The prelude to the trek!

For those who have come here directly, please read the first part of the trip in this post!

So the stage is set, we are all packed up and excited about the trip!

We boarded the train from Mumbai to Delhi (Yes, you heard right. A train trip from Mumbai to Delhi, when so many flights were around. Leave it to the wifey to give an 'authentic, different' experience to the trip, right from the beginning!) on April 28th, and reached Delhi's NDLS station by the evening on the 29th. We had already hooked up with a few of the wifeys fellow trekking mates, and we had decided to have dinner at Ginger Hotel.

For those who do not know about the place, it is part of IRCTC's network of budget business hotels, right next to the NDLS station. Food is good, with self service being the mode of order. The only problem I could find was the way to the hotel.

You know how frustrating it can get when you can see a building so close (oh SO CLOSE) by, but somehow you cannot find a way to reach the place? I mean, its right there in front of you, but there is no way to go there! The hunger and the need for food added to the frustration. Very much like the land above the waterfall Bahubali, we knew that paradise was at the end of the road, we just could not find the route to the paradise!

Finally, after a lot of trial and error (and going into dark alleys which were, frankly, quite scary!), we finally reached the hotel. Maybe the food was all that much better because of the effort we had to put in to find the place, maybe not. But whatever the reason, the food just tasted good, and made us think of a second helping as well!

Our other trekking mates were coming by flight and were on their way to the hotel, so we took the time to see our final updates on facebook and whatsapp, and laugh looking at the mobile phone at some random forward. (God, how life changes after 1 year of marriage.... all the holding hands and talking to one another about random stuff seemed so old fashioned! It was now back to the mobile phone and FB and Whatsapp!)

Finally, after what seemed like ages (or, in FB parlance, after 3240 likes to various FB posts), our other trekking friends came and finally we met the Doctor and the Punekar Hipster (I like putting pseudo names, and you will get to see a whole lot of them, do keep track!). After their dinner, it was time to go back to NDLS station to catch the train from NDLS to Haridwar.

In what seemed like not enough time to put even one FB like, we reached Haridwar. Time just flies when you sleep, and no amount of sleep is enough sleep. On reaching there, we found the weather to be cloudy, with slight rain! It was the height of summer, and to see that kind of weather was very surprising. That only meant one thing.... MORE SNOW AT PANGARCHULLA! Yippeeeeee!!!

Having gotten our stuff packed in the car, we were now ready to take the drive from Haridwar to Joshimath, the place where we would stay for the night. However, the distance was not small (about 270 KMs). And took a good 8 hours to reach there! Finally, after going from one 'prayag' town to another (Rudraprayag, Karnapraya, Devaprayag, Bahubaliprayag etc.etc.etc. (OK I just made that last one up)...... the places ending with prayag just seemed endless!), we finally reached Joshimath. Actually, not quite Joshimath, but about 5 KMs from Joshimath, which is where we were put up.

After settling in, we were asked to report to the main reception area at 7 PM for our briefing on the trip. Our briefing in the evening was a general introduction to the trek, a few do's and don'ts (the most important don't being 'DO NOT ASK HOW MUCH MORE TO GO!'), and a first introduction of everyone in the trek.

This is how the round of introductions went.

Person 1: Good evening everyone! I am XYZ. This would be my first trek in the Himalayas, however have done a lot of trekking in the Sahayadris.

Person 2: Hello Hello! I am ABC and this is my first time trekking. Ever.

Wifey: Hi everyone. This would be my fifth Himalayan trek. Been doing this for 2 years now. Otherwise go to Sahayadris now and then.

Everyone else: :O :O Wooooowwwwww!

And thus, the wifey became an instant celebrity. How things went on the ground ahead, you will get to know later on.

After the briefing session, it was dinner and time to go to bed. The next day, we got up to this.

The morning blues. Just did not want to move from here!

The skies were....ummm... well... sky blue! And not a single cloud to be seen! The beginning looked just awesome! I could have spent the whole time just looking at the scene during the sunrise, but a trek had to be completed. Or, to put it in other words, a mountain had to be summit-ted!

The rest of this epic journey is coming soon! Please read on here!

Planting the seed to climbing a Himalayan mountain

It all started with a need to just take a week off!

All of us go through that phase where we are working all day, only to come home dead tired, to sleep early and to continue the cycle again the next day. There was a desperate need to cut this vicious cycle and just do something out of the ordinary.

Having started cycling, and also dabbed into jogging and swimming as well, the best thing for me to test my fitness was either to do a BRM (which, trust me, a whole lot of people were telling me to do immediately!) or do a trek. With the trek, the wifey would become the planner, and I did not have to think about anything! PROBLEM SOLVED!

