Monks, Mules and Monkeys Munching Momos in the Mountains

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Amritsar to Dhamsala
Sion and Niki After 24 hours on two buses and two trains, with not a wink of sleep, we have finally made it to the Himalaya! Donning a shiny new pair of shoes and with our turban-winding experiences behind us, we left Amritsar and Punjab in search of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso and his exiled Tibetan government nestled in the foothills of the Indian Himalaya, around Dharamsala, in a cosy yet touristy little town called McLeod Ganj. Supposedly founded by David McLeod (I'm sure the locals had no idea it was here before the noble and civilised British came and showed them), the modern McLeod is shared by Tibetan refugees, Buddhist monks, Indian and Tibetan shopkeepers, holidaying Indian families and a large population of world travellers, either dabbling in new forms of tantric yoga and Tibetan ocean massage, or just gazing at mountains and hanging out at Pierce Brosnan's favourite bar, McLlo's. We decided to take the more relaxed, latter option, sampling our favourite Indian beers under the shadow of the Himalaya.

McLeod is definitely a great place to unwind after the heat and stress of the Indian plains, although its a shame you have to share this mountain getaway with half of India's backpackers, you can't really blame them, its definitely the most pleasant place we've been and completely geared at manufacturing a traveller scene There is a huge selection of quaint rooftop cafes serving real Western breakfasts, proper Italian pastas, as well as all the momos you could ever want, numerous courses in massage, tibetan cooking, etc, and plenty of Tibetan souveniors and gifts. But, in a lot of ways, it doesn't feel like India at all, almost all of the seedy, disturbing and depressing elements that we've come to know and love are almost non-existent in McLeod, the hordes of rickshaw drivers, beggars and touts just don't seem to make it up this high, and after a few days its easy to forget you're in India at all.

We quickly tired of all this luxury and set ourselves the task of trekking up the Himalaya. We decided on a three day trek up to a campsite at Triund (4 hrs above McLeod) from where its another 3hrs to the snowline at Illaqua, where theres a glacier. Having never seen snow before I was very excited about this and eager to get up into the chilly heights, to some solitude and serenity. We decided we didn't want a guide interfering on our peace and quiet and wanted the challenge of braving it alone. We were assured by the helpful guy at the Regional Mountaineering Centre that we weren't crazy and it could be done, and he supplied us with a route map and some good advice. Next stop was to find a tent, after a tiring day trying to hunt down supplies in McLeod, with no luck, we were finally sent up to Dharamkhot to Anil's tea house. Anil, a friendly little mountaineer, sweetened us up with free chai, and then hooked us up with a tent, sleeping bags and jackets at a very low price. He assured us we would be fine on our own, and said we should get ourselves some iodine at a chemist for water purification. Feeling very pleased with our efforts we left the minor detail of the iodine for another day....

In the meantime, we had discovered that the Dalai Lama had, by some amazing stroke of fate, or luck, arrived back in his home town on the very same day as us! Thinking he was meant to be in Sydney we were very happy to know we would be able to see His Holiness at a public appearance at the temple. So, we headed down to the Tsuglagkhang Complex to greet His Holiness with a crowd of beaming Tibetans and enthused Westerners who'd been camping out since dawn. The time for his arrival came, and then went, the excitement mounted, the crowd wound tighter and tighter towards the barricades, the security guards told us all to be seated, and then, a beaming smile appeared from an entourage of monks coming down the stairs that could only be one person. Before we could comprehend this once-in-a-lifetime event, His Holiness was shuffled into a car and driven the 100 metres across the temple complex, to his official residence. We saw a glint of his glasses twinkling in the sunlight and a beautiful smile, and then he was gone. But, no one left unhappy or disappointed, just a brief encounter is more than enough.

So, back to the trek, our last little task of procuring some iodine, turned into a three day nightmare. Not one chemist, hospital or private clinic from Dharamkhot to Dharamshala could get us iodine, or any water purification tablets. For a trekking centre we were pretty astonished, and very dissappointed, because without clean water we couldn't go on our trek and were driven to abandoning our mission. The next day we awoke with a new-found confidence, were assured by Anil that we could buy water on the trail ( who knows why he didn't tell us this in the first place) and we decided to set out on our adventure into the Himalaya.

Well, the photos speak for themselves as to how beautiful it was up n the Himalaya. Our efforts were definitely rewarded and it was really an amazing feeling to achieve this on our own. Whilst it wasn't easy carrying all of our supplies, on our backs, up to almost 3000 metres, then setting up a little campsite on the edge of a mountain, hoping that we would be lucky enough to avoid getting swept off the edge by a particularly violent electrical storm (which were common), the feeling of accomplishment and the beauty of the mountains is definitely worth it. The second day to the snowline was even more amazing, and where you become really overcome by a feeling of insignificance, staring up into a towering glacial mountain with a looming storm overhead. It has definitely been the highlight of our trip in India, and an experience I'm glad we didn't miss out on, nothing compares to the amazing beauty of the Indian Himalaya.

The very next day we began our journey back down, down, down....to the depths of Delhi. We walked to Dharamshala, on our newly toned calves, took a bus to Kangra, then the slow and winding Kangra valley train to Pathankot, then our last gruelling overnight train, and 24 hrs later, we are back in the heart of Delhi (for backpackers anyway) Paharganj, and hating it. But, India is definitely a land of extremes, and from the soaring, icy Himalaya to the grubby, sweltering streets of Delhi, the beauty of the mountains becomes even more lucid in our mind.

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Photos

The Mini-Glacier at Illaqua
We managed to get this shot just before the slopes were taken over by a group of Canadian sledders and a bunch of rowdy, drunk Indian college grads.

Sion the intrepid Adventurer
As we look forth to the mighty journey ahead of us, i think to myself, "Why the hell am i doing this?"

"Mountie"
Our trusty guide lazing in the morning sun.

Snowline; Illaqua
Just to give you an idea of the scale, those little dots in the distance are people. Well, Canadians, but close enough.

Comments

[Ouaga]

Any Indian Thomas Griffiths about?
Ah, Mcleodganj. Where I had my passport and money and camera stolen by some thieving bastard, but where I had many an enjoyable coffee and beer. Very jealous of the trek, if you see someone with an Australian passport in my name go get 'em for me!

[Clancy]

Green with Envy
Hi Sion and Nikki I am absolutely bewildered how someone would be able to afford something like this. It is so inspiring to see you two trekking the globe with not a worry at such a young age. This is the sort of thing I could never imagine doing, the massive scale of a trip so large is overwhelming. I give you both kudos and the best of luck for a safe and happy journey. As for caches on my putey - sorry its been formatted one too many times to recover any of your blogs. Hopefully if I make it down to Syd if you guys ever return home I will be able to catch up with you. P.S. Lovin the buddah beard Sion, u remind me of ur dad :-).