Because Mountaineers have no sense of smell...............

Arms akimbo he stands on the slope"Oh cuhmon Deepa! You know what will happen if you don't...faster!!"
Panting in the April chill, "yessss sir, running!" i whimper thinking to myself "Phooey! It seems I'm as bad as I was the yesterday.Just NOT effing improving" .This is what played almost everyday at 6 am - while running up Darjeeling slopes for PT at HMI.

That was the start of my journey at Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.From day one when we are starry eyed, apprehensive naive 'cadets' counting each breath before the assault of the morning PT begins to waiting for the tough trek to end to waiting for the cold long walks to the glacier to end to waiting to get back to Basecamp after reaching the summit, to getting that BMC certificate that embellishes us, its a crazy eventful journey.

What we go through :Mountaineering Basic course is a 28 day course. 8 days are spent crawling around the Institute premises  in Darjeeling. You are not allowed to step out except 2 "outing" days. You're locked in for 28 days with strict wake up, Fall In and Light out times. The days are split up into morning PT(1 hour), mealtimes(7.30 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm and 7 pm), Rock climbing and rappelling sessions( both on natural and artificial surfaces) and lectures on mountains, climbing, medical aspects, map reading etc.We had one 22  kms trek to Tiger Hill with full load,few days before we left for Basecamp. Day 9 - bus trip to Yuksom(SIkkim)  and day 10 we began our trek. Yuksom - Bakhim(9000 ft)- Dzongri( 13200 feet) - Chowrikhang( 14600 feet). We stayed at Chowrikhang urf Basecamp( in the Rathong valley) for about 2 weeks where we learnt the basics of snow and ice craft plus some bouldering with those dratted 2 kg snow boots and jumarring  and at the end we did height gain aka summitted Renok peak. The last 4 days were spent at the institute - in cross country races and sports climbing competition, turning in our equipment, writing an exam, learning how to make a stretcher. They were the most relaxed 4 days - something we weren't used to at all....The last day we had a graduation ceremony when the principal pinned a little ice-axe replica with HMI written on it on our proud chests and gave us our precious certificates.

On one of the bridges enroute Bakhim

Ice Climbing on Rathong Glacier

Self Arrest in Snow

Getting down from the glacier

Outdoor Climbing wall at HMI, Darjeeling

That's XYZ Peak , %^&* metres/feet, first climbed in 19&* by _________

Rappelling practice at Basecamp

Jumarring practice at Basecamp

Stretcher making

The Preceptors :The Instructors treated us with caustic charm which did go down well with us - atleast the ones who "toed" the line. They were mostly a perfect balance of discipline and fun and pushed us amiably to raise our physical and technical standards. People cribbed about discipline. We weren't used to it. But then in the mountains or any unstable terrain, I have come to realise, that's one of the things that can save you.Needless to say all the instructors are not only proficient in technical skills; they shared their knowledge, experience and passion well.A big thanks and hug to all of them for that. We had a brief interaction with the Principal whose committment and passion to raising the bar at the institute as well as the welfare and training of the students is commendable.

The Disciples: There is a diverse mix of people in the course representing the length and breadth of India as well as ones from the defence forces.We the slow ones called  the penguins.One very valuable lesson learnt about ourselves was this: While tangible things like strength and endurance has its uses, its intangible things like perseverance grit and love( yes, love!) that makes it useful. Each person has his/her own way of assimilating, spurning and negotiating through the course.Mountains have their own ways of dealing with overconfidence. There were many knee- jerk reactions to the tyrannical itch that seniors/ defence peeps and some instructors sometimes showed( I'd blame it on Altitude Sickness). But it's all good. It's all fun. After all" the best journeys are not in straight lines"

Nom Nom: Breakfast was a standard dry bread  plus eggs /  pakoras, puri bhaji some days. We had tea- biscuits at 10 am and round 4 pm. Lunch and dinner was standard Indian fare of Indian bread, rice, lentils, curry, paneer/ chicken at the Institute and at the Basecamp we additionally had soup before dinner and  hot chocolate post dinner....:D

