Memories of Dec '07 Road Trip...

During December of 2007 I had been on a road trip to northern, coastal Karnataka and Goa with 2 of my friends Santosh and Pavan. Here (http://lostonroads.blogspot.com/) is a write up on those wonderful memories.

I know we are 2 and half years late in publishing this. In fact Santosh had suggested that we publish a write up soon after the trip. But “Lost on Roads” was not intended to be just a boring blog. We had dreamed for more! Big, colorful dreams. We wanted “Lost on Roads” to be a bible to all those who dare to hit the roads. We also started working towards that. I collected data for more than 50 tourist places in Karnataka. Pavan developed the front end. But the idea had grown so big that our efforts were not enough to materialize this dream. :-(

I had to go to the US for 6 weeks. By the time I came back, Santosh was traveling to the US to take up his MS/PhD course. Pavan was doing his MS here. In all these “Lost on Roads” was lost.

We tried reviving it again last year when our friend Hemanth inspired us to do something on our own. I collected more data. But our busy schedules and laziness again hindered our conquest. I now have data for 100 places in Karnataka!

Last month, we decided to at least publish our experiences of this epic road trip. We all know that “Lost on Roads” can never be what we wanted it to be. I personally feel that this blog doesn’t do any justice to the fun we had during the trip. We had to censor so many things keeping in mind our target audiences.

Writing for “Lost on Roads” was a painful experience because I had to recall how good those times were and realize that it won’t happen again for a long, long time.

As Pavan had rightly put in one of our discussion mail-threads, ನಾವು ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಈ tripನ ನೆನಪಿಸಿಕೊಳಲ್ಲ because ಕೆಲವು ನೆನಪುಗಳು ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ದುಃಖನೇ ಕೊಡತ್ತೆ ಸಂತೋಷಕ್ಕಿಂತ, ಮತ್ತೆ ಆ ನೆನಪುಗಳು ನಿಜ ಆಗಲ್ಲ ಅನ್ನೋ ದುಃಖ (We do not dare to recollect the memories of this trip because some memories, rather than bringing happiness, make us sad; sad because we understand that these memories can never come alive again).

--

Shashank

The Roopkund Experience Video

I tried experimenting with Windows Movie Maker. Here is the result. My first compilation.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQfheFzUGqw

Some more pictures:

Harsha's Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/contactharshas/Roopkund#
Sharad's Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sharad.vasista/RoopkundAgraDelhiLeg#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sharad.vasista/RoopkundBasecampOnwards#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sharad.vasista/RoopkundTheWalkAfter#

Satej's Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/satejk/Roopkund#

Vinay's Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/101674043291925831210/RoopkundPics#
http://picasaweb.google.com/101674043291925831210/UnforgettableRoopkund#

--
Shashank

The Roopkund Experience

Disclaimer: This is a huge blog loaded with personal experiences. Little attention has been paid to the literary details. I will be really glad if it helps someone who wants to try out Roopkund in the future.

When our Roopkund trek was finally confirmed, two things bothered me a lot: (i) the list of things to shop and (ii) my fitness level to complete the trek.
Getting Fit:

A rigorous fitness regime has been given on the Indiahikes website. But I followed my trainer’s instructions at the gym. It was a set of rigorous cardio exercises followed by sets of squats & lunges to strengthen my legs and strength exercises (weights) to strengthen back and shoulders. By the end of it all, I could walk 5mins and run for 25mins to cover a distance of 4 Km at an average speed of 8 Km/hour (website asks you to cover 4.5 Km in 30mins at 9 Km/hour). I never completely tried the stair-sets mentioned on the website, but I used to take stairs at least once day to my 6th floor office.

Shopping!!

Shopping was the toughest thing I had to endure. I did not have most of the things mentioned on the website.

