By The Way......

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I've read through my last blogs and there were things I forgot to mention, so I thought I would add them for your information. Firstly people may be interested to know the itinerary and the names of the places we visited.

Day 1 - Depart UK for Delhi

Day 2 - Delhi and Overnight train to Pathankot

Day 3 - Pathankot and transfer to Dharamsala

Day 4 - Dharamsala to Kareri (2070m) trekking distance - 14 km 7/8 hours approx

Day 5 - Kareri to Bal Village (2330m) trekking distance - 15 km 7/8 hours approx

Day 6 - Bal to Triund (2995m) trekking distance - 14 km 7/8 hours approx

Day 7 - Triund to Laka Got (3550m) trekking distance - 14 km 7/8 hours approx

Day 8 - Triund to Bhagso Nak to Dharamsala trekking distance - 12km 6/7 hours approx

Day 9 - Dharamsala to Pathankot and overnight train to Delhi

Day 10 - Delhi to Agra and the Taj Mahal

Day 11 - Agra to Delhi, departure to UK (for some - not for me!!)



This trip was such a fantastic experience that I will never forget for the rest of my life. The country, scenery, the local people, the food, the experiences, but most of all the wonderful group of people that made all this possible. My fellow trekkers were all so special and from all walks of life and all different ages, but we all got on so well it was incredible. We had a superb Team Leader - Teri, who was such an inspiration to us all. We had three Guides who were the most patient, caring, knowledgeable and kind people imaginable and a Doctor who gave us all confidence that we would be well cared for it we needed it. And a special mention goes to all the porters, pony handlers, cooks, water boys etc who erected our camp each night, transported all our equipment, laid on the most fantastic meals every evening and morning and made us comfortable in our tented accommodation.

The ponies were incredible. They carried all our bags, food, tents and equipment for our 5 day trek and we were a large group (28). They even had to carry enough bottled water for us all for the first 2 days as the natural springs/rivers weren't good enough quality to sterlise for our use. That's a lot of bottles!

When we arrived in camp evening afternoon, to find all the tents were erected, the mess tent was up with tea, coffee and snacks for everyone and the toilets were dug and ready to use. You could smell the food being cooked ready for our evening meal too and this was all after they had trekked ahead of us. They also had to prepare food for our lunches the next day and after the first two days, prepare and sanitise the water for drinking and cooking. That leads me to something else - the first day we were given our water that they had to sterilise for us, it had a peculiar taste and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then someone said it was barbeque water! It actually tasted like smokey water because it had been boiled over an open fire! It took a bit of getting used to and some didn't like it at all, but it grew on me.

They obviously used the fires to boil up loads of eggs as we all had boiled eggs in our packed lunches every day. Our packed lunches were delicious, always sandwiches, boiled eggs (wrapped in tin foil with a pinch of salt in the bottom), little parcel of dried fruit and nuts, fresh fruit and a chocolate bar. As I don't eat bread, I had different options; bombay potatoes, curried rice, chapatis, either plain or the last day I had tinned tuna with it), all very good.

In the afternoons when you arrived in camp and after you'd had a hot drink and snack, then it was time to prepare your tents and have the famous wet wipe wash!! That really was a bundle of laughs because the tents weren't big enough to stand in and it was a little chilly to undress completely. I became quite an expert by the end of the trek!I did try to wash my hair the first night, but it was so cold and couldn't do it properly anyway that I just resorted to wearing a bandana. Can't believe I didn't wash my hair for 4 days!! We then put our night clothes on under layers of joggers and jumpers to sit around camp because after 4pm the temperature just plummeted. That way, when you took your outside layers off, you could just get into your sleeping bag and your night clothes were warm. The other tip that Teri told us was to put the clothes you were going to wear the next day under your pillow so you had warm clothes to put on in the morning. It was a bit crowded up around the pillow because we had to put phones, cameras and torches in there too to stop the cold destroying the batteries. Its amazing what you get used to though!

At night it did get really cold and the first night I didn't know how I was going to sleep I was so cold. The second night, I wore thermal underwear (long johns and top), joggers, merino wool jumper, fleece, buff, gloves and woollen hat. I also had a silk liner in my sleeping bag, but I still wanted to be warmer, so on one of our treks I bought a yak wool blanket in a chai shop. That night I got into bed and laid the blanket over the top of my sleeping bag and it really made a difference. when I woke in the morning to pack away my bed, etc I couldn't find my blanket. I looked everywhere for it and it had just vanished! It was so funny, when Amanda discovered it in her sleeping bag, along with her blanket. She had obviously woken in the night, either saw or felt my blanket and sub-consciously pulled it into her bag! So funny!

The day we arrived in Triund camp, there were several dogs around the place. They were all very friendly and when we ate our meal, they came in the tent with us and they were given treats. They never begged or got angry with each other, they were all very well behaved, even though they were wild dogs. When we went to bed that night, we were all just getting settled down and dropping off to sleep when they all started barking! Oh my god, it was so annoying, none of us could get to sleep. It would go quiet for awhile and you would just be dropping off, when they started again. Suddenly, we heard someone shout and a zip nearly being ripped open and Gareth shouted;"....for the love of god, if you don't shut up!!". The next morning he told us he had got so angry and had run at the dog, but the dog just sat there looking at him and it was then that he realised that they were guarding us. I hadn't reached that conclusion at that time, but I wanted to go to the toilet and was a little concerned that if I got out I might start them off barking again and wake everyone or worse I may get attacked. Anyway, I couldn't wait any longer and I got out of the tent to find a dog sat on a rock in the moonlight just outside our tent and he looked so gentle and loyal that at that moment, I reached the same conclusion at Gareth. Fortunately, the second night we were in Triund, they had moved off somewhere else and we didn't see them at all. So we all got a good night sleep.

I miss all of these experiences and my fellow trekkers. I will never forget walking and hearing Manu shouting from the front of the group "Ashtok (I think I've spelt that correct, it was the Doctors name), how are you?? and he would answer from the back of the group "very fine, very fine!" It always made us laugh, no matter how many times it was said.

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