Thursday, July 7, 2011

Randomness- Island peak summit (2011)

Three of us went for a summit of Island peak in April, 2011. There were quite a few things which stood apart from journey & the people who we met on the way. This post is dedicated to those things/incidents/thoughts etc. Even after completing the summit & coming back to our daily routines, these incidents are still vivid in my memory.

Masala Tea- I am a big tea lover & given an option would always stick to it instead of any other beverage. While trying the same on multiple occasions in the mountains, I saw the concept of 'masala tea' being taken to a different level. Generally it means tea with combo of masala like cardamom, cloves, saffron, etc. But in Nepal it differs according to altitude plus whims & fancies of people who make it. At Thyangboche it was milk tea with black pepper, which he actually added in front of me for more effect. Even before i could say what the heck are you doing he did what he wanted to do hand over the cup to me with a winning smile on his face. Guess he added a new item on him menu that day, improvisation some would call it. At Dingboche, it was a concoction of milk tea and garlic soup, yes you read it right. Had never tasted anything as weird as that in my life. But the people there were so accommodating & nice, that before leaving not only did i finish it but also gave compliment for the same. If you are into weird combination's, you must give this a shot. At most of the places they would just bring the regular tea, when asked for 'masala tea'. The variation would be sometimes it would be with milk & sometimes it wouldn't.
But at some place u do get awesome masala tea, and it would be injustice if I do not mention about them here. Everest bakery in Namche bazaar would be a place where you can get a good 'Masala Tea' but the best of the lot would be lodge above helipad in namche bazaar where we went for acclimatisation. Do not remember the name, but I had the best Masala tea of the trip here. Also it was the only place I know of which if requested, would prepare & serve 'Masala Coffee'. For uninitiated masala coffee is something which Jap is extremely fond of. Look at his face just as they accepted his order, never seen him happier.


Bridges- There are umpteen number of bridges which would come en-route, as you would approach your destination. Primary reason being you would keep going up & coming down as you would have to shift from one town to another. And most of the towns are separated by water bodies. At times its frustrating to go up reach a town, again come down cross a bridge & start walking up again. Now on all those occasions of crossing a bridge, which is nothing short of a joy ride as it moves up, down & sideways, I felt like spending more time on the bridge. Not only it's fun to balance without support but also the views are always awesome. You can look down at the water flowing at incredible speed with greenery all around.
Or you can look at all the beautiful mountains which are visible, mostly through mist.
Random thoughts occupies the mind while looking at water flowing below. Like what would happen if someone falls down, what would combination of rocks & fast flowing water do to his/her body. Or how easy it would be to reach the destination if we go by water, more so as our guide was supposedly one of the best rafter before he started trekking. It was always good just to stand there in midst of nice breeze & great views and just relax.


Snooker- Never thought my first game of snooker would be played at 4000 mts. At quite a few towns there were snooker/pool tables on the way. Jap & daniel did play at Dingboche cafe, but i had to wait till Pangboche to play my first snooker game.
To say I suck at it, would be an understatement but thankfully Jap reduced my embarrassment just by being there. Before playing any shot he would check at what angle the ball needs to be hit to be pocketed, more often than not ball would go in all possible real & imaginary angles barring the one which was calculated by our trigonometry expert. While we were playing there was a decent crowd who were there having time of their life at our expense. And i was not ready to leave the game mid way. In the end we were so embarrassed that we asked couple of local stud player to finish the game for us, and within couple of minutes they emptied the board. Though I lost the game, it was one of the memorable moments from the trip :)


Dzopko/Yaks- They would come out of nowhere when you would be least expecting them. You would be trying to cross a bridge, wide enough for one human being to cross, and you will find a Dzopko(a yak-cow crossbreed) or Yak coming from the other side.
Since we are supposed to be smarter than animals & normally we don't have horns, naturally we would have to accept defeat and move back. At all the difficult stretches & all thin paths, you are bound to have encounters with a group of Yaks/dzopkos. But than there are times when you are so tired that you are happy to see them, as they pass while giving you ample time to rest.


