Anybody seeen maa baybeee?

A few weeks ago after roaming the northern frontiers on my trusty steed, I attempted to load "cockroach" on to a train back to Bangalore. Unfortunately my motorbike papers look like the Rig Veda and the officials laughed me out of the railway station. No problem, said cousin Ambu who was our host in Delhi, we'll just load it on to a truck and send it back later. You carry on, he added in a smooth and comforting voice. And I did. Unfortunately the truckers in Delhi have gone equally mad and more complications keep piling on. As a result I am in Bangalore while the motorbike continues to languish in Delhi. I'm told the poor thing hasn't eaten in days and refuses to start. Situation difficult. But don't worry M, a secret rescue mission is being planned this weekend, hold on cockroach, I'm coming...
http://www.moondust.in/

There's nothing like a walk in the park...

...to raise your spirits.

Today the air is warm and wet. Grey sky and a strong wind carries the smell of fallen leaves. The weather is too good to miss. I head up to the park.

Central park reservoir – happy memories of high school track practice, back when I was in great shape and could tell stories, laugh, and sing while running…a silver lake in the middle of Manhattan…rimmed with a muddy track and acorns crunching underfoot.

A tiny bird hops among the acorns, yellow brown and so small it’s a pair of shiny black eyes with feet. Allows me to come within touching distance – brave for such a little fellow.

A bridge beckons so I turn and cross over. A firy red maple tree in the distance, and the ancient Egyptian obelisk rises up, incongruous with the office buildings just outside the park. What is this doing here?

The path forks – I choose a right heading down and around a bend. A squirrel is running down a tree headfirst, but stops to listen. Suddenly the wind whirls, fallen leaves spiralling up and up. The squirrel runs for cover. I step into the noisy swirl and am alone under a dark pine.

Heavy low clouds are moving fast, high up there are patches of blue. Golden sun suddenly slants through the trees. I come to the part of the park called “the Ramble”.

I make random choices right and left and suddenly realize I’m on a spit of land with water on either side, willow trees growing sideways out of the water and draping their curtains of green, gold in the sun.

Walking on, I come to “Strawberry Fields”. I climb a hill through the trees and music is sifting through. “Love Love Me Do” a guitarist sings - doing a pretty good Beatle voice - and there in the center is the “imagine” mozaic decorated with flowers, pumpkins, and a ukelele with a peace sign, surrounded by reverent tourists.

Well, the ShivLing Fellowship has split up and I am the lone adventurer in the west. I seek my fortune, lodgings, and magical remedies. Along the way I encounter strange folk. Happy Halloween everybody.

And another one

Originally from New York but mostly in India the last couple of years or so, we now have Debski on our boat. She was with the boys and girls of the Himalayan expedition detailed below but she's now back in the big apple. Probably the most transitory character of the moment, welcome to the blog Debski!

The Return of the Fellowship of ShivLing

The climb down was hard going until we reached Gaumukh. We took the same 2 days trekking back to Gangotri, with a stop at Lal Baba's Ashram again. This time we ran into just too many people. A group of some 200 annoying people were trying to climb up as we went down, and attempting to return to Lal Baba the same day. As a result the Ashram was packed.
We left early in the morning from Lal Baba to Gangotri- the moon was still quite full and it was not quite light out. moon.jpg
Once again, the trek back to Gangotri was totally enjoyable as we passed through pine and birch forests. This time we were all setting a very good pace, and somehow Small soldiered on. After an emotional farewell to our guide Atal that afternoon in Gangotri, we hired a jeep for Uttarkashi, spent a night there, and on to Rishikesh the next day.
At Rishikesh, we checked in to a hotel which turned out to be 5km upstream of the main chaotic town of Rishikesh, in a quiet, clean enclave on a hill, peopled with Nepali-run cottages and hotels, and swarming with hippies. I dont mean to sound xenophobic, but hey - we were surrounded by young, loud, bikers on Bullets, who did nothing but smoke up and stay stoned 24 hours. A common scene in the Himalayas.
This place turned out to be a great place to rest up, and gorge on some great food- we had been forced to a diet of aloo paratha and maggi for too long. And this was where our Fellowship of ShivLing split. Small was in just too bad shape. He, Bansi and Prats left for Delhi the same night. The remaining 4 of us stayed on for 2 more days and nights. We did'nt do much, although i did explore and find a beach we had heard of, by the beautiful Bhagirathi. It was a perfect split of worlds. On one hand we had the most conservative of hindu places by the holy river, with temple complexes lines up on each bank. Rishikesh.jpg But less than a half kilometer away, I found this beautiful beach, where some real stunners were swimming in the river and sunbathing on huger rocks! I tell you, I was bombed. The water was'nt terribly cold, the breeze was warm and the sun shining away. I took a dip and dried off on the rocks. The next evening i took Debbie and Himja there and we took another dip. Rishikesh03.jpg

