Pindari Glacier Trek, Himalayas
Trip Start
Jun 20, 2007
1
11
39
Trip End
Apr 09, 2008
Bageswar,
India
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Our original plan had been to go to Ladakh, the next area east of Kashmir--a safe place that attracts trekkers and those wishing to experience the mountains during the time in the summer when the rest of India is in monsoon. Because we delayed our trip, it appears that we will forgo a visit to Ladakh this year. By the time I write this in October, we have heard that the roads have been closed and because of snow there would be few places outside of the main city that we flew into that we could visit.
The trek:
We had read and been told by other travelers of the Pindari Glacier trek. We had not arranged for a guide, but had been told that this would be relatively easy once we arrived and that because there are government run guest houses dottin g the route, that this is almost unnecessary. So far, though, our experience of being two women travelers who do not speak Hindi alone in India left us feeling that to not have a guide would be either not safe (though we still do not know if this is true) or just generally unwise, since we do not know the area or the language.
After spending three days in the lake resort town of Nainital, where we were delayed by 48 hours of a solid, drenching rain that defied all umbrellas and gore-tex. We arranged a taxi to get to Bageswar, the town where supposedly all trekkers start this Pindari journey. The taxi ride was long and we realized, after meeting the one driver from Bageswar, that our chances of finding a guide who spoke English were not so good. We arrived in Bageswar and were instantly disappointed by the town. It seemed the worst of the small, backwater towns. As we arrived at dusk, for the entire evening we saw not a single woman anywhere. We were dropped at the government rest house which was a 1960's style motel type structure that was dimly lit, incredibly dirty, smelled like a sewer and had monkeys running through the hallways. We could have our choice of room there. Ugh.
While we stood in the lobby grilling the man at the desk about the possibility of finding a guide (after all, this gov't agency KMVN is the primary source of tourist and trekking information--or its supposed to be.) They were pretty much useless, and we were set to walk away when a young man arrived saying that he was a guide and that although he had no groups set up, he could guide us to Pindari. He had a business card, could speak English and therefore seemed the ideal, albeit the only, candidate for the job. His name was Sanjay and we were to spend the next 10 days living, walking and eating every meal with him.
Sanjay:
Sanjay is 25 years old and from a small village outside of Bageswar. In the last 8 years he has worked his way into the tourism industry through jobs all over India and by going to travel/tourism school. He is also a mountaineer, having climbed many of the 20,000 ft peaks in the state's Himalayas. His English is passable, though we quickly learned that many questions were too complicated for his comprehension level and that he really didn't know all that much about the history, culture, flora and fauna of the area. If we were in grade school, his knowledge would have been quite sufficient, but the depth of our questioning went too far for his background. Nevertheless, he knew the trail well and knew every guide, and rest house caretaker along the way. This created a smooth experience for us and allowed us to relax knowing that there would always be food, a bed and blankets at the end of each day. He walked ridiculously fast, and really did not know how to moderate this (did I mention that he is 25?), so he spent a lot of time waiting for us to catch up. Fine with me, as this was what we were paying him for. He also wakes up singing in the morning and shouts "good morning Michelle and Lauren!, your tea is ready!" He never got used to our slow starts, I think.
By the way, his fee was $600 rupees per day for going with us. This translates to about $15 u.s. dollars . The rest houses charge 100 rupees a night per person with food averaging another 100-150 depending on how many meals we ate there. Overall, each day cost us both about 1200 rupees, which is a bout $30.
Back to the trek:
Though the cost was indeed a bargain, we were not expecting, and we were once again not surprised, that it was not luxurious. I am still, 3 days later, unable to look at a bowl of dahl, as it and chapatis were all we ate for 3 meals a day for the whole time. Occasionally, there was rice too, and some vegetables, which we quickly learned in the mtns means only potatos and onions. All of this is cooked in indian masala (or curry) spices. So imagine the salty, curry spicy dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I really used to love this type of food, and am hopeful that I will again, but as I write this I have just finished a bowl of Indian corn flakes and some toast and am so relieved by the vague familiarity of this breakfast. Michelle still does love this type of food despite this culinary tedium, she clearly has the stronger stomach.
On the other hand, the caretakers at the rest houses--who needless to say were all men-- were all quite decent cooks and super eager to please their guests, trying to provide whatever we needed. The rooms were sort of a dormitory style, though in most places I'm sure we got the special "western" room, which meant that if they had it, we got the one with the western, rather than the Indian squat toilet, and that had a bit of a less worn carpet, or less damage to windows, etc. Most of the time there was not much distinction to our room. About half the time there was enough room for us to stay in a separate room from Sanjay, but after a while we got used to sharing with him. He was super respectful of privacy and made himself scarce so we could dress, etc.
The main thing about trekking, is the walking. We did a lot of this. The trek to Pindari is about 44 km one way, if you take no detours. We did this as well as took an additional spur to go to the Kaufni glacier, which added about another 22 km to our journey. We calculated at the end that we had walked 110 km over the 8 days! In one day alone we walked 29 km (that's about 17 miles, about half of it while carrying our packs). The path was usually very good, although to accomodate the mules and cows and villagers who use this as their road for supplies and everyday transport, it is built out of rocks, in a sort of a cobblestone way. This makes it very hard on your feet, especially when going down hill. It is no more rugged or difficult, and in many places, much easier a path to walk than routes we have taken elsewhere. Frequently however, Sanjay insisted that we cut off the endless switchbacks of the road with "shortcuts" that consisted of walking straight uphill. This could be exhausting and in the end, never really saved us time, as we climbed at half the pace he did.
Beginning on the second day we began to have unbelievably beautiful views of the Himalayas. They are unlike any other mountains I have seen before simply because they are so majestically huge. There is a real difference in looking at the horizon of 20-25000 foot peaks, compared to a few tall ones we see at home or even the ranges of the Andes, where not nearly as many reach this height. We weaved our way around the front ranges of green hills with pine forest or jungle filled with bamboo and waterfalls. Each day had a unique character to it, with villages, sunny ridgelines or a tropical feel. We climbed, but usually then made a frustrating descent, only to climb again, but each time were rewarded with another awesome view. Finally, our last day took us from our rest house, early in the morning (without our packs) up the 6 km to the view point of the Pindari glacier that is called zero point. The elevation at the final point is about 12,000 feet. On the way there we walked through a valley which was pristinely beautiful, with a few stone and thatched shepherd's cottages dotting the green, and meadows in every direction stretching up the walls of the hills.
Far more than a view of a glacier, Zero point is a ridge line in the middle of a bowl of Himalayan peaks. To the left, Nanda Khot, stands at something like 6800 meters tall, connected by snow covered ridgelines to other 20,000 footers as well. At one point, as we walked we looked up and could see a small avalanche from one of the peaks.
Comments
just following up...
mishandlauren,
hope you guys got my e-mail with the sugestions for sights from my clients and their nephew's name and phone number. they said you should absolutely call him for anything you might need. If not I will re-post here. Akhilesh Bhanti, nephew of Pramod and Poonum Bhanti, my clients - lives in Bombay phone number is 98-200 699 75. Pramod said to go see Arangaba Caves and Aganta and Alhora Caves; also Chittargaral - an ancient kingdom and Corolla in the south for the beaches. Be safe and enjoy. All is well in Dix Hills.
With love, RMAJ&S
_Picture Perfect
Landslide looks like the one in Prince Rupert when we attempted to leave the ferry from Alaska.
Great picture in the kitchen--did Sanjay do a medical residency in New York? He looks familiar.
Love M&D