Trekking the Himalayas, part 2

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A warning before we begin: if Part 1 was short and sweet, then Part 2 is anything but....

Day 4 was election day back home. We camped the night before at a high altitude meadow, so the walking was mostly downhill towards our next destination, the village of Pana. We made it to camp at sundown, but luckily our crew had set everything up and greeted us with tea and hot soup ( a daily feature by now). The village, 500 feet below, disappeared as night set in. No electricity here, or hardly anywhere else on our hike.

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We woke up early on Day 5, just as Obama was announced the next President. We wouldn't find that out for another 2 days.

Prithvi decided to hike towards the village of Irani, off the conventional path and seldom visited by outsiders. Just above the village we met up with women and children collecting dry leaves for the winter, presumably for fuel. It was the first of countless "namaste" exchanges with the village people.

After a family hosted us with chai, fresh from the cow in the adjoining room, we went into town. The group of children quickly became a herd following us around, all shouting 'namaste' and 'tata' and staring at us like we were aliens from another planet. The feeling was mutual. We walked through sewage-filled streets, while women and children, some barefoot, went on with their morning chores.

We ended up at the school playground, overlooking the mountains. With no access to a ball for game time, Jaspreet improvised and reached for her cell phone. She played the latest Indian dance tunes for the kids and Itay put on a dance show. A few of the kiddies joined along.

We camped that night next to a neighboring village, Jinji, where we sampled the local produce: red beans, radishes, flour, green chilies, all plucked from the ground.

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Day 6 was our toughest hiking day, up and down and up again. At least we were rewarded by the best camp of the entire trek. Jaspreet wasted no time and ordered a HUGE bucket of hot water to shower, while Itay made do with a trckle of cold stream below camp.

Being our last night together, a little partay was in order. An assistant practically ran 4km down then up to buy alcohol from the village below. Rum and whisky in hand, we finished the night with a sing-a-along contest. The donkey shepard team could not be stopped.

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Day 7, still no word of Obama....until we pass by a group of 3 guys from Delhi, who started their trek from the opposite direction. They gave us the belated news of a landslide victory. Minutes later, we spotted the first road in a week. We would soon part ways with the shepards. Then 12 of us along with all our luggage piled into a jeep for a harrowing 8 km trip to the nearest town. Only later we found this was deemed a "no claim" road, as in: don't claim your losses if you happen to die.

We said our goodbyes to Lucas and Mirka, popped a Dramamine, and after a 6-hour Jeep ride south, found ourselves back in civilization. We camped that night with Paddy (Prithvi's brother) and his son, Sumeir, at fixed tents by the Ganges river just outside of Rishikesh. Since Paddy is the owner of the tour company and arranged for the trek, it was only fitting to spend a little QT with him.

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Day 8 was a figurative and literal leap into the Ganges as we rafted down the river. Thank god Paddy was at the helm ecause our other raftmates, young professionals from Delhi, were a pretty sorry and lazy lot. Can't win 'em all, right?

That evening we re-united with Prithvi, and made our to evening prayer in Rishikesh. One journey down, and many more to go.

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Postscript, Day 9 -- Itay and Prithvi had to enjoy one more sunrise together. Jaspreet sleeping peacefully, they walked ~5 km outside town to catch the sun rise by the the beach along the Ganges. Then it was time to hunt down elusive German pastries (success) and a papaya (ditto) for breakfast.

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Next up is more family time in Dehra Dun before travelling to Punjab to visit more of Jaspreet's family.

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Photos

Leaf collecting
Day 5 -- At the hill above Irani, first meeting with the villagers

OBAMA!
First evidence that Obama won -- 2 days later. Jaspreet translates Hindi paper.

Paddy, Sumeir and Jaspreet

Mount Trishul
Day 4 -- sunset above camp

Work break
We saw mostly women and children at work above the town.

Harvest time
This plant, chua, is crushed into flour. It was growing all over Irani.

Jaspreet's favorite
She almost stole him him in our backpack

Bridge to Jinji
Out of nowhere, a bridge

Local produce at Jinji
Red beans cultivated from pods.

Our new home in Jinji
Quite a bargain too. Just ignore the goats next door.

pre-dinner snack
hot fried potatoes, fresh from the village