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(Rebecca Hayhoe)
Wow! We’re on the trek! I can’t believe that something we’ve talked about for so long is finally here! Right now, I’m sitting on a rock at our campsite starring at the beautiful Himalayas. In the distance, I can see snow-peaked mountains. Dr. Sechin, Nichante, Anne and I left Herbertpur Christian Hospital at 6:00 AM. It took about 8 hours to reach our final destination point: Saura – just past Utterkassi. Along the way, we stopped once for breakfast and once more for a bathroom break. I was tired from only getting six hours of sleep the night before, but I couldn’t sleep in the car! This was probably because it was so exciting to see the mountains and also because the roads are so curvy. I’m so happy that I didn’t get carsick! Once we arrived in Saura, we began our trek at a large suspension bridge over Bhagirathi River. We started hiking at 2:00 PM and at 2:40 we reached a small village of Saura. We rested for about five minutes and then we were off! (the breaks sure were short – is this a taste of what’s to come??) At 4:00 we found our camping site for the night – only we were in trouble when we realized that the bridge to cross the river had disappeared! No worries! We continued on for about 5 more minutes and found several flat spots where we were able to set up camp. At the campsite, you can see two streams of water, the smaller eventually flows into the larger. It is a beautiful spot here, everything is green, the sound of rushing water is below us, that the mountains are in front of us. The altitude here is 5900 m. (Latitude: N30º44.160’ E078º36.287’) I am feeling in such awe of the creation around me! Incredible! Today, I was tired after even two hours of hiking – though it’s amazing how much energy short breaks and chocolate can give you! Once we reached our site, the first thing we did was set up our tents. It’s been thundering and may rain any minute. So far, we’ve only felt a few raindrops. It’s amazing how much the temperature drops with the altitude! I actually like getting away from the hot weather. All that hiking made me work up an appetite…. Can’t wait for dinner!
Belak Khar (Khar = Pass) is our final destination today, but I sure am tired! Last night for dinner we had some thick vegetable soup, stew, peanut butter, bread, and tea; much more food than I expected and very good! We were in bed by 9:00, but before bed, we sat around the campfire for awhile and tried to sing some Canadian songs for our Indian tour guides! I’m not sure how well we represented Canadian Folk Music!
This morning we were awake by 5:45, but still got more than 8 hours of sleep. We had porridge, coffee, peanut butter (yes, from Canada!), jam and bread. By 8:40 AM, we were off. Before we could go far, we had to find a way to cross the river. We were successful, and after we crossed the river, they was a fork in the trail – we veared to the left – almost a complete U-turn. After walking uphill for two hours, we deserved a break!
We stopped for some more peanut butter and jam, and continued to trek uphill the rest of the way! Along the way, we passed a few pilgrims, about 10 people repairing a bridge, and about three km before we reached our final destination; we bought some milk from a woman living in a little farming area. The hardest part from today was when we arrived in a dense forest with lots of pine trees – it was so steep! At 3:00, we arrived in the small village of Belak Khar which has about 10 shop. This little village was originally for pilgrims who are trekking to temples. We set up our tents right away, and checked on our little computer… we’re at 9646 feet!! We climbed 3700 vertical feet in one day! Apparently today is the second hardest day – hope now we’re ready for the rest! So far tonight, we’ve eaten some soup and had some hot coffee. Now we’re just taking a break before we eat again.
So last night I wasn’t feeling so well….I was told I had a bit of altitude sickness. I took some Pepto-Bismol, Gravol, Advil, and my malaria pill – guess all the drugs helped because this morning I felt much better! Last night, we had soup and then we rested. I took some time to read, and reflect. I was sad because I was feeling sick because all I wanted to do was stare at the mountains and enjoy every second! Later that evening, we had some pasta and bread, but I wasn’t feeling too well, so I went to bed soon afterwards. We were in bed by 8:00 – falling asleep by 8:30, guess we were tired!
We woke up this morning between 5:30 and 6:00 – this is the life! We had tea right after we woke up prepared by Dr. Setchin. (Oh I just remembered – the fun part about yesterday’s trek was that was played games along the way – mind games! It helped the time pass quickly). So, for breakfast this morning, we had rice pudding, and peanut butter and jam. We’re taking it easy this morning. Anne and I are just having some quiet time, while Dr. Setchin and Nichante go exploring. From our campsite, we can see three snow covered mountain peaks – I wish the clouds weren’t in the way! This morning, Anne and I learned some cool yoga stretches. Dr. Setchin was teaching us the moves! I can’t forget, one of the best things about this morning was Anne giving me a massage (I also gave her one!) – perfect relief for sore muscles! Apparently we have an easy hike ahead of us, so should be good.
5870 feet is where we are now! Today we decended 8 km or 3776 ft to a small village where Dharam Ganga River and the trail meet. We left the site this morning at 11:40 and started downhill right away. At the beginning of our decent, it was a forest-like area. The ground was carpeted with oak leaves and pine trees surrounded us. I think this is what B.C. (Canada) looks like.
