Prashant's Weblog

Orissa and Sandak Phu Complete Travel Log

Posted by Prashant - 22/07/10 at 01:07:41 am

Because of travel, work and lots of other things, I could not post the complete travel log for my Orissa and Sandak Phu trip on this blog. But the entire travel log is available in a PDF version for offline viewing. There are two versions as shown below;

Sandak Phu and Orissa Travel Log - PDF Version

File Name	Size	Download Location
Sandakphu_Travel_Log_With_Very_High_Res_Photos.pdf	90 MB (High Resolution)	Download
Sandakphu_Travel_Log_With_Very_Low_Res_Photos.pdf	6 MB (Low Resolution)	Download

Please note the high resolution file has really high resolution images and hence the size of the file will be a killer if you are bandwidth challenged. But if you do not have any such constraints then high resolution file is recommended.

Goa trip

Posted by Prashant - 29/06/10 at 01:06:58 pm

As we all can see, we as a society are showing more and more characteristics of restlessness and mobility than ever before. One of the tangible metric that we all can readily use to gauge this the amount of travel we do these days. Recently I too added to the characteristics of restlessness with a short Goa trip. Here are few of the glimpses of Goa as seen through my camera.

Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log – Part 6

Posted by Prashant - 16/05/10 at 01:05:16 pm

26 Dec 2009

Commotion because of the chaiwala blocking the way with his huge steel barrels containing hot beverages was the wake up call that allowed me to transcend from the state of deep sleepiness to wakefulness. I enjoyed extremely good sleep. As I woke up and tried to make sense of things around me, I looked outside the window. Not that I expected to figure out where I was, but then was hoping to get a glance at some banner which can announce where I currently was, but then saw nothing but buildings passing by. I thought I had already reached. But when I checked with my fellow passenger, I got to know that we are close to Howrah but not yet there. I then freshened up and then called Raj et al. They had already reached Howrah but their train was in queue to get into the station. That meant that my train will take lot more time before I can step foot on the Kolkata soil for the first time. So ordered a cup of hot tea and as I sipped it nostalgia crept in. I was missing the yummy tea from the road side vendor and also the beautiful beautiful sunrise from Puri beach, which I had become so accustomed to. As I looked outside the Kolkata sun was hot, blazing unlike the autumnal, kaleidoscopic sun I had grown used to during my sojourn at Orissa.

The train came to an halt for some time and then later started to move. This time I guess we had been given the green signal to enter the station. So within not time my train moved in and at around 7.45 am on 26 of December 2009, there I was, in the land of Goddess Kali, the land that has a spectacular literary and artistic heritage, a land once hub for scientific excellence, a and which has to offer the most the most delicious and mouth watering desserts, the land of sunderbans, Kolkata. By the time I got out of the station, Raj had already checked into the hotel. So when I called him the instructions given to me were crisp and clear. It was like the game show in the Travel and Living channel where in you get a hint on your cell that will guide you to your first destination. Once you are there you get the next one. First set of instructions were for me to get off the train and head towards exit. Once out I need to check where I can catch a ferry to the Millennium Park. My second set of instructions would arrive once I reach the park. So I did exactly that. I headed out asked directions for the ferry service, it was less than 5 mins walk. Once I reached there I bought a ticket that would allow me to use the ferry service to reach the Millennium Park. Coming from Bangalore, buying a ticket in Kolkata in itself is an new experience. Rs 4 and a max of Rs 8 for tickets is something unheard of in the place where I come from. Once I procured the ticket, I headed to the dock where I need to get on to the ferry. It was bit of a struggle for me here as I was not aware which side of the dock I need to go to reach the park. So I was shuttling between two dock points and after I did it couple of time I decided to check with people around. One person was kind enough to tell me the right place where I need to wait. In couple of mins a ferry arrived and I hopped in. As the ferry sailed, It was good to see the hallmark of Kolkata, the famous Howrah Bridge. I couldn’t help but remember the scintillating, bubbly song Mera naam chin chin chu from the movie Howrah bridge. While I hummed the tune, the ferry sailed on and within a short period of time I reached my destination. I got off and walked towards the park. While taking a stroll near the park waiting for Raj to call, I saw this reporter and his camera crew getting ready to cover something, out of curiosity I checked with them as to what was that they were covering. He replied that dada aka Sourav Ganguly was suppose to show up there and they were getting ready to cover that story. Even though I am big fan of Saurav, but am not that crazy to wait for him to turn up. So I continued with my stroll. In some time, I got my next set of instructions from Raj. I was suppose to take a taxi from Millennium Park to our hotel Tiger Inn. So I did. By 9.30 PM I was with the rest of the gang at Tiger Inn. I was delighted to see the whole gang especially after being that lone traveller for one complete week. We talked about my adventure in Orissa, the gang’s train trip, upcoming trek, camera gear etc. over a cup of tea and several bites of yummy Britannia rusks. I guess among the group at the hotel, Praveen was the only person I had not met earlier. Others, Dhi, Raj, Yamini, Neetha, Sohail and Nithya, I already knew them all. So after finishing sipping tea, I freshened up, had shower and was all set for Kolkata tour. So was rest of the gang.

It was close to 11 am on 26th, when we stepped out of our hotel to explore Kolkata. As the volume of the potbelly outweighed the volume of Britannia rusks that went in during the tea break by an insane number, my stomach grumbled and growled in hunger. So the first thing we did after stepping out was to hunt for a place to have our breakfast. We did not have to go far, just 50 meters from the hotel we encountered a vendor selling yummy Puri, Sabji and Tea. We feasted on them like it is going to be December 21, 2012 the next day. The best part of the breakfast was the tea which was served in earthen pots. Yummy. It tasted real good. So after quenching our hunger, we headed towards the famous Birla temple. The idea was to experience the true spirit of Kolkata, the tram ride, but unfortunately we got to know that from the place where we were there is no tram to Birla temple. So we were forced to take a taxi. The group divided themselves into two groups and hopped into two taxi which delivered us to Birla temple. Once there we got to know that the temple is closed and will open only in the evening. Raj who was familiar with this city because he was working in Kolkata for a period of 5 years, suggested an idea that got all of us really excited. It was time for a metro ride. One might wonder what is the big deal about metro to get that excited about. I say its the way the word is used. While metro is a noun in Kolkata, which refers to a means of transport that will help you move from one end of the city to another at lightning speed, back in Bangalore its more of a verb indicating big excavators digging the earth, creating more potholes, act of destroying trees and well laid roads and pavements, act of creating more confusion in terms of one-way, no-way roads and last but not the least act of creating more traffic jams. So while people of Kolkata, inefficiently, say “Morning hour peak traffic”, back in Bangalore we have a short and sweet name for it “Metro hours”. So with so much difference in the meaning of the word, the excitement was because we were about to experience what Metro was actually suppose to mean.

From Birla temple we took a bus to Jatin Das park from where we were suppose to take the metro to S-Planet. What struck us first when we entered the metro station was the cleanliness, the ticket price and the security. Unlike the Kolkata that is projected in media so often, it was super clean and the prices were jaw dropping. Maximum of 8 rupees. Single digit numbers are not something you associate with transport in Bangalore anymore. So when we saw these single digit numbers we were surprised. I was wondering if there is some catch like an asterix saying conditions apply or probably they had a superscript number which indicated square or cube of that number. But none existed. We bought the tickets. Raj informed us about the do’s and don’t’s, basically it translated to “if you want to reach S-Planet, you better move your fat ass quickly”. I did not understand the importance of the word “quickly” until the train arrived. Darn thing happened so fast. We probably had less than 15 seconds to get in and make sure that no part of your body in whole or parts are outside of that train door because after 15 seconds what ever is outside of the line of the door will stay out and rest of it moves to the next station. It was insane but luckily all of us were in and safe. The train was jam packed. I tried to squeeze in and make some space for myself in middle of the sea of people. The neighboring guy shot a “how much space does this guy take” glance. But then I thought the logic was simple larger volume need bigger space. By the time I wiggled and made some breathing space, Raj announced that we will be getting down in the next station and “moving your fat ass quickly” advice still holds. I was like what the heck!! we just boarded the train. Have to say metro is awesome and super super fast. WROOOOOOOM and within no time we were at S-Planet. While getting down also, Drawin’s theory of the fittest getting off the train successfully holds good. I pushed, prodded and jabbed so that I do not join the IUCN red list and finally the list of extinct species. It worked. I was able to get off the train and so were others. As we walked out, S-Planet welcomed us.

S-Planet is a shopping center. So as few folks had to buy scarfs we went around and thanks to the master negotiator Yamini, we could get a good deal for scarfs, gloves and also camera battery. After the initial shopping we were even more excited about our next destination, the famous, the one and only, KC Das. If you are a connoisseurs of sweets, you look no further from this place. This is like the holy grail for Bengali sweets. As your spoon cuts effortlessly into the spongy casein balls boiled in sugar syrup, breaking it into two. Then you pick one half and then as you put it in your mouth, your eyes close and ah! that first contact with your taste buds. You know by then your taste maker neurons are already dealing with over voltage of brain signals derived from the heavenly taste. Your taste buds are ecstatic. As more and more parts of your mouth come in touch with the manna from heaven, dopamine shoots up and the reward circuitry within the brain is full abuzz and says “Oh yeah baby!! Keep it coming” . Slowly you swirl and turn it inside your mouth and then push it down the esophagus to complete the cycle of unearthly bliss and delight. Who says one cannot attain Nirvana through Rasogulla .

