Looking down into the Indian plains.  The urban area directly below is Dharamsala and the reservoir on the hazy horizon is NOT the Sardar Sarovar Project, but I’m sure it has all of the same problems (inside joke for my SURP 811 peeps).

Not a Swiss girl in sight.

 
Triund pasture has a few tea houses selling typical trekking staples, renting out tents and selling beer (which is apparently illegal as they are not licensed).  Most people will hike up for the day, with some venturing a bit further into the hills and then returning to Triund for the night before heading down to Mcleod Ganj.  I liked it so much, I just stayed in my tent and ate at the Tea Houses…I don’t think I’ve ever lived that cheaply before.  New groups of people would come up each night which made for a variety of interesting campfire conversations.

I broke my camera just before Triund and because being up there without some sort of camera was not an option, I dropped my stuff and blasted back down to Mcleod Ganj and picked up my old point-and-shoot Olympus (which these photos are a product of) and went back up to Triund the next morning.  Unfortunately, the SD card on the Olympus became corrupted and 75% of the photos I took are unreadable…these were the only ones that I managed to salvage.
Triund Teahouse.From Triund there are great day hikes further into the hills.  The most common is up to the ‘snow-line’ which is about an hour above Triund.  From there one may continue further toward Indrahar Pass or explore one of the other surrounding valleys or hills. Snowline pasture below. he remnants of an old guesthouse.  Apparently 10 years ago this area was at the snout of a now deceased glacier.
Trail marker for Indrahar Pass.
Moving up toward the Indrahar Pass cave.  It’s not really a cave, but rather a massive sloping rock one can take shelter under.

Last day at Triund.  Amazing sunsets, nightscapes, full moons and the occasional full rainbow at 3000m.  This wasn’t the last photo of India that I took (I have some crappy mobile phone shots from Chandigarh) but I like to think it is.

Northern India – 2009 :-)

Technorati Tags: camping, climbing, dharmasala, india, indrahar pass, mcleod ganj, photography, photos, tents, trekking, triund

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1. Mcleod Ganj – India – August 2009
2. Manali to Leh, India – August 2009

While hardly the best map, Bing does give the viewer an impression of the differences between the southern greenery and the rain shadowed Himalayans. MG is about seven or eight kilometres above Dharmasala.

I spent quite a bit of time in MG, largely because was trapped by the perpetual rains of the monsoon and I had told myself I wasn’t going to leave until I got up to the pastures of Triund.  Thus, I became one of the many travellers endlessly wandering the two main streets of Mcleod Ganj and drinking endless cups of coffee waiting for the rains to subside.

Luckily, the rains did subside – if only for a few days.  But enough for me to get some decent photos of the area and make a run to heights of Triund to get above the weather.

Mcleod Ganj is typical of mountain Indian villages with a very dense organic layout built directly into the hills, tiny lanes, too many vehicles taxing the existing infrastructure…and the ubiquitous urban cows. Incredibly lush and green, MG has amazing forests populated by the mighty deodar cedar. Looking down on Mcleod Ganj.   To the far right of the above image is the very humble residence of the Dalai Lama.  Given his popularity and unpopularity (among some), I was expecting more of a isolated and secure ‘compound’, yet his residence is incorporated directly into the town.

The still functioning and absolutely gorgeous St.  John in the Wilderness Church.  Built in 1856, the Church has a Canadian connection as its cemetery is the resting place of Lord Elgin, who was the former Governor General of the Province of  Canada from 1847 to 1854 before becoming Viceroy of India.

He’s in there somewhere. 

The Dhauladhar range beyond the hills. Triund occupies the saddle of the foreground hills.  From Triund I was planning to make an attempt to go over Indrahar Pass (4375m) should the weather hold. Monkeys everywhere in MG. Moving up into the hills above MG toward Triund.  The village below is not MG but a neighbouring village called Bhagsu – yet another “Little Tel-Aviv” in India. 

Moving up toward TriundWeather moving in

Triund on the saddle – this was one of the last photos I took before falling on my camera.