Kit & Kaboodle : Equipment is provided by the institute. They literally have a "godown" and plenty of sizes available for all. We were given a down jacket, a sturdy wind proof set, high altitude sleeping bag,  mess tin, bottle, harness set alongwith a piece rope, snow shoes, crampons, gaiters, ice axe, sleeping mat, rucksack, spoon, glass.
Stuff that you MUST take with you - Besides your clothes, fleece jacket, warm socks, cap, woolen hat, and other things, I would recommend:
1. Headlamp  AND one set of extra batteries( Headlamp preferable to a torch- imagine trying to hold the
    mess tin and water bottle and torch and also eat....)
2. Butter paper - cut into 20 X 15 cms - saves scrubbing your mess tin. Trust me the water is COLD! The        food is greasy.Your hands love to stay inside warm gloves. You do the math.
3. Hydration pack. I like to keep sipping water. I hate to keep stopping. My bottle is out of reach. I love my
    hydration pack
4. Wet wipes. Ok this is an red siren for environmentalists. But instead of toilet paper, this is THE miracle  
     swab for your a** and also good to wipe face/feet, body with whenever you feel like having a wash.( Oh      forgot to mention- you don't bathe for 28 days...yes..Because mountaineers have no sense of smell!!;))
5. Buff - Life saver for the face. The valley is cold, the sun is strong, winds are fierce enough to make the tin
    dustcan fly...your face will dry and blacken and flake without this essential piece. Or atleast carry a cotton
    scarf for your face.
6. Trekking poles - save your ego for another time. Your knees will thank you this time. The walk back
     down I felt was the worst - knees took the worst of it.If you don't have trekking poles, no matter, pick up      the first stick you see once the trek begins. There are plenty. And then guard these sticks with your life.  
    These are the things that get easily flicked!
7. Sunscreen - CARRY it!
8. Moisturiser - Will save your skin too
9. Chapstick - Carry atleast one spare. They have an uncanny want to slither out of pockets/ bags.

Lectures at 14600 feet

Cricket at 14,600 feet

The graduation snap

"Define Ridge" ...whilst studying for the written test

Finding your compass: What you will take back is beyond your imagination. Yes we come here to learn and take back the certificate. Then of course there is also the "cool" element of impressing one's friends, family and acquaintances. But then if you keep an open mind and heart...you'll take back much much more - tangible and intangible.This is a powerful life changing experience for many. "For those who live in fear, nothing ventured, nothing gained."

I barely used my camera except to click some funny faces. The people stories in the mountains:). There were enough DSLR's clicking away in the background. I was satisfied with my phone camera. There are somethings that a camera can only capture a sliver of. The surreal nature of what I saw will only exist in memory. Most of the time during the trek,  I was sunk in thought. It's strange but the burden on my back and the constant shouts of "catch up" and "this is not a trek, its training" made sure kept my nose to the ground.But then there were times when i looked up and saw scenery that reminded me of the floating hills in Avatar etc. Yes I have an active imagination. But that's the only way I could survive 3 days of uphill assault.Plus counting breaths and reciting and counting whatever i was reciting( even if it were an expletive;))

Whether its negotiating the wee morning ablutions with a stranger, trying to hack your way on an ice wall by frontpointing or learning to trust that stranger down below belaying you or walking up a rock slope you never thought you'd go without protection, such an an experience exposes you to various shades of trust and bonding.They teach you how to sustainably live with nature. Though I'd like to add that I'm not really proud to speak of the amount of garbage we generated with so many of us. You learn that adventure means also being responsible about the team and one's safety and a great deal of emphasis is placed on how's and why's of protection before, during and after a climb.Mountaineering is not about playing Russian Roulette with one's life!

Inevitably, almost everyone falls sick, whether its chest problems or gastric ailments, or skin allergies and chillblains. But this illness is sort of an adventure  within an adventure that leaves you doubly transformed. And then when you get better, you are paradoxically stronger than before. ( Of course living and labouring in the mountains and at altitude adds RBC's, Vitamin D and lung capacity;))

"I am so small I can barely be seen.
How can this great love be inside me?

Look at your eyes. They are small,
but they see enormous things."
- Rumi

Whether devout or not, inexplicably, the mountains are a numinous place. Sometimes you experience the divine while labouring through a mountain path. For some, the haze from their goals dissapears. I've seen the most ego centric people humble down, the most self- centred people stop and help, the most obnoxious people praise perseverence and effort, the slow people lead, the confident question their convictions. You push yourself physically and mentally. The ambition is not just to arrive at some breathtaking distant location but to return to your usual place cloaked in intriguing unfamiliarity and simplicity.

