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Bike Trip to Leh - Ladakh - Khardung La

omvaikul — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:17:26 +0000

June 26th, 2008

Day 1

Story:

A day before the meeting point was decided, somewhere in north mumbai at a famous Sai Baba temple. But the time was early morning 5am, means most have to get up at 4 in the morning. Sounds like a big challenge, not the ride but getting up early and this is a challenge that I will never complete successfully. I slept at 1 am and when I got up it was already 5am. Sandeep called me up (thank god he called otherwise I would have got up after sunrise) and I told him to carry on. I will catch up somewhere at Manor.

Some how got up from the bed, everything was packed and started moving to Manor. There were light rains but within couple of hours I was at Manor. Met the gang for breakfast. Also I was meeting few guys for the first time.

Soon we were back on the road and some heavy showers started. Riding condition was little difficult but riding in rain is fun too.

Just as we crossed Daman border we came to know Pratas had met and accident. Locals helped us to take him to a near by Hospital.

Till the time doctor looks after him we found some mode of transportation that will take him and his bike safely to Mumbai. Luckily we found one such transportation in a jiffy. His hand got a plaster and some wounds were on the jaw. He and his bike then were off to Mumbai. Also loading his bike on the van was a tough thing.

After some tea we started back with the ride. Some how we wanted to across Baroda by evening. For a late lunch we took a halt at a restaurant on the highway, don't remember the name. But the food was delicious.

Some guys took a small nap and then we were off to Baroda. Till Surat most of us we riding near by but after Surat I and Rohit speeded up and took halt few kms before baroda bypass to wait for the rest. We took night halt at Baroda bypass. Here too I don't remember the name of the hotel but it was a good place. Food was excellent and there was a lake view from the room. Room was big enough to fit us all in it.

After Dinner around 11pm we were flat on bed. It was a hard day but it was fun.

Log:

Total kms done: Around 480

Best Road: Manor to Surat.

Worst Road: Surat to Baroda.

Speed: Average 90km/hr

Rains: Light showers to continues pouring.

Incidents: Pratas' accident. Ashish's bike silencer comes off. Shivprasad slips on Rohit's thunderbird.

Info: Vapi to next 20km is supposed panvati patch as termed by locals as most accidents take place in it.

Highway: Total trucking type. Very few cars on highway.

My Expenses for the day: Rs 600 Petrol, Rs 30 Breakfast, Rs. 150 Lunch, Rs. 80 Dinner, Rs. 20 water.

Average: Average given by my bike (Karizma 2003 model) was 52km/litre.

Photographs taken: Around 80 shots.

Funny Incidents: Shiv slipping in a funny way.

Memorable Events: Dinner time.

Any new thing learnt: MRF Zapper Q is excellent for riding on wet roads. Too much luggage no good.

Total hours of riding: 15

Today's ride had series of events, a few tragic but all is part of motorcycle touring.

With Bhutia’s pickle, Danny’s beer, Sikkim hits homestay route

asianwindow — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:55:26 +0000

From The Indian Express:

[caption id="attachment_1951" align="alignright" width="196" caption="Eastern Himalayas"][/caption]

Normal gastronomical wisdom suggests that the more slender the chilli, the hotter it is. So, its appearance as a thick pod suggests that Sikkim's popular chili - Dalay - would be mild on the tongue. But a small bite suffices to concur with its reputation as one of the hottest chillis in the world. The host adds some local trivia: the chilli has been bottled at a factory owned by Bhaichung Bhutia's family. And the beer that is served comes from a brewery owned by Danny Denzongpa.

The host is a farmer, one of those selected to act as "rural homestay operators" under a proposal funded by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and promoted by the Sikkim government. While the concept may not be new, the project has been received very well in the state. Ever since its launch in Ray Mindu village in East Sikkim on November 29 last year, the project has been adopted by many other villages like Lingee Payong in South Sikkim, Kewzing, Yuksom and Patsanga.