We spent lot of time at KC Das enjoying the Rasogulla, Rasmala, Sweet curd and innumerable types of Sandesh. It was awesome. After we had stuffed more calories than we will ever burn in the entire trip, we again went shopping. After the second round of shopping it was lunch time and this time we wanted to try another speciality of Kolkata, the rolls. Very oily but they have a great taste. I enjoyed the paneer roll while other feasted on egg roll. After our lunch, the group split into two. Raj and Praveen parted so that they can make arrangements for tents, sleeping bags etc. So the plan was they would go, dump the necessary things in the hotel and join us when they are done.

After Raj went their way, rest of us walked to the nearest tram station to catch a train for Victoria Memorial. You might have traveled in the best of the “toy” train setups earlier but tram is a completely different experience and something that you must experience at least once. Being the elite among the egalitarian communist society of the Kolkata we decided to travel first class in the tram. Being up in the social ladder certainly has its associated perks. As against the common proletariat, while traveling first class we enjoyed two huge over head fans which did not work.

Rest of the journey was smooth. It was fun watching the electricity guzzler wade through the traffic, stop at traffic signal and be overtaken by a human powered cycle. All this entertainment for just 4 rupees. At the end of it we were dropped of at Victoria Memorial. As it was a holiday crowds had poured in to see the white marble beauty build in memory of Queen Victoria. There was a long queue for the tickets. It took considerable effort from Dhiraj, Sayed and touch of magical jugad from Yamini to get tickets. Once in Dhi, Sayed, Yamini and myself settled down on the grass lawn while Neetha and Arti decided to go on a tour inside the memorial. While Neetha and Arti were enjoying the royal artifacts inside, Dhiraj and Sayed were busy trying their hands on photography. While Sayed was genuinely trying out some artistic portrait photography, Dhi was zooming in on “people” but as there were no photos clicked, it still remains undetermined as to what the actual intention was . While waiting for Neetha and Arti ‘s return, Raj and Praveen had dumped the luggage and had joined us at Victoria memorial. While all of us were relaxing on the lush green lawn, Dhi, Sayed and Nitya were contemplating on who eats so much of sweets that are available at every nook and corner of Kolkata. Then as an really obese kid passed by, I guess they got the answer to their question. While the conversation on food and calories continues, Raj was fanatically working his fingers on the keypad of his ubercool smart phone to check the status of the tickets for that night’s journey to NJP. Later Neetha and Arti returned from their date with royalty inside the memorial, we all were ready to move toward our next destination. Birla Temple. As we started to step out, Raj announce another great news, All of us would have a confirmed berth for out journey from Howrah to NJP. Everyone exhorted. Sandak Phu here we come.

After stepping out of Victoria memorial, we split into two groups and took a taxi each to Birla temple. The taxi I hopped into was driven by an old man. Going by the age we thought its going to be a slow, snail pace drive to the temple. But we couldn’t have been more wrong. From the moment the taxi doors closed and he stepped on that accelerator pedal to the point when we reached our destination, none of us actually remember even a single moment when he relaxed on that accelerator pedal. It was as though our driver was high on some kind of “Driver Viagra”. It was for sure one crazy rollercoster drive after which we all arrived at the temple. As per the temple rules, no camera and luggage are allowed inside. So Raj volunteered to stand outside and guard our luggage as rest of them went in to realize their tryst with the divine. For all of us in the group the definition of a temple is a place which offers good prasadam. As Birla temple did not fit that bill, for us this temple visit became nothing more than a stroll through a fantastic architectural marvel in pure white marble stone. But Neetha was different from all of us. Being a ardent devotee of Vivekananda and his guru, she was the dynamo of spiritual energy for the group and as I came to know she has a polished repertoire of acquirements to appease the one who is in everything of this world and in whom the whole world is. What started with simple prostration finally ended with a two round saunter along the perimeter of the temple. As I sat there watching Neetha and other pray, the agnostic side of me questioned the merit of all of what we do to appease someone who we don’t even know exists, but the gnostic side of me knew that the strength derived from her sincere prostration, in all humility, before the supreme and the endless will keep us all safe and protected from any nocency on this trip. So on this trip if something that is expected to go horribly wrong miraculously turns out to be totally different and good, all we have to do is lookup heavenwards and say “Thank you god for listening to Neetha” .

Once our turn was done we took the responsibility of guarding the luggage while Raj visited the temple. After that our eyes fell on nearby pushcart guy selling Jhal Muri. At Rs. 5 each this dish made of puffed rice with finely chopped onion, tomatoes, coconut, groundnut thrown in at the whim of the maker, was so yum to taste that we could not stop at one. After jhalmuri, all the gluttons proceeded to the next one. Golguppa, also know as Puchkas. This is made by taking a hollow puri, making a perforation and then stuffing the hollow with a potato filling and then dipped it in a tumbler of paani. Once this is done you put the entire thing inside your mouth at once and as this awesome concoction mixes and slides down your throat, the yummy, zingy feel you experience is beyond the capability of English vocabulary to express. Our group feasted on it. After puchkas it was time for tea served in earthen pot. The best part of having tea this way is what you get to do after finishing the tea. DESTRUCTION. Evolution has wired the reward system inside our brain in way that it awards you handsomely when you destroy something. It was no different with the tea pots. We tried to find innovative way to throw the pot so as to maximize the destruction to the pot.

Later after the tea, we split into two groups. While Dhi, Sohail, Nithya and Neetha went to the ATM to withdraw Rs 100 notes which they needed for the Butan trip, rest of us took a tram and headed towards hotel. Once there we started to pack over a cup of hot tea. Dhi and gang finished their work at ATM, purchased Paneer, egg and Chicken rolls and joined us at the hotel. All of us had a roll each as pre-dinner. After all us packed, we checked out of the hotel. We had luggage to fill 3 cabs. Looking at the luggage the drivers of the taxi saw an opportunity to make more money than a trip from our hotel to railway station deserved which led to a small argument. Raj then somehow pacified the drivers and we were all set. All the luggage was dumped in to the cabs. Dhi, Nitya and Sohail, left in one cab to withdraw more of Rs. 100 from ATM for their Bhutan trip. Rest of us split into two and reached the Old terminal in Kolkata station. The only highlight of the trip from hotel to station was the ride on Howrah bridge other wise it was yet another cab drive in between heavy traffic.

The train to NJP from Howrah was scheduled to start from platform 8 of the old terminal at Kolkata station. While the whole group was there, we were missing Sayak and Anu. But by the time we reached the station, Sayak and Anu had already reached and were waiting for us. As soon as we reached station, Raj went and met Sayak and Anu and with help of Dhiraj moved Sayak’s luggage to platform 8. We also joined a bit latter with all of our luggage. This is where I first met techi-doctor couple of Sayak and Anu.

Did not have enough time to socialize with the newly joined members of our group as we had tasked assigned to us. Ours was to dump all the luggage inside coach S3,S5,S6. Nitya was assigned to check the ticket status. Yamini, Dhi took care of dinner. Once all done, Raj was busy assigning berths to all of us. My luck with side berths continued. We had two adjacent RAC tickets in S7. I used both of them to make my palatial side lower berth. It needs a different kind of skill to plan,co-ordinate for these tickets. Many a times you have to bring in some jugad with the TC to make sure all have a confirmed berth. Raj, Dhi,Nitaya and Sayak are masters at this and their wizardry was evident when at the end all of us had a comfortable berths to get a good night sleep. We ate our packed dinner which was arranged by Yamini and Dhi. Once done we retired to our berths. We had already started to get a feel of cold which we will be facing on the trek. So to test drive the sleeping bags we decided to use them that night. So there it was, as I slipped into the warmth of cushiony soft sleeping bag and pulled the zip to enclose myself in a fortress that would protect me from the projectiles of cold, the end of our Kolkata sojourn. This night will lead us to the start of what we hope would be a fantastic trip. Amazing group,the majestic Kanchenjungha/Everest, lots of snow, lots of tiredness, lots of sweat, lots of pain, lots of fun we will have it all starting the next day.

As the train hissed and chugged towards NJP, the unpredictable psychological effects of cold on feeble human brain were already visible on few of our group members, especially Sayak. At 4.30 am on a cold dark morning, he traveled two coaches to offer his better half, Anu, a cup of hot tea.On any other day Anu would have probably melted like a butter on a hot aalu parata for such a romantic gesture from her hubby dear, but at 4.30 am on a cold morning she wasn’t very impressed. Apart from these antics from Sayak, rest of the folks slept well. As the sun rose quelling the darkness, we all gathered and enjoyed Jalh muri, tea, coffee, borrowed parathas with aachar and yummy puri subji. We conversed, made fun, had fun, talked about Neetha’s fat book, commented on perfume smell emanating from people walking by and much more while we waited for the train to arrive at NJP, the starting point of our Sandhak Phu adventure.

Orissa and SandakPhu Trek - Blog Post Legend

Blog Post Title	Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 6	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 5	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 4	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 3	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 2	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 1	Post Link

Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log – Part 5

Posted by Prashant - 29/04/10 at 02:04:22 am

24 Dec 2009

Another bright and beautiful day and it started off like any other day in Orissa with a cup of tea and a visit to the Puri beach to witness nature’s display of brilliance. Morning sun rise at Puri. This day was the only day which was properly planned. Idea was to travel to Chilika again, take a boat to Nalabana and be back in Puri in the evening. But then as in many things in life, it does not always work the way you had planned. This was one such day.

