After the workshop ended I had about 5 days to kill before heading to China. Many students stayed in Manali after the workshop and travelled to various places with new friends. A crew of 4 of us decided to travel together for a few days before heading off in our own direction. My crew ended up being 2 other students from my class (Gaelle and KP) and Varun (“co-host/organizer” of the last night’s party with me).
Gaelle is a very pretty, very sweet girl from Paris that currently works for Unicef in Senegal. She is quite adventurous given her 4 day adventure with 3 other dudes around the Himalayan parts of India and her work with Unicef in Africa (she has been there for over 3 years). KP is a smart dude from Bombay (yes, Bombay, nobody calls it Mumbai here in India...that I met). He grew up in India and went to college in the US. He has a similar story to me in that he spent a number of years in finance and is now mostly free of that life. KP helped set up a real estate hedge fund in Mumbai and the success of that gives him the flexibility to pursue photography as he wishes. Although not a professional in practice, he has some amazing pictures. Varun, what can I say, he is the man. He grew up in Calcutta and lives in Chennai, also went to college in the US and studied photography in India. He is a freelance photographer and very resourceful and connected here in India. Varun was the brains and the organization behind our last few days of travel in India.
The 2nd day after the workshop ended (the 1st day was a relax and recuperation day) we went paragliding. 7 total students from the workshop went along for the ride. We drove to Rhotang pass, which is 13,100 feet and a 3 hour drive from Manali (much of that time is actually spent waiting in traffic as the roads are small and very inefficient...not to mention packed with big trucks). The views from up there are amazing with many snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas. Most of the “tourists” heading up to the pass are Indian. They get all dressed up in old fur coats, many of them with leopard prints, and take pictures of one another. Since India is so hot, this is one of their chances to actually wear winter gear and it is quite amusing to them.
We launched on our paragliding trip about 7 kms below Rhotang pass. We flew for about 40 minutes and landed down in the valley - quite a view from way up in the air. We were with a group of very experienced paragliders and their leader was once (and maybe still is) the Indian champion for paragliding acrobatics. Some of us did not “appreciate” the acrobatics as much as others (well, our stomachs didn’t, lets just say that). Next time, Dramamine before paragliding!
The next day we awoke at 5 am and the 4 of use set out for our trek. We hired a driver for 3 days and drove to the Parvati Valley. This is an area famous for its hiking/trekking and we planned on figuring everything out when we got there. After speaking with the driver and some locals we decided to spend our first afternoon climbing to Khir Ganga (Kheer Ganga, Khirganga, Kheerganga....spelled how you wish). Khirganga is famous for the weed scene (no this is not a theme for my trip, just coincidence that the remote regions in India which are best for hiking are also known for the weed scene). We hired 2 porters (I carried all my own stuff, relax, I had more than enough porters for the year while climbing Kili) and hiked through massive pine forests for about 4 hours. Khirganga is a large opening above the forest and it is a holy place for the locals with some naturally occurring hot springs. The accommodation is very, very basic. You can just show up (reservations not required, or even possible) and pay 100 rupees ($2) for a wood/plastic covered shack with a wooden bed, thin (old) mattress. Honestly, would have been more luxurious to sleep in a tent for the night, but luxury was not the point, this is how they do in Khirganga.
Anyway, Khirganga is beautiful and interesting. It really is a bunch of hippies that sit around and smoke massive amounts of weed (weed that always gets top awards in Amsterdam’s yearly weed judging festivals). You are surrounded by towering peaks, some of them snow covered, and you eat basic Indian food and sip Masala Chai morning, noon and night. We took a dip in the hot springs and just chilled out. It really was nice hanging with 3 new friends, everyone is relaxed and open minded and willing to just go with the flow. It was a great way to round off the workshop..and some hiking/adventure was seriously needed after a week of “working” on photos and stories.
We planned to fly back to Delhi after returning from our trek and from there we would all drive down to the Taj Mahal before parting ways. Well, India is known for flight delays/cancellations and the weather did not help our situation. If it were the US or Europe, the flights would have been fine. But budget Indian airlines are not as well equipped (or maybe the pilot was just too high to make it to the airport). The flight was turned back to Delhi and our plans of a quick return were spoiled. No worries, right, go with the flow. We got our refunds and hired a driver for the next 2 days. Instead of going to Delhi in one 12-hour shot by car, we decided to stop in the state of Punjab, in the city of Chandigarh. This state is mostly inhabited by Sikhs and is a very patriarchical culture within of India. The land is very fertile and agriculture is abundant. We found a very nice country retreat (well, combination of Lonely Planet from Gaelle and contacts from Varun) and it was the perfect place to spend the night. The place was a very nice compound with a pool (which is quite rare) and good food/drinks. Punjab is really hot and muggy (actually that is an understatement) and the pool was the perfect way to cool off.
Overall, India has been great. Lots of new people, lots of new persectives and an interesting country (both in terms of natural and cultural beauty). I will certainly return to see the rest of the country at some point (winter is best when it is not so hot) and will also keep in touch with my travel buddies for future trips/treks around the world.
dave
No comments:
Post a Comment