Confluence: Himalayan sojourn

The ongoing issues (not underplaying) at our border with China reminded me of idyllic time spent in the other China India border area (Uttarakhand) in summer of 2010. We I.E, my family made a very unconventional choice for those days to trek in high Himalayas camping across various place over a period of 15 days. Mind you our daughter was only 9 years old then. Consensus amongst us was to avoid crowds, calls (I was running IT for Kotak securities and was mostly in office or on call managing it) and cities. With some effort we identified a self-help group Mountain Shepherds (http://mountainshepherds.com/) run by an enterprising gentle man by name of Sunil and reached out to them for helping make itinerary and arrangements around it. The group leader was a skeptic about our ability to endure this one but said yes. Later in a conversation he shared that, we were amongst the 1^st Indian family with a kid in tow to make a call to them. Till that time the usual profile of their clientele was white, couple and single Indian. We left Mumbai with only confirmation that Sunil is sending a person to pick us up at Haridwar railway station. Beyond this the itinerary was sketchy and all was based on trust of person whom we had never met but spoke on phone. Remember all this was before trip guarantee by websites and social media reviews.

Our pickup was ready at Haridwar and in due course we were climbing up beyond Rishikesh. The vista beyond Rishikesh changes dramatically and one starts to understand why the place is called Dev Bhumi. God could live only in these mountains. Awe is cliché when one sees these mountain ranges in their majesty and scale. The weather changes dramatically every few Km up into the mountains and so does scenery. One is spoilt for choices to feast the eyes. To an Indian well versed with the history (Ok some call it as myth) it’s a sheer delight to see places & rivers connected to our heritage. So many stories come to fore in mind as you travel with rivers & temples one has heard of while growing up. One also thinks of Shankaracharya who reached Badrinath 600 years ago through this route. One gets an understanding of scale he executed his vision at.

We made a base at a guest house in a village, on road to Auli (famous ski resort) from Joshimath (municipal board in Chamolli distt.). Near the guesthouse I got interrogated by an Army JCO who could not believe that an Indian family would come for a break into these places. He said cynically Duniya badal rahi hai (the world is changing). Well the interrogation ended well after I was fed a very sugary tea by army folks and sermonized by JCO saheb to maintain safety.

While the places we went to have become known now, they continue to have charm of world where people follow the rhythm of nature and not the trends on twitter. Here are some photos we took at that time. We made 3 trips across the district of Chamoli and came back spell bound with almost untouched beauty of area around Nanda Devi biosphere. The area abuts Tibet (yes part of China now) and was active trade & caravan route in past. While medieval India and British India continued with the trade with Tibet from the area, nothing substantial exist now.

We could not go to few places as permits were not available, and at Gamshali I was interrogated again by army major who I believed was bored with loneliness and wanted to chat up. I spent some time explaining, what I was doing in the area with my family (yes he was wandering if I was mad) and then spent an hour solving his investment issues. One should always understand financial jargon to succeed in remote part is my learning from this episode.

I keep in touch with Sunil now and then, the group has grown big and has made niche in high value tourism. They are very conscious of the fragility of their home state and ensure through their deft execution that it remains so. GO if you want to see where God Lives, go if you want to see beauty in pristine state. Don't go with a horde and don't go to drink.