After the refreshing trek to the Valley of Flowers , our next destination was Hemkund . Situated at an altitude of 15,000ft, its going to be the toughest one of all our trekking routes. Even if the trail is only about 6km from Gangaria, the steeply inclining path will require that we climb a staggering 5,000ft !! Adding to the challenge: the higher that you go, the more terrible that the path gets and more unpredictable that the weather becomes.  Thats going to be tough even for a physically well-fit person. After the last 2 days of toiling, many in our group had decided to take a pony either for the climb or descend or both ways.

Taking the same path uphill from Gangaria but instead of turning left, we head straight as if to plunge into the falling Lakshman Ganga. Fortunately the path curves just before the waterfalls and for the first time in these mountains we see a way that is clearly visible ascending by the side of a mountain range snaking all the way up to its higher reaches. At this high altitude, the mountains have virtually no trees, not even tall shrubs; thus giving a wholesome and astonishing view of the landscape.

It wasn’t only the stupid nature of this particular mule, infact riding a mule itself wasn’t an enjoyable affair. And a bumpy ride meant that i had to constantly keep my hands held on to the hold and couldn’t snap those breathtaking views….for it would have really taken my breath out if i was flung off-hill. And the mules that i was riding seems to be among the strongest, as they overtook as many groups and reached uphill in 1hr 30mins, superfast!

But despite all, one have to appreciate the great stamina and endurance of the pony-walla (the person commanding the ponies) who accompanies the whole ride on foot along with the galloping mules! He claimed that on a single day he would do 4 trips uphill, earning around 500-600 bucks per mule per trip.  Thats an extraordinary 24km/20,000ft uphill and the same amount downhill. Here we have to note that he didn’t mean that 4 trips was his capacity, its limited so, just because of the time restricting a day!!

Starting, the trail opens as a wide, well laid-out stone-paved mountain path and folds like a serpent clamped onto the side of a steep mountain. As we go higher, the path narrows a bit, only a bit, so still stays sufficiently wide enough but the paved stones become a random disorder and at some places, its nothing more than a clayey sludge. At one point, the path cuts right across the middle of a stunningly large glacier and we had to pass right under the hanging colossus. Finally when we reached Hemkund at around 9.30am, it was thankfully a very clear weather.

Hemkund means “the Bowl in Himalayas “. Infact the place looks so, with a large, almost circular, glacial lake surrounded by seven towering peaks. And just like the Valley of Flowers, Hemkund also has its share of legends, infact several times more….

For hundreds of years, the locals had known the lake as “Lokpal “. Hindu mythology claims the place to be of Gods and where great sages, kings and princes had meditated. Notably Lakshman, brother of Rama, had rested, meditated and recovered, by the banks of this lake after being fatally wounded in the Lankan battle. A temple to Lakshman is rare but one does exist here.

Sri Guru Gobind Singh , the tenth Sikh Guru had written that he had meditated in his previous existence in a place that he describes as “Hemkund Parbat Sapat Sring”, a lake of ice adorned with seven moutain peaks, before leaving his earthly form.  But nobody knew where it was. In 1934, after months of searching, a Sikh soldier, Sohan Singh came across Lokpal and identified it to be the place described by Guru Gobind Singh. Subsequently the Sikhs built on the banks of the lake, “Hemkund Sahib “, star-shaped, concrete and stone structure, designed like a inverted Lotus, the highest Gurudwara in the world !! The place became a popular Sikh pilgrimage destination.

As the hall emptied, i took several snaps of the Holy throne and the Sikh emblem. To educate you a bit about them:

The throne contains the holy book - Sri Guru Granth Sahib which describes God, morals and ethics of Sikhism. The tenth Sikh Guru had declared that living Gurus are no longer necessary and had written the sacred literature to succeed as the 11th and eternal Guru of the faith. All Gurudwaras contain a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib and its worshipped not as an idol (Sikhs reject idol worship) but as the Supreme Authority of their faith.

In this snap, you can find in the grill of the throne and in the arrangement of the swords, the Sikh emblem - Khanda . It consists of 3 weapons: a double-edged sword in the centre(Khanda) which represents the knowledge of God, a circular weapon (Chakkar) which represents the eternal nature of God and oneness of humanity, two single-edged swords(kirpan) which represents the political and spiritual sovereignty.

On retracing back to the bathing side of the lake, i met with Rinkoo, one of the volunteers who protects the lake from being defiled by unsuspecting visitors. He said its ok for us to climb the rocky mountain adjoining the bathing ghats where we find plentiful of Brahmakamal shrubs. Only that we must not pluck the flower or damage its ground. This exotic flower is not found even in the Valley of Flowers, it thrives in much more high altitudes like Hemkund.

After few snaps, i turned around to come down and what a surprise? Everything had vanished in thin air! I mean the clouds and mist had suddenly descended upon the whole place as if someone had pulled a white sheet over them and all the beautiful views were gone. The lake and gurudwara were barely visible and the surrounding mountains have all disappeared into thick fog.