[googlemaps http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Sikkim,+India&ie=UTF8&s=AARTsJpKj_kx7vNT5KZz3CreOV07l4LStA&ll=26.765231,88.59375&spn=3.923126,9.338379&z=6&output=embed&w=425&h=200]

Showtime, Himalayan Style [Take Me To Your Leader]

cdb74 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:16:39 +0000

Yesterday the New York-based Himalayan community -- including many of the Sherpas I have written about in Outside Magazine and The New York Times -- hosted His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for a 2-hour teaching at Radio City Music Hall. For me, as the organizers' volunteer media liaison, it was a thrilling day that started with greeting the Dalai Lama's entourage at a secret airport location for a blaze into midtown via high-speed armored motorcade; for the Sherpas and their friends, it was the fulfillment of a long-nourished dream, a visit from their spiritual leader audaciously and ingeniously pulled off from a cab driver's apartment in Queens. Here, a few outtakes from the day, shot behind the scenes. [gallery]

A Trek to the Kanchendzonga

shills — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:19:18 +0000

This particular piece is one that my sister has penned down about the trekking experience at Kanchendzonga. I have put up several photos of the trek in my flickr account as well.

"I was standing at the top of the world and looking up at what surely must be the heavens. The sun was to appear any minute. Staring intently, I could make out the snow-capped mountains rising into the darkness above.

Suddenly, the magical moment was on me. The first rays of the sun hit the top of the towering Kanchenjunga. It was like a huge candle that had been lit. Transfixed, I watched the flame spread along the ridges as the sun rose and then shine its beams on the Kabru complex. Over the next few minutes, I watched the grey mountain tops turn to a brilliant gold and then to sparkling white.

Words failed me. I vaguely remembered a quote that my father often used “Words are so inadequate’. This is what we had set out to see, and now it was on us. All the pain of the climb, not to mention the preparation for the trek, had vanished. In its place was an indescribable beauty. I must have stood there gazing at the grand spectacle for what seemed like an eternity!

The preparation began in earnest after Pongal. My father would wake my sister and me at an unearthly hour in the morning and we would hoof it sleepily to Nageshwar Rao Park for an hour’s jog each morning followed by skipping a rope a few hundred times. A game of badminton in the evening had to be accommodated amid preparations for my class X board exams.

On April 19, a physically fit group assembled at Chennai airport. We were to fly to Kolkata and then to Bagdogra, from where we would board a bus to Gangtok. After a two-day stay at Gangtok, we left for Yuksom, the first capital of Sikkim. Our trek to GoechaLa pass began here. The first day was an easy walk of about eight km. The trek on day two and three was tough, as we had a steep climb through the lush jungle. The massive rhododendron trees were in full bloom and the sights and sounds of the jungle and mountain streams made it unforgettable.

As we climbed higher and higher, the size of the rhododendron trees became noticeably smaller and were the size of mere shrubs at over 12,000 ft. Taking many photographs on the way, we reached Dongri (12,500 ft) on the third day. A day of rest and acclimatisation left us refreshed to continue on day five.

A sharp descent down to the Pretchu was followed by a steep climb to Tanzing at the foot of the giant conical peak of Mount Pandim. After suffering icy conditions during the night (it snowed briefly), we left for our next campsite at Lambi, a couple of hours away.

Day seven: Wake up call was at midnight! We had to leave at 1.00 a.m. if we were to reach GoechaLa to meet the sunrise. In pitch darkness and aided by torch lights, we went past a glacial lake, Samiti. Initially we were walking on just rocks and sand; later we were walking on snow and moraines.

Around 5.30 a.m., a voice announced “Welcome to GoechaLa view point”. Wearily we found a rock to sit on and wait for the sun to signal the dawn of another day. The splendour of seeing those magnificent mountains, and that too so many of them, at close quarters cannot be described but has to be experienced.