"You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place ? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know."
-- Rene Daumal

To learn more about what gruelling days we went through everyday to all the things we learnt to all the "masti" we were accused of doing, and all the people we met please read: http://jsincro.blogspot.in/2014/05/life-at-base-camp.html
AND for the Advanced Course Experience: http://therunawayheart.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/over-the-hills-and-far-away/
What i learnt: http://searchinformycompass.blogspot.in/2014/05/why-mountains_26.html
About HMI and the courses they offer : http://www.hmi-darjeeling.com/

(Photo credits: Mr Puri, Mr Hemang Gala, Mr Karan Kumar)

WHY mountains

“I'm a person of the mountains and the open paddocks and the big empty sky, that's me, and I knew if I spent too long away from all that I'd die; I don't know what of, I just knew I'd die.” - John Marsden

Everytime I wanna head to the mountains or climbing, I have to  go through a lot of internal and external bickering and resolving to finally take that step outta the door.Internal- coz its just a mind game with enough people having brain washed how my weight is too much to pursue such crazy activities and how knocked knees means all they're good for walking in "nana- nani parks". Internal also since I'm struggling with the question of  "how is this helping me spiritually" ...are these physical activities making me respect the physical body more than the spirit? External coz it's a fight against the folks who will never believe that this is as dangerous as climbing a bus:). Well ok, I know am exaggerating.

Somehow, everytime a holiday comes to my mind, its mountains and more specifically Himalayas that come to my mind. Ok for starters, Mountaineering is NOT fun! (There i've gone and said it! ). It's cold, painful, breathless,toilsome, exhausting, fraught with indecisive decisions to make and at the end of it, loss of limb(s) or life looms like a shadow every moment. What IS fun are the intangible things you take back from your time in the mountains including selfies;). Now that i have gained a wee bit of experience on snow and ice, I am even more kicked to go to those cold ice-clad peaks. But WHY ask everyone of me:)......

First thing.Meet great  people.When you are sleeping, washing, walking, climbing  and even pooping, puking, next to the same people, 24 hours for days or weeks, and yet having a good time, that says a lot. That’s a strong indication of a great group of friends. Even if you go solo, you'll meet people on the way/ share loo/tents/rooms with people. Everyone has a story even more wonderful/worse than yours. You learn to share, to be flexible, to be responsible.  You start seeing the world outside your seemingly long periscope.You start stopping to judge. Humility sets in. Send people to mountains/ into adventure sports and racism may just duck its ugly head forever!?!! FYI: People are what most mountain stories are about;).

                                            (Photo Courtesy: Hemang Gala)
It brings suppleness- not just because of the loss of body weight and increase in muscle power and flexibility( that people like me desperately need;)), but also the way mountains somehow tend to break one's rigid perceptions. As we age, we reverse every advantage and asset that we were born with. At 20, we aren't as supple as we are at 10; at 30, even less...at 50...still decreasing...at 60, some parts of the bones/organs would have been replaced. Similarly, we keep on becoming rigid in our perceptions. Slowly we keep strengthening the walls of the box we have put ourselves in. We stop being able to be empty and receptive to things, people, experiences. We are in a constant state of regression..mental, physical, emotional, intellectual.."Destiny" is often used as a cop out. One way to break the mould is going into nature.Listen.Experience. Reflect. Learn. A trip to the mountains can only leave one refreshed in everyway, despite the hardships that have to be gone through :)

Because no matter how itsy-bitsy we are, we still have the strength and courage to get up that colossal mountain.It does not matter how slow you go as long as you do not stop. At altitude, you get breathless, feel weak, become clammy,feet are lead.....However, you learn that enshrining one's limitations isn't a great thing to do! You push, you cry, you push some more, you persevere. Teaches you a lot about you. True grit! Again, mountains have a way of dealing with overconfidence.Like a mountaineer once told me,'The mountain will decide'.