I have been hanging around the place for more than 2 hours and the weather had been so nice till now. Unfortunately for the people of our group who were climbing by foot, most of them had just arrived or still arriving. And all they got to see was a foggy, bleached, un-inspiring version of what it was a few minutes before. And their disappointment was doubled by the fact that the weather is not going to get any better, there is not much time and everyone must start descending from Hemkund as quickly before the weather gets any worse.

The Gurudwara runs a langar nearby which serves free food for all visitors. Piping hot dal porridge and tea! That was the lunch for our group and its the right kind of food for the climate and was a good nourishment.

Energized, i set upon the task of descending Hemkund. Just like yesterday, my shoes accelerated the descend and provided good cushioning. The weather was drizzling and didn’t permit any more photography.

After hours of frentic climbdown, sometime around 4PM, i reached down to Gangaria where it was quite sunny. And it had been totally a great day out with the Nature..!

Eritrichium conum - Alphine forget-me-nots lining the track leading to Valley of Flowers

Anaphalis triplinervis

Geranium wallichianum - Ratijari, the most common plant in the valley

Anemone rivularis - The pretty white Daipha

Potentilla Atrosanguinea

Ligularia amplexicaulis

Selinum tenuifolium

Aster stracheyi

Aster albescens

Impatiens glandulifera - The abundant pink Himalayan Balsam that we found everywhere

Codonopsis virdis - Bonnet Bellflower

Potentilla anserina - Silver weed (not very sure since it has more than 5 petals)

Saussurea Obvallata - Brahmakamal, Holy flower and the State Flower of Uttarakhand (its grows only in very high altitudes and this one was captured actually in Hemkund)

Bistorta affinis - Fleece flower

Solidago virga aurea - Golden rod

Morina longifolia

Campanula latifolia - Giant Bellflower

Gymnadenia orchidis - an orchid

Senecio Chrysanthemoides

Angelica archangelica - Choru

Lady bug over Selinum tenuifolium

Lady bug inside Potentilla Atrosanguinea

Honey bee over Angelica archangelica

I have made a reasonable effort to identify the flowers properly using the flowerbook bought on Valley of Flowers and also many of them using web or cross verified online. But i’m not a botanist, so If anyone finds an error, please let me know.

Still a few couldn’t be identified: the nameless flowers….

Not the least, here is the full list of main plant species in the Valley of Flowers as listed in the check post :

My only regret, i missed to capture the sky-blue colored Himalayan Blue Poppy and the Cobra Lily which many had captured in our group.

We are here in Gangaria for the next 2 days. Its our base from which we will trek each day to the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund.

Today, again we were early birds and after the usual dose of Aloo Parathas, all are set to move by 7AM. There was a lot of difference between yesterday and today’s trek. No rucksacks, they were laid to rest in the lodge. We were carrying only our daypack with essentials for trekking. The mood was upbeat as its not going to be any tough and everyone was looking forward to this mystic land: Valley of Flowers.

Uphill from Gangaria, the path diverges into two, the one leading to the left halts in a checkpost to the Valley of Flowers. The main valley is reached by a 3km ascending trek along a jungle path, which follows the course of Pushpawati river. At Gangaria, the Pushpawati river merges with Lakshman Ganga river which comes from Hemkund.

The Valley of Flowers is nestled in the high altitudes of West Himalayas and famous for its rich and diverse alphine flora. Sprawled with meadows of beautiful flowers, rare medicinal plants, endangered animals and birds, it was protected as a National Park of India since 1982 and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1988. The pathway through the main valley stretches to about 5km but the park itself is spread around 87.5 sq km. Throughout most of the year, the valley is covered under deep snow and is inaccessible. Only from June to October its open when the snow had melted and the valley awakes with the monsoon rains to a wonderful mass flowering of the landscape.

Gathering at the checkpost leading to the National park, we get a briefing from Sunand on our responsibility to be sensitive to this protected zone and environment. We take a good look at the maps and take snaps of our leading team….

Trekking organizers of IQUEST India, (from left): Sunand, Deepak, Jagadish and Tarzan.

I was snapping a lot of photos with people that i was barely covering any distance. And timely, Deepak reminded me that we got still 3kms to climb and i got to keep moving. The atmosphere was cool, humid and our trail was shaded with a lush forest.

We crossed the bridge across the Pushpawati river which was flowing fiercely wild. Thankfully no mules were permitted into the park, so the paths were clean, uncontaminated and smells refreshingly good. If someone wants to be carried the only way was to use porters who carry people in a wooden basket strapped to their backs.

As we progress further, the path gets narrow and the slopes of Pushpawati gets deeper. With more steeper climbs, i ran out of breath quite quickly and sweat profusely. But unlike yesterday there was no pains, no strains, no cramps. The only unease was i’m mostly alone and my pace of walk doesn’t match with anyone. I was slow for the faster ones and fast for the slower ones. And also i take innumerable breaks which was not the case with many. However, i was too happy to be able to make this trekking and left all other botherings away.

