Climb, Gompa, and the town

Mornings are pretty cold in Keylong. Very sunny, bright, and yet cold. With the help of our Outlook Traveller and the advices from the hotel manger, we zeroed in on Khardong Gompa(Gompa means Monastry) which lies about 2kms from Keylong, on the other side of the River Bhaga . Khardong gompa is a major monastry of the Kagdyup sect of Budhism. It seems the highest lama of the sect always wears red-hats only. We did get to see one of their big lamas that day: he was visiting this monastry for some function.
We were just about to start from the hotel when a young Italian couple approached us and enquired whether we'd like to share a taxi with them to go to the gompa. We couldn't even think of missing a chance to trek up: so we declined and invited them to trek with us. But the girl seemed to be having a breathing difficully that made climbs impossible. So we set off walking. Path through the village

We walked down to the bridge across the river from Keylong and started climbing toawrds the gompa. The climb was slightly difficult because of the loose soil and the steep gradient. As we climbed higher, the views were getting more and more spectacular. The climb was slightly more difficult for M owing to the fact that he used to smoke a bit. He was getting out of breath very often and soon he took a vow that he'd never smoke again (which he broke very soon, of course!)The gompa was too crowded that day. There were so many vehicles climbing up the road to gompa, carrying people coming from faraway places to attend the
function. We met quite a few foreigners also out there, and after attending the prayers at the gompa, we went around the place clicking pics and rotating the numerous prayer wheels placed all over. The concept behing rotating the prayer wheels is interesting: They believe that everytime the wheel is rotated, the divine mantra inscribed on in, "Om Mani Padme Hum", will be spread to the environment, like someone chanting it out. So we went around rotating it till our hands ached :) We met the Italian couple at the gompa and came back to Keylong with them in the taxi. Slept for sometime in the hotel and went for a walk in the evening in the town.

Snow-capped Himalayas Prayer wheels View from the Gompa

Though its the HQ of a district, Keylong is a very small town. Our hotel was situtated at the centre of the town, right opposite to the Asst. Collector's Bunglow. The town is situated on the slopes, which means to go from anywhere to anywhere else, you need to do quite a bit of climbing. There are a couple of small hospitals, a few hotels including a HPPWD guest house, some government offices, lots of shops selling shawls and other woollen items and two internet cafes (I resisted the temptation to check my mails: why should I let technology interrupt the peaceful trip?)

By 11pm or so, Alessandro and Monalisa came to our room. They were just back from a walk outside. They were from Milan, Italy, and had been touring India for a month. They were in Keylong for two days, on their way to Haridwar from Dharamshala. We chatted away for a long time: about India, Italy, our people, politics, sports etc etc... With sports(especially football) and world politics in hand, talking to any national was fun. Monalisa was very much interested in Indian Classical music and she said she was planning to attend a week's Drupad (a hindustani classical music form) workshop at Haridwar. When the conversation turned to politics, we found out that they hate Berlusconi (their PM who is notorious for his recent pro-Nazi comments) and they wanted us to write "I didn't vote for Berlusconi" in whatever languages we knew so that they could make a big collection of this sentence in various languages and print it on a T-shirt. We wrote it in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi and taught them how to pronounce them too :)

That night was the best one in our whole trip. It was so much fun talking to them. But we made a blunder that night: forgot to take pics with them...

Day2: Mountains!

I woke up sometime late in the night and found that the bus was standing still, stuck up in a long queue at a toll booth. It was getting slightly cool outside and there was a drizzle, too. I should have been sleeping but for the biggest problem: The bus wasn't moving. And I can't sleep inside a stationary bus. I've faced this problem in all the night journeys I've made. I get so jelous of all those people who manage to find a deep sleep when I sit and sweat inside a stand-still bus, rolling left and right, trying out all kind of postures to adjust my long legs into the cramped legspace. This time Isomehow managed to sleep and when I woke up again, f or the same reason that the bus had come to a halt, I looked out of the window to see the Sutlej flowing right beside the road, in its full might. Tried taking a snap of it in the night, but it didn't come out well. I should've had a tripod.: long exposure snaps never come out
well when tried with bare hands.

Next time I opened my eyes, I was gifted with the finest view of the journey so far: the bus was climibing the winding roads to Manali that passes through lush green pine forests, apple orchards, farmlands, and always following the river Beas. Manali is situtated on the banks of Beas.

Reached Manali and took a rick to the Youth Hostel, located 8kms away from Manali town, on the river bank. That was a pretty good and exceptionally neat hotel with wood panelling on floors and an amazing view of the mountains and the river from the balcony.

View from the Youth Hostel

We'd enquired about the possibility of making a Leh trip in the short time span we have, but was discouraged by the travel operators saying two days were nothing. We had to reach Delhi back by Saturday morning at least, to catch our flight on Sunday. So we checked out the Outlook traveller guide that we had, and decided we'd settle for Keylong this time. Keylong(pronounced Ke-long) is the HQ of Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. It lies 150km north to Manali, on the Manali-Leh highway.

