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In the footsteps of Tensing and Hillary with my son to Everest Base Camp

Nepal is home to 8 of the 14 8000m+ peaks. We were able to see 3 of these peaks (Everest, Lhotse, Makalu) along with many other equally majestic 6000m+ and 7000m+ peaks. I think this is closet to nature anyone can get on this earth. This is also the most extreme adventure / risk to take my son (type 1 diabetic) through this journey. It has been an incredible accomplishment for him. This needed endurance at all levels.. physical fitness, mental and being able to stay away from home and all the comfort we take for granted. We could see how this is the way of life for Sherpa people and they go through all this for a living smiling and always helping tourists. For the first part of the hike till Tengboche, we had treeline to protect us from winds and relatively easier breathing (trees = oxygen and less and 4000m). After Tengboche, we had no treeline and had climb through open with high cold winds, less oxygen and through rocky surface along the river. This seemed like a never ending long walk needing ton of endurance and fitness to keep us going to finally reach EBC!! The views of mighty snow clad mountains Khumbu Glacier, team, slow pace and drinking water periodically kept us going. Bigger highlight of this trip was Kalapattar summit and clear view of Everest at sun rise. View of mountains in the early morning from Kalapattar were majestic and this hike ended being a snow peak due fresh bout of overnight snow. It was also an amazing experience to start summit at 430am 😊 While we had these experiences, nature and luck is also an important factor in this. Mountain weather changes very quickly and we have to adapt  and live with this. WEATHER (Nature) is a major factor all the way from Kathmandu / Manthali to Lukla flights / chopper, great views or get fully white snow / rain or clouds or cold winds, being able to summit a mountain or not. We saw weather changing rapidly everyday, but I think we were also lucky (despite some issues with bag delays) to have reasonably good weather (alternate days of white-out / snow / rain versus clear sunny views).. Thanks to mountain weather and nature GOD!! This made me realize we can prep and stay fit etc, but for this hike of lifetime, we need to be persistent and have god’s grace. 

The Team: 

NameCountryAbout
Pasang DawaNepalGuide, late forties
Charlotte RiessGermanyStudent / singer, 21
ElenaSwitzerlandChimney maintenance , 21
GloriaSwitzerlandMedical assistant, 24
KayleaNewzealandAdmin for CEO for a company, 31
Samuel TronUSEMT, 30
Vibhav KannanIndiaStudent, 16
Kannan RamamurthyIndiaEngineer, 48
Sauman, Gopal, Gombu and DipakNepalSauman – Asst. Guide and head of other 3 porters

Day 01 / March 19, Tuesday  – Arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (1,400 m) and transfer to hotel. Overnight at a hotel.

Early start from Bangalore, had to wake up at 3am since flight was at 7am. We were connecting via Mumbai on Indigo. Mumbai – Kathmandu at 1130am. This was delayed by an hour or so. We landed in Kathmandu by 250 instead of 2pm. Got through the customs and immigration fairly quickly and got NCell for 28 days at around INR 600 and exchanged dollars as we were exiting the airport. 

Ace the Himalaya folks received us at the airport and we were driven to Hotel Thammel by 430. We had not had lunch, found veg / Vegan place near our hotel and had dal/roti, momos and rice. 

We met Ace the Himalaya team at 530 in their office for briefing meeting. Other 5 in our group were already briefed. They did this separately for us since our flight was delayed. We did the remaining payment and got the rental jacket and learnt that next day we need to ready by 5am. We had dinner (Momos and lassi) at Donald’s restaurant. We did the re-packing to the duffle bags and had to weigh this to fit total of 15kgs / person (including our hand bag) for tmr morning flight. We were 3kgs over the total weight, but couldn’t optimize beyond this.

Day 02 / March 20, Wednesday- Early morning drive to Kathmandu airport and a 25 minutes flight to Lukla, and then trek to Phakding (2,610 m) – 3 to 4 hours. Overnight at a guesthouse.

We woke up early by 4am and got ready / checked out of hotel by 5am. We were driven back to Tribhuvan airport domestic terminal. This was small but very busy airport with trekkers and other domestic travellers. We were booked on SitaAir flight to Lukla. We ate the packed breakfast (boiled egg, croissant, fruit cake, banana and Frooti) at the airport while waiting for the checkin etc. 