Technorati Tags: bhagsu, dalai lama, dharmasala, himalayas, india, indrahar pass, mcleod ganj, photography, photos, tibet, travel, traveling, triund

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1. Triund – India – August 2009
2. Leh – August 2009

I was hesitant about entering at first given that it is Ramadan, but this one fellow saw me looking at the door and asked me and my friends if I wanted to enter. He also said it was ok to take photos if I wished.  I took off my shoes and in I went.  I’m sure that while inside I probably engaged in some taboos, but hopefully nothing too extreme.

Around 4pm…just before afternoon or evening prayer…I’m not too sure…really, I probably had no business being inside if I didn’t even know that.

Individual prayer mats.

There are 324 wood pillars in this mosque…each made from one tree.

Huge – one easily feels the spirituality while inside something this magnificent.  I quite like Mosque architecture of this Kashmiri wooden variety.  It is very simple, yet elegant and spares no heed to the grandiose.  Aside from the pronounced gender segregation, everyone appeared equal while inside the Mosque.

There are separate places for men and women to pray.

Inside the open-air courtyard.  My friends and I were the only visible westerners around at the time and created somewhat of a stir with the kids.

East entrance to the Mosque, looking from inside the courtyard.

Washing before praying.  I didn’t stay around for the prayer.

Probably the highlight of the Kashmir.

I don’t have any photos of the journey from Srinigar to Dharmasala.  There was a big heavily fortified 2.5km long tunnel.  A 6 hour stop-over in a filthy bus-station in Jammu in which I discussed money for several hour with the ticket agent and a 3am solo deposit along the highway near Dharmasala.

It rains a lot in Dharmasala. 

Technorati Tags: asia, drinking, india, islam, Jamia Masjid, kashmir, mosque, photography, photos, religion, travel, traveling

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1. Leh to Srinagar – August 2009
2. Srinagar – Houseboats – August 2009

Srinagar is known primarily for it’s Raj-era houseboats which were built as summer retreats for the British (who were not able to own land in India).  Apparently there are over 1500 such boats in the lakes of Srinagar, many of which are close to a hundred years old.  Many are used as guesthouses, many as family house and some are probably abandoned.  Most on Lake Dal, with some on several adjacent lakes and connecting canals.  They don’t move…they sit there…apparently they use a special kind of wood that strengthens with age.

I had arranged accommodation prior to leaving Leh because I didn’t want to have to face hundreds of touts early in the morning as I got out of a cramped 22 hour jeep ride.  It’s always risky doing something like this as one may end up locking themselves into something that may be substandard or not too their liking.  I was prepared to take that risk because I was getting rather tired of the constant price-battle one has to wage with everyone while in India.

True enough, the jeep dropped us off in the middle of a bunch of touts, but my guy was there waiting and took myself and several of my jeep companions to his waiting houseboat.  His boat was particularly gorgeous, being about 70 years old and very colonial.  Issue would appear later…one being that the lake we were on was about 7 km from the actual city which I soon discovered made ‘diversifying’ my money difficult and my traveling options limited.  On the plus side, the lake was much quieter and had fantastic sunsets.   

It was Ramadan when I was there and one of the coolest things was sitting back on the houseboat and listening to the loud prayer rumble emulating from the surrounding city as thousands paid their respects to Allah.

One the ‘shikaras’ used to ferry people from shore to the houseboats.

Early morning floating market.

Chatting away after a successful sale.

Inside on of the several Mugual-era gardens.  Giant trees, colourful flowers

Srinagar urban fabric from above.  Typically organic, unplanned orientations surrounded by bizarre odours.

Houseboat alley on Dal Lake (the main houseboat lake)

Houseboats…hundreds.  How each makes a profit is beyond me.

Srinigar old town with wooden mosques and plenty of burqua clad women.

  This is where your old cameras go to die.

My feelings on Srinagar are mixed.  The scenery is nice, the boat quiet, the sunsets fantastic and I have never experienced anything so encompassing as the prayer rumbles (like the whole city was speaking).  However, for all intents and purposes I was trapped on the houseboat.  I could come and go to the shore as a liked via the Shikara but there wasn’t much around the lake I was staying at. The owner was well-experienced with foreign travelers and had the guilt-speak down perfectly.  The meals were not that good and by the end of the three days myself and my jeep companions felt like we had been taken for quite a ride on the prices.  We were not ‘ripped-off’ but we were paying substantially more than what we should have for what we were getting. 