Nalabana is one of the island in Chilika which is host to innumerable migratory birds. December is probably one of the best months to visit as birds migrate to warmer Orissa from Russia and other places. I was quite excited to see these huge flocks of birds which until that day I had seen only on a television. So I started early, took a taxi to Chilika to avoid delay. Once at Chilika I booked a private boat to Nalabana for 1800 bucks. I am sure everybody has days like these when you are so possessed by some unknown forces that your ability to reason is completely muted. That day was one such day for me. Looking back I now think I must have gone completely crazy to pay that kind of money for a boat ride. But then that is how it is. So I was stupid to blindly pay and the journey started and it went on and on and on…It took us close to 5-6 hours to reach Nalabana. Once the boatman told me that we are approaching Nalabana, I was quite excited. I could see flocks of birds which appeared like small dots. I was all set with my tripod and camera. Like the full stop punctuation mark at the end of previous sentence, destiny also put one for our Nalabana journey.

Nalabana being one of the main island for migratory birds, forget stepping on the island, Orissa government had cordoned off one kilometer radius around the island to prevent some dull wits from killing these birds and no one is allowed within one kilometer radius of the island. It is patrolled by central police all 24 hours. The boat man tells me this when we reach there. I was furious and blasted him on why he could not inform me about this before hand. Anyways, with a 300mm lens there was nothing much you can do. So I asked him to continue the journey. We then visited the Kalijai temple. It is a temple shrine dedicated to Goddess Kalijai and is built on a island. It looks cool but with the Nalabana experience, I was in no mood to enjoy this beautiful temple. I did not spend much time here and we were off from there in no time.

5-6 hours on a boat ride to reach Nalabana meant no time to travel back. It was already late afternoon when we started from Kaliji temple. So instead of going back, I decided to stay back in another town called Balugoan and then reach puri the next day. I asked the boatman to drop me off at Balugoan. He did so and we parted ways from there. It was getting dark and I had absolutely no clue about this town. So my first task was to find the accommodation for the day. Once that is there rest can be take care of. The first thing I did after I bid adieu to the boat man was check with local people if there was a OTDC hotel in that town. I was delighted when one passerby told me that there is one and it is around 6 KM from the place I was standing now. So immediately I took an auto and went to OTDC. After 20 mins of bumpy ride, the auto dropped me in front of OTDC hotel. It was a very decent place. I spoke to the manager in charge to see if there were any rooms available. To my bad luck none were available. I then asked him if he would suggest any other hotel. He was firstly surprised that I have ventured out without making any prior bookings, but then he was kind enough to suggest couple of hotels close to OTDC. I went to the first one and he quoted a exorbitant price. I tried to bargain but he would not budge. I was not ready to pay so much for a single occupancy room. So I checked couple of other hotels and most of them were booked. I was clueless what to do next. It was almost dark. I decided I will go back to the city and try to find something there. It was couple of minutes since I started to walk when I saw another hotel which looked very deserted but was clean. I was hesitant to try it, but then decided to check it out. I went in and no one to attend to. I waited for couple of mins and was about to leave when a guy walked in. I asked if he was the manager to which he nodded. I then asked him if they have room available for a day. Lady luck favoured me this time, he said there is a room available. I checked the room, it was not all that great but I did not want to take risk to hunting another one in the dark. So I paid him up. As Balugoan was not in my pitstop strategy, I had not bought anything other than my backpack. I generally carry, water, towels, medical kit, torch and few food items in the back pack. I quickly then went around to buy some toiletries and then retired to my room.

I was really tired that day. I had absolutely no energy to go out and find a restaurant to have my dinner. I had few snacks in my backpack which became my dinner. I enjoyed them over an episode of Mahabharath. It was an interesting scene where Gandhari would remove her blindfold and had asked Duryodhan to be present completely naked in front of her when she does that. So Dhuryodhan completely undressed would be trying to sneak in without anyone noticing him, that’s when Lord Krishna appears and the dialogue he delivers is a stroke of genius, something that changed the direction of the war completely. Absolutely stunning episode. I would even go to the extent of saying that the characters of Vidhur and Lord Krishna in Mahabharath are probably one among the best literary characters created in the history of world literature. Anyways after this refreshing episode of Mahabharath, I kept flipping channels until late night. While watching the television, not sure when but I fell asleep.

25 Dec 2009

I woke up to loud noises being made by the next door neighbor at the hotel. It was early in the morning, so did not bother to say anything to them, I quickly got up packed my backpack, had a shower and then vacated the room.

While all this was happening, team in Bangalore and Hyderabad had started for Kolkata and they were enjoying the trip. I used to have regular phone calls with Raj. He was kind enough to call and check how I was doing. So it was a similar courtesy call on 24th I guess when we got in to discussion on when I would be reaching Kolkata. I am not sure how and why but after the call I was under the impression that they would be delayed by a day and hence I am suppose to reach Kolkata on 27 instead of scheduled date of 26th.

So on 25th morning, I was in Balugoan, my luggage was in Puri and I had my train booking from Bhubaneshwar to Howrah the same night. As I got one extra day, I thought I will give Nalabana another shot and when I reach Puri, I will go ahead and cancel my Kolkata ticket for that day and book a bus for the next day. I was thinking that as I went in a private boat the police did not allow us close to the island, but if I book it through OTDC, I might get a chance to go closer. Hence I booked a Nalabana trip again through OTDC. Yeah cant get more stupid than that. Befitting the level of stupidity I demonstrated that day, I went on a long journey to Nalabana again and back. The boat I travelled was different but not the result. I did not get any closer to the island. That is when I realized how important gymnastics are.. They keep you body in shape and flexible enough so that you can kick yourself for demonstrating such heights of stupidity. It was heights of craziness. It was like anything for Nalabana.

I was back in Balugoan and it was early afternoon. I then had my lunch at the OTDC hotel and then started to Puri. After walking for couple of kilometers I was lucky enough to get a bus. It was a private bus going to Bhubaneshwar. There were very few buses directly to Puri, so someone whom I checked with for the bus asked me to go to Bhubaneshwar and from there board another bus to Puri. I did accordingly. It was close to 3PM when I started from Balugoan and by the time I reached Puri it was close to 7PM. If morning stupidity wasn’t enough for the day more was on the way. After reaching Puri, I did not even bother to go to the hotel. I quickly found a cyber cafe and logged to IRCTC account to cancel my Kolkata ticket. Call it darn good luck or mere coincidence, IRCTC refused to do so saying the charts have already been prepared. So dejected for losing more money, I went to the local bus ticket booking center to book my next day travel to Kolkata. Quite a few seats were available for 26th night, so I did not have any issues getting one. I booked my ticket and then headed towards my hotel. There was no beach plan today as I was dead tired. By that day the hotel manager had become a good acquaintance and he decided to throw a party. I was bored to death alone, so was glad to accept the invitation. I asked for enough time for me to take a shower and join them. He was fine with. As soon as I unlocked the door of my room, I got a call from Raj. Again this was a courtesy call. While we were discussing over the phone, I merrily told him about my journey to Kolkata the next day. Raj was like TOMORROW!! YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO BE IN KOLKATA TOMORROW AND NOT START TO KOLKATA TOMORROW. It started with Gulp!! Is it! Which gradually worsened as the fact sank in more and more. SH*T!! SH*T!! SH*T!! SH*T!!. Good part was IRCTC rejected my offer to cancel the ticket, but that’s where the good news ended. I had one hour to board the train and that too from Bhubaneshwar. Yeah after more of SH*T!! SH*T!! SH*T!! SH*T!!. I said to myself relax and think what to do. Then things began to fall in place. Quickly ran to the hotel owner and informed him that party is canceled and explained to him the situation. I asked him to check if the train started from Puri, which he informed it actually did. I looked at the sky and said thank God. I had to settle my hotel bills, so I asked him to prepare my final statement and while he was doing it I ran to the bus ticket booking counter and canceled my bus ticket. More losses. But I cared less for it as my entire trek was at stake. Then came back to the hotel, settled the bills, ran three floors to my room, stuffed things into my bag. Checked out of the hotel. While doing this I had asked the hotel guy to find an auto for me to travel to the railway station. By the time I packed and came down, auto was ready and roaring to go. I thanked the hotel manager and jumped into the auto and asked him to drive as fast as he could. He did exactly that. When the auto came to a screeching halt in front of the railway station, I checked the time in my cell. I was doing pretty good. Quickly paid up the auto guy and ran into the station. I was almost running on to the platform to catch the train when I realized that my booking is from Bhubaneshwar. So I had to head back and buy a ticket from Puri to Bhubaneshwar. Things were happening so fast that I failed to notice that I had bought a general ticket. I rushed and when there were just couple of minutes for the train to start, I hopped in to the train. That first step inside the train was no less joyful than probably what Neil Armstrong would have experienced putting his first step forward on the moon. As the train picked up speed, Puri station lights faded behind and darkness encroached the surroundings, I dragged my back pack as I set out to locate my seat. Within no time I found my berth. As usual it was side lower berth.

After I moaned to myself for the sever degree of bad luck I inherit, I guess from my previous existence, when it comes to berths in a train, I dumped my luggage and neatly secured it to the seat. I then had a call with Raj to inform him of the good news.

Now on my way to Kolkata and rest of the gang also scheduled to reach there. All was set for exciting times ahead. So I thought. While I was all set to get a good nights sleep, the TC arrived and requested me to produce the ticket. I was still oblivious of the face that I was traveling in a sleeper class from Puri to Bhubaneshwar while I had a general ticket for that leg of the journey. So that first glance at the ticket itself brought that “found a bakra” smile on his face. I did not get it when he first told me about the situation, but then he was a real cool guy, he explained it once again and that was when it flashed to me. SHUCKS!!. I had no other way, so confessed that I was not alert enough to notice it and was preparing myself to incur more financial losses in terms of a penalty. I checked with him what he wants me to do now. That’s when some totally unexpected happened. Firstly he realized that I was not comfortable with Hindi, so he switched to English and in a flawless eloquence which you generally do not expected from a TC, he said he will let me go this time and asked me to be careful next time onwards. I thanked him for the favour and promised him to be more careful next time onwards.