1. Number one item on my list was a pair of shoes. A lot of people gave me a lot of suggestions. Lafuma, Woodlands, Quechua etc. Deep groves, ankle high, water proof, quick dry, soft sole etc. But best one was from Arjun (Indiahikes). He suggested me to go for Weinbrenner (http://www.bata.in/catdetail.php?&catItem=&selId=&action=20&techId=&brandId=&size=&price=&art_number=&a_page=16&tipslist=). It costs 1700 rupees and worth every paisa. It was comfortable and light. It gave me great grip on all terrain: mud, grass, stone and snow. All shoes get wet in snow, but this one dried much faster than the Lafumas and Woodlands and Quechuas.
2. Next item on my list was backpack. Though you get to rent backpacks, I wanted to buy one and carry it myself through out the trek. Some of the good places to buy backpacks in Bangalore are Decathlon, Ozone and Adventure works. I bought mine, a 70 Liter PE, at Ozone, Museum road and it cost me 3600 Rupees. You do get the same at discounted price in Decathlon if you have a membership card (or get hold of someone with a membership card).
3. Next most important items were warm clothes, gloves, woolen socks and thermals. Thanks to Sharad, we went to military stores, opposite Russell market, Shivajinagar, Bangalore. We could get (not so fashionable) woolen gloves, socks and monkey caps there for a very reasonable price. Thermal inners at Jockey cost us 700 Rupees (top and bottom). For synthetic gloves and rain cover, we went to The Eastern Stores on Commercial Street. A pair of gloves at Eastern Stores cost us 400 Rupees. My friend bought a rain suit, which cost him 900 Rupees and woolen cap costing 400 Rupees. One of my friend bought wind cheater cum rain cover for 499 Rupees and fleece jacket for 399 Rupees at Decathlon. Loharjung itself is a great place to buy warm clothing. In a small shop there, the same pair of gloves costs 80 rupees, woolen caps costs 50 rupees and Ponchos (can be used as wind cheaters or rain cover) cost 15 – 30 rupees. A word of advice to Bangloreans, avoid the blood sucking Eastern stores!
4. Other items included sun screen, medical kit and hygiene kit. I bought Neutrogena Ultra Sheer SPF 50+ sunscreen lotion which cost me 425 Rupees. I bought the usual tablets namely Avomine, Imol, Avil, Diegine, Etrobax, B-complex, Zinetac, Eldoper and Ceterizine etc. I also bought some band aids and alcohol swabs and a crape bandage roll as suggested on the Indiahikes site. For hygiene, I was carrying a hand sanitizer and wet tissues. Trust me; they helped a lot through out the trek. Most of these things can be bought at Health and Glow and other local medical shops.
5. Miscellaneous things like water bottles though usual Pearlpet and Tupperware would do; I bought a Quechua Polycarbonate one for 249 Rupees. For sun glasses, I could manage with my good old Fasttrack one. For torch, I bought an Eveready digiLED torch for 70 rupees which was much more effective than Harsha’s Maglite that he had got from the US!

Tip: Try to carry all the items mentioned on the website. Pack them in polythene compartments. If you don’t need something, you would be told so at the base camp and you can drop it off at the camp manager’s room. Carrying a small light bag to hold a water bottle and camera is a good idea since we would have to leave our backpacks for the last stretch to Roopkund.
Trip to Roopkund was not only my first Himalayan experience but also my first trip to Northern India. I was so excited that I wanted to cover as many places as possible. Our trek was to start on June 21st from Kathgodam, in Uttarakhand. 4 of us, me, Sharad, Harsha and Shwetha arrived in Delhi on 18th itself. We had booked Ginger Hotel for 2 days and had made plans to visit Agra & Mathura on Panickers tour package and also Delhi sight seeing for the next couple of days.

The first 2 days:

The moment we stepped out of our aircraft in Delhi, we were treated with a blast of hot air which we mistook to aircraft’s exhaust. Delhi was fuming at 40+ degrees at 11:30 in the night. We reached our hotel near New Delhi Railway Station. Ginger Hotel is pretty economical with 1000 Rupees for an A/C family room with 4 beds. Our bus to Agra was at 6 AM the next morning. Next day, the Panickers bus was full of women from Mysore. Through out our trip, we could hear their chatter in sweet Kannada language. Bus left Delhi at 6 AM and reached Agra by 11. By then sun was blazing and it was at least 44 degrees. Our first stop was Agra Fort, the beautiful Red Fort from where the Mughals used to run their administration. Our guide gave us a tour of the fort.
In front of red fort - Agra. (L to R) Sharad, Harsha and Shwetha

We were then shepherded to UP handicrafts development centre. Here we were shown the ancient art of decorating marble with precious stones, genuine marble miniature Taj Mahals, handloom textiles and leather products. Also, here we could shop souvenirs, of genuine quality. All of us bought miniature Taj Mahals, which were couriered to my address (As I write this, they have arrived safely). Next, we stopped at a godforsaken restaurant called Hotel Amar for lunch. It had a few whites sun bathing topless on the pool side while some Indian gawkers were filming them on Chinese mobile phones and the restaurant charged frigging 95 Rupees for a limited South Indian thali (Plate meals)!!

Our next stop was the Taj Mahal. It was wonderful. We got the opportunity to sit on the hot stone benches and a click a few pictures in front of the Taj. Taj Mahal experience was great. Our bus then took us to Mathura, birth place of Lord Krishna. Navigating through a labyrinth of narrow lanes, we finally reached a heavily guarded Temple. A huge mosque is situated right above the actual birth place of Lord Krishna. We were then taken around the temple by our guides. By 6 PM we were back in the bus and heading back to Delhi watching “Housefull”.