Back in Delhi, we spent a wonderful few days at an old friend's place- Ambu and Shalini with their daughter Saranya.
Delhi10.jpg ; Delhi11.jpg ; Delhi13.jpg

Here again the group separates - most by flight. Bansi already in Bangalore, Debbie flies to New York. Finally, Himja and I travel back by train, the last to make it back.

Until the next call of the mountains.

In the lap of Shiva

We stayed 2 nights in below-freezing temperatures at Tapovan, at Simla Baba's ashram.
Temperatures have been extreme - the sun is intense and while trekking, or basking in the sun, we are hot. In the shade it immediately gets cold, and the smallest of breezes gets us shivering.
The sun was lost to us behind the mountains early. Both evenings, like clockwork, a posse of clouds drifted quickly up the glacial valley to our left. As the sun set, somewhere beyond mighty Shivling Shivling2.jpg , the clouds turn gold, and so do the very tops of the snowy peaks. Then orange and pink and purple. And then the clouds circle around the meadow - we are locked in for the night. Come morning and they gaan...
There are of course some more Babas and Matas here. There's one guy who only smokes up and talks complete gibberish. We admired him for not giving us any holier than thou. Or maybe he did - i did'nt really understand him. Then there was a young Israeli couple with a Sardarji Baba. All were dressed in the tell-tale robes of the Baba-world. I tried to talk with them but the girl only gave me beatific smiles of enlightenment. They were sooo completely stoned.
The second day, some of us hiked up the debris of a mountain to a beautiful little lake fed by meltwater. Bro_Bansi.jpg ; lake.jpg That night we set up a tent inside the hut and the girls and Bro
had a slightly better night for it. The moon, constantly waxing during our hike, was full. We stepped out later at night and stood there in awe, as the moon washed over the peaks and the meadow. There's nothing like moonlight and moonshadow on snowy mountains.

October 8th dawned bright and clear. Again, we were greeted by the sight of a couple of western women meditating, Taichi-ing on some lonely rocks. What a spot for it! In fact, apart from Bro and Himja in our group, I'd say the Western hikers were the only ones doing anything like that. And more women than men seem to be into it. More power to them.

Before we set off for the long climb down, Debbie and I had a little ceremony - we exchanged rings again, it being our 2nd wedding anniversary. A special place for it. rings.jpg ; group.jpg

Where no Eagles dare

From Bhojbasa and Lal Baba, its 10km to Tapovan, which is a high altitude (14,500 ft) meadow meadow.jpg encircled by snow capped mountains ShivLing.jpg , Bagirathi123.jpg, BlackMt.jpg and guarded on one side by a moat - the Bhagirathi glacier climb1.jpg.
Before we get there though, we first cross the glacier over Gaumukh Gaumukh.jpg , the ice cave revered as the source of the Ganges. This is an awesome sight, with blue-green icewalls collapsing every so often, and the white waters of the Bhagirathi tumbling out.
And then the last stretch is 2 km of hell, straight up a landslide, with goons running down the hill at you, taking the hill along with them it seemed. The going was slow, very slow, until around 3:30pm we thankfully topped the ridge onto Tapovan.