29 ROCKS- We were taught lot of card based games on the way, like briskcola, shithead, etc but none of these games could match the charm of 29.
Everyone who got a lesson on this game, got hooked on to it. We taught the game to a number of foreigner tourists, our guide & guide's friend, hence at no point on the trip were we short of 4 people to play the game. Because of twenty-nine, our late afternoon & evenings were always fun.


Supro's treat- On the way back, at Namche bazaar we had a pre-decided treat at the expense of supro. Even though he started paying tax back in UK, we still do not miss on any opportunity to get treats from him and this one was for his b'day which just passed a few days back. After putting up with no appetite, sad food, less options, nausea, etc, this just opened the flood gates and we went for the kill. We ordered black forest pastry, cheese cake, apple pie, cheese sticks & needless to mention I ordered masala tea along with it. We also took coconut cookies for the road. Incidentally the place was the same cafe where me & jap had bought the cake for supro's b'day last time after convincing the chef for a good 15 mins. They were now making b'day cakes at a notice period of 30 mins.

Discussions on India- Most of the people who come to Nepal, either come via India or plan to visit India next. All of them had lots of question to ask & lots of POVs/experiences to share. Many asked about caste, regionalism, religion, places to visit, places of worship, etc. But there was one conversation which is still stuck in my head. We met a danish girl at Dingboche on the way down, and she was coming via India. They were traveling in small groups, and the experiences were nothing to write home about. She was so pissed & so was I after she narrated what all she went through during her visit to North India. It was understandable why she was so annoyed while talking about her experiences in India, as it comprises of harassment, molestation attempts, etc. There were a few more who shared bad experiences in Agra, Delhi, Mumbai, etc. Guess we can learn a lot from our small neighboring country. People in Nepal are just too good, especially in the mountains. Long way to go before we become a great tourist destination, till then we need to continue the 'atithi deo bhava' campaigns.

Amazing 'youngsters'- It was amazing to see young high school pass outs traveling on their own while being on a year long break. And we met quite a few of them, some in their early twenties & some below twenty. Cant remember even crossing state on my own when I was below twenty. As if this was not enough, we also met quite a few sherpa's who were a good 4-5 yrs younger to us & had already summitted Everest multiple times. It was really nice to meet all these youngsters, even though they made me feel slightly old.

Seabuckthorn Juice-
For some reason coming across seabuckthron juice at Pangboche gave us lots of happiness. And jap celebrated this happiness by ordering 3 back-2-back glasses. I was pretty contented with one glass & supro maintained his sulky mood in the 2nd half of the journey as he decided to give it a miss.


Squatting toilets- I don't know what is the reason behind it, but beyond certain altitude the WCs are not to be found. And all that you have is squatting toilets. Squatting anyways is not an easy thing for people who are out of practice, but with sub-zero temperature & 3-4 layers of clothing it becomes a nightmarish task to perform. Invariably people kept on mentioning each other that whole day of trek in difficult terrains is still easier than 5 minutes spend inside the toilet. As quite a few things are changing very fast in Nepal for good, this is one change I want to happen before my next visit.

New & improved Nepal- The place has changed from last time we were around there was connectivity almost everywhere below Dingboche. It helped as Jap had to make lots of calls to 'foreigners' back home & had to receive lots of calls from work. At Chukkung the lights just outside the lodge had motion sensors, at that height last time we didn't even found electricity but this time it was all changed.
Jap had to finish some official work on the way, and throughout he had pretty decent access to internet. He actually spend more than couple of hours working in Namche Bazaar with uninterrupted internet. Connectivity was no longer an issue in new & improved Nepal.

Friday, June 17, 2011

memories of a night 'trek'....

