YHAI’s Himalayan Trekking Expedition SARPASS with Special Chabbis (SP-26)

It was my first ever month in Belgium and serendipitously, it had snowed the whole night. As I was peeping out of the window, all I could witness was white carpet worn Leuven and an unstoppable snowfall adorning the morning. There was no time for coffee, after all, it was my first time watching, feeling, breathing the snow and I was very eager to taste it without any further delay.  In an excited state, I marched around the white town on a long stroll. I was not the only one as there were many snow enthusiasts already shaping up the snow men, a few busy in snowball warfare and many letting shutterbugs do what they do the best…

After about lunch time, I reached IMEC and informed my colleague, Isabelle, sitting across the table, “You know what Isabelle, I saw the snow for the first time in my life.” Isabelle, as witty as ever, quipped, “You know what Guru, my baby is watching it for the first time too.” Isabelle’s had four months old baby then and needless to say I was/am only eighteen then and now…

View of Peak Parvati (6127m) from the base camp in Kasol-Himachal-India

Special Chabbis (SP-26)

I was recounting the incident as finally for the first time in my life, I was witnessing an Indian Himalayan snow clad peak Parvati (20096ft/6127m) sitting in the YHAI base camp in the Parvati valley, Kasol-Himanchal-India. Soon, we, the 42 participants composing the 26^th batch (SP-26) of the season 2013 baptized ourselves as Special Chabbis and were set to depart on delightful SARPASS Himalayan trekking expedition. Itinerary was to scale SARPASS (13800 ft/4200m) starting & ending in Kasol (6500 ft/2000m) in 7 days. Bus rides at the start and the end of the trek would consume about 1800ft/2500m and the intermediate base camps at many insightfully planned picturesque locations (Kasol-Galgi thatch-Khora thach-Zirmi-Tila Lotni-Biskeri thach-Bhandak thatch-Kasol) would provide much needed rest to the legs while rejuvenating the souls.

Picturesque Biskeri thach camp 

Picturesque Bhandak thach camp

View from Bhandak thach camp: After all the hardwork of going up and coming down, we relaxed playing cricket at this Lords!!! 

For an almost-all-affordable cost (3655 INR/65 USD) YHAI not only provides an excellent platform for interaction within the participants from disparate states, it does an outstanding job in planning and streamlining all the routes-stay-and-food for all the batches. In the remote part of north India, I was amazed to have mouthwatering soft and fluffy idlies for breakfast. Food at the higher camps was not only nutritious but was delicious as well. During the course of the hike, one has to live pretty much like an herbivorous mammal. Camping in the tents all throughout without baths (unless u bear guts to take cold water baths in near 0 degC) and using nature for daily rituals, one certainly has an abundance of mesmerizing views and unforgettable banters with co-hikers to keep going...

Walk on a misty morning...

Need to walk high, higher and higher...

Jai Maharashtra - Jai Hind!!! Not sure if this was the highest point in the hike. Nevertheless after all the climb a deserving laugh...

Better late than never, we walk on the snow...

SP-26 on a roll on the snow...

Time for a quick pose...

Ahh....I have my jacket here :-)

And, here it goes off...

One step at a time and all mountains are scalable...

One just can't stop clicking only one...

This pass was tricky. Soft ice and a lot of sliding opportunities...

Landscape you do not want to take your eyes off... 

After sliding: an event (small sister of skii) I will always remember...

Young hearts from all over India join the hike and you meet lots of interesting characters around. In special chabbis (SP-26), we were led by a commendable Indian ex-International Hockey player in the 80s (when the Indian team must have been a lot better than it is now) Mr. Bhandari. Rizwan – an International Taekwondo player and Bronze medalist in Nepal World cup, PK from Indian air force along with a lot of adept shayars/singers from Lucknow lit up the campfires every evening. The common de-numerator across all the participants was the love for nature, endless enthusiasm for singing and preparedness to take the pain to achieve an optimal altitude gain. My to-do-travel-list (deserves another post on this) has grown at least a mile due to tips from all these well-traveled travel enthusiasts. Many of the items in the list fall from YHAI itself and time permitting; I am a hundred percent candidate on many more YHAI hikes year, after year, after years…

In fact, whenever I visit India, I would like YHAI hikes to be the re-union points where we all friends and co-hikers would keep on singing:

Yeh to bas angdai hein!

asli chadhai abhi aani hein!!!

Engligh Translation:

This is only a trailer (i.e. small hike)!

The movie (i.e. major hike) is yet to come!!!

Not Ganges, not Beas, still a roaring water flow!!!