Once the TC was out, with nothing much to do, I slipped under the warm veneer of my blanket. I smiled at myself thinking about all those goof up that I so perfectly executed that day and the day previous. I was still unable to explain the perfect timing of Raj’s call that day. Had he not called or if he had called an hour later, things would have been so different. I guess this is what we call destiny. I was destined to be make it to Sandak Phu and every thing else will conspire in a way to make sure you fulfill your date with your destiny.

As the train chugged in full speed leaving the great Kalinga land behind, I said to myself Allz well that ends well. Mine was perfect and I could not have asked for a better time than what I experienced over 5 days in Orissa. Lovely beaches, amazing monuments, enviable culture, awesome food, mesmerizing diversity of flora/fauna and heartwarming hospitality. What more does a lonely traveler from a far off land ask for. As the act of reminiscence of that day’s events continued, eyes began to drag, consciousness dulled and slowly sleep took over drawing curtains to day that marked the end of my lone pre-trek adventure. Adventure in the great land of Kalinga.

Orissa and SandakPhu Trek - Blog Post Legend

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Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 6	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 5	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 4	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 3	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 2	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 1	Post Link

Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log – Part 4

Posted by Prashant - 22/04/10 at 12:04:01 pm

23 Dec 2009

Brand new day. After completing the usual chores headed out. The early morning chill was amazing feeling. On the way to beach, visited the local chaiwala and as usual he gave me a strong cup of tea which was yummy. By now a visit to beach to watch the sunrise had become a not-to-be-missed daily routine. Its the same sun, same beach everyday but I thoroughly enjoyed it, that day and every day I was there. After my date with the sunrise, It was time to visit a new Orissa. This time, the place-of-the-day was the awesome Chilika lake.

Chilika lake is around one hour journey from Puri. There are quite a few buses which can take you there. If you sign up for a package tour then you get to see a temple which falls in between Puri and Chilika. Also he would arrange a ticket for boat ride in Chilika which includes Dolphin ride also. My recommendation would be that you don’t need the package tour. If you do not see the temple which I went to, you actually miss nothing. For the boat ride, the only thing the tour operator did was he stood in the ticket queue instead of me.

So after my beach visit I started to Chilika. I had my breakfast on the way when we stopped to visit the temple. When we started again the city concrete jungle landscape gave way to rustic, beautiful and colourful landscape. It was a joy to see the rural houses surrounded by lush green agriculture fields or huge ponds where fish and prawns were bred. The greenery around was so soothing to both eyes and the mind. Coming from a place where smoke and concrete are the norm, the atmosphere was like a breath of fresh air and the place no lesser than heaven. While my eyes feasted on all of these, I did not realize how the second leg of the journey had passed. There was commotion in the bus and people had started to become restless which is when I knew we have reached our destination.

Chilika lake invited us with open arms. We quickly then ordered for lunch so that he would keep it ready by the time we come back. By the time we ordered the guide of the tourist bus had arranged for boat ride and the dolphin ride. We all assembled at a common place near the dock, when he started to call out our names and guide us to respective boats. The boats were the usual one with a petrol propeller attached to the end. Nothing fancy about it.

The boat ride was uneventful. That is probably the biggest drawback of traveling alone. Anyways I enjoyed the trip. Absolutely love it when the waves crashed against my hand as I stretched it to touch the surface of the water. You some times wonder how such small things can bring in so much joy. Much of the journey passed doing nothing. I tried taking some photographs. but it was extremely bright and nothing exciting was happening around. It was water, water everywhere.

The journey starting to feel like will last for an eternity, when person operating the propeller on another boat made a sign to the captain of our boat and our dude took a sharp deviation like he is trying to avoid colliding into something. It was similar to scene in the Titanic movie before the ship kissed the iceberg. Of course my version of Titanic did not have a Kate winslet. As everyone on the boat, I too put my head out to see what exactly happened. I noticed that all the boats started to converge at a point. This was when one of the guys on the boat asked the propeller guy as to what was the matter. Dude hollered ..DOLPHINE. Yeah our dude was referring to the famous, but sadly endangered irrawaddy Dolphin. Excitement spread like a contagious disease. All got up and moved to the same side of the boat to have a glimpse of this amazing creature. As the center of weight shifted, the boat started to tilt and if the propeller guy had not screamed in time, the boat would have turned over. But then in time a few sane people moved back to their original positions and the boat stabilized. The hunting glance for the elusive animal. People turned their heads in all possible angles hoping to catch a glimpse. But unfortunately it was no where to be seen. We moved on slowly but it had performed the Houdini act to perfection. While we were looking on the propeller guy again screamed.. DOLPHINE.. DOLPHINE. I was like where the heck!! I rotated through 360 degrees and was still unable to find it. I then asked him where he saw it. He pointed his finger in the direction. I looked on and at first it was water everywhere. No sign of anything else. I continued to look when all of a sudden in a canvas of greenish blue water, it was like a black blot of ink. The blot of black grew a bit bigger as the dolphin tried to get to the surface but then suddenly disappeared. The act of the propeller guy hollering DOLPHINE.. DOLPHINE, he pointing his fingers in the direction, I looking in that direction, I seeing something black and that black thing disappearing in no time continued for some time. Then after sometime, I noticed that the boat was moving away from the direction where we had noticed the dolphins earlier, so out of curiosity I asked him if we are going to a different place. He nodded and said yeah, back home. I was like WHAT THE HECK! Where are the dolphins in the dolphin ride, I have paid for it. So when I asked him as to why we are heading back when we have not seen any dolphins, he looked puzzled and commented that the black speck above the water that we saw was indeed a dolphin. I said, I know that but then it did not jump out in to the air like the one in the photo near the ticket counter. He looked at me, there goes another tourist, and had a grin on his face. I did not like the way he sugar coated the line “Dumbo it does not work that way” with that grin. Disappointed, I sat down and the uneventful journey which had begun earlier continued.

It was after some time when I saw that we were approaching land. It seemed very different from the one where we started. This was beautiful, no it was like a paradise. As the hull of our boat pierced and cut through the sand of the shore, our boatman jumped out and anchored the boat. When we asked him where we were, he pointed at a distance and said that is the point where Chilika meets the Ocean, the Bay of Bengal.

Chilika meets the Bay of Bengal along a narrow mouth. White sand beaches, blue water mark this place. Truly this place looks like a paradise in middle of no where. I wish I had come here directly instead of going on the disappointing dolphin ride. Spent good time here lazing around the beach and watching the local fisher man spread their net in the beautiful blue waters to catch their evening meal. After that we started for home.

Even today I can close my eyes and imagine that beautiful place, that one hour spent in that place covered for everything that was disappointing not only on that day but my entire trip till that day.

Reached the place where we started in the morning. Had a late lunch. Food was pathetic, but hunger out weighed the quality and taste of food, so it went in without any complains. After lunch we started back to Puri. Another stretch of uneventful journey. It was late evening by the time I reached Puri. As usual went back to the beach to relax until close to midnight. In between had snacks and dinner at a near by restaurant.

Puri beach is unlike other popular beaches of Goa or Karnataka. Nothing interesting happens on this beach. Crowd is lean most of the times. The only time you see people around in good numbers and most of them come to eat at the shacks close to the beach. In a way its good, you can relax but sometimes you feel lonely. It was the same that day. I generally enjoy solitude, but it was killing that day. As clock ticked towards midnight, bored, I went back and retired for the day. End of another wonderful day, thanks to the beautiful place where the unassuming Chilika meets the mighty Bay of Bengal.

Orissa and SandakPhu Trek - Blog Post Legend

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Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 6	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 5	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 4	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 3	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 2	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 1	Post Link

Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log – Part 3

Posted by Prashant - 20/04/10 at 09:04:34 am

22 Dec 2009

If there is one thing that you should not miss while you are in Puri is the sun rise and sun set. Simple brilliant. No words or mega/peta pixel camera can capture this quintessence brilliance of god’s handiwork. So I woke up early, took a shower, got ready and headed towards the beach. Sun was not yet out of his slumber when I reached the beach, so I took a stroll on the beach. There was a relatively big size crowd already in there, walking, jogging, hopping and few lazing around. Fishermen were getting ready with their fishing net and boat to being their sail into the endless ocean. As I was watching all of this, the sun slowly and lethargically started to show

up on the horizon. The golden rays, the crimson sky, the golden rays kissing the surface of sea and like a magical act of alchemy, transforming it in to a pool of liquid gold. It was photographers dream come true and I feasted royally on it. After the morning photo session I decided to head out to the most iconic landmark, the quintessential Orissa culture, the sun temple of Konark.

Konark is around 30-35 KM from Puri which translates to around 1 hour journey. There are many ways to reach there, but the most convenient and the one I chose was bus. Early morning there are many private buses which ply between Puri and Konark. Most of them are tourist buses which need prior booking. Generally they offer a package which covers Konark, Bhubaneshwar and Puri in one day. As I had not intention of covering anything other than Konark that day, I struck a deal with the driver for dropping me off at Konark for a reduced price. He agreed. Another reason I opted to go in a tourist bus and not a regular bus is that in a tourist bus there is a guide who tells you the story of the Sun temple before you get there. This does not happen in regular bus. Also he will tell you the do’s and don’t’s which you do not get to read in a travel book, for example when you land at Konark, you will invariably be mobbed by these agents from restaurants forcing you to place order for breakfast and its not a bad idea to do so as by the time they prepare the break fast you can buy your tickets etc. So here the deal, when you place an order for breakfast you will be given a slip confirming your order, but if you forget to ask him to write the price against that dish, more often than not you will be in a rude shock after you see the bill at the end of the breakfast. These tidbits of information will no where be present in travel books, you have to have a local person speak about it. That’s the advantage of going with a guide to popular tourist spots.