At about 1.6km we get a distant glimpse of the valley. My goodness, what can i say:

who laid this green carpet between the folds of mountains

who puffed away these smoky clouds making them drift halfway

who dribbled the crystal streams from cracks of slopes

who light the whole canvas revealing Sun’s rays in transparent shades

who did it,…

Possibly to highlight us the perils that come with beauty, we came across a landslide. We had to literally crawl across this rocky mess to continue.

Shortly afterwards, i saw for the first time with my eyes, a glacier! But its too far down to be reached and almost in thinner form melting away with the river.

The trail turned with folds of mountains, at about 2.2 km, i came into view of my another first, the snow-capped peaks of Himalayas, possibly: Mt.Rataban (6126m). The highest point of the valley was Mt.Gauri Parbat (6590m).

Finally we reach a stream whose bridge is still being built and we crossed it using a make-shift bridge made of metal sheets and wooden planks.

Voila! Here we are at the entrance of the main valley at an altitude of 3660m..!

Well before this valley is known to the outside world, the locals know it as the Bhyundar Valley, the playground of fairies and nymphs. Several legends was associated with it, the popular one being from the historic epic - Ramayana, that Hanuman collected the Sanjeevani herb from this place. In 1931 Frank Smyth, a English man accidentally discovered the place when returning from a mountaineering expedition to Mt.Kamet. He wrote a book naming it as “The Valley of Flowers”, which exposed the place internationally and brought its popular fame.

A big rock sits near the entrance to the main valley. And that was Vijay and Subash on top of it. The path snakes across almost a flat terrain with cobbled stones and shrubs sometimes as high as a man were flanking on both sides with colorful flowers. Mind it, its not a plantation but see how well it seems to be landscaped across the vast plains.

The flowers were mostly tiny, paper thin and without much fragrance. Obviously many were disappointed, coming from Bangalore, the Flower shows of the city or even their rooftop gardens or balcony flowerpots would have had more voluminous and fragrant flowers.

I had known that it will be like this in nature and in the high alpine zone. So it wasn’t any disappointment, infact i was looking forward to it very much. I think most of the women, all photo enthusiasts and nature minded people liked it. But the hardy trekkers dismissed them and some of them didn’t even pause to look closely. They declared that all are same wild papers and fervently finished they trekking to the end and returned quickly to spread a disappointing news to all the slow trekkers who had just reached the valley.

Unmindful of the hanging rumour, i walked across cheerfully and what a paradise it is for macro photography. If one explores closely, they can find several unseen tiny flowers and insects. Its beauty is only for the eyes of someone who can appreciate it. I was told that the color of the valley would change frequently in a matter of few days depending on the bloom of certain species of plants. So some signs erected near the plants made no sense because their season had finished already.

Only a careful eye, could find a unique flower hidden somewhere distant. Mostly a closeup was difficult and i didn’t step out of the path for fear of damaging the plants.

At farther end of the plains, there was a memorial for Miss Joan Margaret Legge, a botanist who had visited the valley in 1939 after reading Frank’s book. She worked to collect specimens of plant species but unfortunately slipped and fell to her death. A memorial had been erected in her memory at the site of her burial by her sister who came to India later.

Eventhough i was not tired, due to mounting confusion of our group timings to return, i had to retreat without visiting the memorial and going any further. Its a pity that i spend only 3 hrs in the main valley but atleast it was in a very good clear weather. By the time that we returned to the big rock at the entrance and finished our packed lunch of pooris, the drizzling had started for the day. Wrapping in rain suits, i started the climb down. Bye bye Valley of Flowers!

This is the first time during our trekking, that we were climbing down and surprisingly i found that to be quite easy. So easy, that i couldn’t do anything except a rapid roll down along the trail. Except to slow and restrain during the turns and when crossing people, i couldn’t decrease the momentum at all. I had become a Rolling Stone!

Later i found that it wasn’t easy for many others who have did their climbs easily. And the credit goes entirely to my trekking shoes which had thick rubber soles cushioning the effect of landing hard on the stones and protecting my knees from strain. Well, that was atleast one preparation that i did for the trekking and the investment worked!

When the drizzles emptied, i took several macro photos of the flowers on the lower valley. Considering that there were several of them, i will make a separate post for the flowers.

Crossing the checkpost, i tumbled down to Gangaria, to the dormitory and there the dutiful massager was just waiting for me. After the foot massage and a bit of rest, we went around the little village and had some hot Gulabjamuns and Onion pakoras. The day couldn’t be any better than it was…

Half-way through the trek from Govindghat to Gangaria, i made one of my long breaks in a road-side dhaba(shop).

My knowledge of Hindi was pathetic but i had hardly any need to use it as i was travelling in a group. Now being alone, didn’t warrant any concern because one needs to just point and the prices were well known. At my previous break, i had seen a few people taking lemon juice and had learned that it was called as “Nimbu Panni”.

So here i’am in a dhaba ordering the Nimbu panni. Usually the shop-walla(shop keeper) should just start working on it. But this fellow, sales-minded as i presumed, enquired, “Bananaa?”. I looked at the fruits spread across the counter and the not-so-encouraging bananas. I framed my reply as short as possible, “Naani, naani, only nimbu panni”(No, no, only lemon juice).