We rented a taxi and set off soon. The driver was a cool guy named Amar. He was a hell of a driver. So perfect and smooth with the vehicle that we rarely felt we were riding a difficult terrain. The climb was just breathtaking: pine and deodar forests on both sides with streams making ornamental patterns between...The ride was scary at times. The term 'highway' is deceiving: the road was seldom broad enough for two trucks to pass by at the same time. It had no side barriers to stop vehicles skidding and falling in to the Beas hundereds of feet below. I heard accidents were very common during the monsoon and winter when the tyres fail to grip on to whatever little asphalt left on the road. But that was the whole thrill of it, too.

It was getting colder and colder as we climbed. M soon started sporting a pull-over, a monkey cap and woollen gloves. I fought with cold for a while, and decided that I'll stand at the Rohtang pass without wearing a monkey cap. That was the best I could do. It was too cold at Rohtang pass, which is at an altitude of 3500m, and the wind-chill factor brought the temperatures to near-zero level.



Descent from Rohtang gave us our first view of the Lahaul valley. The terrain changed immediately after the pass: There were few trees to be seen, and the greenery was limited to grasslands, shrubs, flowers and bushes. The reason for the startling difference is evident. The lower himalayan mountain ranges block the rain clouds from crossing over and hence it doesn't rain much on the other side of the Rohtang pass. Soon we got down to the valley and started following the river Chandra, which will later merge with Bhaga and become Chenab. We stopped at a place called Khoskar for lunch. M had one look at the place and whispered: "Shire!" They should've shot the movie there: it would have looked even better! We ate
amazing rotis and dal from a dhaba out there.

Road to Keylong followed Chandra river all the way. I could hardly call it a road. But I must say that Border Roads Organization, a division of the Indian Army that manages roads in this part of the country is doing an amazing feat. Landslides are the order of the day. The soil is so loose that without any provocation the roads could be swept away in a matter of minutes by the countless streams that run through the slopes. At many places, there were no sign of anything that resembles a way, and I was surpised to see that an Omni actually managed to tackle the big boulders and find a way through all the mud and rocks.

Chandra river, and the road...

We were traveling through the Himalayas! Wow! There were snow-capped peaks everywhere. But it being summer out there, all we could do was to watch the ice on the distant mountains: we couldn't get to touch it at all...

Reached Keylong by dusk, checked into Hotel Snowland that had a wonderful view of the whole place. The room was really good with cozy bed and all. It was really chill by 9pm. Had dinner from a tibetan restaurant: I tried a Tibetan veg delicacy: don't ask me the name, i forgot :( But it was definitely very good. Quite filling, too.

Then we slept, deep in the Himalayas...

ISBT, Chandigarh, Buses, and disappointment

I had a notion that all of North India was dry and hot. It was indeed hot in Delhi that night, but it was far from dry. I started sweating the moment I stepped out of the flight. It was as humid as Chennai, or as any town in Kerala. ISBT was a long drive from the airport. We crossed many places bearing familiar names on the way: Tiz Hazari, Karol Bagh, Janpath, etc. etc. I really wanted to take snaps of all the name boards. But then, there were cops everywhere on the road with sten-guns, stopping and checking every vehicle passing by and I suddenly remembered the story of the Brazilian shot dead in London tube a few weeks back. And I kept my camera inside.
With all due respect to the place and the people out there, ISBT disappointed me. I was expecting a Koyambedu (Chennai Inter-State Bus stand) kind of bus station with all amenities. Or atleast a Majestic (Bangalore). After all its the capital of India, and a place from where you can catch buses to most of the big towns in North India. But I was in for a shock there. The place was pathetic and the buses were really horrible. We found a so-called deluxe bus to Chandigarh and left Delhi soon.
Reached Chandigarh,the best-planned-city in India. Really good and wide roads, not much of traffic and in a nutshell, I didn't find the kind of buzzle out there that you'd expect from a place like Chandigarh, capital of two states. We didn't see much of Chgh other than the famous 'Rock Garden'.


Foundation stone of Rock Garden


Some of the statues inside

Rock garden was conceptualized by the famous architect Nek Chand. He has made a whole world of sculptures inside just with rocks, pebbles, concrete, waste bins and other waste materials.That place was very vast. We kind of lost our way inside it.

Our 'deluxe' bus to Manali finally arrived at 8:30pm, an hour late. I got a seat that was comfortable to me, but immensly uncomfortable for the couple sitting behind: its recliner mechanism had been broken and the seat was always in the pushed-back condition, and I was lying flat on it always. I'm sure they must have cursed me like anything ;)
The journey to the mountains started...

Day 0: Blore-Delhi Spicejet. My first flight

I left the office at 2:30pm on friday 5th Aug, rushed home, picked up the backpack and took an auto to M's house in Jayanagar 4th Block. We did a last minute cross checking of the bags, and caught an auto to the airport. The flight was supposed to leave at 5:40pm and when we reached the airport at 4:30, the guys at the Spicejet counter politely informed us that the plane that was supposed to take us to Delhi was still at Ahmedabad, and our departure was rescheduled to 8:40pm! Gosh, that was worse than Indian railways. Did I know when I cursed them for that delay that I'd be regretting it a few days later, and would be praying to all known gods for the flight to be delayed by half-an-hour?