I just needed to plant the seed in her head. She had already done a trek in the beginning of the year, and her plan was to do just 2 in a year, so getting her to accept it would be tricky. Or so I thought.....

Before I could even broach the subject, the wifey pitches in 'Isn't it just too hot here in Mumbai! Why don't we go to the Himalayas! A trek at this time of the year would be perfect!'. My plan couldn't have gone any smoother. Even Amul butter wouldn't be so smooth. The only thing remaining was to take an easy trek, and life was set in the cool lands of the Himalayas.

Alas, leaving the entire planning to the wifey does have its downsides. Being a pro trekker (having done four Himalayan treks before this one herself) the choice between an easy trek, a moderate trek, and a moderate to difficult trek was very easy for her. She chose the moderate to difficult trek. And I, having given all the responsibility to her for arranging everything, could not say anything.

Her first words were.... 'Let's go to PANGARCHULLA!'

My first thoughts were that of a Gujarati Dish. Pangarchulla sounded very much like one of those dishes you get at any Gujarati family home (like the Dhokla, Thepla, Fafda, Pangarchulla.... get it?) Given the thairu saadam lover that I am entitled to be as a TamBrahm, what else was I to think of Pangarchulla?

However, my brain stated telling me 'You dumbo! She said 'GO TO'... there is no way Pangarchulla would be a dish to GO TO!'. And that brought me back to reality.....

'We have company dear! Look, my friends are also there, and there are others who are new to trekking also going to go for this! Come on! you can do it easily!' she said.

There are very few things in life that evoke the kind of heart filled response and emotion in the wifey. Trekking is one of them. I trusted her instincts blindly in this area. For, I did not want to use my brain in anyway planning this trip! A week was chosen, and the rest was left to her.

And so the planning (by the wifey) began. With the wifey listing down all things required for the trek. And it was a long one! I never knew that a trek would require so much meticulous planning! The most important thing on my mind at that time (in fact, during the whole trip), was how to take care of nature's call. Very important. So the wet wipes, the hand sanitisers, the tissue papers, were all taken in double quantity. The assumption was that because the Himalayas were a cool place, I would not sweat at all, and hence I would be able to survive the trek on a couple of clothes. I found out later on that the assumption that I would not sweat at all was WAAYYYYYY off the mark! But still, the clothes to take on the trek were kept to a bare minimum. The cameras were set, and we were just waiting for the approvals from our respective bosses to come through (GASP!!!).

Thankfully, the approvals did not take as long as anticipated. Also, we (as in, the wifey) took our chances and booked flight and train tickets beforehand itself, to save on costs. Thankfully, no major hiccups were encountered in getting the leaves.

And thus, we were ready for the trek! My first ever Himalayan Odessey! What adventure lied ahead! To read more, please go on to my next post here.

My Adventure with Cycling: Experiences and Takeaways

Leave it to the wifey to bring in something new to our home.

We were quietly having dinner one fine day, when she comes up with her version of the Eureka moment.

‘I cannot just sit here and just trek. I need to do something different. I know! Let’s buy a cycle!’

My first reaction to that was utter silence. In my entire life, I had never cycled more than a couple of months, and that too after continuous coaxing from my parents (WHAT ARE YOU DOING SITTING AT HOME PLAYING COUNTER STRIKE! GO OUT! HERE IS A CYCLE!). The cycle, somehow, kept losing air after a few weeks (Most probably because of my lack of usage, but that is a topic for another day!), and then I just lost interest in the activity itself, leaving the cycle to rust.

For me to go back to that ‘cycle’ mode would take more than just a casual conversation from the wifey. I knew that this was something that was NOT going to happen!

And just like that, I found myself at Decathlon buying a cycle. I totally, completely underestimated the power of the wife. All you bachelors out there, especially those with girlfriends, be rest assured, your life will completely change after marriage.

Before the wifey could go into the ‘Oh let’s enjoy our trips together and get 2 cycles now itself!’ mode, I quickly went to the cash counter and paid for the 1 cycle (‘Oh dear, already bought one! Let’s wait for an ROI on this’ said the typical management me).

And thus, started my cycling journey!

I started off doing cycling loops around from Matunga to Sion and back (and by loops, I mean a single loop). It was an achievement for me just to get my backside out of home and going out! We used to take turns jogging and cycling, and the days I did not cycle, I took the option of NOT jogging (the smart me, as always, wanting that extra amount of sleep!)

My first longish ride was from Matunga to Bhandup. My in-laws stayed there, and we had this brilliant idea of cycling instead of taking a cab or public transport. I thought at that time that it was a good idea, but only when actually cycling did I realize that maybe I was better off taking the train! It was about a 25 KM ride, but boy, was it tiring!