Now I’m testing my memory from yesterday. When we were going through the forest, something funny happened! There was a cow (or bull?) chasing us! We escaped though… Soon we came out of the forest and went downhill – very steep! It was a clearing where we could see for miles. We went past a bridge that was under construction. I learned that even when things like bridges aren’t complete, or are damaged, there is always another way around. Right after we passed the bridge, we walked through green pastures where there were sheep grazing. There were also a group of men playing cards. We guessed that they were betting on who would have to do the work on the bridge next! The scenery changed once again and it seemed as if we were walking through a rainforest. It was quite dark and ‘nature’s music’ was all around us. After some time, around 5:15 – we reached a small village in a valley called Jhala. We pitched our tents beside the rushing river. Anne and I were going to swim, but we decided we were too cold once we got settled so we agreed to go in the morning. It was raining so we ate dinner in our respective tents – chicken teriyaki and soup. Later, we had tomato-garlic soup and warm milk from the local villagers. Anne and I gave each other much deserved massages again and we fell asleep very quickly! I realized that downhill is not always so easy – you have to use different kinds of muscles, and I was VERY sore last night!
When I got up this morning, going for water was painful – I had no idea how I would do any more trekking! But I did. First, Anne and I braved the cold water and attempted to wash our hair. Last night, we tried to wash our clothes, which I don’t think the local villagers were very happy about. They got mad at Dr. Setchin and Nichante when we told them to take pictures of us washing our clothes. I learn more and more about cultural sensitivity every day! By the way, our clothes never did dry overnight – which is frustrating! For breakfast, we had cornflakes with warm milk, and by 9:30 we were on our way. Overall, the trek today was long, but mostly flat, especially in the morning. We followed the river and approached the ‘big’ town of Budha Kedar. As we traveled, the villages we passed became more and more populated. Right after leaving our campsite in the morning, we had to cross the river and the area was very rocky. Soon we came across three girls (Barbita was one) who were carrying a huge basketful of leaves on their backs. Anne and I switched packs with them. I was amazed by how much work the girls have to do everyday – and at such a young age! (Looking back, that experiences was one of the highlights of my whole trip). After saying goodbye to the girls, we met up with the same two pilgrims that we had seen before. On was feeling sick, so Dr. Setchin gave him Flagyl and we gave him some of our Gatorade. Hope he’s feeling better. Our next stop was the Hindu temple in Budha Kedar. To our surprise, we saw the two pilgrims again! Inside the temple, we were given an explanation of everything in the temple, but the only problem for Anne and I was that everything was in Hindi. After the temple, we stopped at a little hotel for lunch. Our legs were getting a nice long break! By the time we finished it was 1:30 in the afternoon, and we still had to do our steepest climb – in the heat of the day! After the climb, we reached the other part of Budah Kedar called Bina-Khar. It started pouring rain when we got there! So we took a little break at a little tea shop to wait out the storm. We also refilled on fuel at this point. As the storm got lighter, we ventured out into the rain and went through the village. We had a beautiful view of how farming is done in the Himalayas. We could see every shade of green and brown descend like a staircase down the mountain. After the rain decreased to just a drizzle, we saw an amazing rainbow! It was a reward for us! By this time, it was late in the day, and it was crucial to find a campsite. We had a goal – we had to find a campsite before dark! Suddenly, out of nowhere, I got a random burst of energy! I did my best to keep up with Dr. Setchin, and I was pretty successful! Finally, around 6:00, we arrived at a clearing where there are a few ‘cottages’ around. Water is not far. After Budha Kedar, it was a nice gradual uphill, a pretty nice walk. We’ve now come to 6271 feet. We are surrounded by hills. (Looking back, this was the place where we had the best view of the stars on the whole trek. The stars were like a canopy over our heads! I think it’s one of my favourite things about the trek…) I felt like sleeping right after dinner, but it was the most uncomfortable sleep ever! I had gotten a bit sunburned, and every muscle was hurting! Somehow, I managed to get up again this morning but I sure need an Advil!
Today was a day of unexpected rest. We left camp at 9:45 – Dr. Setchin lost the trail – but thank goodness he found it again. We only hiked for two hours until we reached the beautiful spot of Hart Kuni. Here, the altitude is 7830.