There was nothing much to do at the airport. I'd forgotten to keep a book in my bag, and all we could do was to sit and rate the crews of Kingfisher, Spicejet and Jet airways. We soon got fed up of that too and I went and bought the book "One hundred years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez from the Sankar's stall in the lobby and started reading it.

Boarded the flight at eight. A Boeing 737-800. I was a little excited about my first flight; I'd always watched these huge steel birds with awe. The plane started taxying and I did my best not to look like a first-timer and I knew I was as successful in my attempt as I was on my first day at RECT when I wanted not to look like a fresher. The guy sitting next to me was a first-time flier too, and of course, a s/w engineer, going home for the first time after a year. He asked me were I worked, and when him the answer, I knew what the next comment was going to be. I wasn't wrong. "Hey yaar, thats great. 2.5 years experienced in XYZ, and by now you must be a very experienced flier!" . Why the hell doesn't my manager think the same, that I need to get more in-flight experience??? I was suddenly very depressed :(

Soon the engines revved up and the thrust pushed me smoothly back on to the seat and the plane was airborn in a few seconds. Wow! I liked the way it accelerated. And the speed too. I've always loved speed. I suddenly realized that I'd try to avoid trains as much as possible from then on... Thanks to the stop-over at Pune, I got a chance to experience the landing and take-off thrill twice in one trip.

Bangalore looked nice from the top: narrow, brightly lit streets with the vehicles crawling like ants [it must have been one of those typical friday traffic jams- I was so happy that for once,I was not in it, but above all of it :) ], . When the crew announced that we'd be landing in Delhi in a few minutes, I eagerly peeked through the window to see Delhi, for the first time in my life. I was grossly disappointed. Delhi looked dark, with a couple of spots of light here and there with no signs of life. For a moment I even doubted the ability of the pilot to locate Delhi. And suddenly the plane came out of the clouds, and there was the capital of India spread in front of my eyes, all lit till the horizon. Broad roads, and dazzling lights, everywhere.

The plane touched down at the IGI Airport at 12 midnight. And we immediately rushed to the pre-paid taxi counter to catch a cab to Inter-State Bus Terminus(ISBT).

Back!

I landed at Blore airport at 0040hrs on Monday Aug 15th. I was away for just 10days. But it seemed like an eternity. New places, new faces, so many new feelings...
First of all, we didn't do what we had originally planned to do. We couldn't go to Leh. But that doesn't make the journey any less great. Loss of Leh was the gain of Lahaul. We were told that with just two days in Leh, its was as good as not going there at all, and we didn't want a Leh trip that wouldn't cover the Nubra valley and Panang-Tso. That would've been a gross injustice, and disrespect to Leh. So Leh will have to wait till next time, and we are so inspired by the lonely Royal Enfield Bullet riders on the highway, that we've decided that we'll make ourselvers expert Bullet riders before we hit Manali next.
This time it was Keylong. It is the HQ of the district of Lahaul & Spiti of HP. A truly picture-post card place, in the slopes of the misty and snow-capped Himalayas. A true out of the world experience.

The write-up and the links to pics will follow soon...

Wheels are rolling...to...Ladakh!

Come August 5th, 2005, and I,with Mobydick, will embark upon the journey of a lifetime. Across the Bharatkhand, to the cold desert that lies sandwitched between the mighty mountain ranges of Karakoram and Himalayas: Ladakh.
Ladakh (la-dakh: meaning "Land of passes" and also known by many names like "Little Tibet" and "The last Shangri-la"), caught my fancy when I read about it around ten years back and it has been on the top of my list of "Places-that-I-cannot-fail-to-visit-before-I-die" ever since, with Kailash-Manasarovar and Amarnath coming in second and third places. Now it is time: I have the best company that I can dream of ( though I would've given my heart and soul to have Strokes and Chandu also with me in this trip, the thousands of miles that lie between us make it physically impossible. Guys, I dedicate this trip to you two!)
We are treading the Delhi-Manali-Rohtang La-Leh route this time. The NH1 Alpha, Srinagar-Kargil-Leh route, can wait :)
Wish me luck, pals! And keep watching this place for updates!

One of my favorite temples

I usually avoid going to those awfully crowded temples. They don't give me the kind of peaceful environment that I look for in places of worship. Rather, queing up in there for hours just for a glimpse of the idol makes me irritated. That could be one of the reasons why I haven't been to Guruvayoor, one of the most famuos temples in South India, in the last 7-8 years. I usually prefer lesser crowded temples, where silence is the norm, where I can just sit and let nothing disturb me. I see temples more as a place of peace than as a place of worship.

Yet, there is one temple I visit whenever possible, and however crowded it is. The Vadakkunnatha(Shiva) Temple in Trichur. It is one of my all-time favorite temples. That place radiates something that soothes your body and mind. I'm absolutely in love with that temple. May be because I believe it has given me something that no other temple did.

Been a long time since my last visit...