The shop-walla repeated again which sounded like, “Banana heey?” I wasn’t impressed. Why the hell he wants to sell those bananas. I replied more or less in the same way, “Naani, no banana, only nimbu paani”.

The shop-walla appeared confused. He made gestures of squeeing the lemons and asked again, “Bananaa hey?” Looking carefully at his actions, i thought i had understood. He wants to know if i would like banana in the lemon juice. What? If eating banana along with lemon juice would be odd, then having it squeezed into my lemon juice would be unthinkably weird. My reply is more complicated because i wanted to remove the thought of adding banana into my lemon juice from his mind. So i got out of my chair, faced him straight and told him firmly with as many gestures, that i do not want banana and wanted Nimbu panni, only nimbu panni without the banana.

The guy was baffled and tongue-tied. Hesitatingly, he repeated again the only word or the only fruit that he had to offer, “Banana heey?” My patience went off. Infact i thought for a moment, was it somekind of local speciality that he insists to add the banana into the lemon juice and will it really taste good.

No, no, in whatever way, it doesn’t make any gastronomic sense for me!!

But this conversation was going nowhere, we were looping within the same, “banana?”, “No banana, only nimbu panni” exchange. I looked around for help and fortunately found Akash and his wife Lakshmi round the corner restarting after their break. I rushed to them and explained my situation. First, Laksmi felt the situation to be as strange as i had felt. After few exchanges with the shop-walla, she broke out in laughter.

The shop-walla wasn’t asking to sell either the banana or to put the banana in the lemon juice. He was just asking whether he can prepare it, which in Hindi could be properly asked as “banana?”

And that explains everything: why he was asking that again and again and why we were looping in our conversation. Every time that he wanted my confirmation to prepare(banana?), i was refusing but reaffirming again my order. Ah! I had tested the poor fellow a lot and made a mockery of the whole situation with my indifference to Hindi.

Finally, Akash couple reassured me that there will be no banana in the lemon juice and i gave my order, “”Nimbu panni bananaa heey”

It became a popular comedy with our group and with as many ones, it never failed to provoke copious outbursts of laughter. Prahalad, our young friend and room-mate found it to be extremely hilarious that he sort of became the official broadcaster of the comedy through the group.

After all that, for me, it was one more word learned in Hindi with extreme fun!

The much anticipated trekking started today…

In our dormitory, we were all ready by 5AM. Outside from the courtyard of Sankaracharya Math, the atmosphere was surreal. I didn’t understand what the Head Priest explained us yesterday night with such enthusiasm, pointing into the dark misty regions but now i can see them all. We were right in the middle facing a giant stage erected by Mother Nature, the curtains of clouds were tearing up and revealing in beautiful bits and pieces, the majestic Himalayan mountains posing in the centre and flanked on both sides of the sloping hills was the township of Joshimath.

We hauled our rucksacks and climbed the zigzag streets to our gathering point in GMVN hotel. It was a bit far and the few mins of steep walk felt like a trial run. I didn’t feel the weight of my rucksack eventhough i had sweated out one full cycle already. It was normal for me but i was still considering whether i should give away my rucksack to be carried by a mule. I had already enlisted for it. After the briefing, we set off in buses from Joshimath to Govind ghat from where we will begin our trek.

Govind ghat located at the confluence of the rivers, Alaknanda and Lakshman Ganga at about 6,000ft above sea level was the drop off point from NH 58. From here a 13km track which is not motorable and only passable by foot or by mule leads to Gangaria which is at 10,000ft. This route is fairly crowded due to incessant pilgrim traffic to the Gurudwara at Hemkund. And there are dhabas atleast at every 2 or 3km and even a little village in the middle of trail. By professional standards of trekking, we were said it was quite easy one.

Piles of our rucksacks were gathered to be carried on top of mules. And it appeared that most of us had decided to part with them. I was still considering and undecided. First, i was confident that i can manage to walk up the 13km trail and i was just trying to build some more confidence so that i can do that as well with my rucksack. Even for the walking, i had no previous record or preparation or had even attempted anything lesser of that sort. So without any tangible evidence, i was building castles and castles out of confidence, blind confidence! Atleast it would be considerate if these castles were beside the seashore but unfortunately they have to be perched precariously on the steep altitudes of Himalayas. Do i have a chance? and out of what stupid idea that i was trying to pull myself with a 10kg rucksack?? You know, i have a fundamental lethargy to evaluate tiny numbers, i mean the single and double digits. So what is this 10kg and 13km are going to bother me from a true trekking experience. (I had no idea of the 4 digit altitude at this moment) With that glowing thought, i went beaming and withdrew my rucksack from the list.

After a moderate breakfast of Aloo Parathas, we set on to cross the hanging bridge across Alaknanda river and started climbing the mountain path. I had no watch but it must be around 8.30 AM and the Sun rays were in full glory heating up the sides of mountains that we were traversing. I was sweating as much like the stream that gushes beside our trail in the deep gorges. With passing time, my rucksack seemed to swell and weigh more, exhaution swept across body, dehydration was too fast and drinking water didn’t seem to help. Despite being aware that i shouldn’t do it faster, i started to drag myself more rigourously and without break.