During March 2008, we went for a trek in a group of 22. The plan was to cover the Everest base camp (EBC), for which we choose to travel through the cheapest way possible, reaching the border town by train & crossing border on a horse cart. There was no better way of doing it, as we were completely cash strapped. So it wasn't surprising that we opted for no frill trip. Insurance was also out of question as it meant additional cost. We were betting on our luck & our 'fitness' :)


We had done our research on altitude sickness, and made a note of basic precautionary measures like drinking loads of water, taking acclimatization walks, drinking garlic soup, etc. The main objective behind all these precautions was to avoid the cost of helicopter rescue. Without insurance the cost was around 1 lac.


Anyways, so after the adventurous journey & going for the local sightseeing organized by the agency, we started on the trail. We kept ourselves busy with uno, cards, bakar during the evenings, as trek took all of our time during the day. On the way up we also celebrated supro's b'day at Namche bazaar (3440m) with a cake baked at a local cafe, which wasn't before me & jap used our persuasive skill to the maximum possible extent on the chef to make something off the menu. And we had pizzas here, which was the best meal on the way up for most & best meal for the trip for me.


A few of us had breathing problems post Dingboche (4350m) but it was manageable & would only bother during nights. Gorakshep was fun as we decided to sleep in the common area; it was only to stay as close as possible to the furnace. And post that it was a combination of some awesome views, bad weather, avalanche, snowy tracks, etc. And then we started descending, but not before we took loads of pictures clicked here, there & everywhere.


I was pretty happy on the way down, thinking that now I would have better sleep instead of staying awake throughout the night, downhill walks instead of dreary uphill climbs, good food instead of uncooked rice & tasteless water passed off as dal (evidence suggests quality of food is inversely proportional to altitude). But I didn’t knew what was in store for me. On the way back at Thyangboche, we were taken to cafe Tengboche, and for the first time in the trip given an option to select the food ourselves. That day since morning I was not feeling well but couldn't have given up on this opportunity. Hence even I ordered a grilled sandwich. After taking a single bite, I started throwing up. That bite also led to stomach pain. Post that whatever I would try to eat or drink, within a minute I will vomit it out. Stomach pain increased to such an extent I couldn't even walk. My buddy (yes, we had a buddy system for the trek), Jap & DRDO decided to stay with me, as others moved on. I was taken (literally) to Khunde hospital, but they only understood & treated altitude related sickness. Hence without thinking twice they decided to move me to Kathmandu, assumption being that facilities would be better there. Hence 4 porters were arranged, and from Khunde I was taken to Namche where the rest of the group was waiting for 4 of us.


During this period every single medicine was tried, but what went in came out the same way. And the time lag between anything 'going in' & 'coming out' was reducing with time. So after reaching Namche bazaar, post walking throughout the day, guides assess the situation and told the group that I need to be taken to Kathmandu by next day. That means porter would have to carry me throughout the night and reach Lukla by morning so as to catch the first flight to Kathmandu. 5 of my friends including 3 who stayed back with me, decided to come with me. Walking throughout the night, with just torch/headlamp, is not easy in that terrain. And from Phakding to Lukla it was a steep climb up. Hence without taking much rest all of them, 4 porters, 1 guide & 5 of my friends, reached Lukla on time. I was so blinded by the pain that I didn't even think of the ordeal suffered by my friends. And I was shouting in pain throughout, more so when they would stop for some much deserved rest. We had cover the same journey in two days on the way up, and covering the same within a day is still acceptable and many does it on a regular basis. But covering it in a night was a great achievement, especially when 3 of them had walked down from Khunde to Namche during the same day.


So to cut the long story short I reach Kathmandu on time, got admitted to hospital without any improvement, took first flight to Kolkata, got admitted to a hospital for 22 days after landing, missed my convocation, had to survive on food which made me miss uncooked rice & watery dal of mountains, etc.