Another highlight of travel to Konark is the drive on the marine drive road by the side of Bay of Bengal. Amazingly beautiful. Wish I was traveling by my vehicle. Probably I would have spent the entire day there and would have planned Konark the next day. It is that beautiful. But lack of my own private transport meant I continued with the bus until Konark.

So it was an interesting journey all the way to Konark, we passed over bridges, beautiful beaches and picturesque locations. But the highlight was the tragic legend of the Sun temple. There are few of them floating around, but the guide told us the story of Dharmapada, son of Bisu Maharana (chief architect of the temple) and how he jumped off the top of the temple in to a river to sacrifice his life for the sake of his father and how the king later came to know of this and declared this temple to be inauspicious and hence ordered that no prayers would be offered at this temple. In between happy times and the tragic climax of this thriller, we had a interval also during which I enjoyed a cup of tea. Back in the bus the story continued to the climax and people were glued to their seat. Will he? Wont he? But for everyone’s dismay our dude jumped. As the story ended, we had almost reached our destination. It was mournful silence all round and I said to myself, the way our guide took an act of suicide that occurred some thousands of years earlier and narrated it in a way to fill life into it, hats off to the master story teller.

As the bus came to an halt, all of us got off and that was when I last saw the group. We parted and went our own ways. I walked around and later spent some time in the market looking at the handicrafts and hallmark Chariot wheels carved in stone. Then as I walked further, I had the first glimpse of the magnificent sun temple. There was a huge crowd already inside and many more pouring in. I stood in the queue to collect my ticket and then proceeded towards the security check. I almost walked through the lax security patrol when one of them called for me and asked me about the tripod that was sticking out of my backpack. It was then that I came to know that tripods are not allowed inside the temple. I guess they were afraid that we might damage the monument while using it. It made sense, but I told him I was traveling alone and there is no place for me to deposit the tripod. He was stubborn and would not allow me to get in. I had to convince him somehow, that’s when I remembered the lock which I had in my bag So I removed the lock, secured the tripod to the backpack with that lock, pulled it twice to show that it cannot be separated from my backpack or used and then extended my hand to give him the key. I also told him I will collect it when I am done with my visit. I knew he would not take the key and so it happened. He warned me again not to use the tripod once I am inside and let me go.

Sun temple is a huge complex and is simply magnificent. Even though the carvings may not be in the same league as that of Belur, they are still magnificent. Every inch of the stone in that complex exudes architectural grandeur and bygone richness of a magnificent culture. Every stone has been moulded into deities, celestial and human musicians, dancers, lovers, and myriad scenes straight out of normal life. Once you start to look, the sheer dimension and impeccable proportions of these carvings will make you wonder how few mortals can have the necessary skills to accomplish such amazing feat. The grandeur is such that you will be awestruck and you wont know where to begin. It was no different with me. That’s when I decided to take a guided tour. For less than 100 rupees the guide will help you see a pattern in middle of a grandeur chaos. What other wise would have been a stroll amidst a pile of ornate stones in a ruin, take my word for it, the respect for the temple grows by hundred fold when he explains the nuances of each stone within that ruin.

I spent the entire day at the Sun temple. Apart from being fascinated by the temple, another reason to stay so long was to view the temple under lights, which are switched on at 5pm. Long exposure shots without tripod was a total frustration. As expected none of the photos I took that evening make even an ounce of justice to the beauty of the temple under lights. But there isn’t much I could have done. After spending one hour at the temple site after lights

were switched on, I started for Puri. The last bus available to Puri was scheduled to depart at 7pm, so I decided to explore the market place for sometime. I liked the handicrafts. Really well made. But as I was traveling to Kolkata, did not buy anything . Then at around 7pm I boarded the bus to Puri. It was very chilly but uneventful journey back. Once back I spent more time resting at the beach. I absolutely hated to go back in to constraints of the four walls of my hotel room. So stayed outside as long as possible. Had dinner at a local restaurant and then spent more time at the beach. The beach at this time of the day was calm, peaceful and heavenly. It was close to mid-night when I reached my hotel room, had shower and slept

Orissa and SandakPhu Trek - Blog Post Legend

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Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 6	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 5	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 4	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 3	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 2	Post Link
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Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log – Part 2

Posted by Prashant - 19/04/10 at 03:04:36 am

Pre-Trek Tales

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single e-mail”
(Probably 21st century Lao Tzu)

Events were set in motion as an e-mail from Raj lands in the inbox on November 21, 2009. This e-mail announced the beginning of a journey, a journey in to the land of incredible beauty, a land which gives probably the best panoramic view of the great Himalayas, a land of wonderful people, a land called SandakPhu..

11 people, 8 days, 50 kilometers, one magnificent view of Himalayas and a journey to remember forever…

It was on 21 Nov, 2009, when one of the subscribers of the backpackers alias sent an e-mail to the moderator asking if there are any treks being organized. Call it  a coincidence or my good luck, Raj replied and the e-mail announced.

“Currently I am working on the exciting adventure trekking trip in North East India. We would be trekking in Dec last week in Himalaya range very near to Mt. Kanchenjungha. As of now in the team for this year, it is me , my wife, my three  colleagues from Microsoft, one along with his wife, one more friend total 7. We think we can have 3-4 more people in team to join us on this trip.”

I am glad he did and that’s how it all started. I had been to Leh-Ladakh region before but never to the north-east part of our country. Also before these e-mail events occurred I was at the screening of “One Crazy Ride” in Bangalore and have to say I was mesmerized by what north-east India had to offer.

As Raj had indicated that he is going with this family and friends, I was in two minds on whether I need to volunteer for this trip or not. Just that I did not want to be an intruder. But the idea of visiting the north-east was irresistible. So shamelessly I replied back to Raj indicating that I would be interested to join him on this trek. What ensued was a bit surprising, common we had never met each other. Anyways we exchanged few emails, Raj explained the complete trip, routes, backup plans, main attractions, cost structure, schedule and everything else that I need to know. The touch of professionalism that I saw in early e-mail exchange was enough to confirm that I would thoroughly enjoy the trip. The e-mail exchanges continued and I even had to answer a questioner about myself. I guess I passed the “exam” as he let me come on the trek . Later I got to speak to Raj over phone. It was then we decided to meet to get to know each other well before the trek. Our work timings were almost 12 hours apart. While I worked in day, Raj had night shifts. So after much deliberation we finally met one evening at Raj’s house. We discussed about the trek, logistics, equipment etc. over a yummy cup of tea. It was in Raj’s place that I first met Arti also.

In next few days after the meeting with Raj, I slowly got introduced through e-mail to rest of the folks who would be with me on this trek. Apart from Abi, who was damn busy with work and Anu, who was also busy with her medical stuff, there used to be a flood of emails from others almost on a daily basis. It was comforting feeling that the group you will be trekking with is also from the same fraternity of technology junkies . The topic of e-mail discussion included tickets, previous trek experience from Dhi, fitness tips and daily exercises to keep you fit enough to complete the trek. While few folks took these tips seriously and started to jog in the park to get in shape, rest of us did the same, but in our dreams. While these discussion were on, I had to make my own plans. I gaiety agreed that I would come on this trip, but I still had to confirm on my leave, travel plans etc. More than my manager at office I was afraid of how I would convince my parent about me taking this trip.

In between all of this Raj arranged for a small get together for members at Shangri La on Brigade road, Bangalore.  This was when I met Dhi, Sohail, Neetha, Harsha, Yamini and Nitya for the first time. What came out of that meeting was not just a face time with your fellow trekkers but even when we were total strangers the whole meeting was like old pals meeting again after long time and for me that was the first good omen that hinted that the upcoming trek would be really awesome one.

Getting my manager approval for the leave went real smooth. As I had requested the similar leave previous year for my Leh trek, I guess by now he has grown to understands that this is a yearly pilgrimage trip that I make, so apart from me making sure that none of the project deliverable are  affected, he had no issues with me taking this vacation. Also the year end, world wide, one week shutdown of the organization for which I work also helped. While the year end shutdown was enough to take care of this trip, but as every human I was greedy for more . So I had asked for additional one week which was also approved. Now that the leave issue was out of the way. I had the next big task of talking to my parents.

My parents have generally never objected to anything I do. But when it comes to long travel in to the unknown, they get really worried. Have experienced this on all my trips so far. The sequence of events which, without fail, will unfold are as follows;

• I break the news that I have planned to go for a one week trip
• My parents make a face that make you rethink if you said you are going on a trip or a war with Pakistan.
• Parents outrightly reject the “ridiculous” idea. Which sane person goes trekking in that cold weather.
• Both parties i.e. me and my parents stick to their guns.
• For a week there is no talk about this topic.
• I find a situation when only my mom and sister are working the vegetables for dinner.
• I bring up the topic again
• Mom soften her stand but it is still a NO. I make a devastated face and look at my sister. She understands and pitches in with her support.
• Mom soften her stand more but it is not a YES. At that point it is like if my dad is fine with it I am fine with it stand
• Find a situation when dad is alone. Talk to him about insurmountable work pressure at office and then bring the trek topic. Also support your argument saying that mom is “fine” with the trip.
• While you blabber all this read the expression on dad’s face which says “Nautanki bandh kar”
• Dad is fine with the trip, provided I give out the address, phone and janma kundali of all the people trekking with me (kidding with the janma kundali). Also we sign an agreement that I will not get in to any water body and will call home twice a day even thought they also know that there would be no cellular network. But then not the right time for such logical thinking. So I just nod to agree for all terms and conditions. The deal goes through.