Barely 2 kms away, practicalities became clearer and limits of confidence were evident. My back was aching and the legs were getting cramps. Certainly mere confidence wasn’t going to make me cross the rest of the journey. I tried to carry on for some more time. But some rectification was needed immediately. So when i found that some of our group’s elderly women had taken to ride on mules, i finally decided to give up my rucksack with them. Relief was immediately felt. Infact my pace improved and i started even walking with batches of other trekkers here and there.

Unfortunately the status didn’t last longer. About another km and the distress came back but now its only muscle cramps which kept recurring in painful cycles across my thighs. And my stupid self had hurriedly thrown away everything with the rucksack that i didn’t have the first aid kit. Thankfully i was within the sight of some of our group. Someone spared their Relispray and Deepa advised some leg exercises. After some rest, i continued. The cramps occurred again but in a different muscle. It seems to be the high time when the body is reminding me that the leg is indeed composed of several muscles and that they do exist…..and that they did exist in idle for so long!

Now there was no one near by and i progressed slowly whenever the cramps subdued. At one moment, my legs froze and i couldn’t move even a step more. And then i saw at distance below Sunand, our expedition leader and few others. It was a mixture of relief and anxiety. Anxiety because as all of us know, Sunand was the one who was lingering behind and pursuing the whole group at their end. The Relispray was borrowed once again and Ratha gave some Homeopathic pills (forgot the name) for pain relief. We had a long break with a bit of chit chat. Sunand cast no doubts about my ability and only advised me to take water more frequently as i might be dehydrating a lot.

By now, the trail had trees and shrubs shading the path from the hot sun. Cool breeze lifted up the spirits and my sagging confidence was restored. Somehow i felt that till now, all the efforts of trekking had unconsciously deviated into a sort of manual labour, with eyes fixated on the cobbled paths. The nature around was hardly relished. So i unwrapped my camera again and decided to distract myself out of the monotonous walk. By now i had also learned the basics of trekking and had a better idea of how to progress further, how to walk steadly unhurried, when to stop for breaks to avoid cramps. Thankfully i had been carrying the snacks of dried fruit and nuts, rainwear and the torch. Sunand had also given me his wooden stick for supporting the climb. What great help it did. All these are going to help me for the next several hours with more unexpected turn of events.

I walked, walked, walked, walked, walked as slowly and steadily as i can. Don’t be tired of my writing, i would indeed repeat the word “walk”, even an umpteen times more because truly - believe me: it was the amount of effort that i made painstakingly. Several short breaks were taken, just pausing without resting. And every hour or less, i took a major break resting for several minutes chewing the dried fruits and nuts for quick energy and gulping electrol dissolved water or the spicy Nimbu pani (lime juice) from a dhaba rehydrating the body. I also took the homeopathic medicine from Ratha again twice during the breaks.

As i got better, the challenges also got better. The weather started to drizzle. No sooner that i had wrapped myself in full rain suit, the sun started shining again. Within the unbreathable rainwear, i was sweating profusely and had to strip them off. Nature turned tyrant. It started to rain then. Quickly i repackage myself into the rainwear. Atleast the game was over. And it rained cats and dogs. By now, i was crossing the village which was in the middle of the trail and about 7 kms from Gangaria. About halfway reached…

At this time, my pace had also steadily moved ahead of Sunand and few others tailing the group. And more or less i was strolling in sight of Chandrasekhar couple from chennai. I had skipped my Lunch and settled for more snacks and water. The rains continued to pourdown intermittently.

About 3kms away from Gangaria, the track went nasty and very steep. There was not a bit of order, stones of various sizes where strewn randomly, the rains have made a sludge of the soil and the rocks were slippery. Garnishing the precarious ground were the excreta of the mules and their unbearable stench. Without the metal tipped wooden stick, i could have certainly spoiled or atleast soiled myself a lot in this rough patch. After 2 kms of struggle, the path became flooded. A fresh stream was flowing across the path where i happily washed off my shoes.

Crossing across, in the next few metres, a group of man-made structures were visible. The lights were failing and i increased my pace. Only when i had come closer i see a sign, marking a further 1 km for Gangaria. And the structures were a camping site outside Gangaria. But it was too late and the stupid mistake had been already done. By moving faster in anticipation of reaching, i had exhausted myself completely. Now, i had to drag myself for the last leg of the journey. I’m in sight of no one, either in front or back. Its getting dark and worse cold. I wasn’t wearing any warm clothes. I continued in my rain coats. Fortunately its wasn’t raining anymore and the path was well-laid and solid.

Finally i reached Gangaria, collected my rucksack and checked-in our humble lodging.

What i needed desperately was a good soak of my foot or better a foot massage. Forget about searching for it, i dont have even a faint idea that its possible in this forsaken place.

