At this age? C’mon, rather now than never!!
Alright, here are the details—the trek is for beginners. Our destination is Roopkund in the Garhwal Himalayas. Not only is it a picturesque climb, it’s shrouded with mystery ever since National Geographic Channel researched its findings on the skeletons found at Roopkund Lake in a documentary titled Skeleton Lake. Base camp is at 7,200ft at Loha Jung. From there we trek for a eight days to Raun Gadera, Tol Paani, Bedani Kund, Ran Ki Dhar and get a breathtaking look at some of the peaks like Trishul and Nanda Ghunti.
The lunch is vegetarian. We look at die-hard non-veg friend—she is squirming. No smoking and alcohol. It’s then that we chime in that non-veg friend will have problems. She grits and says, “Why must you mention it after the smoking and alcohol—couldn’t you have said it after the food bit?” Questions pour in.
Will there be wild animals?
May be the Himalayan bears but they would be more scared of us than we of them.
Alright, here are the details—the trek is for beginners. Our destination is Roopkund in the Garhwal Himalayas. Not only is it a picturesque climb, it’s shrouded with mystery ever since National Geographic Channel researched its findings on the skeletons found at Roopkund Lake in a documentary titled Skeleton Lake. Base camp is at 7,200ft at Loha Jung. From there we trek for a eight days to Raun Gadera, Tol Paani, Bedani Kund, Ran Ki Dhar and get a breathtaking look at some of the peaks like Trishul and Nanda Ghunti.
The lunch is vegetarian. We look at die-hard non-veg friend—she is squirming. No smoking and alcohol. It’s then that we chime in that non-veg friend will have problems. She grits and says, “Why must you mention it after the smoking and alcohol—couldn’t you have said it after the food bit?” Questions pour in.
Will there be wild animals?
May be the Himalayan bears but they would be more scared of us than we of them.
And there’s this very naturally urban reaction to the wilderness…how do we..er..go about…er…attending to the…er…calls of nature? And we do not mean talking back to chirping birds.
You want a rest room? Well, finally you are in a place where you can rest anywhere. Behind a tree, on a rock, in the bushes, but you can use the makeshift toilet tent—just cover up your stuff. So am I expected to carry a shovel and follow myself around?
A caring friend intervenes, “She’s just been released from Erragada. You do not want her to take care of your children.”
Erragada is an a mental asylum in Andhra Pradesh can I possibly take it as a compliment? Yet another friend moves her chair,distances herself from us with a pointed finger and a prim, “ I am a respectable school teacher—I don’t know these people.”
Back to the resting issue—baby wipes, use the tent when it’s around or just unite with nature.
What’s with the vegesaurus?
More healthy, less chance of contamination.
An aside from the die-hard non-veg, “I am sure we can pass a village or two where I can grab a chicken and stick it in the campfire”. Thoughts of us shaking off the chicken feathers crowds our minds and one die-hard veg friend is thinking the movie Madagascar, when the steak-deprived Alex wakes up chewing Marty’s butt. But we are a brave lot.
Once the names are given it turns out that there are nine of us—all of the definitely fairer sex. The men want the comfort of the four walls, the TV, plumbing and the peace of not having women around (but “We’ll be Back). The nine of us include the lovely Aparna, seven-year-old Meena, and Meena’s aunt Lien; then there is Preeti the Perfect, nine-year-old Nayanika, Nayanika’s aunt Priya, and Priya’s buddy Liz. And of course there is nine-year-old Ayesha and I but with none of Ayesha’s aunts. We decide to adopt Liz as the aunt. Says Aparna, “ But I’m Ayesha’s aunt”. Adds Preeti, “I am Ayesha’s aunt too—from the father’s side.” Applying the rules of stretchable kinship, it’s clear now that Lien is an aunt too, as is Priya and Liz of course has been adopted already.
So here we are at the beginning of our trek to Roopkund lake at 12,000ft—Meena, Nayanika, I, Ayesha and Ayesha’s five aunts.
More healthy, less chance of contamination.
An aside from the die-hard non-veg, “I am sure we can pass a village or two where I can grab a chicken and stick it in the campfire”. Thoughts of us shaking off the chicken feathers crowds our minds and one die-hard veg friend is thinking the movie Madagascar, when the steak-deprived Alex wakes up chewing Marty’s butt. But we are a brave lot.
Once the names are given it turns out that there are nine of us—all of the definitely fairer sex. The men want the comfort of the four walls, the TV, plumbing and the peace of not having women around (but “We’ll be Back). The nine of us include the lovely Aparna, seven-year-old Meena, and Meena’s aunt Lien; then there is Preeti the Perfect, nine-year-old Nayanika, Nayanika’s aunt Priya, and Priya’s buddy Liz. And of course there is nine-year-old Ayesha and I but with none of Ayesha’s aunts. We decide to adopt Liz as the aunt. Says Aparna, “ But I’m Ayesha’s aunt”. Adds Preeti, “I am Ayesha’s aunt too—from the father’s side.” Applying the rules of stretchable kinship, it’s clear now that Lien is an aunt too, as is Priya and Liz of course has been adopted already.
So here we are at the beginning of our trek to Roopkund lake at 12,000ft—Meena, Nayanika, I, Ayesha and Ayesha’s five aunts.
2 comments:
Hope you guys are having a gala time...and remind Ayesha about the leaves I once told her about ;)!!!!
Good you enjoyed the trek or errr...the trek enjoyed you! :p
very very enjoyable read :)
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