Following day was reserved for Delhi sight seeing. We had booked an Innova from Panickers to take us around Delhi and drop us at the Old Delhi Railway station. Our first stop was shopping! Sharad and Shwetha took the charge and led us to a number of shops searching coffee brown and orange salwar kameez with small prints. After visiting all the shops in the locality, one sardarji was able to lure them into buying 5 dress materials without much discount! Even the innocent Harsha was lured into buying an expensive dress material. In Delhi, we visited Qutab Minar, Lotus temple, Akshardham and Rajghat. Temperature that day reached 48 degrees and it was like walking inside a microwave oven. Some parts of Delhi are great with wide roads, tree line, footpaths and Metro, but the only flipside is the hot weather. By the time we reached Old Delhi station, it was 7:30 PM. Our train to Kathgodam was at 10:40 PM. From then on it was a painful wait in one of the dirtiest railway stations I have ever seen. Finally, train with our bogey hot as a cauldron arrived at 9:30 PM. Here we met Vinay and Satej, our trek mates. Our night long journey towards Kathgodam finally began. None of us could sleep in the train because of the heat. Finally we reached Kathgodam at around 6 AM in the morning and joined the rest of our group who had already reached the place on the previous day. Our bus to Loharjung from Indiahikes was outside the railway station, waiting to pick us up. We boarded the bus and our Roopkund experience started unfolding.

Tip: (i) While traveling to Kathgodam from Delhi, it is always better to book A/C. It is much more advisable to reach Kathgodam the previous night and stay at GMVN as Kathgodam is the only last hope of getting a decent hot water bath for the next 8 days.
(ii) Do not get too excited and book a lot of sight seeing tours. For, the heat will tire you down and you will have to carry a lot more luggage which is inconvenient. Day 1 – 21st June 2010:
Day 1 was mostly traveling from Kathgodam to Loharjung. We stopped for breakfast, lunch and tea at Kainchidam, Kausani and Debal respectively. The circuitous road had thick tree cover on either side. Weather was pleasant and the ride was fun with antakshari and all. We reached Loharjung at around 6 PM. We were taken to Patwal Lodge. Patwal Lodge is a 2 storey building with a wonderful view of the mountains. By the time we checked in and got fresh, our dinner was being prepared. Ajoy, our camp manager briefed us about the trek, issued our trek passes and Indiahikes souvenir caps. We were to leave Loharjung at 6 AM sharp and head towards Didina.
Tip: (i) Indiahikes will be providing the best of the rides they can, to Loharjung. It would make it more pleasurable if we could sit back and enjoy the ride rather than cribbing about the facilities like A/C bus, Tandoori chicken and Coke.
(ii) Loharjung can be officially called the last place of charging cameras and mobile phones. It is also the last bet to get Airtel network.
(iii) A fully charged Lithium ion battery of a Canon Ixus or Canon Powershot would last up to 300 clicks.
Tip to IndiaHikes: The food was great through out. It would be great if Kainchidam restaurant had a better toilet since most of us would be coming from an overnight journey are expected to use the toilet here.
Day 2 – 22nd June 2010:

On day 2, our tea was served at 5:30 AM to our rooms. When I woke up I was literally itching for a bath. A bucket of ice cold mountain water welcomed me to the bathroom. Pouring the cold water all over me, feeling fresh and better, I prepared for the day’s trek. Our extra baggage was kept in Ajoy’s room. We had a light breakfast of bread and jam. Our breakfast for the way was neatly packed and handed over to us along with a few toffees and biscuits. We set off towards Didna on Lord Curzon’s trail with our guides Narayan and Sardarji.

Tip: Vegetarians who do not eat egg, could request for breakfast without egg.

Initially we descended till we reached Raun Bagad, which is marked by an iron bridge, where we had our breakfast of rotis and aloo/egg burji and biscuits. From this point on it was a relatively easy climb towards Didna. By the time we reached Didna it was 11:30AM. It was a home-stay camp. As soon as we reached Didna camp, wonderful buransh (Rhododendron) juice was served. I had at least 4 – 5 cups to make up my fluid loss on the way. Home-stay was at a 2 storey village house at 8550 feet above sea level. Both floors were actually dorms housing 10 beds each. By the time we dumped our bags and relaxed, tasty lunch was served. Rotis, Alu-Soya sabji, greens sabji, rice and dhal were all very, very tasty. As we finished lunch, it started to drizzle lightly. We got inside the house for a game of rummy. As it rained heavily outside, our game of rummy went on till 6 in the evening. By then the rains had stopped. We went strolling in the village searching mobile network. It was dark when we returned back to the camp. It was cold and time for a warm bon-fire. As we enjoyed and clicked a few pictures around the fire, dinner was served. We were soon snugly settling in our beds. Lights went off and it was pitch dark and silent inside the dorm. Suddenly we could hear roars of 2 huge tigers, Sanjeev and Samir! It was a Jugalbandi with DTS effect. However terrible their snoring was, we were so tired that it failed to keep us up. We were soon doing taal-se-taal-mila with them. Our most difficult climb awaited us the next day.