The north-east trip was no different. It also went through the same flowchart of events described above and as expected, the result was the  same. I was allowed to go on this trip. Like the Bangalore Development Authority where if you are constructing a house the sanctioned plan is totally different from how the house turns out to be, though I was sanctioned approval for a week. Later, slowly I updated my parents that the trip will stretch by a week more. Too late to do anything at this time . So after much conniving, I get a go ahead from my parent for this trip. Next was to plan my travel and make my travel booking.

While I was making my travel plans, the rest of the group were making theirs. As I had an additional week and was starting early, I would be traveling separately and will be meeting the group only at Kolkata. Apart from me, rest of them had booked their train tickets from Bangalore to Kolkata. Sayak and Anu would start from Hyderabad and meet us at Kolkata.

Every body was excited about this trip and the last thing we wanted was non-confirmed tickets to screw our plans. So thinking of it now it was fun to watch how keenly we followed on the status of our tickets every day, like a stock broker glued to the stock ticker, we were glued to the railway portal. Every few seats it moved from WL towards RAC, the good news translated to more emails and finally when it moved to RAC, it was celebration time. At least now we were sure to make the trip. Looking back now and reading the e-mail exchanges later, I think booking tickets for a  sufficiently large group was like a problem straight out the Operation Research text book. Multiple people booking the tickets, considering various what if scenarios, making cancellation decisions phew!! But all’z well that ends well. All of us had confirmed tickets from Bangalore to Howrah and then from Howrah to NJP.

While the group was working on their ticket bookings, I was worried as to what would I do with the extra one week which I had taken. My idea was to explore Ajanta and Ellora caves and then travel to Kolkata. But not sure why I decided against it. I then started to search the internet for places  I can cover in a weeks time. Though lot of places were there to explore the main criteria was to make sure what ever place I visit, I should be able to get to Howrah with one overnight journey. After discussing with my colleagues and friends I finally decided on two places. I wanted to spend the first half of the week exploring the land of wonderful beaches, Orissa and  the second half exploring Kolkata and surrounding places.  With this plan in place my next step was to book my travel tickets.

As per the plan I had to book the following tickets;

• Bangalore to Bhubaneshwar
• Travel within Orissa
• Orissa to Howrah
• Kolkata to Bangalore

By the time I fixed my plans it was already a bit late. All most all the trains for the Bhubaneswar leg of the journey were almost in waiting list. The best I could do at that point was to pick the train that has the least number of people on the waiting list and this basically ruled out any choice of trains. I went ahead and booked a 3rd AC ticket on Prashanthi express. As I would be carrying expensive camera, I thought 3rd AC would be much safer option when compared to the sleeper. It was waiting list ticket and looking at the WL number I was afraid if it would be confirmed before the date of my journey. So to be on the safer side I booked a sleeper class ticket also. If not the 3rd AC, I was pretty confident that the sleeper class would get confirmed before the date of my journey.  I am glad I did that because in the end, a day before I was to board the train, the 3rd AC ticket was at WL 2, but the sleeper was confirmed. I then cancelled the 3rd AC ticket and decided to travel in sleeper.

For the tickets to travel within Orissa, I was not sure how many days I would be spending or which all places I would visit, so did not do any bookings for this leg of the journey. I thought I would make a day wise plan and stick to it. But like the universal murphy’s law, if it can get screwed, it will. So was my intent to create a day wise plan. Work load at office increased and I could hardly do any research on places to visit within Orissa. Devoid of any choice I decided to take things as they come. Again I am glad it worked out this way. Had I planned it really well I guess it would have been a dull trip. But the lack of planning meant I had the freedom to pick what ever I want to do on that day and that freedom helped as I spent my entire extra week of holidays in Orissa as against 3 days which was planned .

No fixed plans for Orissa also meant a big uncertainty when it comes to travel from Orissa to Kolkata. I was not sure when I would be leaving Orissa. So I thought the best option is such a case is to plan for the worst case scenario and my worst case scenario is if I am struck in Orissa for whole of the week. As the trek starts on 26th from Kolkata, if I had to make it to the trek then I have to leave Orissa at any cost by 25 night.

So with this in mind I decided to book a train ticket from Bhubaneshwar to Howrah on 25 Dec, 2009. Also as there are daily Volvo bus services available from most of the cities in Orissa to Kolkata, even if I plan to leave Orissa earlier I would have used the bus service. So was not very concerned regarding tickets for this leg of the journey.

With travel arrangements for major portion of the trip in place the only thing left out was the return journey. While the good part was I had to report to office only on 4th Jan 2010, the bad part was the trek finishes only on 5th Jan 2010. So it was a no-brainer, the only option I had for the return journey was to take a flight from Kolkata back to Bangalore. So checked on almost all the major online travel portal for the cheapest tickets. After detailed comparison Yatra.com offered me the lowest price on Indigo flight. Also it was a direct flight flying with a zero pitstop strategy. So went ahead and booked it.

Now that all the tickets were taken care of and the day of my journey was approaching fast. I had to focus on making sure that I pack all things and don’t forget anything important. Especially camera and its accessories. Based on the sample photos that Raj had emailed the group earlier, I very well knew that this trip would be a heaven for photographers.

One of the biggest bane I suffer from is forgetfulness. Every trip  of mine, I forget something or lose something in the course of the trip, though have never forgotten or lost any thing valuable till date it is just a matter of time when that tragedy will also strike. So I wanted to change things this time around. I wanted to be more systematic and I wanted to make sure I do not miss or lose anything. To achieve this , I thought the best thing to do was to create a check list that I would review every day during the trek so that it does not happen that I misplace something, but not know of it until it is very late. Yeah blame it on the software culture that is so ingrained in your life these day that you need a checklist even to take a leak these day. Anyways with the get-it-done attitude suddenly bubbling in me out of no where, I punched the air with my fist and took refuge in the holy grail of checklist creation software, Microsoft Excel. I quickly fired the Excel program, made few neatly formatted columns and then started to make entries. There was a similar checklist that was floating around, I guess it was Raj who sent it to the entire group. I used that checklist to show some “reuse”, basically it is another software jargon which is a sweet quoted version of plagiarism.  The Excel worksheet grew fast with few entries from my side and many fudged from excel floating within the group. I was pretty happy with what came out of that exercise, it was a pretty exhaustive and nifty list to have. There were clearly demarcated sections, each colour coded separately, detailed information as what I would be packing, how many numbers etc.

I shopped and packed according to the list I had made. I bought extra memory and battery for my Nikon D300 as the list dictated, packed all filters, lens, made sure the tripod finds a place in the bag. Clothes, footwear, medicines, toiletry were all neatly packed and stuffed in my backpack. Tickets, ID proof all properly arranged and stuffed into my waist pouch. Chargers for various electronic equipment were all marked properly and stuffed in the backpack. Everything was right and was going great with the checklist until the “dimag ki batti” suddenly came to life and gleamed in all its glory while I was on the train to Bhubaneshwar. I had forgotten to take a print out of the checklist and bring it with me. Life.

With the leave approved, tickets in place, my backpack packed, I was all set to begin a new journey away from the din of the city, away from nerve-wracking symphony of horns, regular traffic jams, work, television and into the lap of nature yet to touched by the destructive hands of humans. There would be fresh, unpolluted and chill air, lots of snow and that heavenly sight of the magnificent Himalayas.

As the moon unwittingly sunk into the horizon and the sun merrily emerged shedding its waning  winter rays which devoured the darkness of the night of 18th December 2009 like there was no tomorrow, the day had arrived. It started off like any other day, morning chores, news paper, Sudoku, breakfast etc. I went out bought a chain and lock to secure my backpack to the train’s seat. I have always been pretty bad at shopping and find it pretty boring too, The level of badness was exemplified that day when I was delighted that on buying a lock I get a key for it absolutely free . Anways lets continue.  After the shopping when I returned home I received a call from couple of friends saying they would drop in before I leave. It was good to see them come, talk about the trek and then finally wish me well on this journey.

As the clock struck 12 in the afternoon, it was time for the last minute advise from my parents. It has not changed much since the last one I received during my previous trek, but then there is no escape from going through the entire list again. This is when you understand and appreciate the value of a system called family, they never tire asking you to take good care of yourself and that for me is the strength. Anyways the sermons started and it was the usual, be careful, don’t eat anything that a stranger gives, be very vigilant about your luggage, no credit cards on the trip, divide the cash and store them at different places etc. My family even wanted to know if the jeans trouser I wore that day has an “inside” pocket where I can put some cash. Oh well, I thought, the garment industry has not seen the light of 21st century yet to see such ground breaking innovation. While Buddha needed a Bodhi tree, I was lucky enough to attain enlightenment right under the roof of my house. Armed with the latest set of do’s and don’t’s I was all ready to step out and take that first step on the path of a fantastic journey.

19 December of 2009 was like any other day for Prashanthi Express. She had already chugged her way into the Bangalore station when the auto I was traveling came to screeching halt in front of the railway station. All the way I was prodding the auto driver to drive insanely fast. There were only 15 minutes left for the scheduled departure at 2PM IST, when I stormed into the railway station with a heavy backpack on my shoulders. Auto ride from home to station was delayed because of horrible traffic jam on the way. I quickly then stopped by a police personal guarding the entrance of the railway station to check on which platform I need to go, to board the Prashanthi Express. He was kind enough to point the right platform. Then all that was left  to do was run, so I did. I am sure it was not that pretty a sight, with the potbelly swaying from side to side as I tired to hasten the pace of my walk. Well at that point of time, impressing the fairer sex was the least of my priority. Because of that short dash, I was able to make it in to the train well within the departure time, that too without breaking into a sweat. Na..Just kidding, I was panting like a pig. But then like our Shakespeare has pointed out, Allz well that ends well. Mine was perfect. Once in, I found it pretty easy to locate my king size seat/bed. Fumed at myself that it was a side upper berth . But then that’s how life is, you don’t get every thing you want.

