Top of Mt Vesuvius to the Naples Underground

Having spent all of our second day amidst the marvelous ruins of Pompeii, we decided to visit Mt. Vesuvius the very next day - after all how often does one get to climb to the crater of a volcano that erupted in 1944  and is long overdue for its next eruption?

Since the eruption in 79 AD, that led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as several other settlements; Vesuvius has erupted many times since and is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years. Today, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.

Just like to Pompeii, we took a commuter train to Ercolano Scavi from Naples Garibaldi station - it took us only 20 min to get there. As soon as we stepped out of the station, we saw a bus ready to leave for the base of the Mt Vesuvius. I immediately bought the last set of tickets and boarded the Vesuvioexpress bus - cost was 10 euros return fare and 10 euros for entry. 

The Crater

The bus ride was about 35 minutes and it felt unwieldy on the narrow wavy roads to the top. Once there, we were given 1 hour 45 minutes to hike to the top & back down and return to the bus. Honestly, that is enough time to get to the crater, click pictures and come back down. A fit person can climb in 20 minutes and a slow one would need about 40 minutes one way. 

View from  the top

So we started a slow ascent to the top - the path has loose dirt and the area is very windy - soon everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. I wished I had some scarf or bandana to cover my mouth. It also started to get colder as we ascended the mountain - at the top it was fairly windy.

We spent about 10-15 minutes clicking pictures and soaking in the views. The hike down was easy on lungs but tough on knees as it was difficult to get grip on the loose dust that was all over the place. 

We reached the parking with 10 minutes to spare but the bus wasn't around. I decided to enjoy some local wine while waiting - it was made from the grapes grown in the region and waited for the bus. The ride back to station was pretty uneventful and the train back to Naples pretty empty.

We had decided to have lunch in Naples...but since we were late for lunch (it was past 4 pm), Sorbillo wasn't an option. Hence, we decided to try another pizzeria called Di Matteo. It is famous for its fried pizza and for the fact that Bill Clinton ate there in 1994. We had a capricciosa pizza and really liked it. The 4 euro bottle of white wine that we ordered along with it also turned out to be nice. 

136 steps

After the pizza we decided to take a tour of Underground Naples (Napoli Sotterranea). Infact, we wanted to take the 4 pm tour but missed it by just 5 minutes and post our late lunch had to wait for an hour for the last tour of the day that starts at 6 pm. And the wait was really worth it! The history of this maze underneath the city, the exploration through narrow passages in candle light - everything was so new and different and amazing.
The underground felt like a different world (its 2400 years old), unexplored, isolated by time, but deeply connected with the world above.  Every historic epic, from the foundation of Neopolis, to the bombs of WWII, has left its mark on the stone walls forty meters below ground.

Hypogeum Gardens

The tour started with going down 136 steps - short and comfortable. We visited few of the cavities excavated in the Greek era; and walked around the cisterns responsible for the water supply of Naples for approximately 23 centuries. We then moved on to the air raid shelters from the Second World War, the War Museum and the Hypogeum Gardens (a vegetable garden that grows with help of artificial lights but without any watering as the humidity is very high)

The candle lit tour of cisterns

I would highly recommend this if one has about 90 minutes to spare and it costs only 10 euros. One can feel a bit cold due to high humidity and lack of sun, so its better to carry a light jacket. Some passageways are very narrow - should skip that portion if one is claustrophobic but that is the best part (with candle lights and all).

There is another company that runs similar activity just opposite this one (called Naples Underground) - not sure how good are they but since their English guide had taken the day off, Napoli Sotterranea was our default option and we had a good time.

We skipped the last 30 minutes of tour to Roman Theater and Summa Cavea and a little past 7 pm, decided to walk back to the hotel. And as luck would have it we walked past the famous Sorbillo that had just opened for dinner and there was no queue!!!! In the blink of an eye, I took hold of my partner's hand and literally dragged him across the street to the entrance of pizzeria. Before he could even figure out what was going on, we were in our seats.