Tip: To climb more, for a longer time, the key is stamina. I had a technique. I always breathed in from my nose, with my mouth closed, took smaller steps and synchronized my breathing with the steps (by counting). During breaks, I used to take small sips of water. I was also taking deep breaths during the break which kinda rejuvenated me. Occasionally, a toffee or an energy bar kept me going.
Didna Camp.

Day 3 – 23rd June 2010:

We were woken up at 6 AM in the morning by bed tea. We washed up (read washed up not bath), had a light breakfast of roti and channa and were ready to go. My friend Harsha had already loaded his bags on a mule and ready to run towards Bedni with his potli. We started off at 7 AM climbing a steep ridge towards Ali Bugyal. It was an 8Km climb inside the forest. This was the most difficult climb of the entire trek and this was where all the fitness mattered. As we reached Ali Bugyal, it was 10:30 AM. Here we had our packed breakfast of Parantha, aloo/boiled egg and juice. From here on we had to walk another 6 Km with little climb towards Bedni Bugyal.
Ali Bugyal.

I reached Bedni with Sanjeev, Sameer, Umang and Shwetha at 1:30 PM. Ankit, our camp manager welcomed us with hot tomato soup. Bedni camp was beautifully set up at around 12000 feet on the grasslands with a magnificent view of various mountain peaks above and valleys beneath. It had 8 green camping tents, 2 toilet tents and brick structure housing a kitchen and store room. A little more climbing towards the top, we could find the holy Bedni Kund and Bagawati temple. As we got our trek pass signed and collected our sleeping bags, Harsha arrived at Bedni camp at 2:15 PM. Lunch was served and we were given instructions on how to prevent AMS. I had a light headache, so, I went on to roam around Bedni Kund to avoid AMS. Then it started to drizzle and I headed towards my tent where a friendly game of rummy was going on. Meanwhile it started raining heavily and we went on with our game. By 4 PM the rains had stopped and our tent was messy with mud and water. Tea was served at 4:30 PM. We had tea and climbed up till Bedni Kund watching Jasmin chased by a local dog. It was dark by the time we returned to our camp. We moved to the only empty and clean tent next to Sanjeev & Samir’s tent. Bedni provided a wonderful view of Trishul, Nanda Devi and other peaks in the moonlight. Dinner was served under a solar lamp with a solitary radio playing an AIR station. Temperature rapidly went down after the sunset and it was nearly 9 degrees when we went to sleep. It was a tiring day and we were all fast asleep unperturbed by the roars coming from our neighboring tent, only to be woken up by a thunderstorm accompanied by strong winds. While a few people of our group stayed up all night holding on to their tents, me, Sharad and Vinay were so tired that we chose to sleep as it was. Winds were so strong that at times we felt that our tent would be blown away. Nothing much was in our hands, so, we felt it was better to get some sleep while we could.

Tip: (i) It is good to carry energy bars (Perk, 5 star, Nutribar) for quick instant energy on the way.
(ii) To avoid AMS, it is better to climb up some more and roam around. It is also better not to sleep inside the tents after lunch. Keeping the heads and toes covered while exposing the ears (partially) will help in acclimatizing faster. Detailed instructions will be provided by the camp manager and has to be followed dutifully to avoid AMS.

Day 4 – 24th June 2010:

It was an easy climb from Bedni to Pathernochaniya via Ghora Lotani. It started with a steep climb up the Bedni Kund till we reached our trail. From then on it was a gradual climb (almost flat) to Ghora Lotani. Ghora Lotani to Pathernochaniya was a gradual descent. On the way, I and Shwetha met Madan Singh who was a local guide to another group of trekkers. He told us stories about Ghora Lotani, Bhagwabasa and Roopkund. On the trail we were walking, once, long time ago, gods and goddesses rode on their horses hence the name Ghora Lotani. At Pathernochniya, 2 heavenly dancers were buried alive (probably to send them to Pathal). While goddess Kali was going to Kailas after finishing her earthly business, her tiger got tired and wanted to rest. She then sheltered it in a cave. Thus Bhagwabasa got its name (Bhagh – Tiger, Awas – home). At Roopkund, goddess wanted to transform to a sober self. She needed something like a mirror for this. So, she created a Kund with her Trishul. Kund, using which she transformed her Roop, hence the name Roopkund. At Ghora Lotani we got a clear view of Trishul peak and Kala Parvat. We had left Bedni at 8 AM after having breakfast and reached Pathernochaniya by 11:30 AM. We were accommodated in a camping hut at Pathernochaniya camp. These were huge green fiber huts with cement flooring. After lunch, our gang, Vinay, Sharad, Harsha, Shwetha and me, climbed up the trail, found a nice spot on the rocks to play rummy. By then, the whole place was covered with mist. We came back to our hut after playing several rounds and when it started to drizzle. All 15 people gathered inside our hut playing dumb charades, when a team returning from Roopkund to Bedni stopped at our hut for a break and to share their experiences. Finally Sandeep, our guide and savior for the last leg of climb, came down. He briefed us about what lay ahead of us. He also showed some wonderful card tricks. Here at Pathernochaniya, I had a bit of stomach upset due to gastric. I spoke to Sandeep who suggested me some remedies and also gave me a tablet which worked like wonders. Thanks to him I could sleep peacefully in the jam packed camping hut. As the sun went down, temperature came down to 3.5 degrees here. I had to sleep with my thick jacket and gloves on to say warm. We were to reach our final campsite tomorrow.
Tip: Gastric can be avoided by drinking a lot of fluids (4 Liter). Eating small portions of energy foods at regular intervals is also very important. If you are generally susceptible to gastric problems, it is better to take your physicians advice on the medication and diet to avoid gastric.
Pathernochaniya - Game of rummy, notice the mist around us