We had a friend in Badlapur, who would call us for rides. We would go and rent cycles over at a place near the station, and do a good 50 KM ride during the weekend. We also tried the famed matheran climb, though I had to walk through half the climb, it was just amazing that the wifey and our friend just went through it as though there was no hill!

Slowly and steadily, having gone through the internet and understood what minor modifications to your seat (its called get a bike fit), it made the cycling experience more enjoyable! That is, until the day I took the round trip through Andheri – Ghatkopar. That was the day I fell ill with Dengue, and had to take rest for about 3 weeks.

All of the effort put into getting myself interested and continuing cycling, down the drain.

Though I recovered by November, it was not until January that I started cycling again. The wife, not to be stopped by the lack of cycling, did her own rides and treks and what not, to keep herself fit (I have no idea how she manages to keep doing it!). She also did quite a bit of research on cycling groups in Mumbai, and came across a group called Ghatkopar Cyclists Club, a club of fellow cycling enthusiasts mainly based out of Ghatkopar.

One fine republic day of 2017, I took the plunge and decided I would join one of their rides. They were going to Yeoor hills (a beautiful hill station in Thane), and were starting at 5.30 AM from Ghatkopar. Having started at 4.45 from my place (Is that even a time to wake up to cycle?!?!?!), I huffed and puffed and somehow reached Ghatkopar just in time for the group to move ahead. And once the group started, they were just gliding ahead. My face went ‘WTF! :O’, but I still pedaled (It’s not like I had any other choice! I was already too far away from home!). After a long, strenuous 30 KM one-way journey, I found out that we had reached only the base of the hill, and that the hill climb was only starting now. My thoughts went back to that day at Matheran! I dreaded at the prospect of even looking at the road, and said I would stay back.

With this experience (the way back was excruciating to say the least!), I realized that I wanted to do more. More rides meant more exercise! But getting up so early in the morning was such a pain! There had to be another way out!

Fortunately, there were a few riders from around the area I stay who also shared the same timing cycle and enthusiasm to cycle as I did. I also came across another cycling group based out of people in my area, Chalo Cycling, and that was the Launchpad I needed to take my continuous cycling journey to the next level. I now had the option of choosing which rides I wanted to go on, and at what time as well! Things were looking great! There was just one thing though…… we were 2 people at home, and we had only 1 cycle! We were missing out on each other’s company during the rides (not that there was much to miss, whenever we did go, we always ended up fighting! Everyone kind of knew that we were married, just because of that.). It was time to go for another cycle! We ended up buying a second cycle (this time a hybrid), and now enjoy riding together!

From the start of my riding experience, I have learnt the following things about cycling, riding in general, and about myself. I am sharing this as I feel this could help anyone who wants to start cycling.

1. The beginning is tough. Very tough. There are times when you will feel ‘Why am I even doing this??!?!?!?!’. All this will make you want to stop and just go back to bed. You have got to just fight it back. Once you cross that wall/ barrier, cycling becomes a very enjoyable experience!
2. You will be able to feel even the slightest elevation and slope while cycling, especially once you are tired.
3. For those wanting to reduce weight, try pedalling as fast as you can (a high cadence, in technical lingo) at as high a gear as possible. It may feel difficult at first, but the next time it will become that much easier, as your body would have developed that much to make it easier to cycle at that level. I keep pushing myself that much harder every time, and it has had a profound effect on my body. Please note, you WILL get tired! It is not easy trying to continuously push yourself hard for so long.
4. Having your saddle at the right height is very important, as it could help give you the right posture to achieve the best efficiency while cycling. Getting a ‘bike fit’ is very important.
5. Keep essentials with you always (spare tube, puncture kit, spanners, tube changing kit, Identity card). Getting a puncture is the worst thing that can happen to you, so you need to be fully prepared for such eventualities, every time you cycle.
6. Summer time (especially in a place like Mumbai), can get very hot (and is very humid) very early! Make sure you are very hydrated before, and during your activity! I try to reach back home by 7 AM when I cycle, as by then I can reach before the heat starts, and also before the traffic starts!
7. Talking about traffic, it is really bad, at least in Mumbai where I do cycle. The city needs infrastructure to support cycling, however in the absence of this, it is up to us cycling to be very aware of traffic and our surroundings, you never know when a vehicle would just come in front of you!
8. Finally, it is all about you! You need to keep yourself motivated to continue to do what you want to do. Do not wait for the encouragement of others, it may never come! It takes a threshold amount of time (I put it at 21 days, or 3 weeks), to make something a part of your life. It also takes something as small as just ‘wanting to enjoy to cool morning sea breeze’ to keep you going. But it has to come from within. Intrinsic motivation is a much more powerful tool than extrinsic motivation.

So there you have it! An account of my journey till now. I must say it has been a very enjoyable one indeed! And I intend to continue it!