Minimalistic living - Even for a month of mountains you don't need much. Not even the facewash;). I don't mean in terms of quantity of rations- which depends on the duration of the trip etc. I mean in terms of things you need to survive. You start appreciating small things in life - even a lollipop or a bar of chocolate are more precious than diamonds up there;). You learn to take only what you need. Plus hand sanitiser and baby wipes;).You realise that  the need to buy new crap actually boils down to validation from others.(Don't worry, I still LOVE you, iPhone)

The anticipation of such a trip is amazing. You plan, you dream.... Plans may go awry but you come back with stuff better than the anticipated dreams;). Once you're back- reflective you are! The journey to the top and back changes you immensely:)

A mountain adventure is something that I can take an active part in but that I don't have total control over.....Our constant need to want to control warps our interpretation of what we perceive. The ground for travel is a wandering mind, the tree of travel is a wondering mind and the fruit of travel is to not mind......since travelling,(especially to mountains) somehow manages to trash the ego and rids one of the need to defend one's identity. You accept what you get with humility and happiness.....

Finally and most importantly, like John Muir rightly expressed: I'd rather be in the mountains thinking of God than in the temple thinking of mountains. Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere and in the middle of nowhere you find yourself. Somehow, with cracked lips, frozen blackened peeling face, and a cold frozen body, drinking  washing with glacial water, sleeping on cobbled  and hard cold earth/wood, pooping in the wild, living in constant darkness thanks to lack of electricity  - basically away from every basic necessity and comfort one is used to makes one also get out of the comfort zone. Easy to say, but its an experience to experience. It brings a humility which the shared snaps and awe they garner just do not emanate. I can't explain it but every such trip( and i've had very few till now) have made me realise and experience things that books and satsangs couldn't. Faith and security work in inverse;).

And then you come back.........

Cindy Ross has put it well when she says “Returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking; You have grown outside the puzzle and your piece no longer fits.” . Even though moored to home and folks ...this happens every time...and stays for a while and every time the time taken to "settle back down" seems to get longer in an apparently linear but actually exponential manner..........

Week with Trekking Partners:)

They say whatever happens, happens for the best! Sometimes,
distasteful events happen- events that create a lot of err emotional
upheavals when the best laid plans go awry.But then, they pave way for
unplanned events that in many ways open up newer destinations,journeys
and people. One such well- laid plan went awry when I started coughing
at Chowrikhang, 4500 metres, Kanchenjunga National Park, Sikkim and
told to turn back and walk down asap.I was in no mood to go back down
to sea level, 20 days ahead of schedule. I was bent on stepping into
Bhutan and had dreams of the monastery at Paro. But decided to give
myself a few days to get better. 2 nights in cold Darjeeling where my
throat and chest got progressively worse were enough to pack my sack
and head down to Siliguri. My throat was hoarse with barely any sound
creeping out. After the mountains, Siliguri felt overwhelmingly
unbearable. Bhutan, a new place and alone became a little distant
plan. Walked a few once i got out of the shared jeep at Siliguri and i
landed in a jeep enclosure - jeeps that were headed for the Nepal
Border. Hmm....did a quick check on the temp in Kathmandu - at 20
degrees- seemed toasty warm and familiar . While negotiating with the
the shared jeep driver, on a whim, quickly emailed Alex, founder,
Trekking Partners with whom I'd  exchanged a few emails earlier. His
prompt reply was that he's in Ktm!!!wuhuuu!

A memorable and bumpy bus ride later(Kakarbitta- Ktm), landed in Ktm
at 6 am. Went to KGH- but they didn't have beds available. I decided
it was too early to call Alex and meanwhile - went around looking for
room to stay. The cheapest option at NPR 600 was Hotel Radiant - in
the heart of Thamel and a few minute walk from KGH. Still undecided
and famished - went and had a nice breakfast before calling up Alex.
Met him at KGH and we walked down looking for hotels, finally settling
on Hotel Radiant.

I had no idea why i was in Nepal again except that i loved the place,
and it was warmer and more familar , with loads to do than
Darjeeling.But this was perhaps the first trip that i stayed a place
without really "doing" anything. For a person like me- that's an
achievement of sorts. The days that i stayed in Ktm, i planned on
treks, long solo cycling trips, bungee jumping, white water rafting-
but somehow cancelled every plan . The only thing i did DO was climb
at Astrek, Thamel for a few hours.I didn't regret it at all though.

Day one was spent showing me "Durbar" area of Kathmandu. It was
interesting to see Alex manoevre and bypass all the paid entry points-
since it was a festival day- Bhai-dooj. Also  saw the man in action-
Alex posting his posters on street lights, empty walls, beseechingly
colourful rows of posters that read"Trekking Partners".