Day 5 – 25th June 2010:

Getting morning tea at 6 AM and taking off at 7 AM had become a habit by now. It was no different today. Unlike the previous camps, here we had to go out in open for nature calls. While Harsha stood guard, I found a secluded spot to relieve myself. We had breakfast and then took off to Bhagwabasa via Kalu Vinayak. Today’s trail started with an easy ascent followed by a steep climb to Kalu Vinayak temple at 14500 feet and then a gradual descent to Bhagwabasa camping huts. Bhagwabasa camping site was at 14200 feet, with 2 camping huts similar to Pathernochaniya. Bhagwabasa is the last camp site and the only camp with the view of Roopkund and Junargali. We reached Bhagwabasa by 12:30 PM. Ankit was already there waiting for us with hot tomato soup. For lunch we had Maggi noodles. We played rummy for some time but most of us were tired and dozing off when Ankit entered and went on rambling and kept us awake. Weather outside was gloomy with mist cover. By 4 PM that day we had tea. By then Shwetha was complaining of a bad stomach. To make her feel better, we climbed up the trail and wandered for some time. She wasn’t getting any better. Back at the camp, Ankit suggested her to take ORS. But whatever she took in, she used to puke. She was given anti – nausea tablets which did not have any effect. I was suspecting a food poison. Dinner was served early since we had to start at 4 AM next day. It was soon lights off. Meanwhile Shwetha’s condition worsened. She now started having loose motion. Like Pathernochaniya, here also, we had to go out in open to attend nature calls, which only made it a lot more difficult for her to go out alone in the dark. One of us always ran with her to stand guard when she had to run out in the night!
Day 6 – 26th June 2010:

This was going to be the longest day of the trek. We got late in the morning. Our bed tea arrived at 4:30 AM and by the time we hurried off towards Roopkund it was 5:15 AM. As if the heavens had blessed us, the weather was crystal clear. There were no clouds in the sight. We could clearly see Roopkund and beyond from our camp. Shwetha was too weak to climb this last stretch, so she decided to rest at the camp. For the last stretch, we had to carry only our water bottle and camera. We took off with a great determination to do Junargali, come-what-may. We marched on climbing up sometimes and crossing snow sometimes. Finally as we started climbing up the last leg of snow filled trail to Roopkund, Sandeep reassured us that we could in fact do Junargali since our pace was extremely good and the weather was perfect. We reached Roopkund at 7:15 AM. Finally we were there! 16000 feet, standing up the frozen lake which looked like a huge horse shoe from the top! Our guide Narayan performed pooja at the Shiv temple there and applied teeka on our forehead. We clicked a couple of snaps and then it was time to conquer Junargali.
Frozen Roopkund Lake.

Junargali was about 400 feet high from Roopkund. It was a steep climb on the snow. Sandeep and his team went on making the path for us with ice axes. It was a treacherous climb, but worth every step. While climbing up, Vipul lost his balance once and almost had a rendezvous with the heavens! 9 of us climbed up Junargali. Junargali gave a spectacular view of Trishul and Nanda Devi peaks above and Shila Samundar, a sea shore long time ago, below.
Atop Junargali. (Photo courtesy: Satej)

It was a great feeling to be at the top. We could see that the sun was out and all the late comers at Roopkund, including Harsha, were already descending and on their way back. Sandeep asked us to quickly get back to Roopkund before the snow starts melting. Descending from Junargali to Roopkund was easy once we crossed the dangerous hair-pin. From then on I could easily slide down till the end on the path made by Sharad. Our breakfast of Aloo Parantha was waiting for us at the Roopkund. By the time we had breakfast, the sun was blazing down Roopkund. Snow was melting and we had hurry towards Bhagwabasa. On the way back the snow-trail had become too slippery due the melting snow. All of us were slipping and sliding on the snow. Indiahikes crew here helped us a lot by holding and supporting us till we safely crossed the slippery trail, especially Dhan Singh, who stayed on with me till I reached Bhagwabasa. Sandeep and his crew did a lot to ensure our safety on the snow. When I reached Bhagwabasa, Shwetha was already having lunch and feeling much better. I was the 3rd person to reach the camp after Vinay and Satej (Podium finish :-D).