To me it was fate - crossing the famous pizzeria, that has long queues all the time, at the precise moment when not a single person was waiting!!! Universe didn't want us to leave Naples without tasting another great pizza. Hence, we just went in, got seated within a minute and quickly ordered a marinara pizza.

And it indeed was the best pizza we had in town. We weren't really hungry as it was just 7:30 pm and we had a really late lunch around 4:30 pm. Despite that we polished off almost whole of the pizza between two of us. And the moment we stepped out, we were greeted by a long queue of people dying to get inside. Some of them even thanked us for leaving the restaurant!!!!

On this flavorful note, ended the day that took us to top of a dangerous volcano and 40 meters below the city to a 2400 years old world!

A day exploring Scavi di Pompei

While Naples on its own turned out to be a delight, the key reason for me to visit Naples was to explore the neighbouring ruins of Pompeii. Pompeii was lost in the 79 AD volcanic eruption of Mt Vesuvius, that claimed not just Pompeii but also the settlements of Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae.

This vibrant city was lost for 1500 years and was unearthed in 1599 when digging of an underground channel to divert the river Sarno ran into ancient walls covered with paintings and inscriptions. However, intentional excavations only began in 1748 and honestly haven't ended. It has been a popular tourist destination for over 250 years now and attracts millions of visitors every year.

Scavi di Pompei lie just 45 minutes from the modern city of Naples. The metro took us back to Garbaldi station where we walked over to the Circumvesuviana platforms to board the train for Pompeii. Circumvesuviana trains are not part of the national Trenitalia network, so they have their own ticketing system. Tickets are inexpensive on this line and don’t require advance purchase or reservations, and the trains are all slow, regional trains.

The train to Sorrento, that would take us to Pompeii, runs every 30 minutes, so if you  miss one - there would be a long wait for  the next. The ride to Pompei Scavi-Villa dei Misteri was about 40 minutes long and since we had started after peak hour, we didn't find the train too crowded or uncomfortable.

It is a very short walk from the station to the entrance of the Pompeii site. There are two platforms at the Pompeii station, one for each direction of trains. The Pompei Scavi station is very small, though there is a bar and an information desk as well as restrooms available. There are a number of sit-down restaurants nearby to cater to the Pompeii tourists, though most are rather overpriced.

As soon as we got off the train, we came across a tour agency that runs guided tours in English (and other languages) for the excavation site. I decided to sign us up for same as I was advised by a friend to take a guided tour if possible. Luckily for us, the tour was about to commence in 5 minutes - so we quickly paid up 12 Euros per head and joined the group. The guide led us to the ticketing counter of the ruins where we paid another 13 Euros to gain access to the site. Within minutes, we were at the site.

The tour lasted for 2 hours and in that window, our guide could only take us through handful of the excavated structures. The ruins are spread over a huge area, there is a lot to look at and it can take all day to see everything. This is a walking site only and walking the old Roman stone roads can be quite exhausting. Even with cool weather, we were always looking for shade, not sure how bad it would be to see in summer. The old roads are uneven and have grooves in them where the carts ran, and the rocks are smooth and may be covered with fine sand. One needs good comfortable, footwear, sunscreen and hats.

After the tour, the group was left at the Forum - the exit closest to Forum leads to the train station. However, we chose to spend a few more hours at the site instead of heading back to Naples or visit Mt. Vesuvius. It was too early for the former and there simply wasn't enough time to do justice to the volcanic mountain that day. So we took out the map provided to us at the time of buying the ticket and continued to enjoy the ruins. In hindsight, I should have planned the visit better by doing some research online - it is just not possible to see everything in one day even if one has the energy to walk that much. It would have been better to select the sights upfront and map them out before landing at the archaeological site.

Below are some pictures that would provide some flavour of what to expect at Pompeii:

Quadrangle as we enter the site. The face is modern art and not a relic.

