Himalayas, Uttaranchal, India

In one of my first visit to Himalayas, I went on this 11 day trek in the mountains, traversing a highest point at approx 3,800 m (~12,400 ft) on the fourth day.

Trek route, along the topmost edge of the mountain – snow on the left side, valley on the right.

It was a thrilling experience since I had never been that high, let alone camped there. It was also the first time in my life that I saw snow. May 2005.

Himalayas are beautiful and a visit there is quite humbling.

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Thanks to a devout Buddhist businessman, an Indian Army truck driver and a couple from the town Haa, we visited Cheli La, the highest motorable pass in Bhutan.

↑ Waiting for a ride at Bondey, the road to Cheli La separates from the Thimphu – Paro road here

My friend and I were contemplating going to Haa, a valley south of Paro and even got the Special Areas Permit to visit the place. However it would have been a touch-and-go trip so instead we decided to go upto a point midway between Paro and Haa and return to Paro the same day. This mid point is the Cheli La pass, the highest motorable road in Bhutan. The only problem was that hiring a taxi would cost is Rs. 1,200 ($26) and being the last few days of the holiday we didn’t have that much money. So ultimately we decided to go to the place where the road to Cheli La branches off and see what happens.

Let me preface this that the Bhutanese are not used to tourists flagging down a vehicle.

Ride 1: “I am installing a prayer wheel in the mountain”

↑ Pockets of snow at a shrine where the guy installed a prayer wheel.

We started walking from the intersection for over 30 minutes and then 2 vans full of Buddhist nuns stopped because we flagged at them. There is a nunnery somewhere in the mountains. Unfortunately their vans were full of stuff so we couldn’t squeeze in. Their vehicle was so crowded that I think 2 Bhutanese can fit into space required for 1 European. Since there were very few vehicles on the road and there was nothing else to do, we started hiking towards Chele La.

The first person to help us was a guy who operated a convenience store in the Bondey village nearby. He was going to the shrine shown in picture above to fix his prayer wheel. Apparently, during his earlier visit to India, his teacher instructed him to pray at a place high in the mountain. He therefore installed a water-operated prayer wheel at this site.

A water prayer wheel works on a simple principle of a water mill. Water from a stream hit the wooden paddles and the wheel spins. Prayer wheels have scrolls of prayers written inside them. Buddhists believe that spinning the prayer wheel will have the same meritorious effect as orally reciting the prayers.

Since winter was approaching (you can already see the ice), he had to ensure that his prayer wheel remained safe from frozen chunks of ice. That’s why he was going there to make some repairs.

And that’s how we covered first 22 of 36 kilometers to Cheli La.

Ride 2: Army truck

↑ Walking on rooftop

After saying bye bye to the guy who helped us and assuring him that we’d pray on his behalf at Cheli La, we started walking on the road again. there were few abandoned houses, or maybe just makeshift storage houses on the way so I had to walk over their roofs, you know. Eventually we ended up walking less than 2 km until the next ride came.

In Bhutan, like in India, you flag down a vehicle by waving the hand with the palm facing downwards. I don’t know if the US way of ‘thumbs up’ works, because if I did that, people will probably think that I am wishing them good luck or pointing them to the sky.

↑ Waiting for my next ride

The final 13 km were covered thanks to a huge Indian Army truck. The guy who was driving it was an ethnic Nepali and he was overjoyed to see us. The truck was carrying some supplies to the Indian Army post in Haa. This is the first time I crossed a mountain in a truck (no wait, second, but I dont remember the first time) and it was scary. The road was narrow, the bends were sharp and the valley was steep. If you have been to the Himalayas, you know how it feels like. These roads were also built by India’s Border Roads Organizations, so they have a peculiar style. Trucks require higher turning radius so the guy went almost to the edge of the road before making a turn. And while doing that he was chatting non-stop with me, while I simply sat there terrified. Each time the truck went near the edge of the road and I looked down, I remembered all the gods I could… thinking to myself ‘why the hell is he not turning… turn! turn! stop talking! turn!’

Pheww, finally the “Cheli La 0″ milestone came into view. The two of us were visibly shaken from the ride but the driver was cheerful. We offered to share our food with him but he refused to take. He said that it was his gesture towards his countrymen and that he was sorry to hear about terrorist attack in Mumbai. He also asked us not to worry if we didn’t find a ride back home from Cheli La – he was going to come back at 8 pm.

Prayer flags everywhere

↑ Yay, Cheli La!

You can ‘feel’ that you are at the highest point in the neighborhood, there are taller snow-capped mountains only far away (Eastern Himalayas). Cheli La is a very simple place – there is a prayer wheel, a small altar, a round wooden table with an umbrella and an electric substation. But there are prayer flags and poles – lots and lots of them all over the adjacent hills higher than the road.

