hospital, which seemed to be part of a multi-function Christian compound. All the kids were streaming in in uniform, accompanied by anxious parents in a somewhat "Western" setting. They all assembled in lines in the outdoor courtyard. After a hymn and prayer or two (all Christian), the head teacher started into a sermon on David and Solomon. I was happy watching and listening but P.S. wanted to move on. L had told us a story the previous evening about developing what sounded like an ankle abscess, and having it treated at this hospital. There was certainly impressive signage about the ultrasound dept., pre-natal care, etc. but we were there early and did not witness a lot of patients. After dropping P.S. at the internet cafe, I walked up to Hadimba temple. This was a bit of an uphill. There were a lot of Indian tourists and hardly any goras (whites). I had a fun time reviewing family relation names and verb declensions with a young Hindi speaker (a perhaps 10 year old boy) from Delhi. I then walked to Old Manali after crossing a big creek. The place struck me as dumpy. A few stoned-out Westerners were ambling around. There were a lot of apple orchards and xxx everywhere. Three guys asked me if I wanted "saffron", but I did not catch on to what they were talking about. Eventually I looped back to Manali. I bought some silver and turquoise for a necklace for Susan for 2415 rupees, about 60 dollars.



I talked to Joel briefly on the phone last night. They are travelling to Manali today. He anticipated 12 hours but I know it will be longer. The reality of their trip, pieced together later, was pretty bad. It sounds like the bus that P.S. and I took was better. Joel and the other 7 trekkers were in 3 vehicles. The drivers were erratic and unresponsive to suggestions. Stories included frequent mysterious breaks (?cigarettes or food), shrieking music and unsafe driving. They left Delhi about 10 PM and arrived about 3 PM today.



Lunch was cauliflower cheese bake for 275 rupees at Johnson's...expensive and not great. This afternoon, Peter and I plan to go to the school at which L's wife teaches. It is affiliated with Dhakpo Gompa. A high lama, about 75 years old, whom I think leaves overseas somewhere (France I think) most of the time is back in residence, and is giving a several-week-long teaching. There are about 60 Westerners who are said to be in attendence, listening to real-time translations on wireless headphones. We don't have headphones so will be deprived of the dharma.



The trip to Dhakpo was great. It is located on the east side of the Beas and almost as far south as Kulu. We took side roads and it took maybe 60-80 minutes to get there. The monastery is big, new and imposing. Most of the mass of it is taken up by dorm rooms for Western visitors. We also saw their nice dining hall. Initially we went to the school. The kids looked 3-15 or so. L's son, daughter and aya were also there. We were treated to some tea and cookies. We saw typical dorm rooms...lots of beds and bunks in one room. We saw the room where the kids do their own laundry. School was not in session but we saw very basic classrooms and a library. The kids did look relatively healthy. Per Y, they were from all over the Tibetan culture area around Manali and H.P., including Lahaul, Spiti, Zanskar, etc. I think some of the kids were "sponsored" by the Western patrons of Dhakpo. Y then let us tour around the gompa proper. P.S. and I sneaked into the main teaching hall where Dhakpo Rinpoche was intoning. There were maybe 150 or so red-robed Tibetan monk students following the Tibetan langauge, and, sure enough, about 60 Westerners seated mostly in regular chairs around the perimeter with little earphones in place. Some seemed also to be following in printed books but I could not see what langauge these were in. We slipped out after about 5 minutes and went back to the school. Hot tea (chai) was served to all the kids in their little mugs...very cute.



Our driver then took us via the east side of the Beas to Naggar. I had been there before in 1985. P.S. and I toured the "castle" with it's impressive wood carving, and also dropped ~ 100 feet vertical to the old Hindu temple with the nice stone Nanda (cow) carving. We then drove back to Manali.

Aug. 31, 2008. Recovery from Delhi-Manali bus.