Snakes in the form of flora; Never seen something like this before

Never found this earlier either :-)

For more photos please visit: https://plus.google.com/photos/110326084097379514065/albums/5889728420954931681

Dream Trip of Europe!!!

My PhD is in Semiconductors and postdoc (without a tinge of hesitation) is in Traveling (specialization: EU zone and a few parts of India and Asia pacific). If you need further travel tips, do contact me...hahaha. I serve with a single fee: In front of a beautiful spot, you have to say "Guru! Guru!! Guru!!!" and I will have a sense of being around there and I will see the world through your eyes...

As a part of my travel consultancy, I was set out to plan a trip for Pranshant's friend, Waqqas. He was set out to travel the world in 6 months and the first thought talking to him was "Mera number kab aayega :-( :-( :-(". He had (if I remember correctly) about 45 days to travel within Europe. The start and end would have to be Switzerland and when I set out to plan a trip for him, the trip (unknowingly at that point in time) became my own dream trip... 

The plan includes parts of the world that I have been, parts of the world that my friends have been (and they highly recommend) and a few appear in the list through travelogues (and postdoc grade research). The trip includes countries in the Schengen region only. Single google map was insufficient to provide all the directions and I had to resort to two, one covering the west and the other covering the east. First map shows a travel distance of 14600 km and the second pans about 6865 km only :-). As that would take some effort to walk or bike (even for the best of the best), I recommend a few flights (Ryanair must be traveling to most by default). Also, it would most likely take more than 45 days if you encompass all of them. I believe it has a nice mix of important/historical cities and an abundance of nature for nature lovers. Certainly, you are free to make your own choice to hip on and hip off...

Europe in the West - Plan A

Europe in the East - Plan B

     

In a nutshell, it covers the following places across 18 countries. You can skip some and choose some to your taste:

-- Geneva, Switzerland; -- Chamonix, France -- Grenoble, France

-- Nice, Cannes France, Monte Carlo (Recommend a Cruise to Barcelona)

-- Barcelona, Spain; -- Cordova, Spain; -- Malaga, Spain; -- Seville, Spain; 

-- Lisbon, Portugal; -- Porto, Portugal

-- Madrid, Spain; -- San Sebastian, Spain; 

-- Paris, France

-- Luxembourg, Luxembourg

-- Heidelberg, Germany

-- Leuven, Belgium (of course); -- Brugge, Belgium

-- Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Fly to Stockholm)

-- Stockholm, Sweden (Fly to Abisko); -- Abisko, Sweden (Fly to Bergen); -- Bergen, Norway; -- Stavanger, Norway; -- Oslo, Norway 

-- Copenhaegen, Denmark (Ferry to Finland); -- Helsinki, Finland 

-- Krakow, Poland; -- Berlin, Germany; -- Prague, Czech Republic;
-- Budapest, Hungary; -- Vienna, Austria; -- Salzburg, Austria

-- Munich, Germany; -- Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

-- Venezia, Italy; -- Pisa, Italy; -- Rome, Italy; -- Palermo, Italy; 
-- Agrigento, Italy (Fly to Malta)

-- Malta Island, Mellieħa, Malta (Fly to Milan; Milan to Como) 

-- Como, Italy

-- Interlaken, Switzerland; -- Zurich, Switzerland

Happy Travel...

Guru

Sydney & Melbourne - Australia Sight Seeing

“Unless I have my Preity Zinta alongside me, I am not going to watch the Opera show”, I was confirmed in my mind as the scenes from Dil Chahata Hein (DCH) when Preity takes Amir for an Opera were flashing in front of my eyes and I was resisting the temptation from the Sydney Opera tour guide enticing the group to buy tickets for the Chinese Opera evening shows in the famous Sydney Opera House.  

Once when I was shown the spectacular picture of the Lotus temple in Delhi-India and I had misrecognized it as the Sydney Opera House. To me, any structure with a white tiled quarter-spheroids stacked multiple times signified Sydney Opera House.  It’s not then a surprise at all that the about 4 billion people in the world (i.e. 2 out of every 3 in the universe) do recognize the magnum opus Sydney Opera House in the frame and framing it from the Sydney harbor bridge during a quiet evening walk was one of the charming experiences… 

Sydney Opera House in front of Sydney Harbor Bridge

Sydney Harbor Bridge

Sydney Harbor Bridge reflection in the Opera House glass

Equally splendid experience is to capture the glittering Sydney Harbor Bridge in the day and night times. It’s one of the popular places for nocturnal photography with a lot of flashes hitting the skyline. The area must be at its spectacular best during the new-year evening fireworks. However, on a normal day it’s good too…