To make up for the somewhat boring nights trapped on the boat, my companions and I went hunting for beer one night in this very Muslim city…during Ramadan…yeah…say all you want…one can only play so many rounds of UNO without something to extend the fun.  While it is Muslim, Srinagar is still in India and there is still, theoretically, booze to be found…just got to ask.  Because of Ramadan, the one hotel that does supply alcohol had closed their shop, but word on the street was that a hotel called the “Dal-Top Hotel” or something like that, was open for business.  We wandered around the main boardwalk along Dal Lake till about 8:30pm looking for this place (Srinagar closes very early, around 8pm).  Finally, we found it…Dal-Top is actually an abandoned hotel sandwiched between two hotels taken over by the military.  Black-marketers set up shop outside.  They operate off their shikara boats and do brisk business with like minded travelers and locals.  We ended up buying a bottle of “Green Label” whisky for about 1200 rupees (the retail price is 200 rupees) (strangely enough, this “green label” whisky is only for sale in Kashmir as indicated on the label.   

I have never walked that far or that long for a taste.  But it was a good UNO game.     

Technorati Tags: boat, dal lake, houseboats, india, islam, jammu-kashmir, photography, photos, srinagar, travel

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1. Leh to Srinagar – August 2009
2. Jamia Masjid Mosque, Srinagar – August 2009

Either way, the first few hours were quite scenic, albeit heavily militarized.  This road probably has to be the most fortified public road in the world.  Every second kilometre for about 100km outside of Leh found some kind of military installation, mostly logistic and infantry, but I noticed a few light mechanized units thrown into the mix  

The road skirts the Indus for quite awhile.  When I arrived in Srinagar, I found out that three Malaysian travelers had been killed that day when their SUV plunged into the Indus…two others were still missing.  Drunk driving was suspected.

Traffic was mostly a mixture of heavy transport (fuel, goods) and assorted military vehicles.  Tata attack.

Road conditions were mixed.

Dinner was a typical truck stop.  Driver making sure everything is ship-shape.  Indian jeeps, despite the passenger densities are quite comfortable from a suspension point of view…but this guys tires were balder than Patrick Stewart.

Pardon the light, as it was getting dark, but this is probably the best example of Indian single lane driving in the Himalayas.

Unlike the the Manali-Leh route, the military check points along this section were substantially different.  Where that road the checks were simple and unobtrusive, this route the check points were actually stop-points where sections of the highway were closed.  Security being the reason, possibly because they didn’t want anyone doing anything suspicious in the dark along this stretch of road. We spent several hours as two of these check points.  One, called Drass (not much more than a tent) is apparently the coldest place on the planet after Antarctica and some place in Siberia.

When it got light again, I was officially in the Kashmir, which bears a striking resemblance to the Rockies.  Trees, green rivers and pasture.

Truck stop for breakfast.

That was about the last image I shot of this stretch of the highway.  The altitude dropped significantly after this picture as the military presence increase substantially.  Unlike the Ladakh side, which was mostly installations, the Kashmir side saw full battle-rattle section-sized foot patrols along the road with heavily armed infantry posted almost every second kilometre.  Despite being somewhat ‘safe’ for travelers, one glance at any local newspaper will confirm that there is still quite a bit of violence in the area.  Trekking would is apparently awesome here, but I didn’t have the cash for another supported trek, especially something in the 7-10 day ranges…and solo might not have been the best option.  I might have chanced it if I had a partner…one of the curses of traveling solo.

Technorati Tags: crazy roads, india, kargil, kashmir, ladakh, leh, line of control, pakistan, photography, photos, travel

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1. Srinagar – Houseboats – August 2009
2. Jamia Masjid Mosque, Srinagar – August 2009

Nearing the summit and looking back along the ridge.

Ladakh Valley below.  The weather wasn’t perfect, but the clouds and mist provided an eerie atmosphere.  While I wouldn’t get to see K2, I was lucky to have summited given that every group the previous day had been turned back by high winds.