Not a minute after i had entered the dormitory, a man poked in enquiring of something in Hindi for “Molish”. Now, why would somebody what to polish their shoes here. Possibly to exterminate the mule shit? But wait, he wasn’t carrying any wax, instead it was tiny vials of oil. Prahalad was busy shooing away the intruder and i hurriedly interrupted him asking to enquire for me in Hindi, “Is it a massage?”. After few exchanges, he confirmed my guess. Yes, it was. I gave out a big sign of relief, “Amen! Please take my legs!!”

Don’t know how to name this trip. But my friends have already named it as the “Himalayan” trip. No, no, i’m not climbing the Everest or K2. Its a simple organized trekking expedition, technically Grade 2. Walking in the mountains for about 5-6 days for few hours visiting beautiful places like the Valley of Flowers National Park. The pictures should give you an idea…

Well, to start with the critics came home (or at home). Unlike the surprise that my earlier trip evoked, this time its more of concern and jovial ridicule. How could you expect someone who takes his bike for walking to trek up the mountains.

My brother enquired rather sarcastically, “Do they provide any mountain bike or drop you from helicopter or something like that for this trekking?!”. I countered defensively, “You know, i had climbed this hill in Thailand and did Kayaking last time…”.

But the aftershocks kept coming…

Just a week before the expedition a mail from one of the organizer enquired how our exercises were progressing. What? You mean i had to exercise to prepare for this trip? I thought this trip IS the exercise!!

Now dreaming about doing something and actually doing it are entirely different subjects.

This hill that i climbed in Thailand was only for 1 hr which one should normally do in half the time. And its another story that i took Thai foot massage to relieve the effects of this outstanding physical act of mine.

Since the trip is a organized one, i didn’t even care where we go…oops. So now to check it up myself, i decided to plot the expedition in Google map.

Full Travel Map

Larger View of Trekking spots

And see what i got, its awesome!!! Snow clad peaks, rocky mountains, icy lakes and colorful holy places. Then it struck, ahaa, how am’i going to make it….actually, on foot. I developed cold feet despite the fact that i got a hot foot.

Looking at the same map, my sister said very worried, “You dont need to really do this. You haven’t walked up to this St.Thomas Mount or Little Mount in Chennai. You haven’t even climbed upstairs to my first floor room once in a week or even once in a month? Why are you climbing up these tough mountains for salvation??”

I snapped irritated, “Yes, you are right about my habits but its different from my abilities. And whats this nonsense about salvation stuff?”. She replied emphatically, “Then why are going to all these religious places like Haridwar, Rishikesh and even a Sikh gurudwara? I thought you have a prayer!?”. OMG, i’m not going to Himalayas to become a Saint or for redemption. Its just a adventure trek with a photo opp!

The last but not the least was the checklist of items provided by the organizer to be the strict only ones to be carried for the trip. It says 2+1 set of clothes. Was it for the climb? Unfortunately, it wasn’t any Bollywood song shooting. Its for the ENTIRE TRIP!! Eeks, 2 weeks and only 3 sets of clothes? This is a big psychological attack for me. I would easily splurge 2 sets per day. But the organizer is not without reason. You can’t roll your suitcases uphill and everyone have to labour their rucksack by themselves. So the less that you carry the better and faster. Atleast the only relief was that you wouldn’t sweat in Himalayas and its hygienically safe.

All these questions on physical ability and choices of comfort are making this trip appear a Herculean task of Himalayan propositions for me…! Wish me good luck?!

Well, with its subtle intentions, negotiation tactics and bodily gestures, its indeed an art!!

Presumably all Indians consider that anything and everything is bargainable. Its so widespread in our daily life. And i’m no exception to this social knowledge.

Frankly i detest all this haggling affair and prefer fixed prices, where one can make a quick definite choice of: yes - affordable, no - too expensive. All that i wanted was a fair price! But what can one do in a place where bargaining is a way of life and prices are quoted in double, triple or even several multiples!? You have no choice except to pull up your sleeves and join the adventure for a mad bargain!!

Tagged with a tourist label of “Backpacker” brand, it even grows more stronger within me as if it was a privilege bestowed upon us.

The first bargain of the trip began on the very first day near the Golden Mount temple, Bangkok. I had finished for the day and wanted a ride upto Hua Lamphong Metro station. Plenty of Tuk-tuk drivers were hawking for their rides outside the compound. As a thumbrule, its better to avoid taking the vehicle in such places as you would never get a good bargain. Instead i walked a few yards away and waved down a tuk-tuk riding empty from the middle of the road.

Conscious to make my first attempt into a success, i struck the negotiation with confident gesture, no words were spoken. I held my map to his face and pointed to the Metro station which was written in both English and Thai. The tuk-tuk driver observed and nodded saying, 80 baht. Faking the tone of someone who knows these places well, i quickly dismissed his claim and countered, “40 bahts” with an air of authority. The fellow looked down at me, reasoning how i dared to guess like that and then took the trap… Assuming that i’m no stranger to Bangkok, he climbed down to “50 bahts”. Reassured that my quote was good enough, i stood at my offer of 40 baht. The fellow waved me in and the deal was done in my favour. On reaching the destination, i was able to measure that for the distance, my notion of the price was indeed correct and my first bargain was done at a really reasonable price!