At sharp 2 PM, the engine made the usual hissing and blowing the horn act and once satisfied, it started to chug out, first slowly then picking up some speed. As the train picked some speed, I could see what earlier was crystal clear before my eyes has now blurred and every thing that was so known and familiar was being swept aside to make way for something totally new. Initially it was an uneasy feeling but then that is the fun part of travel. I was on my way to Orissa, the land of beaches.

While the train made a slow but steady progress on its 1546 KM journey to Bhubaneshwar, I mostly confined myself to my berth. The presence of my camera gear with me had a big role in that decision. Occasionally I used to move around, but not far. Though such a journey gives you lot of time for yourself, it does get boring and my case was no different. I had a book and my ipod for company, but I genuinely missed a human companion. It came to a stage where I started to read my camera manual also. So this way afternoon became evening, evening became night and that led to a morning. Then the cycle continued.

All was not that boring. Food that came my way quite frequently was something to cheer for. It was lack of options that made me try most of what came by. I generally do not like the food served on the train, but this time some of it was pretty good. I gulped down chats, biryanis’, Sweet/normal curds, Idly, vada, cool drinks and even ice creams. Apart from food, my book and ipod, I thought of doing some photography from within the train. But I was afraid of the safety of the camera equipment and hence decided against it.

It was almost 30 hours after leaving home that I finally reached my destination, Bhubaneshwar in Orissa. I was glad that the first part of the journey had ended and I can bid adieu to the cramped berth. It was already pretty late in the night and the weather was just right, not too humid and sweaty nor very chilly. As I had not done prior booking of any place to stay for the night, my first priority was to find a decent place to spend the night. As soon as I came out of the railway station, as expected, there was a swamp of people offering there transportation services. There were autos, taxies and rickshaws. Autos and taxies are a everyday affairs, so thought of taking the rickshaw. I had requested the rickshaw driver to take me to a place which is decent and not very costly. He obliged and within 5 mins I was standing in front of huge building that looked like a house. It had a nice and big garden in the front. The exteriors of the building were gleaming white as thought it had got a fresh coat of paint recently. I checked in for the night, paid the rickshaw guy, had dinner at the lodge and then retired for the night.

Though the details of my experiences in Orissa would be subject of a different travel log all together, but then I had a fantastic time out there. Going by the boredom I faced being alone on the train journey, I was afraid if that would spill over to the rest of the trip. But it turned out to be the exact opposite. I visited Puri, famous for its beach and the Jaganath temple. Went to Konark’s world famous landmark the Sun temple. Went on a boat trip and dolphin ride in Chilika. Travelled 6 hours on boat to see Nalaband and later to Balugoan, both famous for being the nesting place for migratory birds.

There was so much to see in Orissa that I had to cancel the plan of going to Kolkata after 3 days. I decided to spend the complete week in Orissa itself. In brief this is how it turned out to be;

21 Dec 2009

It was beautiful morning. I woke up early, had a cold water bath packed my luggage and checked out of the lodge. I was not sure what I would be doing going forward. As I  checked out I was pondering if I had to stay in Bhubaneshwar or go to Puri. I decided that Puri would be more ideal hub point. So I started early and on the way I had this chai from a roadside vendor. Have to say it was steaming hot and had a awesome taste to it. After having tea, I walked toward the bus-stand to board a bus to Puri, on the way I checked with a passerby for directions to the bus-stand. While he was explaining the directions we engaged in a casual conversation during which he enquired where is that I wanted to go. I told him about my plans to go to Puri. He then suggested me to avoid the bus and take a shared taxi instead. I was a bit hesitant at first but then decided to try it out. The shared taxi stand was just couple of mins walk. When I reached there, seeing my backpack, a taxi driver approached me and offered his service to drop me to Puri. There were already three people in it, so he was looking for just one more person. I gladly accepted. In no time we were off to Puri.  It was close to around 45 mins journey where in we passed by agriculture field and colorful villages. While I stayed mum, rest of them were engaged in a lively discussion about active politics in Orissa I guess. I did not understand the language so could not say. As Puri approached, people got off and the attendance within the taxi thinned, leaving more space for me to breath. While everyone else got off I was in there wondering where the heck I was. The driver was now more frequently shooting a glance at me wondering when I would ask him to stop, which I never did as I was not sure that I reached Puri . Finally the driver himself broke the silence and spoke first in Oriya and then looking at my blank face in Hindi. He said that we have reached Puri and where would I want to go, I had

Absolutely no clue but was sure I would want  to stay very close to the beach. So I asked him to drop me close to the beach so that I can find an accommodation. He not only dropped me but helped me find a accommodation, helped me move my luggage to my room. For all this service he charged me Rs 30. In a world where people will pounce on you the moment you they know that you are stranger to the place and do not know the local language, we have dude like this guy. For that kind of hospitality, I was not ready to settle for 30. I paid him 100 bucks. Initially he was not ready to accept it but after much cajoling he accepted it. He also left his mobile number with me in case I needed a taxi. I was glad to take his number.

After the cab driver left, I relaxed a bit, had a shower and set out to explore Puri. It was quite hot and bright. The terrace of the hotel where I checked in had a awesome view of the world famous Puri Jaganath Temple. I enjoyed the view and then later went to the beach. On the way had poori with channa subji. It was awesome. I guess I was the only crazy guy to take a mid afternoon stroll on the beach on a hot and bright day. As expected the beach was deserted. It was not even a five minute walk in the hot, white sand that I started to pant like a dog and sweat profusely. So much for fitness. Realizing that beach was bad idea at this time, I then decided to explore the market and then later visit the famous Puri Jaganath temple.

If you are from south India, Puri Jaganath temple or in general most of the temples in North India would be big disappointment. My experience at the Jaganath temple was no different. It was so bad that I would not even recommend a visit. Its very dirty all around the temple, its extremely crowded and money is above everything. What pissed me off big time was the behavior of the priest inside the temple. He was sitting on the pedestal where Lord Jaganath’s wooden idol was installed. Two devotees came in and wanted to bow before the lord and the practice is that you make sure that your head touches the pedestal when you bow. One of the devotee paid dakshina to the priest and he let her touch the pedestal and bow, while the other devotee tried to do the same with out paying anything, he literally pushed her away. I felt like thumping him. After seeing that I did not feel like spending anymore time there. I just bowed and walked out of there. Down in south, there is a sense of peace, a sense of devotion, a sense of joy when you see the exquisitely decorated idol which was completely missing there, at-least I felt it that way.

After the disappointing visit to the temple, I strolled around the market, had lunch and spend the rest of the day at the Puri beach. As sun began to set, Puri beach came to life. You get to see brilliant sun set and sun rise from the beach. In the evening, I decided to go to lighthouse which is close to the beach. For a small fee you can climb all the way up to the top. It was worth the money and effort. Simply one of the best view you can ever ask for.  By now the sun had disappeared over the horizon. I was in no mood to go to the hotel as there was nothing to be done there. So I spend time at the beach. Watching the waves crash again you, that serene sound of water, cool breeze, brilliant star littered sky and one lovely moon. I was at peace. Other than occasional instances of ordering snacks, chats etc. rest of the time I spent doing nothing. This was one of those rare occasions when even doing nothing was so energizing. I felt completely relaxed. It was around 10.30-11 PM when the scene changed from beach to the  four walls of my hotel room, but the activity of doing nothing remained the same. Do not know when but soon I had slipped into slumber pulling curtains to the first day.

Orissa and SandakPhu Trek - Blog Post Legend

Blog Post Title	Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 6	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 5	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 4	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 3	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 2	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 1	Post Link

Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log – Part 1

Posted by Prashant - 14/04/10 at 02:04:53 am

Acknowledgement:

My eyes widened, all exhaustion disappeared in thin air and a big wide smile grew on my face. There she was standing tall and radiant. The brilliance of the light bouncing off her white snow coat was simply blinding. The contrast of her dark brown, almost black rock body against the thick layer of snow white was mesmerizingly beautiful. The low white clouds hanging just above her head like a crown completed the picture of a regal princess. Nothing less than spellbind could describe that first sight of majestic Kanchanjangha.

This was just one of the countless memorable experiences I came back with from the SandakPhu trip and these experiences, which I will cherish for a life time, would not have been possible without these people;

Raj and Yamini - Can’t thank enough for making this trip happen and making all of us experience those wonderful moments.

Dhi, Praveen, Sohail, Neetha, Nitya, Sayak, Abhi and Anu – Thanks for being such an amazing group. You guys made the trip that much more enjoyable and fun.

Abhi, Sayak, Dhi and Raj – Thanks for allowing me to your photographs in this travel log. They have given a new look to this work.

Neetha -thanks for lending the book to make notes. It really helped to a great extent. Last but not the least,

Parents, Bro, Bhabi and sis – thanks for letting me go . You guys are THE BEST.

and rest of folks, friends and the S-factor – Thanks for being the inspiration.

Prologue:

As we moved an inch at a time, someone in the group commented that we must be out of our mind to leave the comfort and warmth of Bangalore and come here to brave the bone chilling cold, fatigue of walking the steep incline and the mental stress because of breathlessness. There was no gold, silver or oil that we would come back with nor was there going to be any laurels showered. It wouldn’t solve any of the world’s miseries nor would aid the climate change cause. So why were we climbing the mountain?