From the summit.  K2 would be in the background on a clear day.

Made the summit at around 7:30am

It is a 90 degree drop down about 1500m just over that edge…

Heading back down.

Glacier crossing.

About 11am looking back toward the cloud encrusted summit.

Base camp in the morning.

Too tired to stand.

A quick lunch and then a long sleep.

Technorati Tags: himalayas, india, kashmir, ladakh, leh, mountaineering, photography, photos, stok kangri, travel, traveling

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1. Stok Kangri II
2. Stok Kangri I – August 2009

Looking south toward Stok Kangri (top right) from camp one.  Base camp is actually to the left of the ridge in the centre of the photos. The approach was somewhat different than I initially expected.

Camp one – looking north toward Stok Village.

Marmot boxing on the way to base camp.

About 4800m.  The approach toward base camp is actually steeper than it appears in the photo.  I acclimatize quite well, but I begin to feel the effects when I push 4000m.  I’m not tired, but I slow down, begin to lose appetite and get crazy dreams.

Our Nepali guide chatting with the donkey wrangler.

Base camp at 5100m.  We arrived at around 3pm and had dinner a few hours later, followed by a quick nap given that we would be up at 1am.

Technorati Tags: himalayans, india, kashmir, ladakh, leh, mountaineering, photography, photos, stok kangri, travel, traveling

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1. Stok Kangri I – August 2009
2. Stok Kangri III

Initially, I was going to attempt this solo (and in retrospect, I am completely confident that I would have had no problem) but given the lack of information regarding the ascent and uncertainties regarding routes/food I opted to go with a 4-day supported expedition through one of the agencies.  I like carrying my stuff myself, but given the height of this bad boy, I felt that having donkeys pack the stuff wouldn’t be that bad of an idea…real expeditions never carry their own stuff anyways :-p

For about $225 myself and a British fellow received two guides, donkeys, food and cooking services for 4 days.  I received a discount given I had my own equipment. 

Two days to base camp, followed by an epic 10 hour summit attempt beginning at 1am, and then one day down to Stok.  The following photos are from the first day.

Stok Village and the Indus Valley can be seen in the extreme distance.

Another group returning to Stok.  Could be either from Stok Kangri or one of several other treks that conclude in at Stok.

Some kind of shelter.

The Stok Kangri approach is extremely dry and rocky with little vegetation.

First camp at about 4200m asl. 

Technorati Tags: climbing, india, kashmir, ladakh, mountaineering, photography, stok kangri, trekking

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1. Stok Kangri II
2. Stok Kangri III

Dry and dusty are good words used to describe Leh but it is also a good example of how I would have expected Lhasa to look if the Chinese had not entered into the city.  Very organic in nature.  Tight, dense, old, bizarre street networks combined with heavy modern nuisances like massive traffic, severe white pollution and overcrowding.  I’ve decided that cities in India can be summed up as what happens when you place a physically medieval city into the 21st century.

Tourism is massive in Leh, with countless trekking agencies, stores, restaurants, and guesthouse permeating the fabric.  Old-timer visitors will lament to one about how the tourism industry has opened  and changed this once very isolated area for the worse.  I would argue that it was never tourism that opened this area up – that honour goes to the HUGE military presence in the valley and their associated infrastructure projects.  Tourism followed.  Despite the lament regarding the typical arguments against tourism there are some interesting initiatives regarding bottle less drinking water, women’s employment and indigenous craft/food/music.  Such things are often absent in many other places I have travelled.

Still even with the the tourism and associated revenue, it disheartening to see such terrible infrastructure deficiencies in simple things such as refuse collection.  Infrastructure and cleanliness leans strongly in China’s favour in a comparison of the two rising powers.

Leh is predominantly Ladahki, a culture which is very Tibetan but not, and I couldn’t tell you the subtitles.  A strong Tibetan refugee population exists as well as an assortment of other subcontinent ethnicities.   

Numerous mosques can be found through out Leh.

Leh from the hills above.  The Indus Valley runs left to right (East to West) and Stok Kangri can be seen as the highest peak in the distance.

A close view of the tight nature of the town fabric.

Restored Buddhist temple above the city.