Sydney Harbor Bridge - A night view

Sydney Opera House - a night view

Sydney skyline

A Museum or an art gallery in Sydney

The great thing about Australia is that the entire continent is not fragmented into fractions called nations. There are no fights/wars for the same resources, no political skirmishes, no man made border issues and seamless access to disparate cultures resulting in harmony*. With a total colonial stamp, the entire continent speaks a single language (a bit boring), eats the same food and drinks similar drinks. Taking a cue from Australia, it may not be a bad idea for other continents to reorganize themselves forming a Pangaea yet again. Well, just a passing thought... and a few more pictures:

Melbourne skyline - An angled view

Sporty Melbourne: Boating in Yarra River

Shrine of Remembrance - Melbourne

My first trip to the continent has focused only on the two cities (Sydney & Melbourne) and most the sports venues. With blessed nature all over the continent, the opportunities are aplenty. A few that readily come to the mind are:
n  Great Ocean Road
n  The Uluru (The famous red stone)
n  Blue Mountains
n  Entire west coast

And last but never the least...
n  World wonder “The Great Barrier Reef”

Time for next trip…

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^* I am not a geopolitical expert. However, the assumed hypothesis seems alright. 

The SCG and the MCG

“Where is Sydney Cricket Ground-SCG? How do I go to SGC?,” was my first question to the host in Sydney after the rudimentary check-in procedures. “Come here,” pointing me to come outside the door he was pointing his forefinger up and not so far. “Can you see those standing lights? Yeah? That’s SGC for you my friend.” Wow!!! I was gasping my breath; coincidently I had booked a place at an arm’s length from SCG, next to Cricketers’ Arm hotel. No wonder then that all the walls downstairs were filled with ex-Australian cricketers like the Waughs, the McGraths and not the mention the big Don Bradman. Now, it was my turn to point to my bag and saying, “Can you please hold on to it for a while as I just can’t stop my excitement even for a second. Here I go…”

Marathon Cricket Tournament @ SCG-Sydney

Innings break @ Australia-Srilanka T20 game @ MCG

MCG during the tour 

As much as I have hated the smug invincible look on Ricky Ponting and his teammates’ face, I have been a salient admirer of the success the nation has achieved in sports arena. Be it an Olympic sport, be it Cricket – a game played by only handful of nations, Aussies have set new and newer standards for the world to chase all the time. Just can’t forget the days of getting up very early in the morning not only to catch the captivating cricket action along with an outstanding channel 9 commentary but an equal attraction was to get the glimpses of the lush green, nicely curetted outfields, seagulls dancing on the boundary lines. Those were just wonderful, wonderful memories and being in Australia I desperately wanted to have a first look at both the SCG and a must do THE MCG…

After a short brisk walk, I was at the SCG gates inquiring for the guided tours at the stadium. “We are afraid, Sir!!! We have guided tours every morning 10AM and tomorrow being an Australian day* – a national day, we have no tours for public,” a stern face at the counter poked. Even his Sir sounded stern. After traveling shores to see the venue, it was not a pleasing response. “Is there any way I can visit the grass at least once,” disappointment must have flashed on my face as if the sky has broken loose. With a broad smile the passer by tour guide quipped, “However, you have come in this august place at a very special occasion, Sir!!! Today, we have a “Marathon Cricket Tournament” scheduled and (not to mention) the entry is free and you will be able to witness a real cricket game @ the SGC.” “But…but, how about the dressing rooms and pavilion etc.,” ecstatic though, I still sounded a bit paranoid, “Do Not worry, Sir! You will be able to enter the dressing rooms, take pictures and above all, you would be amongst the very few- a very lucky few, who can claim to have a chilled beer at the Sydney members club.”

Bradman philosophy @ Home dressing room - SCG

"Mera Bharat Mahan" - @ Guest dressing room  - SCG

Two maestros celebrating elders B'day @ MCG

A few moments later, I was clean bowled by a waitress holding Samosa trey and mango chutney at the members’ hall. Well, the next few hours, I was at my happiest best wandering on the fields of SCG. Capturing the pictures, I walked through the pavilion, the members club, the Bradman hall. Above all standing on the center turf, waving his willow to the midwicket dressing room followed by watching the skies as if gesturing his father with meditating eyes, I did simulate a Tendulkar scoring a couple hundred without playing an offside drive.