Small Theatre. Some of us stood in the middle and voiced a few words. Acoustics are amazing 

Larger Theatre -Theatre built in the hollow of a hill for acoustic advantage; it seated 5,000

A street in Pompeii. This runs north to south and would carry all waste water to river.  The sidewalks are higher than the modern sidewalk because the streets had water and waste flowing through them - they didn't have drains apparently

The big stones were used to cross the streets filled with waste water. The track marks show that one needed to use special local transport for goods. They would need to leave their own wagons outside the city

Thermopolium - literally "a place where (something) hot is sold. They could be simply take-away places or could have rooms in the back for service.

A large house. This one is Casa del Menandro

The two portions show that there was an existing city over which Naples was built. Which presumably had also vanished due to a former eruption of Mt Vesuvius

The wall below the brick is original, above is restored. One can find it happen vertically as well 

A common bath. Two levels- lower level for hot water

One of the 46 fountains used by regular folks for drinking water. Richer folks had water in their homes 

Mosaic on the streets.

Mosaic in the houses

The Amphitheatre of Pompeii is the oldest surviving Roman amphitheater and yes it's older than the Colosseum.  It was completed in 80 BC, measures 135 x 104 metres and could hold about 20,000 people. It was used for gladiator battles, other sports and spectacles involving wild animals.

Naples - Italy's most unlikely masterpiece

Naples is Italy in the extreme - it's the birthplace of pizza & Sophia Loren and its the home of the Camorra (Naples' "family" of organized crime). It is brash and vibrant, it has graffiti and it has breathtaking frescoes, sculptures and panoramas, it has grime and it has vainglorious palaces, castles and churches.

 

But when it comes to food - there is no contradictory extremes - everything it offers is beyond words. It serves up the country's best pizza, pasta and coffee, and many of its most celebrated seafood dishes, street snacks and sweet treats.

 

Its proximity to Pompeii and Amalfi coast makes it even more attractive. This third largest city of Italy is one of its oldest, most artistic and most delicious. And undoubtedly I am in love with it!

 

When I planned this trip, I knew that Naples is a long distance from Venice and I also knew that it is going to be a complete opposite of Venice. And I am glad that I combined the two cities in one trip - the differences actually made for a very fun holiday.

 

From Venice, we took a 5  hours train (Frecciarossa) to Naples. It was an early morning departure that got us into Naples at 12:45 pm. The hotel was couple of stops by metro and we checked in around 1:30 pm. We were hungry so we asked hotel staff for pizza place recommendation and they suggested Sorbillo.

 

Somewhere on way to that place, we found ourselves in a square with many pizza serving places and we decided to just try one at random. And we weren't disappointed. We ordered a Margherita pizza with some inexpensive wine - both turned out to be great.

 

The pizza in Naples is prepared with simple and fresh ingredients: a basic dough, raw tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and olive oil - no fancy toppings. One of its defining characteristics is that there is often more sauce than cheese, leaving the middle of the pie wet or soggy and not conducive to being served by the slice. The sides of the pie are as thick as normal pizza but at the center its very thin. It's like a bowl for holding the soupy tomato and cheese. While most people eat one pizza by themselves, we ordered one pizza between two of us - and it was quite filling. The stomach was full but the taste buds wanted more :) 

Sweets on display

 

After this amazing lunch, we walked down the Spaccanapoli - a straight and narrow main street that traverses the old, historic center of the city. The name means "Naples splitter" - it is very long and from above it seems to divide that part of the city. This was like walking down the lanes of Bara Bazaar in Kolkata.  

Seven Works of Mercy by Caravaggio

 

 

 

 

 

 

The street also provides access to a number of important sights of the city and while walking along the street we reached Pio Monte della Misericordia - a church that is famous for its artworks including Caravaggio's The Seven Works of Mercy. The paintings are really good and are accompanied by a good audio guide. We really enjoyed the 90 minutes that we spent here. 