Wow, I can’t believe I’ve made it this far! I love it and my body kills at the same time. Yesterday’s hike was not too eventful – mostly steady with some uphill. After two hours, I couldn’t believe that this is where we were spending the night. Although it was nice to have a rest, part of me wanted to keep on going. We had some time to explore – then we ate lunch. While we were still exploring, I was just sitting on a rock, and it turned out that I got pretty sunburned! After lunch we had some naptime, and I couldn’t sleep because it was just so humid, so instead, I decided to spend some time reading. That night, Anne and I cooked dinner – mushroom masela with rice and lentils – pretty good for amateur cooks in the mountains! After dinner, it was bedtime and before we knew it, it was 6:30 the next morning and someone was waking us up! We had porridge for breakfast, and we were gone by 8:15. We went through the little village, and went uphill about 200m to the ridge. On the other side of the ridge, we began our descent. On the way down, we passed Kapad-Dhar (sheep breeding farm). We were on our way through the village Gutu. Gutu is on the way to the popular trail Katring Glacier and Sahasra Tal (8000 Lakes). At Gutu we hitched a ride with a truck driver who drove us to the market (Sojesin Drama). Good thing we hadn’t eaten lunch because it sure was a bumpy ride! We had some lunch at the market in the village – chowmein & omelets. We also picked up some fresh veggies and fruit for dinner later. As we exited the village, we started uphill again. We passed many water mills and two rivers. The larger one was quite dirty! (Probably from monsoon season) As we went up and up, it was very much like rock climbing. Trees were getting scarce, and we were beginning to wonder where out campsite would be! When we found a place, there was no water. Anyways, it was ok because I didn’t really like that campsite. Finally, at 4:30, we arrived at a spot on the top of a hill – with an amazing view! Although I was hoping for a place to somewhat ‘wash’ my hair (at least rinse it out!) – water is still close by, and I’m happy about the progress we made today. It’s crazy, because before the trek, I didn’t know if I could actually do it, but now that I’m here, I’m determined to finish and make the most of it! Oh right, the bad thing about tonight is that the stove broke so we’re cooking by campfire. That’s also fun! We had soup, potatoes and tea. Maybe Dr. Setchin will fix the stove!!
Currently we’re at 10 520 feet, although the highest point of our whole journey yesterday was 10 970. Crazy! We left yesterday at 8:15 AM, traveling uphill the whole way. At the beginning, the area was very forested and a thick fog was setting in. Around noon, we stopped at a small village where we were giving warm milk. As we continued to travel uphill, we could barely see each other, the fog was so thick. The forest started to look enchanted and then it got quite rocky. There were more wildflowers than trees. We climbed quite a steep uphill for about an hour and then we reached our highest point! (10 970 feet) At 3:30, we found our campsite in a little village called Panwali. . We had a great meal and even had dessert! Overall, we traveled 15 km. Later, we visited a Muslim gudru’s (nomad) house. It was very different from any of the other houses we had seen. It was made of clay and wood, with a ‘fireplace’ inside. The family lives very simply, and has a house for the summer and one for the winter – which they must build every season. Later that night, we went to bed at 8:30 and prayed that it wouldn’t be foggy in the morning. We really wanted to see the snow-peaked mountains! Anyways, this morning, when we woke up, it was like an amazing surprise to see the mountains – so close! I can tell that the clouds are coming in again. I hope it clears so we can take pictures!
So they told us that yesterday was the hardest day, but I think today really was! We were told that yesterday we reached our highest point, but actually today we did – 11,700 feet! Today, we left Panwali at 9:30 and we stopped at a little shop in the village for some cookies. We found out that a snake had bitten someone – so Dr. Setchin went to see how he was doing. We never really found out what happened, but it’s crazy that there are lots of snakes around! We were on the trail by 9:45. It started out as a beautiful day, some uphill, some flat, but there was one really hard hill. As we were reaching the top of the hill it started getting cloudy and just before we reached our very highest point, it started hailing! There was no choice but to keep on going (or we’d die of hypothermia, according to Dr. Setchin). After about 15 minutes, the hailing stopped, but it kept pouring rain. I was soaked! It was at this point where most of my motivation was lost. We were started to go downhill, so my knee started hurting. To add to all that, my contacts were killing me. I was wet, cold, hungry, etc, etc… I was sure I’d lost my marbles along with the hail storm! All day, it seemed like we were goinig up more than we were going down. Because of the rain, all of the paths were like a river. By around 2:00, the rain became less and less, and we crossed two waterfalls. We had one last steep climb and then we started our descent. With every step, my knee hurt more and more. Just when we wanted to give up, we saw Dr. Setchin way ahead of us, sitting at a little house. He told us we were going to stop and have some tea. It was the perfect medicine! The little villiage where we had tea was called Maggri Chai. After about a half an hour longer downhill (one more km), we arrived at our campsite. It’s so beautiful! There’s a waterfall and rivers, the only problem is that everything we own is wet! We arrived at our campsite at 4:00 tonight after trekking for 15 kms, and six and a half hours was without stopping! I can’t believe that it’s the 8th day! Right now, I stink, really need a shower of some sort, everything I have is dirty etc, but it was all worth it! I’m glad that Dr. Setchin video-taped us because we’re going to have such great memories of this trip. For now, I hope I sleep ok tonight since everything is so wet! One day to go…
We left our campsite in the morning and descended down in the valley steadily. Snow peaks to the north seemed just a handshake away. The trail was lost under heaps of fallen leaves. Difficult to read the trail here and there. Finally we got down to the biggish pilgrim village called- Triyuginarayan. Had lunch here at a rustic shop. Dr Sachin tried to negotiate with a car driver to drive us down to Sonprayag. But the driver was already booked by a passenger. The passenger was not willing to let the driver do this side trip. So we continued walking down, in spite of our joints protesting, and reached Sonprayag by about 4 pm. A hired car drove us to Guptkashi. From Guptkashi, another Mahendra jeep drove us all the way down to plains – Rishikesh, Dehradun and finally Herbertpur. It was 1 am as we entered the hospital.
End.
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