What a hellish bus ride from Delhi to Manali. I am definitely getting too old for these. After a hot taxi ride to the Delhi bus pickup, near the closest Metro Stop to Pahargang, we (P.S. and myself) get on the bus 45 minutes late and pay an extra 50 rupee luggage surcharge. The base price was 1100 rupees. I initially sat next to P.S., then moved to an empty window seat with an empty seat next store. The bus had 2 + 2 seating and was only about half full. Volvo AC sleeper. The first real stop was at about 10 PM...45 minutes at an odd upscale dhaba with temple-like bathrooms. There was a very nice young Indian couple on the bus that treated me to a little food (I ran into them in Manali 3-4 days later at the end of their long weekend at the Shere-E-Punjab restaurant). The man's name was roughly Karin and he worked as an outsource guy for IBM. Usha, his wife, was a flight attendant for Kingfisher. We were the only non-Indians on the bus except for a pair of Korean young women. We had another quick stop at 6 AM at Sundernagar. Then a hellish final bit to Manali arriving about 11 AM. In all perhaps 6:30 PM to 11 AM, mostly on the road. A little monsoon rain, a little heat lightening, a lotta roadslide action. It was a good thing it was dark, and it is a good thing we have all day Monday and Tuesday to mellow out.

Upon arrival in Manali, we were dumped out of the bus and some tourist touts assailed us. I just told them in Hindi, Hum apna dost L milenge. The stopped them cold. We called L.C. from the phone booth and he picked us up 5 minutes later. He had been waiting at the other bus stop. This was characteristic of his sense of duty: Joel had called him from Delhi and asked him to be there waiting for us.

Ah---teeth brushed, bathroom, etc. We are at Johnson Hotel. We have not yet (nor did we ever) meet Piya Johnson, whom Joel described as an Anglo-Indian and a friend. There are no bad smells and plenty of hot water. The cost is about $40 US a night, quite expensive. Food is also expensive but according to Joel, safe. The temperature is perfect in Manali, about 60-65 F. The hotel is quiet. Peter is in the next room. I just had tea and it is a little hard to sleep. L has invited us to dinner tonight at his house.

6:30 PM. Wow, P.S. strikes me as a total gear-head. Ecstasies concerning his solar charges and cameras. This pre-figured some intense camera and gear discussions on the trek! I took a 2 hour walk up the street, did some email, and gossiped in Hindi with everyone I could. In one direction it is 1.5 Km to Hadimba temple, and in the other direction about 1.5 Km to Manu temple. I chatted with a very nice guy at his bookstore. (Various botanical observations about the local flora). I am having a bit of a brain melt related to Hindi immersion and sleep deprivation. The Johnson Hotel seems to favor trance music...I want some Jerry.

10:45 PM. P.S. and myself had dinner with L.C., his with "Y" and their 3 year old son and 1 year old daughter. They have an aya (house-girl, child care) who is about 15 and comes from an area 2 days south of Delhi. L.C. lives in the Tibetan area of Manali on the east side of the Beas, just up from the main bridges and on the beginning of the Manali-Leh highway. We went upstairs to his living area; I think the lower area is a store-room. We were seated on nice carpets with a low table in front of us. Cold beer was provided. Y brought out several excellent courses of Indian food. There was a large bed in the main room and the kids slept happily while we talked. L.C. has a TV/DVD. He told of wanting to go to the US and of the problems getting a passport. From what I understood, he has lost some money to an unscrupulous operator show seemed to promise help getting a passport. Y has a sister in the US and has herself travelled to France. She attending teacher training in south India and is employed know at a monastery-based boarding school (we travelled there the next day). On the whole it was really a treat to visit L.C. in his home.

Aug. 30, 2008. Delhi waiting.

3 PM...P.S. and I are sitting at the rooftop restaurant of the Metropolis Hotel, around the corner from the Cottage Yes Please. The food is expensive but at least superficially clean. This morning Peter and I took a taxi (cheap tri-wheeler) to the Khan Market neighborhood. Khan Market was full of upscale expatriates. We saw imported Australian oranges for 350 rupees a kilo; that is about $7.50 for 2.2 pounds or about 3 dollars US a pound. We had a very expensive ($12) breakfast at the Green Turtle, above a book store (Full Circle). I bought a book or two. A middle aged guy came in looking for a book and offered to leave his business card...he was the embassodor from Italy to India. I have purchased a few yogurts for the bus. I hope they keep an are not smashed. I also hope the bus leaves on time. It is really hot, maybe 90-95 degrees F, but not ultra hot I guess.