Naples Cathedral - Exterior

 

 

 

Less than 200 m was Naples cathedral and we decided to drop in even though after St Peter's Basilica, I am not easily impressed by churches any more :) However Naples Cathedral surprised me - it is a beautiful cathedral built in French Gothic style.

  

Royal Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro

Naples Cathedral is also home to the Crypt and the Chapel of Naples Patron Saint, San Gennaro and it is where the famous blood liquefaction ceremony takes place three times a year. The miracle is not approved by the Church, but neither has it condemned it. 

 

Altar of the Naples Cathedral

 

Having woken up at 5 am to catch the 7:30 train, we were fairly tired by now, so we decided to walk back to the hotel but we didn't want to end the day just yet...we just sat down at a bar near the hotel and enjoyed a nice ale in the cool evening breeze.  

 

Murano and Burano

On suggestion from a friend, we decided to visit these islands on our own instead of choosing a half day tour. I located the boarding point for the Vaperatto while on my morning run along the Grand Canal. Yes...I went out for a run again but today was much colder (around 8 degrees in Celsius) so I decided to wear pants and a fleece. But today being Monday, the crowds were much higher so I skipped the narrow lanes and stuck to the wider  streets along the Grand Canal

Around 10 am, we reached the Vaperatto station at Piazzale Roma but we just missed the boat/ferry to Murano. The next one was after 20 minutes and it was a slow one with various stops along the way (Line 4.2). However, we later discovered that the one that takes 17 minutes is extremely crowded (Line 3).

Anyways, we boarded the Line 4.2 for Murano and it took us about 45 minutes to reach Murano Museo - the last stop in Murano. For tourists it is the best stop as there is a wonderful glass museum just couple of hundred meters away.

Since we hadn't had breakfast, we first got some coffee and then paid 10 euros to gain entry into the glass museum. The museum turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. We first watched the silent video that showed various kind of techniques used to produce the amazing glass products. After that we spent over an hour admiring the collections. Below are some of the pictures I clicked in the museum.


A glass centerpiece designed like an Italian garden with fountains, arches, pots with flowers, flowerbeds.

 

After the museum visit, we chose to have lunch before taking the Vaperatto for Burano as that was another 35 minutes ride. The colder morning had given way to a warm and sunny afternoon. We sat by the water, sipped on some spritzer (apparently that's almost a religion in Venice!)  and had some lasagna. Such afternoons are the best part of visiting Europe...small cafes...sitting out in the open, enjoying the breeze & sun (and in this case water as well) and watching the world go by.  

 

Post this long leisurely lunch we took the Line 4.2 to Murano Faro as that's the stop for boarding the Line 12 for Burano. The crowd waiting for Burano was huge and we wondered if we would even get to board the ferry. Our fears were unfounded as this was a much larger boat and could fit all of us in - but we had to stand for the entire journey of 35 minutes.

View of Murano as we left for Burano

A canal in Burano

A quirky window display in Burano

 

Burano turned out to be another beautiful and sleepy island...so sleepy that the lace museum was closed :). So we simply walked around, enjoyed a gelato, had some Prosecco & calamari and after about an hour or so, boarded the Line 12 back for Murano Faro.

 

Line 12 also goes to Venice but not to Piazzale Roma, so we decided to change to Line 3 at Faro. Line 3 turned out to be like a Mumbai local in peak time...but it did get us to Venice in less than 20 minutes.

 

We wanted to retire early today as we had spent more than 2.5 hours standing (waiting for ferries and then on the ferry). And I always feel more tired when standing vs while walking. But before that we wanted to pick up some venetian masks and a coffee maker that can be used on regular gas stove.

So we again walked down Strada Nova, picked up some beautiful masks but couldn't find the coffee maker. The mask vendor suggested the COOP store at Piazzale Roma for same and since it was on way back to apartment, we decided to check it out. And yes, we did find it at the COOP store :)

 

So, here is how it works...there are three parts to it - the top part can be unscrewed, middle part is to add the coffee powder, and you add the water in the bottom chamber till the steam vent. When you heat it on stove, the water comes through the coffee filter, rises up the central column and fills the top chamber. Pretty cool!