But this trip made me realize a few things,
1. Friends would go all the way for you when they think your life is at stake. Rest of the times they will keep thinking of ways to have fun at your expense.
2. They didn't name the trek, E'BC' for no reason :)
3. You would need insurance only when you don't have it and vice versa
4. 'Jo gir-gir karta hai, wohi girta hai' :P

Monday, June 6, 2011

Korean cinema

Have been meaning to start blogging long back, but it never materialized. But today on an overdose of South Korean cinema, well beyond midnight, I thought why not write a piece on this which has entertained me beyond expectation. So here it goes, according to me most underrated artists & cinema industry belongs to this Asian country. The cinema from this part of world started blooming very late in early 20th century, and it was not without the efforts of writer-director chan wook park. When you watch any one of his movies, you would start appreciating the genius that he is. After seeing my first movie, 'Oldboy', I thought he was good. Then I went on to complete the vengeance trilogy ('Lady vengeance' and 'Sympathies for Mr. vengeance'), and CWP had a fan in me & and by no means these are CWP's best work.

Slow pace is his forte, and the way the human emotions are portrayed in his movies is unparalleled, as a writer he does sketch his characters with extreme care & believability. Everything in his movie is perfect and realistic, especially the characters. Well, you would expect the lead in 'Oldboy' to be so vengeful after been kept away from normal life for 15 years or the father to be vengeful after his daughter is kidnapped & killed in 'Mr vengeance' or the protagonist to be so lifeless & cold in 'Lady vengeance' as she is jailed for 13+ yrs on a false charge. While all the actors have done a great job, credit has to be given to CWP for these beautifully sketched characters & great direction. Many, while discussing his movies, say how violent his movies are. My take on this is till you feel that the violence shown is not justified or doesn't fit the movie/sequence/character you can complaint about it, but when that's not the case anything and everything is fine. Probably that's the reason I like so many of CWP's movies. My respect for him as a writer increased manifold after watching 'Thirst', but I will come to that later.

Another good thing that he does is cast Kang-ho song in most of his movies, for the uninitiated this guy is one of the most versatile actors in the world. He can do justice to a role of a doting father who would avenge his daughter's kidnapping & death (sympathies for Mr. vengeance), or a small town cop who does all he can to catch a serial killer and in the process beats up anyone & everyone but still ends up failing (memories of murder), or a weird train-robber cum bandit cum treasure hunter (the good, the bad, the weird). But before I move completely away from CWP, and start heaping praises on kang ho song, will let you know the reason why I started blogging. It was watching "Thirst", which is the best collaborative work of CWP & KHS.

<Spoiler alert> The movie is about a passionate priest, played by KHS, who always thinks about welfare of mankind. He gets involved in a failed medical experiment, and gets transfused with vampire blood, hence becoming vampire himself. The movie progresses to show his love story with a bored, exploited, girl whose parents are dead and is married off to the son of the family she grew up with. As he turns into a vampire his life style changes from ascetic ways to pleasure loving ways. The lovers start an illicit relationship during which she gets the priest to sideline her husband & convert her into a vampire as well. She plans her revenge with the family using the new lover in her life. I love the way in which CWP tries to show the priest hidden inside the vampire, like when he steals blood from a coma patient while taking his excellent care, he denies his fellow priest his vampire blood, and the best is when he falsely shows himself as a rapist of mental patient so as to make people believe that he is not a priest or a life saver, etc. <spoiler alert ends>

Innovative treatment for a vampire based movie, performances are top notch & setting is perfect. This has to be one of the better vampire movies, much better than "from dawn till dusk" (though I like all Tarantino) kinda movies. It would be in the league of "Daybreakers" & "Let me in", equally good if not better than these. Highly recommended stuff. Even though it is slightly difficult to imagine vampire movie without holy cross/holy water, lot of blood, random killing, vampires or their hunters wearing tight leather, etc. But the movies mentioned above did their best in changing all these notions & present the subject with refreshingly new ways & this is where 'thirst' wins the approval of its viewers.

Damn, this post is completely mixed up by now, all I wanted to talk about was how much in awe of Korean cinema I am. And all the 9 movies which I have seen so far, have impressed me immensely.Among the movies which i liked but didn't mention so far on this blog, the best would be "The chaser" followed by "The host" & "I saw the devil". But will not get into details of these movies, as the post would get even more mixed up.