Simulation @ SCG turf

Finally, @ MCG press box after the game (tour)

Two days later was the date with awesome MCG and I also enjoyed a last ball finish T20 game between Australia and Srilanka. Was just an incredible experience too...

A Blind Man on a Hiking trail

This encounter has certainly given me a lot of strength in the events of adversities, in events when I have hit my psychological nadir, and it has made me humble at the core in the events of joys and triumphs too. May be there is a bit of lesson for everybody in this story... May be each one of you would interprete this god like act differently...

Location: Anaga, Tenerife - Canary Islands, Spain. 

A group of hikers were on their first small hike on a tiny mystical island. Temperatures were amicable in the mid twenties, ideal to miss the December cold in Belgium. The path way was steep, uneven and rocky but nothing dangerous - way too safe by any mountain standards. Yet, a few members in our group were shouting and screaming, stressing their vocal chords more than their leg muscles. Most of us busy breathing the scenic panoramic views from the heights, feeling nice breeze on the body, basking in the worthy gains for the all the enduring pains. As we were walking past the twists and the turns, the shouts and screams suddenly vanished as if the winding path would have carried a mercedez now. The sense of calm prevailed as all of us stood completely in silence, awestruck in a spellbound statue mode witnessing the miracle - god like act in front our own eyes. It made us forgot the existing breathtaking panoramic views, it made us forgot our senses for a while as all our eyes were pinned on single man - a fellow hiker scaling down the mountain in the opposite direction. 

He could not watch any of us, could not witness any of the stunning panoramic views, could not sense any of the impending dangers paved in the path. Yet, he was there to feel it. He made all the effort to be there not to see it but to feel it. And, feeling the breeze, he must have experienced everything that none of us could have seen from any of our open eyes. Unfortunately, the nature has not been kind on him. Taking away 1 out of 5 senses does sound a lot cruel than one think. Fortunately though, the god equally must have gifted him with a lot more senses full of tenacity, courage and strength to overcome what he lacked. Not screaming, not shouting, resting his one hand on friends elbow and the other holding a traditional blind man's stick, he went passed us whistling nonchalantly as if the landscape was his lush green garden backdoor. Struck on one side on the wall, it took all of us a while to come back to senses and gauge the magnitude of the event. I personally was impressed by his courage, his courage to transcend the boundaries, his courage to excel beyond the ordinary, his sheer will to overcome the missing element - a deficiency, an adversity. For Hari, it was his trust on his friend that appealed the most. To me, the god like act was an exemplification demonstrating the power of an outstanding will, a proof of what Gandhi sentenced a long ago:      

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will" M. K. Gandhi

Subsequently, I explored the internet finding similar heroics - god like acts of blind men. They are in plenty. Here, just listing a few:

-- Bill Irvine used a guide dog to hike the Appalachian train in 1990s. 

-- Don Planner - ex-army serviceman became the 1st blind man to climb Mont Blanc via the Gouter Route on 25th June 1996.

-- Erik Weihenmayer is the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on May 25, 2001. 

In fact, Erik Weihenmayer has successfully conquered the 7 summits challenge, reaching the summit of the highest peak in each and every continent. He is an author and a prolific speaker too. His videos on youtube are totally mesmerizing. I am sure you just can't stop with one:

My salute/respect to all these brave hearts...

Smokin' Sumatra!

Patriotic Smokers

Most of the conversations in Sumatra followed a set pattern. With usual greetings accompanying a beaming smile, an eager looking Indonesian queries, "What's your name, Mr.?". Without waiting for an answer his hands move around his pockets and picking the most valued possession - a packet of Cigarettes. He offers, "Cigarette, Mr.?" Upon receiving a negative response, either his eyes bewilder with an excitement spotting an alien (and probably thinking),"How can a man be a man without smoking". Else, you gain a rarely respectable nod, "Wow!!! how the hell you resist such a divine pleasure." Most of the advertisement billboards on the roads also address tobacco lovers, either enticing the new pack or pleasing the veterans. Given this penetration of tobacco in an around, it is not surprising and indeed heart breaking and absolutely shocking to spot about 10 years old kids smoking their adolescence with every inhaled puff on a scenic beach or equally scenic lush green landscapes.

I could not stop but to rake the topic during the chat with Joe - a paragliding enthusiast, with whom I could strike long conversations on my way to Bukittingi from Padang. He offered a rather cynical argument,"Guru, one has to understand smoking in Indonesia is a mandatory national cause for every Indonesian man. This is how men demonstrate patriotism in Indonesia." I did not get his point immediately and naively asked,"Smoking demonstrating patriotism. How?" And  the logic he presented can be extended to all the smokers and alcoholics the world over. He argued,"Cigarettes attract most tax and contribute the most to the national exchequer* and more the Indonesian men smoke, more they contribute to the national exchequer and towards the economic growth of the country." So to all the smokers in the world: Keep smoking your lungs out, keep contributing to the patriotic national cause but please, please do something to keep those adolescent kids out of the dirt. Any ideas? Meanwhile, a few screenshots...

