Chachan and I went Trekking...(Part-3)

For you @, though it will be sometime before you read this..

PART-3

Day-3 Trek Bhojwasa-Nandanvan(Approx. 14 kms,max alt 4500-4700m. odd)

Breakfast on the third day was a solemn affair for me and even though Kaanta urged everyone to eat more and finish the dhaliya and maggi, I took care not to eat more. 'cos this was the day that it would 'f@tegi', in short we would have to sweat it out. The day involved a massive climb till 4700 odd m. and a distance covered of nearly 14kms which was no mean feat. But we would get further surprises from the terrain later on. I got into my 'harness' 'cos that's what it was-my left shoulder-band tied firmly to my waist-band, and once in, I was in for the day; and we set off. The path began a steady climb and at times it would fall for a respite(in the mountains its always like this-the guide explains). We walked in single file, some impatient to move on even disobeyed Kaanta's orders of no-overtaking. DK Bose and Trekker were members of this category, but a new member would join them by the end of the day. The wind was a constant companion, harsh and unfriendly, but still sticking to Hutch's philosophy(the network always follows). I wished it would push off really. What with 6-point something kilos in rations alone, I had enough trouble to cope with without the leaky and sore nose that the wind was bringing in. The nose felt like it would break off any minute. The terrain changed rapidly- now there were rocks in the path, all with undisturbed edges. Now the style changed to walking on the rocks..selecting edges to walk on. This must have gone on for a couple of hours and I was just settling into a rhythm when we reached Goumukh. We saw the icy-rocky cave from which the Ganga supposedly originates. The board near the small hut of a temple announced-Goumukh(4000m.). We had jaggery and channa and Gluose-D and I rested my bag against a rock and sat stretching my legs. We resumed again cursing the stop 'cos it broke the rhythm and our leg-muscles felt like they had frozen stiff. More rocky terrain followed and gradually we got accustomed to walking on the rocks. There were couple of times when I would bless 'em hunter shoes for preventing a sprain as these would hold the legs quite stiff. I was dragging myself-a towel tied across my fore-head to beat the wind, and before long I found myself towards the back with Kaanta who was there to encourage people along. It was him who perfected the theory of walking on the rocks-never use your hands, don't be afraid of them, walk right on the edges if you can. With him back there encouraging it was easier, for with nearly 4 hours of continuous trekking things were getting monotonous and blurry. We rested for a while in a valley finding shelter behind a big rock. More jaggery and channa followed-I have never had so much jaggery in my life but it was for sustenance and no one asked questions, just shoved it down their throats. Water we got from way-side streams-crystal clear and ice-cold. The guide pointed out Nandanvan for us-ahead of us and to the side, up and behind a mountain range. It looked like another 3 hours of climbing. We set off and must have gone about half an hour when the terrain again changed. We were surrounded by mountains, barren and solemn, towering custodians of-something, what we couldn't figure. It was like they were watching as you passed amidst their midst, the silence was quiet eerie. But that was not what I meant; the terrain had pulled up a surprise-ahead of us lay what was probably centuries of rock-fall. Big huge rocks the size of rooms to small ones that rolled away when u stepped on them and our path was through them. I was walking at the head of the line with the guide infront of me and we started making our way, climbing over rocks, jumping from rock to rock, landing on edges, running over them, squeezing between them- I was enjoying this part, I was putting to practise Kaanta's theory and I was loving this. There is something in knowing which rock to land on and where to land on. I must have cut my fingers a couple of times in the process, but I didn't care. We must have gone about 15-20 min when the guide announces "halt! the normal way is gone..there must have been another rockfall.We will have to go around, figure our own way."(what way had there been?it was always clambering on rocks in a general direction.) So we 'de-toured' not that it made sense to any of us, but he probably knew where he was going and that was enough for us. There was more climbing on rocks, more jumping like goats a la commando style from rock to rock,slipping,sliding. We walked on ridges with a melting glacier on one side and a sharp drop to rocks on the other with hardly space to lay a foot-it was just a pointed ridge of loose mud and rocks; we just walked on the slopes and on it whenever there was space. Sometimes it was a steep climb over the rocks with people stopping to catch their breaths-and it was probably around here somewhere that Pack Mule showed his identity. As I said there's nothing wrong with this fellow he's just impatient to move forward, doesn't understand anything else and doesn't understand any language that's being spoken to him when he's doing so-all he wants is to move forward-as stubbornly and as bluntly as any pack mule ever born. He cared little for Kaanta's stern words of no over-taking and wouldn't care whether people were waiting for people ahead to catch their breaths-as far he was concerned he wanted to-that's right keep moving forward. But he was a great chap mind you and was always giving out words of encouragement whether people needed them or not. So with Pack Mule butting about we clambered over more rocks,climbed down many and finally climbed the steep climb to Nandanvan and stood at the far end of a huge meadow. Meadow 'cos there was some wild-grass/lichen growing and lichen everywhere..on the rocks,under them-some life-form in this barren world. We walked to the far end of the meadow where there was a rock that would offer little shelter from the wind and set up camp near it. We were on a table over-looking the valley we had passed and surrounded by mountains. Peaks Shiv-link, Bhagirathi 1,2 and 3 stood majestically around us filling us with awe. Their snow covered peaks and slopes were majestic in the evening sun that was setting over the mountains. With passing time the clouds that had begun to form since afternoon began sweeping around these mountains and slowly began to envolope them and by dusk they would have hidden them from view.