Next day, walked down to Svayambhu , bumped into Alex at one of his
"offices" at Himalayan Java. He told me about Alobar 1000 , a cool
hostel that he'd  found out about.Met Alex for dinner who took me to
this small shop tucked away in one of those bylanes that you never
find again - it was kinda a "dhaba" as we Indians would call it.It was
the type of place that I'd pass by and not step in. But here, for 100
NPR, we got served 2 plates of nan, 2 vegetables and a dal. Plus
BYOB:). Suprisingly, the place was fully occupied and half of them
tourists! We walked back down- getting lost in the streets of Thamel-
identifying streets by noticing the TP posters, discovering that a
good Samaritan had left disco lights switched on in the streets-Diwali
celebrations perhaps. Was amusing to stand outside and watch a bakery
full of people coz post 9.30 pm, they offer a 50% discount on all
bakery products.

Next morning- checked out Alobar and kinda liked the place.
Immediately booked a bed for the next few days.Alex organised a dinner
for TP folks who were in Ktm. Was a small but fun group that night-
from people heading to EBC  and ABC to downhill bikers to people who
had stood each other up on TP! Next morning quick visit to Alobar 1000
to dump my stuff and we happened to speak to Tashi, the guy who
started Alobar. He spoke about a offroad and pristine route that he
was planning to bike to. Bingo! Alex and I decided to go there( plus
Patan) after renting a bike the next day. Les and I went to explore
Pashupatinath. Unfortunately , Les would have to pay a bomb to step
into the temple premises( and yet not allowed into the temple) so he
skipped it.Dinner with Alex, Les, and Stacy. We couldn't get enough of
her stories. She was the only UN pilot we'd met who flies in a strife
zone:)

Next few days were spent with Alex and Stacy - breakfasts, shifting
hotels, repairing brand new bike, climbing,shopping, giggling and
waiting for the melon from the tree above to fall on the unaware
breakfaster,choosing unheard of meals from a huge Tibetan menu and 
hoping we get served something palatable, farewell dinner for our Everester friend, 
Les,  dipping Parle-G biscuits in tea atop a temple at Durbar square, 
cancelling the rent-a-motorbike plan coz we discovered that the biking trip Tashi
mentioned was a commercial one after all,  meeting even more people -
interesting of which were the Catalans Alex and I spotted at
Revolution cafe -sitting with a biking map of Nepal .(Jordy - the
biker who had interesting stories cycling the Silk Route, Ikar, the
fireman who has been trekking in Nepal for a few months,Gloria and her
ebullient bf with an indefinite stay in Nepal- coz theyre enjoying
playing their part in a social project in the hamlets of Nepal.They
rent an apartment in Ktm and are very welcoming to anyone who needs to
stay)

Unfortunately, my trip had to come to an end because of the 10 day
strike in Nepal ahead of elections.It was really great to hear so many
stories, meet great people doing so many different things, in one
small country- Nepal and that too just coz i happened to register and
gainfully use this brilliant website called trekkingpartners.com.What
are the chances!

Alex, a stranger when i arrived in Ktm became , in a way home to me
those few days that i stayed in Ktm. Very interesting,
perseverent,dedicated and a fun person.His curiosity and openness to
accepting new cultures, people, experiences is what makes him such a
great person to hang out with and learn from. His is a new business,
so to speak AND, it seems almost everyone he meets has lots of ideas
and suggestions for him on how to take it forward and make it a
success and how to monetize it. It was interesting to see his
reactions and answers to people suggesting how he monetize it.. One of
the wonderful qualities noticed in Alex is that as he respectfully
listens to every suggestion and assimilates it, his eyes light up with
interest and he smilingly acknowledges and appreciates something good
about the idea. And he does this tirelessly EVERY single time!

I've never seen him dismiss any idea, or say it is not possible or
practical, nor does he justify why his approach is better.Not that he
agrees to every idea just because it was given.He has clarity of what
he'll do and won't. But It's quite remarkable how open he is to ideas,
suggestions, observations and even criticism.

I feel he embodies the spirit of open mindedness and is open hearted,
and he seems to take something of value from every such interaction
that he has. And THAT is an inspiring quality:)

Please visit, register and use http://www.trekkingpartners.com/ for your next travel adventure.....