Its always not a cakewalk like this. Sometimes i would slip just by the fatigue of it.

Disappointments could happen: when the bargain fails - you fail to buy/get what you wanted OR when the bargain turns sour - you had paid more.

The strangest was when the seller negotiates to under-price himself….!

One such episode happened when a taxi driver UNDER-negotiated himself leaving me rather puzzled, worse guilty!! I was vacating Bangkok to the next city - Ayutthaya and my hotel had hired a cab to drop me in the railway station. The standard fare was 200 baht. During the ride, as any Bangkok cab driver would be, the chap started his sales tactics. I wanted nothing from him and showed no interest. Suddenly he shifted to offer me to drive directly to Ayutthaya. I felt, What a stupid idea to travel by cab from one city to another, anyway it would be very expensive. But why was he so desperate. He continued quoting and reducing the price, all by himself. My silence which was intended to discourage him rather encouraged his bargain. As i gaped at him, he had negotiated himself from 1000 baht to 700 baht. I considered my situation: quite late for the day and uncertain of the availability of trains. So why not take such a good bargain served without any effort to laze in the comforts of the air-conditioned taxi to be dropped at the footsteps of my next hotel in the next city. After making sure with him, i agreed.

In the next 1hr 30min, we escaped out of Bangkok and travelled the 70+ kilometers to Ayutthaya. No sooner that we had reached the destination, the taxi driver seems to have realised his folly. As i paid him, he gleefully asked for a “Tip”. In my hurry to check-in against the waiting walk-ins, i didn’t notice his disappointment and dismissed him in monotone: What? tip? why? no tip? Only when my luggage was dropped with a distinct “thud” and he closed the door, i observed his face. He wasn’t a happy man. And it was too late to correct.

Sometimes a well-agreed bargain, could nose-dive and land in soup…!

One early morning in the Thai border town of Nong Khai, i had to take a quick trip around a few Buddhist Wats before checking out of the guesthouse. And the only vehicle that i could find was a kind of Bike adapted into a sort of a mini-pickup truck. The driver, a well-built lady wrapped-up her road-side food stall and took on the reins of her unconventional vehicle. The deal was to drive me around to 2 main Buddhist Wats in the town. After a quite intense negotiation, it was agreed for 60 bahts.

As soon as i got down at the last Wat which was actually a Forest Wat at the outskirts of the town, she declared that it will be 100 bahts to return back. Surprised, i embarked on a bit of argument which made clear that somehow both of us didn’t clarify whether its a one-way trip or it includes the return journey. In my assumption, it included the whole trip and in her assumption it was only for the drop. However it is…, her demand for another 100 baht was unjustified. Even a kid would know that it would cost only another 60 baht. What makes the return journey more special to cost an extra 40 bahts. Clearly she was trying to take me for a ride. And from this lonely forest wat, she was sure that i wouldn’t find any other alternate means at this early hour. More than the money, i was just taken aback by the blunt threat of desertion laid before me. Nevertheless, i was in no mood to get victimised. I firmly asserted with her that it is completely unfair and i will not pay anything. Either she takes me back to the guesthouse and get paid of 120 bahts for the misunderstood bargain or go to hell with her weird-looking vehicle. My tough argument won and she opted for the latter.

The most relentless and marathon bargaining of the trip was reserved for the final shopping! Having missed the week-end Chatu Chak market, i was forced to do all the shopping in the expensive Suan Lum night market in Bangkok.

Odd of all, a lengthy bargain was narrowly concluded but the product wasn’t available for sale…!

In the maze of shops of Suan Lum market, i was struck with awe at a specific kind of lighting fixture which could be easily assembled into any shape by arranging several little pieces of plastic strips. Since i wanted a massive lighting fixture which meant purchase of several packages of such strips, both the shop owner and myself indulged in lengthly discourses of negotiation. At one moment, the negotiation broke down and i walked away. But lady luck didn’t give up, by some accident i took the same lane after some time and found myself enquiring at the same shop for the same stuff. When the owner turned back, we smiled and were happy to restart the negotiation afresh. Finally when we had agreed quite closely on a figure, the relieved owner ordered to pack them all.

A moment later, his assistant came and told in hesitant tones that the strips of white, my chosen color were not in sufficient stock. The owner regretfully offered the colored ones and at even a lesser price than the hard negotiated one. But it was all over for me! I was impressed only by the brilliance of the clear white streams of light. No yellow, no green, no red, no blue could replace that impression. Stupid luck!!

Bargaining was all consuming that one doesn’t realise that the deal had been struck already…!

Only after my extensive shopping did i realise that i didn’t have any suitable bag to carry the extra load back home. It was 1AM in the night market and most shops were closing down. I had no specifics, no time, no budget, any square piece of container will do.