Lush Green Sumatra Landscape

Lush Green Sumatra Landscape

Canyon in Bukittingi-Indonesia

Islands close to Armanis beach - Padang-Indonesia  

Paragliding: A classy adventure

Thanks for the surfing goof-up on the 2nd day morning, I had a chance to spend the entire day with the gliding enthusiasts in Indonesia. I have already been sold on being a gliding pilot after a single gliding session with Peter, thanks to Tomas and NBH. This one was the more adventurous of the two. In glider plane, you are inside a gliding plane feeling at home while in paragliding you are out in the open sitting on your harness. The take off and landing are very crucial and in between it looks like driving a car where the fuel (Thermal heat from the atmosphere) is not in your control making it more tricky. Nevertheless, with a proper precaution, it is certainly an enjoyable sport providing many more entertaining views. Waiting for my turn, I had an enjoyable time playing out with my lens taking a few gliding shots... 

Joe- paragliding enthusiast; Unfortunately, his  glider could not take off on the day

A long zoom shot -  Paraglider enjoying his ride

Landing on the Armanis beach

I climbed the hill twice desperately waiting for my turn and the weather spoiled the party every time forcing me to live on one thing, Hope. Unfortunately, the nature was unkind yet again when I traveled to Bukittingi for climbing Mt. Merapi. The active mountain was erupting and it was forbidden to hike. But then, there is always next time, a new day and a new opportunity. Hope is a good thing, good things do not die!!!    

Finally, Minangkabau architecture - a unique view in Smoking Sumatra!!!

Minangkabau architecture - the big house roof structure

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* For those interested in Economics of smoking: Although the detrimental effects of smoking are well-known, the world over it has never been banned by governments. For One, smoking does contribute a great deal to the exchequer and secondly, with larger life expectancy today, it saves governments a lot of investments in old age homes as most smokers get smoked out sooner than later.  

Adriatic Croatia - My last PhD trip in Europe

My last trip in Europe during PhD was to Croatia* - a beautiful holiday destination with lots of Sea and the Sun and to add to that more and more beautiful people all around. Where else can you expect the host to come to receive you at the bus terminal and you reach ho(s)tel in chauffeur driven car at 6AM in the morning. The lady of the house then greets you with a traditional welcome drink -- honey and vintage liquor (may be) half as strong as Becherovka burning your throat -- What a way to start a day!!!

Ferpect (There is nothing perfect in this world) for a last minute travelers like me, one of the curious practices in Croatia is that you do not really have to book ho(s)tels etc. in advance. For one, you will have a lot of residents looking for travelers to offer them beds/rooms. Renting places and tourism is their major source of revenue. If you are unlucky to find none, I was informed that you are free to just knock on any door in the neighborhood and request them if they have a place to stay. Worse come worst, the residents will guide you to another neighbor and most likely you will get a bed at least.

With more than thousand islands, Croatia is one of those beautiful marvels that it becomes too difficult to imagine that the country was at loggerheads with neighboring Bosnia just a two decades ago and the war stories on the dinner table leave you shock shelled. 

For most prominent traveling destinations, there is a lot and lots to see. While The pearl of Adriatic -- Dubrovnik, described by G. B. Shaw as "Those who seek paradise on Earth should come to Dubrovnik and see Dubrovnik" should not be missed in any circumstances the tranquil park in Plitvice will certainly leave you far away from the mundane day to day routine that you will hate to come back. It's one of the decent places for adventurists too as there are quite a few water sports options to bask in. The passing beauty of the islands when you travel on roads close to Sea is simply mesmerizing and it would be a huge effort to give a break to your shutter. Here are a few shutter bugs...

Dubrovink - The pearl of Adriatic

Lokrum - An island close to Dubrovnik

Croatia - A country with more than thousand Islands

Pristine -- A natural cave in Lokrum

Plitvice Park water fall - small and sweet

   

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* By the way, Gary Kasparov travels to Croatia for vacation every summer. Not only he relaxes in the summer house with his entire family, he works on his Chess too. Being hugely optimistic, I was hopeful that an ounce of sand would be fly into my head to improve my Chess performance. Height of optimism :-)