June 2005
This month began with the sweltering heat of chattisgarh where i faced temperature of 45 plus. To add insult to injury was the torture of eating rice and only rice continously for three days ( for this is what was the staple diet for the revolutionares who walked 400 km in 10 days in the burning atmosphere.(pun intended)the travel was 1300 km to and fro in train and bus.After that i decided to chill off literally so moved towards okhimath and kedarnath.The misadventure started form okhimath when i decided to trek kedarnath in a single day. the trek is 14 km from gaurikund but being already late i decided to have a go at gandhi sarovar further 4 km.by the time i returned with a detour of 4 km passing through the receding mandakini moaraine it was already 8 pm and 32 km trek in that single day non-stop. i was close to fainting at the altitude of 6000 m above sea level (20000 feet).luckily i stumbled upon a team from the ministry of science and technology doing research on glaciers. the man i slept with at night told me real stories of his visits to antarctica and mount everest.with dreams of doing the same some day i came back the followin morning and by the way having a bow at lord kedarnath as well.This journey lasted 8 days,3000 km in the bus and 44 km trek in 24 hours.for hte last one week am looking after plantations in the so called second kashmir (called jhadol near udaipur in the local lingo).shall send u the pics vvery soon.hope this description takes care of the complaints regarding my nameless multimedia messages.do let me know if u want further details of my misadventures.by the way the extra four km was used to visit the foothills of the kedarparvat which is 6500 m above sea level. But sadly since i only had chappals to take care of my feet i had to abandon mountaineering ambitions:)