 

With the shopping done, we picked up some dinner and Bellini to enjoy the last evening in Venice in the comfort of the beautiful apartment with lovely views, as next morning we had an early start to catch 7:35 am Frecciarossa to Naples.



Venice

I had my heart set on Venice for a long time, even though there were many not-so-great reviews of the place. I, however, wanted to visit it before it vanishes due to the rising sea levels. Hence, despite all warnings, I planned a short (3 night) trip to Venice. And I wasn't disappointed!

We had a flight via Paris and we landed at Venice Marco Polo airport at 2:30 pm. I had arranged a taxi pick-up through my Airbnb host and we were in her beautiful apartment by 4 pm. The apartment overlooked a canal and was just 5 minutes walking distance from Piazzale Roma - the principal arrival point in Venice. The square acts as the main bus station for Venice and is close to the main Santa Lucia (Ferrovia) railway station.

We both had only one medium sized wheeled bag and one backpack each, so it wasn't difficult to traverse the three bridges to the apartment. One must keep that in mind when visiting Venice - the transport will not reach your doorstep and hence big luggage or more than one wheeled bag per head isn't easy to handle.

Since it was already 4 pm, we decided to just walk around the area and get a feel of the place. Only item on the agenda was to procure a local sim card because we couldn't find any outlet at the airport. Our driver had suggested that we might find outlets for TIM, Wind and Vodafone (3 key mobile operators) on Strada Nova (new street). So we went past Piazzale Roma, climbed over the Ponte della Costituzione (a modern footbridge over the western end of the Grand Canal) and started our hunt.



Masks on display

We were tired due to lack of sleep the previous night and 4 hour layover, but the street was fun and we were enjoying our walk. There were shops and vendors of all kinds. After about a mile of walking, we found a big TIM outlet but the queue wasn't moving (there were 3 women with a dog who weren't interested in leaving the counter), so we went ahead to Vodafone store & found them to be too expensive. On way back to TIM store, we ran into Wind store and discovered that they cant promise activation soon as their systems are down. With heavy heart, we went back to  TIM store and guess what - those 3 women were still there!!! Though thanks to them, rest of the waiting customers had left.


A gondola along the way

Finally we acquired a local sim, picked up some milk (for my morning coffee) from a COOP store near by and sat down just next door for an early dinner. We ordered Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine), Lasagna Bolognese and Mushroom Risotto. While wine and Risotto were good, Lasagna was just amazing. It turned out to be a really lovely meal. After the meal, we slowly walked back to the apartment while enjoying a gelato :) 



Sunset view from our bedroom window

The apartment was simply wonderful with lots of space - bedroom, living room, kitchen and decent sized bathroom. Our host had provided us all kinds of tea and coffee, fruits, breakfast snacks, some yoghurt and even a bottle of Prosecco. The bathroom had everything we needed including a hair dryer. The view of the canal from the bedroom was as promised - overall the place was actually better than as seen in the photos. We were quite tired by now and hence we retired by 8:30 pm

Next day I woke up at 7 am, and after coffee, went out for a run. Long ago, I had watched a Woody Allen movie in which Julia Roberts runs by the canals of Venice (Everyone Says I Love You). Ever since, I had wanted to run in Venice. Since the temperature was around 13 degrees in Celsius, it was perfect for a morning run. It was a Sunday and there were hardly any people in the streets. It was fun to run along the Grand Canal, the smaller canals, through bridges and narrow lanes...I was happy!!!



View of Grand Canal from Rialto Bridge

Late morning, we decided to walk to Piazza San Marco (St Mark Square). It took us about 45 minutes to get there through Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge). It is the oldest bridge among the four bridges that span across the Grand canal, and was the dividing line for the districts of San Marco and San Polo. Earlier it was made of timber and the present stone bridge was completed in 1591 and is similar to the wooden bridge it succeeded.