↑ Walking towards Haa valley

I spinned (spun?) the prayer wheel and prayed, also on behalf of the first guy (who gave us a lift) as he’d requested. It was a place that will humble you with its sheer power and simplicity. There is nothing but snow capped Himalayan ranges at your eye level. At 3,900 something meters above MSL, its not the highest places I’ve been to, but was certainly one of the best.

We spent 2 hours walking around. There was nothing to ‘see’ there because we were the tourist attraction. LOL. There are a couple of hills around the pass and can be hiked easily. These hills are the true peaks of the mountain. Predictably, they are all covered by prayer flags fluttering eternally in the strong wind, carrying the prayers to all corners of the world. There is nothing to worry about here – homework, deadlines, junk food, pollution, neighbors, nothing.

↑ Mountains around the pass are filled with prayer flags

Lets go back

The sun set and the place got chilly in an instant. We were waiting for a ride for almost an hour but there was absolutely nobody going to Paro, most vehicles were going to Haa – maybe from their work places in Paro? I thought that we missed a good time to catch a ride – we started in the afternoon, by then the peak traffic had subsided. By ‘peak traffic’ I mean 1 vehicle in 5 minutes in one direction! It was almost dark and we didn’t have sufficient warm clothes, but soon a Maruti 800 stopped, and there was a couple who dropped us back to Paro.

↑ Prayer Flags

Cheli La was a simple yet beautiful place. One can view the Paro valley from south and the Haa valley on the other side of the mountain range. The prayer flags communicate a sense of purpose and well-being to this life. But the most exciting part of the day was hitch hiking there.

↑ “The greatest religion never gives suffering to anybody” – Lord Buddha

How about we modify this:
“The greatest religion never gives suffering to anybody in the name of religion”
- Priyank Thatte, adapted from Gautam Buddha’s quote.

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Picture taken: May 2005, about 10,000ft in Garhwal Himalayas. Here is the travelogue of my trip.

One of the interesting things about high altitude camping is the unique taste of the food. Above the tree line, water becomes more-or-less tasteless. Since Indian cooking involves generous use of water (from stewing vegetables to preparing dough), food cooked here does tastes funny. जेवणात चव उतरत नाही (the taste doesn’t sink into the food). Even before you hit the tree-line, cooking yummy food becomes increasingly difficult.

There are other operational issues:

• Due to low atmospheric pressure, boiling point of water reduces. So, water boils at a much lower temperature, for example, at the place where this picture was taken the BP would be approximately 90° (Rambodoc would say: “Its cool to boil water”)
• The only source of ignition is firewood. The three basic factors required for a fire are – (1) source of ignition, (2) Oxygen and (3) heat. The last two being less available, it takes long time to light a fire.
• More water needs to be used to compensate faster losses (moisture in the air is very low).
• Finally, food needs to be cooked for a longer time.

Why??

Consider boiling an egg. In the plains, water boils at 100° and it takes 5 minutes for an egg to boil (assume). At 10,000 ft however, water boils at 90°, and in order to equalize the heat (calories) gained by the egg, it has to absorb heat for a longer time. The cooks that I spoke to told me that it takes 25 minutes to boil one egg (boy! thats a hard-shelled egg).

Turning up heat will not make a difference. Figure out why

Baking food needs even more care, such as leavening gases in breads and cakes expand more, or an extra egg may be required to enhance bonding and strength. I have no knowledge about cooking meat though.

Can I cook the same taste food somewhere else? I tried using Distilled water once, but thats just one factor. Perhaps in a laboratory simulation, cooking few grams of high-altitude tasting food would be possible!

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Shringi Rishi was the legendary Indian Hindu saint or Rishi of sage Kashyapa ‘s lineage.Shringi Rishi was great saint of the Ramayan era of ancient India.His father was great saint Vibhandak Rishi.Shringi Rishi performed ‘Putrakameshti Yajya’ for King Dashrath of Ayodhya,after that Lord Rama and his three brothers were born….A temple of Shringi Rishi, is also located at Banjar in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, in whose honour a fair is held every year in May.

A small village located above the temple of Shringi Rishi has two intimidating tall structures These towers, the highest one being 11 storeys high was built in 19th century at an height of about 7000ft. The earthquake of 1095 destroyed two floors of the tower. Entry is now restricted to the buildings, but the priest was very generous to allow visitors from Mumbai to take a peek inside the sacred temple located on the highest level. Its a wonder and a priceless archeological landmark. Unfortunately not many people know about it.

If you have more information about this place, please share it with us

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