We saw an interesting bus parked at Khan Market. It had signage from an Elton John-supported charity and was doing AIDS testing. I tried to talk to the personnel inside but was told it was for poor local people. A little later a well-dressed lady came up to Peter and myself and described the work of the bus. I was not sure if she was soliciting donations or what.

Aug. 28 and 29, 2008. Arrival in Delhi.

Welcome to my blog concerning a fantastic trip to the Indian Himalaya! While this blog was not composed or uploaded in "real time", it is based closely on a diary that I kept in India. Trivia and personal health entries are largely retained to reflect the general tenor of my inner state. The sentences have been edited to make them at least moderately grammatically correct. Certain personal details have been omitted to respect privacy. When in doubt, I hope that I have erred on the side of discretion, although this may reduce the spice level. Trekkers and other interested parties are invited to email me at my main email, viralimm"at"u.washington.edu, with corrections, concerns or comments.

For me, one of the main goals of this trip was langauge study. I am fortunate to have just (June 2008) finished first-year Hindi at the University of Washington, taught by the very able adhyapik P.P. A few langauge notes. I brought my textbook and tried valiantly at the beginning of the trek to do some intellectual study and introduction of complex grammar into my speech. Alas, time-zone transitions, physical exhaustion, and general culture shock largely shot down this good intention. I reverted to my general comfort level and talked, listened, read and even wrote a little. About the only two-part verb I used was सकना (sakna, "to be able to"). I had an interesting debate with T. and the kitchen staff about the approriate gender for "Mujhe bhuk lagta/lagtee hai". I had learned that since भूक (bhuk, hunger) is feminine, the appropriate form is लगती (lagtee), even though "I" have the male gender as the speaker. However, T. insisted that since "I" am male, the proper form was लगता (lagta). Well...does "ko" "block" the subject/verb gender agreement or not? The "thank you" speech to our Indian staff at the Hotel Ibex in Leh took up five double-spaced lines of scribbled Devanagari in my little pink diary. We had Nepali porters for the Miyar Glacier portion of our trek. I found that they largely understood my primitive Hindi. Indian people were invariably polite and helpful, sometimes giving me formal instruction when I would use the wrong verb tense or stumbled for a vocabulary word. Occasionally, someone would comment on my "Urdu" (this happened in Padum). A few of my pictures feature Hindi signs...interesting to me if not you!

Aug 28, 2008. The beginning of my second trek with Project Himalaya, Joel Schone, guide. I am sitting in the lobby of the the Cottage Yes Please. It was a relatively OK trip: 4 1/2 hours Seattle to Newark. 5 hours in Newark (wasted money on lounge; no computers for internet) and then 1 hour taxi in Newark...then finally aloft for a 13-14 hour flight! There were lots of tourists on the flight. Prince was also responsible for transfers for a group of about 20 American college girls going to Dharamsala for about 2 1/2 weeks. It took my small red bag ~ 45 minutes to come off the plane, but all bags are accounted for.

Perhaps the strangest thing about arriving in India is that it is...not strange. It is my 4th trip. A little language helps. It feels strangely normal. Is that normal?


Aug 29, 2008. 7 AM. The hotel is actually pretty much OK. The AC is plenty cold. We'll see if there is hot water or not. I did not sleep a lot but that is to be expected. I cannot believe that I am back! I heard about two big surprises concerning our guide staff, riding in the taxi with Prince and the driver from the airport to the hotel. I have deleted them as they are somewhat personal. But very sad.


7:30 AM: After a shower, shave. Hungry...feel good!


12:45: I am sitting in Government Emporium. I had breakfast with Joel at the Imperial Hotel. This was an incredible experience of luxury, well worth the 20 dollars. Then I walked around Janpath and Connaught Place. I was hounded by touts...nasty. I found Fabindia and bought 2 shirts for about 10 dollars each with my credit card. Then I hunted around for money exchange. Finally I stumbled into the Govt. Emporium, an island of tranquility. The rate I got was 42.2 rupees per dollar, not great but a friendly money changing girl and quite a show of honesty. For example she checked each Indian bill. The prices seem high and my math brain for currency conversion is a bit overstretched. There's a little kiosk a few flights up where I am now sitting and trusting to their hygiene. I am chatting with a German couple who did the Lamayuru to Manali-side trek semi-independently. They just showed up in Lamayuru and interviewed local horsemen who approached them about possible business.