Basilica Di San Marco as viewed from St Mark Square

By the time we reached the Basilica Di San Marco, it was 11:30 am and almost the time for Sunday mass. Since the Basilica would open again at 2 pm, we decided to grab some wine & snacks in a nearby restaurant.

There was live music, throngs of crowds, pigeons and seagulls...a very lively scene. The weather was sunny but not hot - a perfect noon to sit and relax!



Bridge of Sighs

After a while, we walked along the Grand Canal and saw Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs). The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, and passes over the Rio di Palazzo and connects the Prigioni Nuove (New Prison) to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace. The name comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells










The Pala d’Oro–an incredible gem-encrusted gold altar piece

It was almost 2 pm, so we walked back to the Basilica, deposited our backpack nearby and finally entered the building. Photography is not allowed but I did manage to click a picture of the Pala d’Oro–an incredible gem-encrusted gold altar piece.

I decided against climbing the Campanile bell tower next to Basilica- because actually there is no climb - an elevator takes you all the way to the top - no fun!!!



After the visit to Basilica we continued our walk along the Riva degli Schiavoni (waterfront) for a while. We enquired about the Gondola ride (costs 80 euros for 30 minutes) but decided against it.

Instead we picked up a 20 euro 24 hour Vaperatto pass for visiting Murano & Burano next day. Soon after, the gathering clouds forced us to make our way back to our apartment - though we chose a bit longer but different path to get back. It did start to rain on the way back but our rain jackets helped. Thus ended a beautiful sunny day in the lovely city of Venice













 

Kuari Pass Trek

I usually don't hike in India due to paucity of good lodging along the trek route. However a friend had done Roopkund trek with India Hikes (IH) and had a great experience. Plus this was a short trek of 4 days with camping requirement of only 3 nights. So I signed up for this winter trek in Garwhal region of Uttarakhand.

3 of us (batch mates from B-school) met at Delhi airport, flew to Dehradun and took a cab to Haridwar. This was my first tryst with Ganges up close and that too in the Dev Bhoomi. We spent the evening walking along the holy river and enjoying the quiet of a smaller town. 

We met the rest of the group next day at 6:45 am. We were total 7 of us - this was a low number as against the usual 20 pax that IH has in one group. It was to be a long (10 hours) drive to Joshimath base camp so we decided to take two cabs instead of packing all of us and our backpacks in one Sumo. 

The route, although long, was very scenic and road quality was good. During this journey we witnessed four of the five river confluences listed from downstream to upstream order:

• Devprayag, where the Bhagirathi joins the Alaknanda to form the Ganges.
• Rudraprayag, where the Mandakini joins the Alaknanda;
• Nandprayag, where the Nandakini joins the Alaknanda; 
• Karnaprayag, where the Pindar joins the Alaknanda 

Devprayag

Vishnuprayag (the first one upstream), where the Dhauliganga joins the Alaknanda is the one we couldn't see up close. I am not a very religious person but I did find these confluences mystical and magical! 

While the roads were wide, their wavy nature did create queasiness and resulted in fatigue by the time we reached Joshimath at 5 pm. However, some of the tiredness vanished once we reached the base camp. The base camp accommodation was a hostel and it was really good and clean. I was quite impressed with the arrangements. Here we met with our Trek Leader and were briefed on safety, trek route and being Green throughout the trail (means don't trash and pick up anything thrown by others)

After a sumptuous dinner that included Jalebis for dessert, we retired for the night. Given I was the only female in this 7 member group, I had the room to myself and the 6 men were in a large dormitory. While I was a little bit jealous at all the fun they were having (could hear their laughter down the hall), I was happy to have the entire bed and two blankets to myself. 

Sometime during middle of the night I woke up to a strange sound and found that it was completely dark (power failure) and some strange white light was blinking on the ceiling. When I couldn't figure out the source of it, I found myself wondering if there was an astral presence around...but soon I realised that it was the blinking of an unread message on my phone...phew!!!