A note here on how the group has been faring. Of the 4 guys and 3 girls, as expected, the girls fared much better. Prats prats.jpg, again as expected, was in tremendous shape and it seemed to me this was all a lark for her. Bro was steady, while Debbie, myself and Himja usually brought up the rear. The altitude really got to me- just could'nt seem to get enough O2 with each breath, and although my legs were willing, i could'nt have my legs go faster than my breath. The surprise entry was Bansi. The smoker and chronic bronchitis man shrugged off a bad attack just the day before the trek started, and after the first day, just could not be stopped. He was miles ahead of us each day. The worst lot fell to Small, who was ill before, during and after the entire trip. But I salute him, for he indeed made the entire distance partly on mule, mostly on foot . He says he was so out of it he cant remember anything SmallShivLing.jpg .

And here I must mention what a terrific soul we found in Gangotri, entirely by chance, to guide us on the trek. His name is Atal Sahi (far right in this photo - resting.jpg), from Nepal, and if any of you out there like, we can give you his address. Atal is the most cheerful, honest, hard-working person i ever met, and he helped us all, especially Small. And that's all - for now.

Baba time

Ok, see some tents and a white building in the middle? This is Lal Baba's Ashram, about halfway to Tapovan from Gangotri. There are these kinds of Ashrams all over the Himalayas, and ask Bansi for the most cynical perspective on them. They are like hotels for travelers - mostly Indian pilgrims, Western new-agers, and hikers. Unfortunately I dont have a photo of any of the Babas- Bro didja get any? I shall attempt a description. Lal Baba is dead and gone so i cant describe him. But i'm sure he wore saffron, had a loud voice, was prone to blast his minions, wore Raybans, smoked pot, and was a pioneer in hotel management in the Himalayas. His current replacement, name i forget, was a lean guy with long hairs, Raybans, saffron robes, loud voice etc. He sat at a desk on the whitewashed mud-and-brick patio/courtyard directing the accomodation of all the travelers - and there were many, this being a major pilgrim route. Its a roaring business.

We also stayed at an Ashram - stone dwellings in Tapovan- Simla Baba's ashram. Only Bansi engaged in conversation with these Babas, I somehow could'nt. Next to the stone dwellings was Bangalore Mata, a woman Baba who was a world-wise woman (been to New York etc) in her older avatar, speaks English, Kannada and Hindi. She lived in a tent and chanted south indian ragas perched atop a rock in freezing temperature. Also in Tapovan are Bengali Mata and Mauni Baba. It seems Mauni Baba bashed Bengali Mata on the knee with his trishul, as a result of which cops dragged him away, bashed him and extorted Rs. 7000. I mostly believe this story, but its impossible to believe that Indian cops trekked to Tapovan to get him.

As i said earlier, the trek to Bhojbasa was beautiful- here are some pictures:

Bhoj1.JPG ; debbie1.JPG ; Bhoj2.jpg

And there are some great shots from earlier -
around Gangotri, including views of the gorge and the mountains:
view.jpg ; Kiss%20rock.jpg; Two_girls.jpg

on the way to Gangotri, including Bro doing something...:

riverside.jpg ; Bro.jpg

Getting there..

Its a long, long way from Haridwar to Gangotri - one holy (dirty, dusty, lowlands) place to another (clean, cool, mountains). We made the mistake of taking a bus - 9.5 hrs - from Haridwar to Uttar Kashi, and even the magnificent views climbing up and down the lower Himalayas could not make up for it.

Another 4 hrs from UK to Gangotri the next day, this time by jeep. The road (Aroad.JPG) followed the beautiful Bhagirathi, one of the main headwaters of the Ganga ABhag1.JPG . The ice-cold, snow-melt green river was to be our constant companion for 10 days of bus, road and walk.

Gangotri turned out to be a clean and pretty pilgrim town. The hustle is'nt too bad (Kingston and Delhi bus stand are much worse). AGang1.JPG

After 2 nights in Gangotri, we started our hike. Small is ill and on horseback, the rest of us walk saddled with our backpacks. The first day's trek was to Bhojbasa (14km), and for me, the most picturesque trek . The trail, always following the Bhagirathi, climbs up the valley which starts out narrow and then starts broadening out. The landscape is of steep mountain sides, points to the snow-capped Bhagirathi peaks, and passes through pine forest and yellow and orange-leaved silver birch. By the time we reach Bhojbasa, the landscape has started turning bleak and stark, all glacial outwash boulders and bedlam. We stay at Lal Baba's Ashram, and get a taste of the hotel management skills of these Babas of the Himalayas.