In great hurry, i was asking the prices of every suitcase in a shop to find the right one. The young owner anxious to make a last sale, sametime in good mood to negotiate was blabbering away the features of each one and why its good, strong etc etc. I didn’t want any of those stories and persuasion. Finally finding the right one at right price, i declared to him that i’m taking it. Without applying thought, the boy continued affirming that its a good price. Why not? Ofcourse, i said yes. But he continued again saying he cannot give any lesser. Who wanted it for lesser? I’m ok to pay what you want. It continued like that and if had gone any longer, i would have concluded that his mind has gone astray. Thankfully he checked himself at a point, let his mind chew on what i had been saying and asked me if i meant ok. I nodded frantically my yeses! Then he let out a laugh signaling the end of the comedy. And the last sale of the last bargain was done…

Were they just an exaggeration of excited historians or blatant truth of outrageous opulence, who knows?

In India, there are plentiful of evidence to see from the massive scale of forts, palaces and temples. Yet there is NO glitter! where was the glow of its richness? the precious stones? gold and silver emblazoned walls?

Today, i happened to discover myself all the glitter and glow of this surreal past…

Stepping inside the compounds of the Grand Palace, one gets transported to an altogether different world, a different era! Forget the history, forget the imagination, just open your eyes!! Sprawled around as far as you can see were highly-decorated buildings, temples, stupas, statues, straight out of the Old world dazzling from top to bottom in their shiny overalls of metallic foils, golden lacquer, encrusted with innumerable pieces of glass, ceramic, stone.

What a fascinating sight !!

The Grand Palace grounds was the numero uno tourist attraction of Thailand, housing several structures which form the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew Temple complex. In tourist-friendly Thailand, its one of those rare places where visitors dresscode were scrutinised at point of entry: bermudas, short skirts, stringy wear and flipflops were prohibited. It also charges the highest entry fee: 250 baht

The Wat Phra Kaew is the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. The temple complex consists of atleast Seven major structures. In the snap from the Palace grounds, you can see the entire roofline of the temple complex.

The three towering pagodas in the centre were (from the front):

• Phra Si Ratana Chedi - its the most sacred of all stupas and contains relics of Buddha
• Phra Mondop - its a repository containing the Royal Golden Edition of Buddhist Cannon, inscribed in Palm leaves and enclosed in a Mother of Pearl inlaid cabinet
• Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn - this Royal Pantheon houses the statues and emblems of ruling Chakri dynasty

All of them were located in a elevated platform named the “Upper Terrace”.

The large multi-layered roof building on the right was the main Ubosoth housing the Temple of Emerald Buddha. In the left, you can see the roofline and stupa of three buildings:

• Hor Phra Naga - Mausoleum of the Royal family containing the crematorial ashes
• Phra Viharn Yod - houses Buddha images
• Hor Phra Monthian Dharma - Scripture Library

On stepping inside the temple premises

The Statue of Hermit, Patron of Medicine who saved several lifes during Plague in Bangkok

Three Stupas of the Upper Terrace

Glittering, towering Phra Si Ratana Chedi covered fully in golden mosaic tiles

Video of Phra Si Ratana Chedi

Dazzling Phra Mondop

Not a inch spared, the Ornate walls of Phra Mondop

Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn, the Royal Pantheon accompanied with two Golden Chedis

Facade of Royal Pantheon

Statues of Demons holding the base of the Golden Chedi

Lets get down from the Upper Terrace and go the Temple……

Temple of Emerald Buddha

Surreal view of pillars of Temple of Emerald Buddha

Intricately and highly decorated walls of Temple of Emerald Buddha

Statues of Lions guarding the King’s entrance to Temple of Emerald Buddha

The Emerald Buddha is known the “Palladium of Thailand” (Palladium signifying the power and protection through its antiquity). The history of Emerald Buddha was interweaved with myths, legends and facts. The image is considered to be from a very ancient period, thus an object of Power!

Originating from India, it has traversed through ages across Srilanka, Burma, Cambodia(Angkor Wat), Laos and finally captured by King Rama I who installed it in its current place establishing the Chakri dynasty.

Contrary to its popular name, its made of jade and not emerald. Possibly to overcome this disappointment, the image is adorned with GOLD garments. There are three sets of gold garments one for each season: Hot, Rainy and Cool. And the King personally changes the cloths in a brief ceremony everytime!!

Seated on a high pedestal inside the main Ubosot, the Emerald Buddha in its modest size was practically out of sight even from close quarters inside the Chapel! Again, its one of the rare images whose photography is prohibited. But what effect will such restriction do in the face of curiosity and ingenuity of thousands of tourists thronging the Temple? Everyone were happily zooming in from outside the Chapel capturing the Almighty God!! NO ONE was disappointed!!!

My own expertise with the Handycam was pathetic, anyway for your darshan…

Emerald Buddha seated on a high pedestal in the Chapel

Emerald Buddha clothed in Gold garments

Zoomed-in view of Emerald Buddha

The Wat Phra Kaew also houses several minor structures such as belfry, miniature of Angkor Wat, Bodhi tree, small monuments for deceased Kings etc The whole temple complex is surrounded by a cloister separating from the other structures of the Palace grounds. The Cloister is just a plain white wall from outside but on the insides it contains an impressive gallery of paintings depicted scenes from