Next day we woke up in complete darkness (there was no power still) and started packing our backpacks. Cold shower was out of question in 8 degree Celsius temperatures, so we all got ready well in time for breakfast and morning health check - that included BP measurement and oxymeter reading. During the course of trek, oxymeter readings were taken atleast thrice a day - morning, on arrival at camp and evening before dinner. Plus BP measurements were taken if anyone had a persistent headache. 

After breakfast, we all boarded a vehicle for Auli - our start point for the trek, couple of people had decided to offload their backpacks to the porter and the porter was also supposed to meet us there with the mule(s).

It was bright sunny day with no clouds in sight - disappointing because there had been no snowfall yet and the winter trek had started to feel like a bad summer trek (usually summer treks have green grass and blooming flowers and here everything was brown or grey). Today was supposed to be an easy day and it really was. 

Despite all attempts by our trek leader to slow us down (like numerous breaks and a tea halt) we reached the campsite of Gursan Bugyal at 12 noon. This is at 3056 m (10,084 ft) and is located just 3 km from Auli. Bugyal means meadows but there wasn't much lush greenery around as it was winter. The bugyal must be impressive when green in spring/summer or when it has the white background of snow covered mountains. While it was still beautiful against the stark brown range of Garwhal mountains, we all kept wondering what it could have been had it snowed.

 

The campsite had around 10 tents, a dining tent and a kitchen tent. There were 3 toilet tents - as expected a little far from the main site. The water for cleaning etc. was in drums and obviously would freeze overnight. But overall the arrangements seemed good except for lack of any seating in dining tent. The floor was uneven and since no one wants to take off their boots, the tarp was always dirty. There honestly wasn't a truly comfortable position one could sit in.

 

Acclimatization Walk

Since the weather was sunny, we found ourselves some comfortable spots in sun to have our lunch. After lunch and some rest, we went for a acclimatization walk. It was a really short walk - almost laughable compared to the ones I have done on my earlier hikes. Anyways, we had fun and reached the camp in time for tea and popcorn. 

 

Gursan Bugyal (meadow)

The evening was getting cooler and most of us retired into tents - I was alone as I was the only female and others were two in each tent. I honestly liked being alone in the tent. Loved the privacy that allowed me to clean myself up and change into comfortable clothing for the night and was thankful for the extra space. Normally they put three in a tent, not sure I would ever be able to handle that.

 

Dinner was served around 7 pm. it was pretty sumptuous for a camping trek and we all ate more than we needed to. Sated we retired to our tents for the night. At night, we were told to inform the tent-mate while stepping out for nature's call. This was to ensure that if a wild animal or any confusion doesn't allow one to return to tent, the rescue can start in time. Since I was alone, I tried to wake up tenants of the other tent and only answer I got was "keep on moving"!!!! After that I never tried waking up anyone :)





Our trek leader was an instructor at NIM and hence we followed the same method of informing us about the wake up tea etc.  6-7-8 (implies 6 am tea, 7 am breakfast, 8 am departure). I woke up before time and waited for the tea -which sadly turned out be a sugar water with a hint of tea. I was quite upset because I expected regular milk tea and after much negotiation, I was provided with same. But I lost about 20 minutes in the process. I tried negotiating with trek leader to delay the start time but he was adamant that we have to leave at sharp 8. Anyways, having done the course at HMI, I was able to manage packing my bag and sleeping bag much faster and was ready on time.

 

Today's hike started with sights of a beautiful sunrise, the day that started fairly cold (the water in drums was frozen) gave way to a very sunny and warm late morning. We walked slowly, took some photos along the way and finally came to a formal resting point before starting on a bit treacherous route.

 

To be honest most of us didn't find this route tough but another group that traversed the same from the other side had a few folks that were a bit rattled. Some of them even made a small scene which we enjoyed while eating our Bengal gram snack (which later on proved to be our undoing).