It was around 11:45 AM. Thankfully Ankit had arranged for some hot tea which we desperately wanted. We had to head towards Bedni after having lunch. All our shoes were wet. I was not at all in the moods to walk. To make the matters worse, it started to rain. Anyways we had lunch and waited for the rain to stop. Rains stopped and I dragged my wet feet towards Bedni. We had to go to Bedni via Pathernochaniya. As we neared Pathernochaniya, the rains came back with a fury. I took shelter at Pathernochaniya camping huts where Ankit, Vinay and Sharad were already resting. While we waited for the rains to stop, we had tea there. After the rains had stopped we could spot a rainbow in the valley outside the camping hut. It was 3:15 PM when we left Pathernochaniya to Bedni. My nick name for Bedni camp was “Biscuit camp”. We could see the camp site from Ghora Lotani but how much ever we walked, we could not get closer to the camp. We walked and walked and walked and still walked and walked some more to finally reach Bedni at 4:30 PM. All of us were tired that evening. We quickly got into tents and started playing cards while the tea was served. By around 6:30 our slowest trekker, Harsha had arrived. As it was cold, we had a bon fire. It was also very clear that night. We could see Trishul and Nanda Devi peaks from Bedni. Dinner was served. Soon after dinner, we were in our sleeping bags for a much deserved night’s rest.

Tip: (i) For maximum grip on snow, follow Rebel Star Ambareesh’s walking style. That is, hitting heal, put firm horizontal steps and leaning away from the slope.
(ii) Whatever shoes you buy, invariably snow will get into it and wet your shoe. It is good to wear/carry quick dry socks.

Tip to Indiahikes: It would be really great if toilet tents are provided at Pathernochaniya and Bhagwabasa. Many batches had already visited these places and by the time we reached these camps, camp surroundings were littered with human waste. I mean, it was like walking on a mine field (stealing Sanjeev’s words here). Though its bio degradable and all, it would be better, if this can be contained.

Day 7 – 27th June 2010:

It was officially the last of hiking. We had to reach Wan by 1:30 PM from where our ride to Loharjung awaited. It was a sunny morning and we had tasty aloo paranthas and curds for breakfast. All of us gathered for half a dozen group pictures with Sandeep, Ankit and other Indiahikes personnel. A few people who had fitness issues were getting them sorted out with Ankit. Harsha also had some problems with his knee, but I suspect that he was just trying to make use of the crape bandage he had got. We started descending at around 8:00 AM. Trail was through grass lands, followed by a steep descent under the tree cover till Neel Ganga River, after that it was half an hour climb to Wan region and finally an easy descent to Wan village. We marched on and took our first pit stop near the deserted camping huts in the forest. Umang, who had a knee problem had got really slow and was way behind. Since he had great difficulty in walking, he was made to ride a mule for the rest of the trail. Meanwhile the rest of us reached Neel Ganga River, where we took another refreshing pit stop. The clear sparkling water was ice cold, but that didn’t stop Sanjeev from diving in! Shwetha and Sharad had a minor leech incident here. From here on we could see a lot houses next to the trail. We could also meet a few locals and some kids on the way. On the last stretch of this trail, we came across huge Cyprus trees which are more than 1000 years old. We reached our pick up point at Wan village at 12:30 PM. Our ride was to arrive at 1:30 PM. While waiting for the cabs, Umang gave us Khakra (a Gujurati snack) and we also ordered for tea. Our ride, a battered Sumo arrived. We put our bags on top and 10 of us crammed inside the Sumo. 2 transport guys were also sitting on the top. This ride was scarier than all the 6 days of treacherous trek combined. I mean, on the way, Harsha was filming our ride. There was this hair-pin bend some 300m ahead. We were expecting our sumo to slow down, it didn’t. 200m, no signs of braking yet… 100m… 50m… Our Sumo goes straight and halts! Our driver takes a reverse and then turns the vehicle. All of us were like stunned! We reached Loharjung after an hour and half of twisting and turning ride. We dumped our luggage in a room at Patwal lodge. All of us wanted a bath desperately. Shwetha who was dying to wash her hair since we left Delhi ran in first. I took the time to sort out my dirty clothes and drying my shoes and other wet clothes. Bath room was constantly kept occupied, so, I sorted out my bags. By then lunch was served. I finally had bath at 4:30 PM. All my room mates had freshened up by then and had packed their baggage. Harsha had even found a local barber shop and had a shave. It felt so good and fresh to take bath in ice cold water. We lazed around rest of the evening. While dinner was being prepared Mr. Patwal enlightened us about the local issues and the struggle locals are carrying out to save the Himalayan forests. Then it was time to get our certificates! All of us were given certificates for completing the trek. Even Shwetha got one. Dinner was served after this and there was egg burji, on which Sharad was drooling over for a long time. We then hit our sacks only to be woken up by the morning tea next day!