Quality of life comes down when it becomes a routine of staying warm, staying healthy, staying well fed, and sticking to that comfortable job. Climbing a mountain is that act of disruption that you enact to break out of that monotony. Every mountain poses a challenge that you respond to and go out there to meet it head-on. The struggle, as Mallory puts it,  is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward. Also it is about sheer joy one experiences in doing it. After all what life is it if you don’t experience that joy.

This work of pictures and words is all about that joy and fun which we had on our trek to SandakPhu. It is about the cold, tiredness, fatigue as much as the mesmerizing, arresting  feeling of watching the stunning beauty of Kanchenjungha or Everest from far.  It is story of how a group discovered the beauty of a mountain (Sandakphu) not at the top, but while climbing it …..

SandakPhu

So through the darkness and the cold we flew,
And not a voice was idle ; with the din
Smitten, the precipices rang aloud ;
The leafless trees and every icy crag
Tinkled like iron ; while far distant hills
Into the tumult sent an alien sound
-  “The Prelude” by William Wordsworth

Prostrations unto Thee, O Devi
who dwells in all beings in the form of Shakti

Our Team:

Raj Srivatsav a.k.a The Monk
Raj hamara netha. He is the man behind the flawless execution of project Sandakphu. An uber manager and a meticulous planner. Very approachable and always has a “Plan B” in place for every thing..Well except in marriage

Yamini
Raj’s better half, she is the lady behind the success of this trip. If Raj is meticulous with his planning, Yamini epitomizes it. There was not a day on the trip when we had to ask for basic stuff and all credit to Yamini.

Neetha
She is the “Duracell “ in the group..chalta hi jaaye. Full of energy. This was her first trek and yet she used to be the first to start and finish for the day while we dragged ourselves. Also she is a ardent devotee of Paramahams and Vivekananda

Sohail
Another jovial guy who makes the group come alive. Along with Dhi and Neetha, he forms the awesome trio. They brings a good sense of humour to the conversation within the group. Also the first guy I have seen with a electric beard trimmer on a trek

(En)Sayak(lopedia)
The Bing man and uber techi. Give him a stone and he will rattle away facts, figures, equations, physics and chemistry about it. Loves traveling technology and food. If there is single roll and two people, you better back off if you want to stay alive . So is the case with Chicken

Daaku Anushree
Ensayaklopedia’s better half and a wonderful person. First time trekker,doctor by profession and hence most sought after lady on the trek for medical consultation. We still have a good laugh at the way she gets excited looking a mountain ..doko doko

Dhiraj
Another Geek in the group. A gadget and video game freak. Wake him at midnight and all you have to do is just say Quake or Age of Empires.. He will take over and keep you busy until dawn. He is also one of the most jovial guy in the group

Nitya
He is the one of the two Wine connoisseur in our group. He can yap about any wine, its making process, ideal time and person that wine goes with . Given enough food and ale, our dude is really cool even if the world goes upside down

Abhi the Army man
Amazing guy to have in your group. He epitomizes adventure spirit. Ardent biker, trekker and amazing story teller. His stories about Indian Army had all of us glued to our seats. If these weren’t enough he is also a pro photographer.

Praveen
An amazing team player. Even though he has a stamina of a work horse, he always stayed with the last person trekking and helping him/her to make sure they are not separated from the group.

Purba Sherpa ( Cook )
He was our cook and man he took great care of us with regards to food. His physique resembled that of Rambo. It is sad that I don’t know nothing more about him or his group

ShantaKumar ( Guide )
He was our guide for the trip. Absolutely gem of a person. No fuss nothing. Really cool and level headed all the time. The whole world might go haywire but he will stay calm and composed. And have to say, these guys have out of the world stamina.

Prashant
At last, this is me, the author of this work. Travel and Photography are two things I love to do. This work is about my travel to Orissa and SandakPhu and how I saw those places through my camera. Hope you will like it. Feedback is always welcome.

Trek Route:

Orissa and SandakPhu Trek - Blog Post Legend

Blog Post Title	Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 6	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 5	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 4	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 3	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 2	Post Link
Orissa and Sandak Phu Travel Log - Part 1	Post Link

Sandhak Phu Trek – Photo Slideshow

Posted by Prashant - 18/01/10 at 02:01:29 pm

It was a mesmerizing feeling as you stand and stare at the kanchanjunga in all her glory. No amount of megapixal cramming will do justice to her resplendent glory. Only way to experience is get out, stand in front of her and just watch.

Slideshow of photos from recent Kolkatta-Sandhakphu trek.

Back from Orissa and SandhakPhu trip

Posted by Prashant - 08/01/10 at 12:01:58 pm

As the train, Prashanthi Express, to Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, chugged out of Bangalooru’s central railway station on 19th December 2009, I was still not very sure as to what beckoned me to this great land of Kalinga. Was it the unique history/culture, splendid architecture, bountiful beaches, the amazing Chilka lake or was it just that it was “on the way” to Kolkatta? I was not sure.

But the journey had begun and as I traveled through Bhubaneshwar, Puri, Konark, Chilka, Nalaband and Balgaon, it was aroma of a different world, flavor of a different cuisine, savoriness of a splendid heritage and a tang of rich natural beauty all rolled in to one. I savored, relished and smacked all of it and thoroughly enjoyed what it had to offer.

After ambling through part of Orissa, I moved to Kolkatta. It was a different place altogether when compared to Orissa. Fact that the whole of the trek group(almost) was with me added to the fun. I wonder why none of the travel guides make the following the must do activities for all tourists at Kolkata;
- Munching yummy rolls after rolls
- Gulping down golgappa after golgappa
- Hogging packet after packet of Jalmurdi
oh take our word for it, fun in travel multiplies several fold when you get into an infinite loop with above there tasks .

When we were not busy with above three activities we found enough time to travel on machines that fall on two completely opposite sides of the speed spectrum, Metro rail and Kolkata trams. We also were able to, not in any order, visit the Birla temple, Victoria memorial, shop for our trek gear near S-Planet, add lot more calories at one of the yummiest sweet shop K.C. Das, enjoyed the ferry service at Howra.

After a wonderful day in Kolkata, it was time to move on to NJP. We undertook an overnight train journey to NJP. Then a sumo and an indica transported us from NJP to Manebanjan which was the start point of our trek.

Fighting the freezing cold which we were not used to at Manebanjan, we started the most exciting journey of year 2009, trek to Sandakphu-phalut. Generally people either trek or most of the times take land rovers from Manebanjan to Sandakphu and then climb down from Sandakphu in to West Bengal.But we had planned a different route.

Day 1:

We would start at Manebanjan and trekking through Chitrey, Lamaydhura, Megma, Tumbling where we halt for night.

Day 2:

The next morning from Tumbling throught the Singalila forest reach Garibus and then passing through Kaiyakatta reach Kalipokri which would be the stopover place for the night.

Day3:

Trek from Kalipokri through Bhikey Banjan to reach Sandakphu.

Day 4:

Trek 21 km from Sandakphu to reach Phalut. This is a slight deviation from the usual trekking route. Most of them come to Sandhakphu and then take the Gurdum, Srikola Rimbik route to complete the trek.

Day 5,6 and 7:

These three day idea was to trek to Uttarey in Sikkim by passing through Sabnam valley, Shinglila Pass,Achelley Dara, Phoktey Dara with night halts (in tents) at Achelle Dara and Kalizar

Uttarey would be the end of the trek from where group would disperse off to their respective destinations.

The plan looked impressive. The view of Himalayas you get to see  from Sandhakphu and Phalut are unparalleled. But hey we all know the universal law “If there is a possibility of several things going wrong the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong” and our trip had to abide by it. Things went on as per the plan until we reached Sandakphu. The night we halted at Sandakphu was greeted by sever cold and blizzards. By the time we woke up and opened the door of our loghut, the entire landscape had magically transformed. It was completely covered with snow almost half a feet in thickness. Though we thoroughly enjoyed, it also ment that we were struck in this place until the snow recedes by melting. Day one went waiting for the skies to clear and so did the day two. With the cold taking heavy toll on all of us and with the loss of precious time we had our back against the wall. We all knew there was no way we could go ahead with our plans in these circumstances. Plan “B” was imminent. Considering the time we had on our hand, we decided to chuck the plan of going to Phalut, instead we decided to take the regular trek route and climb down from Sandakphu through Gurdum, Srikola and then to Rimbik. We also arranged for vehicals to pick us up at Rimbik from where we dispersed. One group went to Siliguri, a big town around 6KM from NJP and rest went back to Manebanjan.

As I had to take a train from NJP to Howra, I decided to go to Siliguri. The day we landed in Siliguri, on one had it was the nostalgic feeling that marked the end of a superb trek, but dusk of that day also marked a brand new year for a fellow trekker who became a year wiser. Celebrations started early and went on late into the night. We all had a wonderful time.  The next day three from the group in Siliguri started off on yet another awesome adventure to Butan. Rest of the group spent time surfing the hongkong market in Siliguri. After shopping we headed towards the NJP station to catchup with the penultimate leg of our journey. We took the train from NJP to Kolkata and the the next day flight back from Kolkata to Bangalore, thus ending a trip that had lots and lots of “WOW” and “Ah ha” moments.

Though I would rate Leh trip higher than this one, this trip has given me more moments than the Leh trek that I would cherish and remember my entire life. The first glimpse of the majestic Kanchenjunga, exhilarating view of the Himalaya range from Sandhaphu, First glimpse of the mount Everest, View of Sikkim dotted in electric lights and basking in the full moon light, first sight of the amazing snow filled landscape that hit my eyes when I stepped out the log hut in the morning at Sandakphu and many many more…

This was just the bird’s eye view of the amazing trip I had. A much longer post with lots of pictures depicting more incidents, pranks, “What the forest!!” moments, moments of exhaustion, relief, triumph, exhilaration, pain and fun is on the way.

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