The walk back to Yuksom was uneventful. In all, we had covered over 110 km on foot! The average speed was around 1.5 km an hour, which gives you an idea of the tough terrain. We kept reliving the joyous moments all the way down. Perhaps, I will never tire of telling tales of this trek. I can’t wait for my next trek in Bhutan!"

This article was published in the nxG. I;m sure you would have enjoyed reading it.. Me, my sister and my dad went on this trip! it was an amazing experience..

I will be posting a write up that i have done on the trip myself very shortly.

Revisiting Munsiari

leuzinger — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:18:54 +0000

Mallika Leuzinger (India/ Switzerland, AC 07-09)

2500 metres above sea level, at the feet of the Panch Chuli and shouldered by the Nanda Devi, Munsiari is a typical Uttarakhand village. It is hardly densely populated, and quite a steep way up from any major urban settlement; indeed my first impression of it was of an untouched, unknown valley, asleep in its forests, its open meadows and crystal-coloured streams. I didn’t expect to revise this opinion when I made my latest journey up there, worrying instead about the hairpin bends, the dust and the gravel that threatened at any moment to send our bus rattling off into some crevice.

But Munsiari is changing. Part of an area known for its homogenous village communities, its economy is almost solely agrarian, and mainly concerned with subsistence farming. The land has always been quite equally distributed, and while individuals rarely hold property of over 2 hectares, there has never been a case of landlessness. In any case, access to commons and forests, regulated by an able “Van Panchayat” has provided an abundant source of fuel, fodder, manure and materials such as timber for construction. This Van Panchayat system, a compromise between community responsibility and state ownership of forests begun in the 1920s, and prevalent in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, has enabled Munsiari to maintain a relatively harmonious relationship between its inhabitants and its natural surroundings, and as crucially, between its inhabitants and the Forest Department (the latter is notorious for its policy of forest reservation, or “protecting” forestland, regardless of the needs and practices of the populations who dwell in or alongside them). But enter Mr. (or is it Dr.?) T, the local hero and politician, returned to his birthplace to revive a flagging career, or Company so-and-so and this-and-that plc, determined to capture the biggest share of the power industry. Or a band of industrious and crafty villagers, slowly realizing timber can be smuggled off and outsourced to big cities and big projects, for substantial financial gain. Or, as this is India, enter all. At exactly the same time, and possibly, arm-in-arm.

The picture our family friend, who is the Sarpanch, or elected leader of the Van Panchayat, painted for us was decidedly grim, and decidedly different to the Munsiari I hold dear. She lamented the increasingly careless and superficial attitude of the Forest Department, who would sooner build a two-storied Tourist Information centre than develop progressive, practical measures to rejuvenate degraded forests. She described too, the various attempts- from boycotts of meetings to outright physical threats- by Mr. T and his erstwhile followers, to prevent the Van Panchayat from questioning the mass entry of MNCs into the valley. These have, astonishingly quickly in a country known for its sluggish bureaucracy and delay with regard to licenses and permits, begun the construction of a dam along the main river that will displace at least 17 villages, and a tunnel right through the heart of a much-loved mountain. As distressing were the figures of trees lost, stolen, or senselessly chopped down, she quoted and the now common tales of people plundering hundreds of the “shared” hectares of forest by night and driving truckloads of their loot down to the plains. For its part, the Van Panchayat has earnestly tried to raise awareness within Munsiari of the importance of sustainable forest management, enforcing its own rules, sanctions and methods of arbitration; some of its members guard and patrol the forests themselves.

But the only effective solution to the ecological disasters Munsiari teeters towards, lies in its origins, in the declining relevance of the Van Panchayat’s core belief. This is that a forest, in a deeply humane but also real sense, is collective property; its fruit, its flowers, its life are for all to enjoy, and by the same token, for all to nurture and love. Munsiari’s miscreants do not understood that ultimately, nature is not something divisible or individualistic, nor do they seem convinced that a community, of men and women, can stand up for it, not as his or hers but as theirs, ours. The Chipko Movement managed it, a few decades ago and a few kilometres away. Perhaps Munsiari will make it too.