Bluuurrrgh!! and more news:

As we pitched tents I started getting a headache and a heavy feeling in the head accompanied by uneasiness.Jeez! don't let this be altitude-sickness-but it was. It began to get worse,the heavy feeling and the dull throbbing in my head. I shut my eyes and rubbed my head fiercely wishing I could crush the pain. It did offer relief but the situation didn't change. I crawled into my sleeping bag in the tent to escape the biting wind and wondered why I was sick even though I had tied a towel around my forehead. Chachan got me soup that was already cooking in the 'kitchen'. Kaanta poked his head into the tent-opening.

"Oyye no one in the tents. Come we are going for a walk".

"Oh c'mon Kaanta a little more time. I'm sure this headache will go away then".

"No, no it will not go away. You have to come with us. It will go away only with acclimatisation. Come I will give you medicine too later."

So saying he dragged me from the tent. I joined the others and we had a walk around where we spotted wild-goats-these are the only animals found at this altitude except for a crow-like mynah which is found in these parts. The goats are sure-footed devils and they go about prancing as though the steep slopes and the sheer drops mean nothing to them-indeed that's the case. So it was that our li'l party thought a bhakra(goat) or two for dinner wouldn't be out of place, and set about trying to catch them, me watching from a distance, Pack Mule-kind soul that he is, giving me company. As far as I could see even though Remo, Jhansi and Kaanta ran helter-skelter with the others giving them ample support our gang of fourteen(excluding me and PM) couldn't round up a single goat. Those nimble things were too good. After dinner channa where Chachan tried his maximum to help me eat(bless him!), we settled into our tents. Oh! one word about the water-the only source of water here was a stream that would flow in the afternoons and freeze over-night. Even in the evenings water would be found only in the gutters in the stream-bed. This was probably fed by ice melting in the afternoons somewhere. So it was that everyone remembered to fill up water for their essentials in the morning-one bottle-full. Kaanta gave me a Dygene just before sleeping and asked me to wake him up if the situation went seriously bad(I don't know what we would have done without this guy). We went to sleep in prior fashion; sleep being an extremely scarce and coveted commodity on the mountains. I don't know what time it was when I heard a shout and someone clambering over us from my left. I tried to make out who it was-either Bob or Shuttle. Shuttle was a regular case of altitude-sickness and Bob had complained of stomach troubles the previous evening. He burst through the tent opening(thank goodness one of the zippers was gone) - and not a moment too soon.

Bluuurrrgh!!!(Iam not trying to be gross, just trying to paint the scene in the tent.) Blaaarrrrghhhh...

I felt sorry for the poor guy. He was probably puking his insides out. Chachan gave him his 'essentials' water to clean up. I squirmed in my sleeping-bag with each out-burst and tried not to think about it. I felt that I had to be the next customer, I had altitude-sickness didn't I? Bob clambered back in saying he was very relieved. Through the night my headache had kept increasing and between patches of sleep I became more and more tensed-what if this thing didn't wear off?What would I do for the hike the next day?I must have been sleeping for sometime I guess-when I woke up feeling a sudden urge to pee. Remembering the condition I was in I checked myself by standing in the tent-nothing. I stepped over Chachan and out of the tent-and I felt myself reeling. I still don't know how fast that feeling came, with the first blast of the chill mountain air, I felt the blood in my head draining, the world was going unsteady under my feet and I knew I was nearing a black-out. I clutched at the central tent-rope and hung on to it-literally hung on to it-my feet were useless, and I called out to Chachan.

"Chacha..da thala karangunneda..enne pidikku!.."(Chachan Iam feeling dizzy. Catch me!)

"Eda athu ullatha ii altitudil..ni kurachu neram avide irikku"(Its usual at this altitude. You sit down for sometime, you will get well.)

"Ok."
And I sat. Now why hadn't I done that in the first place instead of hanging by the rope? 'cos that was all the sense I had at that time and just hearing his voice was probably a reassurance. Chachan would tell me later on in the morning that he didn't remember a thing and that he had probably sleep-talked.

Anywho after sitting for sometime, I felt the situation return to normal and found a spot quite close-by to pee. As I peed I raised my eyes to look at the sky. And oh my God!! I have never seen anything like it. The sky was so clear here that I could see millions, millions of stars. The sky a deep black and the stars a sparkling deep-blue -like jewels scattered on a dash of velvet. It was like I was at the centre of a black, glass dome with millions of brilliant blue jewels strewn across all over. I have never seen anything more brilliant. I clambered back inside only 'cos I was wary of my condition. I slept peacefully after that but not without incidents but that was for discussion only the next morning.
To be continued..