While the central and inner city of Leh is rough and ready, the suburbs are gorgeous.  Each plot appears to be at least a hectare in nature and centred around a traditional Ladakhi-Tibetan two story mud-brick-wood home.

“Main Street” in Leh on a quiet day.  Like most street systems in India, it was never designed for what it is now expected to deal with and unlike medieval cities in Europe, demand management is obviously not used – the result be pure chaos, although there is somewhat of a functional feel regarding the chaos, that is from an outside perspective and if you asked me if I would want to live that everyday, I would probably say no.

I spent a few days here organizing my micro-expedition up Stok Kangri.  After returning from that climb I was sitting at a cafe on a street not unlike the one above with my gear waiting for my jeep to Srinagar.  I knew the Dalai Lama was visiting the area, but I wasn’t expecting to see him.  All of a sudden everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) ran out of their shops and lined the road.  A couple army jeeps raced by followed by several SUV’s.  Staring out the window of one of the trailing SUV was His Holiness the Dalai Lama (I would see him a second time as my jeep fuelled at a petrol station and his motorcade went by again).  I don’t pretend to know anything about Buddhism and I am hardly the first person I know who has seen the Dalai Lama…but I though the context of seeing him in an landscape that is probably the closest he will ever get to Tibet was very special.   

Technorati Tags: cities, culture, india, ladakh, leh, photography, photos, tibet, travel, urban planning

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1. Leh to Srinagar – August 2009
2. Mcleod Ganj – India – August 2009

Only on the highest highway in the world does ones jeep depart at the silly hour of 2am.  Actually, that is when I arrived at the local bus station.  The ride didn’t actually begin until around 4:30am.

Unfortunately, the early morning start meant that I would miss the opportunity to shoot Rohtang Pass, which is an unbelievable ascent from the coniferous forests of the vanguard of the Himalayans into the high altitude deserts of the plateau.  Night ascents have their own advantages.  Once above the clouds one is able to look down on the ascending vehicles fog lights dancing through the mists underneath a pure starry sky.

I woke up to breakfast here, about 100km and 6 hours into the 23 hour journey.

The view from the breakfast table.

Given the proximity to the monsoons (gentle this year), the landscape was quite green.  This is in start contrast to what we would soon be driving into.

Moving up into the plateaus.  It was once switch-back intensive ascent after the another.  I lost count.

Tata trucks were not the only users of the highway.  The single lane road created some interesting, if not downright freaky encounters with oncoming traffic.

Apparently, despite a jeep full of travelers, we were on some kind of timetable, so opportunities for photo stops were very limited. Most of these photos I shot from the window.  My poor Pentax camera needs a serious professional cleaning after this trip.

Road conditions were mixed with some sections receiving a new asphalt make-over, with some being pure dusty gravel, and others a combination of decaying 30 year old asphalt/concrete and gravel.  I used to think that the UAZ jeep from Mongolia represented the toughest jeep I’d would ever travel in…that was until I met the Tata “Mini-Deluxe”.  The killer suspension system more than made up for the skinny and balding tires.  That thing navigated the road ruins like BMW tank.  We picked up a couple of Brits who have been trekking in the surrounding hills – our driver was loading their gear on to the top.  My poor, trusty North Face pack got dusted like it had never been dusted before.                                 

Blasting through a glacial mess.

Reaching a high point…and then…

…tearing through a desert at 90 km/hr.

We went through about five police check points along the highway.  Nothing major.  There is a substantial military presence in the area though, mostly engineering units delegated to road maintenance and repair.

The majority of traffic was the venerable and colourful Tata transport/utility vehicle…and the occasional crazy 4-cylinder Suzuki hatchback.

Making the final descent down into Leh.  Ah…Himalayan blue :-)

Road slicing and dicing.

Taking a short cut down into the valley to avoid some serious road-construction.  

Final ‘pit-stop’ before Leh.

Upon entering Leh, we were all promptly checked for H1N1.  The fourth time for me in 4 months.

Technorati Tags: himachal pradesh, india, jeep, kashmir, leh, manali, photo, photography, travel

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1. Leh to Srinagar – August 2009
2. Leh – August 2009