- United World College Student Magazine -

Dhyan Yatra now 17 days. finishes 26th Oct at Coimbatore

Saravanan — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:42:46 +0000

Foreigner Land

mediaist — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:28:17 +0000

Traveling from Kathmandu to Pokhara was exceptionally beautiful, and restored my vision that environmental, natural, unpolluted beauty thrives in Nepal. Unpolluted is naive, but passing through terraced paddy fields among the Himalayan foothills, and nestled alongside white capped rapids was refreshing and restoring. I was eternally grateful to get out of the bustle and noise of Kathmandu, even if that meant being cramped in a microbus next to a scratchy speaker blaring Nepali pop.

Pokhara is the tourist capital of Nepal, as it huddles along the Annapurna Himalayan hiking trail and has picturesque views of the mountains from across Phewa Tal.

The atmosphere is much quieter and more comfortable for a Western crowd than Kathmandu, but there is a surplus of tourist accommodations compared to the number of tourists. In the 60's there was an over investment in the tourist and trekking market, which slowed considerably due to political upheaval. When the area became dangerous due to Maoist insurgency, foreingers were scarce and their numbers haven't regained since. This makes businesses desperate, as their prices are too high to cater to Nepalis, so the few tourists present in Pokharas streets are bombarded. Walking without Prakash, and sometimes with him, brings waves of voices beckoning to try this restaurant, buy this pashmina, or take this taxi.

The magic of Orenburg Shawls

fashionteen — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:49:05 +0000

Since antique, shawls are knowned, with references even in the Bible, but the recent Shawls story came from the English's Kashmir discovery in the 18th century.

The immediately appreciated quality of these shawls is their softness and the extraordinary delicacy of their cloth, which comes from their manufacture in Tibet goat's down.

The goat's down has outstanding qualities because of the delicacy of the fiber (3 to 4 times lower in the thickness of a hair, so less than 13 microns), and the necessary extreme conditions for its production (Himalayan winter).

Thanks to these not so common natural qualities, the goat's down allows to work out very fine, very insulating and very soft touch cloths, which explains its interest for shawls.

What differentiates Orenburg Shawls?

Good question :-)
The Tibet is located on the Himalayas which, as any mountain, has two sides: the south side overlooks India and especially Kashmir, where the north side overlooks the Kirghizstan which is a Russian province, near to the Orenburg city.
Both products use the same goat's down.

An essential difference exists however between both products: the technique of manufacture.
Orenburg Shawls are knit, what gives them an exceptional filling and an even bigger softness, while the Kashmir shawls are loom weaved.

There are in fact two techniques for the Orenburg Shawls: the most common consists in knitting them either with hand needles in a traditional way, or with specialized machines which still leaves a big part to the manual work, or the exceptional method of the "fork", which allowing a wider mesh size, gives to the shawls an extraordinarily light texture.

Thanks to the "Fork's method", the specialized workers get the "Spider web" aspect, which besides improving the esthetics and the filling, keeps a very good insulating capacity.

Haven't you ever seen the wedding ring test?
It consists in trying to get an Orenbourg shawl over a wedding ring, what seems disproportional and unachievable a priori.

The first time you assist to this "experience", you are a bit septic, and slightly anxious, but each time, the miracle occurs, and the shawl get through the ring, without any problem.

To still improve their aspect (if it is possible) and their softness, the Orenburg Shawls are blended with a good silk proportion, which gives them a brilliance and a really luxurious aspect.

Where is it possible to find Orenburg Shawls?

If you like too the Orenburg Shawls, perhaps you know of a boutique near from you where you can obtain these splendid shawls, but this is not always easy.
The simplest is to turn to Internet where a research on a search engine will probably gives you the choice that you can wish.