My Weinbrenners after enduring 6 days of intense trekking.

Day 8 – 28th June 2010:

It was travel day today! We were to be dropped at Haridwar. We started at 7:30 AM in the morning. We stopped for a delicious breakfast at Debal – aloo paranthas and cholay. I had already taken an Avomine for the road so I could eat 2 full parathas followed by a cup of hot tea. After that we were back on the road. We had to go via Karan Prayag, Rudra Prayag and Deva Prayag to reach Haridwar. We stopped for lunch at Rudra Prayag. Journey was uneventful. 8 of our group had to get down in Rishikesh. They had planned for white water rafting over there. We bid them goodbye at Rishikesh and went to Haridwar via Chilla national park. By time we reached Haridwar, it was around 8 PM. First we dropped Arati, Satej and Vinay to the Railway station. Vinay had got so close to us in the past 8 days. We promised to meet him in Bangalore and said good bye to them as we headed towards Har-Ki-Pauri, where we had booked our hotel. Since no cabs are allowed inside Har-Ki-Pauri area, we had to cross the bridge and walk all the way to our hotel, Hotel City View.

Tip: (i) No point in staying at Haridwar unless you plan to do pilgrimage. Better option is to stay at Rishikesh and do rafting.
(ii) It is better to book hotels closer to Railway Station in Haridwar. Since no cabs are allowed in Har-Ki-Pauri area, it is very inconvenient. GMVN rest houses and hotels are the best bet in this region.

Note: For the future batches, I understand that Indiahikes would be dropping you back to Kathgodam. This cuts the travel time by a couple of hours. Nainital is one of the places to see near Kathgodam.
Rest of the trip:

Hotel City View sucks! It charges 1800 rupees for an A/C family room with 4 beds and doesn’t provide hot water for bath, apparently the water heaters doesn’t work!! Our dream to have a comfortable hot water bath was shattered. We had a cold water bath, yet again. We visited Manasa Devi Temple. We took a cable car to the temple. Our plan was to head to Rishikesh, do some rafting and then go to Mussoorie. We had booked a cab from Usha Tours and Travels. After coming back from the temple, we checked out from the hotel and waited for the cab. The travel guy, Mr. Negi said, it would take 10 mins for the cab to arrive. He made us wait till 1:30. By then, we were hungry, so, we went to Mysore Quality Restaurant, a reputed south Indian restaurant. Food sucked big time! The restaurant name is a big disgrace to Mysore city. Here, Mr. Negi calls and says he couldn’t arrange for a cab! We were now checked out of Hotel and no cab! Restaurant guy found us an agent who got a 2600 rupees cab and ripped off 3000 rupees from us. It was already 2:30 PM, we had to drop Rishikesh and rafting from our plan. We went to Mussorrie where we had already booked a hotel. We traveled to Mussorie via Dehradun. Our hotel was 4km outside Mussorie on Kempty falls road. We had booked a duplex room with 4 beds for 2200 rupees. We reached Mussorie by 5 PM. We got freshened up went out to roam around the famous Mall Road. We had our snacks there at Himalayan Sweets. Hot Jelebis, Samosa and Channa Batura were all wonderful. We then roamed around Mall Road shopping souvenirs and books. We had a light dinner and came back to the hotel by 10:30 PM.

Tip: It is better to get a taxi directly from the Taxi owner’s association (in Haridwar or Mussorie). Middle men and travel agents also do the same thing but charge much more than the Taxi association.
Our plan for next day included Kempty Falls which was very crowded, Lake Mist – a resort where we did a bit of pedal-boating and we were back to Mall Road. Again, Sharad and Shwetha took us around for the last round of shopping. We had lunch at the Udupi restaurant after which we left for Dehradun. On the way we visited Mussorie Jheel – a sad lake and a Shiv Mandir. Our first stop at Dehradun was a deer park on the outskirts. We spent an hour killing time before we headed to the railway station. We had almost instantly liked Dehradun city. It has wide roads, trees along side and clean foot path. For anybody coming from Haridwar, Dehradun looks like a heaven. It is so much like the city of Mysore, the weather, calm roads and all. We reached railway station by 7:30 PM. Our train was at 11:30 PM. By now we were homesick, dying to eat masala dosa and drink filter coffee. To kill time, we decided to dump our luggage in cloak room and roam around Dehradun. Apparently, cloak room doesn’t take luggages without locks. Our top loading trekking backpacks could not be locked and hence cloak room attendant refused to keep it. We didn’t get the dorm either. So we had to spend 4 excruciating hours on the platform. Thankfully the platform was well lit and very clean. We had dinner at the railway canteen and each one took out a book to read till our train arrived.

We reached Delhi at 6 AM next day morning. Our flight to Bangalore was at 1:30 PM. We took a taxi to the airport. At the airport, we freshened up and checked in our baggage. Had burgers and relaxed in the lounge. While Shwetha peacefully slept, rest of us spent the time reading. IGI airport has a very good and well equipped lounge. We could also shop some books over here. Finally boarding call for our flight was made, we excitedly boarded the flight. We were back in Namma BengaLuru by 4:30 PM. We parted ways as we climbed into the beautiful BIAS buses.