 

After the snack break we slowly made our way through the mountain side. We met another group on the way and they looked a bit peaked too. Anyways, we soon started to have our problems - no sooner had we crossed the mountain, did one of the trekkers get stomach upset. And by the time we reached the camp site (Chitrakantha @ 11,030 ft) about 30 min or so later, he was sick enough to forgo lunch (a wise decision in hindsight)

 

After ensuring he had a sleeping bag, we consumed lunch which comprised of kidney beans with rice. And an hour later, bengal gram coupled with kidney beans caused problems for all of us (except one who hadn't eaten the snack). The toilet tents were pretty occupied...I, however, suffered only from a headache that worsened by the hour. Trek leader took my BP, checked oxygen levels and all was fine. Against his wishes, I retired to my tent and refused all food. I popped in some mint based herbal medicine (Pudin Hara) and tried to sleep. Trek leader was convinced that I have AMS and wanted me to take Diamox but I knew that we weren't high enough for me to get same.

 

Photo shoot on way to Pass

Anyways I was proven right when I threw up a few times around 9 pm, slept really soundly after that and woke up as new the next morning. Couple of folks were still a bit weak but not too worse for the wear. Today was the "summit" day, that is, the day to reach our destination Kuari Pass. We started slowly due to previous afternoon's events but soon found everyone picking up the pace. The wind had also started to pick up and we started adding layers.

 

 

Ice patch

After about 2 hours, we reached a place where we could leave our backpacks and proceed with just water and lunch. This made the last hour to the pass easier. We first hit an ice patch and managed to find a way around it though I lost my only water bottle here :(

 

While it was rescued by an assistant guide but it was all broken and beyond useful. So had to beg for water along the way but thankfully there was a water stream en-route and no one minded sharing the water.

 

We took another short break before the final 20-30 minute to the pass, and finally reached around noon. The pass is at attitude of 12,516 ft.

View from the pass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After spending 10-15 minutes for the photo shoot, we started back for the place where we had offloaded our bags. However,

View on the other side

we stopped for lunch mid way and consumed the tasty aloo parathas with pickle.

 

Tonight was the last night of staying in tents. The camping site was named Khullara because its open from all sides and Khulla means open in Hindi. What creativity in naming! huh?

 

At just 11,230 ft, this was a very windy campsite and since there was no snow, all the dust was blowing in our faces, inside the tents, getting into the food...literally it was everywhere. The camp site, being open, was so windy that I was convinced of toilet tent blowing away while I was inside it. It did fall once but thankfully it was vacant!

 

 

However it was a very clear night and we spent time marveling at the clear view of the milky way. Yes THE Milky Way! Guess I forgot to mention, after dinner we would all bundle up and just watch the sky. Without any lights nearby and lack of pollution, we could see billions of stars every night. We could make out the reddish hue of Mars and the bright Venus of course. It was simply mind blowing. We would get into our tents just because it would start to feel very cold - given the late time and lack of activity.

 

So last night when we were enjoying the stars, two of our trek mates were having water issues in their tent. The clumsier of the duo had managed to spill enough water to soak the bottom blanket and the sleeping bags while claiming that he had dropped only a bit of water. Now he was standing with us, grinning sheepishly while his tent mate was cleaning up after him and screaming at him at the same time. We all had a good laugh at their expense :)

Morning at Khullara

 

The night felt the coldest here but again it led way to another beautiful morning. As we packed our bags, we all knew that while we didn't see snow and while it wasn't a tough trek, we all had fun.

 

It was a great group of mostly experienced hikers who got along really well. We would converse while lying down in our tents - the tents were pitched fairly close to each other. We would laugh at antics of our clumsy trek mate, laugh harder when the organized one tried to fix his doings, enjoyed teasing the simple one and I gave enough fodder to others when I picked unnecessary arguments with trek leader :)

 

The trek back to our pick up point (Dhak @ 7545 ft) was uneventful and so was the short drive to Joshimath. We stayed in a very basic hotel, had a small ceremony where we got our trek certificates etc. Next day we left for Haridwar in two separate vehicles.