As someone has said, On those proud and beautiful mountains we had lived hours of fraternal, warm and exalting nobility. There, for a few days we had ceased to be slaves and had really been men. As we landed back, it was hard to return to servitude.

--
Shashank

My Management Funda...

Disclaimer: This blog is based on personal experiences and inspired by Jack Welch’s book “Winning”.

I am no management guru like Jack Welch. But from my experiences I can say why some telecom bigwigs are making millions of losses and going down. I am listing out some reasons why the one time all powerful, full of innovation, technological marvels who have been in existence for 100s of years are sinking (or have already sunk)?

Sales & Marketing:
Often I have heard big telecom giants saying that their sales force is experienced in selling voice and telecom gear. Hence they are not successful in selling IP (or data) gear. Well this is the biggest BS of all. Well, for one thing, IP has been here for more than 20 years. You have been investing in IP for more than a decade. If you are still stuck with guys who can’t sell IP products, then somewhere, someone is not doing their job properly!

Building solutions isn’t enough! They must be sold to the customers. Sales are all about opportunities. If there aren’t any, you got to create it. Now for example, providing free access solution for KSRTC/BMTC Volvo buses. Its quite a sale. Involving at least 100 access boxes and backbone! Similarly, access solution in Railways, even if 10% of the trains use this solution, its good business. Agreed that there are no RFPs or whatever for these, but then, selling is all about creating opportunities, right? :-)

Acquisitions:
Making strategic acquisition is the most important way for the big - old companies to survive and grow. Cost saving cannot get you to profits (it only pisses off your employees), innovation and market changing ideas do. When you have 60 thousand disgruntled employees, you can be rest assured that path-breaking, market changing ideas are not going to come from within. If at all some one has an idea like that, they would obviously spin off and form a start-up of their own. So, its very important to acquire good start ups and continue to stay on in the game.

In my opinion, big companies should have a specialized team to monitor upcoming and existing start-ups in all countries. I also believe that strategic start-ups have to be picked up fairly early because (1) you get them at a cheaper price and (2) you get a highly motivated team. To realize the importance of acquisitions look at the companies those have missed strategic acquisitions: Nortel which missed acquiring Cisco and Yahoo which missed out taking over Google.

People Management:
People (or work force or resources) are an asset in any business. The problem starts when people become a liability. That’s when companies treat them badly, give bad hikes, make false promises and piss them off. This would result in disgruntled employees who don’t perform. Well, the problem here really lies with people management. Lack of open feedback, retaining and investing in loss making businesses are some of the reasons for this.

Candor is one of the most important qualities of people management. Honest feedback from the market, R & D etc has to be taken by the business leaders and given to the respective teams and then percolated down to the respective individuals. No Sugar coated words. Absolutely honest and direct feedback. This will (i) motivate highly performing people (ii) put some serious sense in under performers (either they will improve or quit or can be fired!). This way, people wouldn’t turn into liabilities!

Some other points are:
Celebrate successes, however small they are!
Get rid of bureaucracy!
Get rid of complex processes (and tools) that people don’t understand!
Keep your people well informed on all developments!
Let people grow! Promote them, give more responsibilities and recognize efforts with awards!
Finally you are a big company, act like one! Provide great facilities at the office. Treat your people really well. Understand that great cubicles, great furniture, neat pantry, clean rest rooms will motivate people better.

Every management book talks about this. Nobody really cares. That’s why big companies sink!!!

Image copyright: www.dilsecartoons.com

Cricket Superstition

Cricket!!
What a sport!! Only one where we get to see so much controversies, entertainment and also Sachin Tendulkar...

Like many passionate cricket fans, I am very superstitious when it comes to cricket. Whenever India is doing well in a match, switching channels, changing positions, moving around is strictly prohibited. Especially when Sachin Bats! Things are just frozen... However when India is doing badly, channels are switched, seats are changed hoping that the good omen will prevail up on our team

Somehow, for weird reasons these eccentricities seem to work! When Sachin is blazing all guns, if channels are switched, by the time we come back, he would have been out! Or, when the opposition is going strongly, switching places would actually fetch a wicket! Perhaps there are some cosmic connections here... I don't know...

What more! I had a friend of mine. She was amazingly lucky for Indian cricket. Whenever she watched the match India would win. Even from the most improbable situations! I totally attribute India's T20 world cup win ('07) to her.
On the other hand there was a friend in school. Whenever he walked into the room India would lose a wicket while batting!

I don't understand how these superstitions work or how they make sense. But I keep experiencing them very often!

Whatever it is, cricket is an awesome sport!

--Shashhh

Image courtesy: http://www.lefthandedtoons.com