Pasang was our guide and he asked for 4 of us to proceed in the first 615am flight while he and other 3 were to join in the next flight. Previous day flights were mostly canceled due to bad weather and it was busy today due to this.

Our flight took off on time and in less than 30mins we landed at Tensing Hillary Airport at Lukla. This journey was through the clouds and mountains and we landed on almost a ramp at the edge of a mountain in Lukla.

As we went to collect our bags, only one (Elena’s) had arrived and remaining 3 was going to come in next flight. Ace the Himalaya person escorted us to The Nest guest house for some hot tea. As we were waiting for our guide, rest of the team and bags to arrive, airport became quieter and weather deteriorated.

After two hours of wait, Pasang messaged that rest of the flights were cancelled and they could get helicopter, so they had to go back to hotel. We discussed and decided to continue our trek with Sauman as our guide and goto to Phakding. We decided to start without duffle bags, as I bent to wear my shoes,I had a bad cramp in the calf muscle of right leg. Somehow managed to get things going and we started at around 12 and got the entry form / tickets to Sagarmatha National park.

We hiked through the forest and passed by villages, yaks, horses and people returning from EBC. We crossed the first suspension bridge across Doodh Koshi river and after 2.5 to 3 hours hike of 6.4Kms, we reached Phakding.

Snowland resort was our guest house and we ate dal Bhat for lunch.

Tough and long confusing day with half luck for us, had slight head ache. Relaxed till 630 and then dinner. Got extra blankets since we couldn’t get our sleeping bag and other gear struck at Kathmandu. We retired for the day at around 830

Day 03 / March 21, Thursday – Trek to Namche Bazaar (3,440 m) from Phakding – 5 to 6 hours. Overnight at a guesthouse.

Night sleep was good, had about 9 hours of sleep. In between I woke up and realised my hands were frozen since they were out of the blankets. Took 10-15mins to regain my hand senses. Continued sleeping and woke up at around 630. 

We got ready quickly for breakfast. We had good breakfast- Masala omelette, bread jam / honey and muesli with hot milk along with black tea. 

There was no good news about our bags, flights were still not operational due to bad weather. Pasang and rest of the team were trying for chopper ride to Lukla. We again had to decide if we should continue as per plan to Namche Bazar without our bags. All were ok to continue instead of being struck and loose a day at Phakding. Also, Elena and Gloria did not have a buffer day at the end, they had their flights out of Kathmandu on April 1st. It was raining, so I did some quick basic shopping of rain poncho / coat, tooth brush / paste and socks. We started at around 930 for our trek on day 2

We went through tiny villages through rain and sub zero temperatures. We crossed our first suspension bridge and it was steep climb all through. For the most part of the hike, we were by the side of Doodh Koshi river. Stopped for water every 20-30 mins of hike or whenever there was yaks or horses train crossing. It was slushy with rain and terrain was slippery, we climbed slowly and came to second suspension bridge. We had to wait for the long train of horses to cross over that were going to Phakding. We had water, pictures and snack bar as we waited. We then continued and reached our lunch point – Panorama hotel at Jorksale as soon as we entered Sagarmatha National park after the guards checking us. We stopped for lunch – Egg veg fried rice and continued through rain. We crossed the 3rd bridge and had a section of the hike where yaks had a separate train and we were on the side of the river. This was very peaceful with just the roaring sound of river flowing and beautiful views through the climb. We crossed two more bridges (5 in total) with the last being the highest and double decker bridge😊 

For the last 2 hours of the hike, rain changes to snow and hands were freezing as we stopped to catch our breath. Finally we made it to Namche Bazar by around 4 pm. It was around 1000m climb and 13.5Kms hike and great to see the beautiful quite stacked hilly town – Namche Bazar!! We checked into our Bodhi hotel and were glad to see that dining area was heated . After some hot tea, got to our rooms and rested briefly. We went down by 630 for dinner and had Tomato soup, Penne Nepolitane, sandwich and fries along with black tea. Decided on breakfast menu and planned to start by 730 tomorrow to Everest View Hotel. I caught up with my urgent emails, messages and approvals etc from office. Next week was the deadline for mid year stock and this was not known or planned. Retired for the day by 830

Day 04 / March 22, Friday – Acclimatization Day at Namche (3,440 m). Hike to Hotel Everest View (3,880 m) and back – 4 to 5 hours. Overnight at a guesthouse.

Slept well till 430, after that it was broken sleep. Temperature was -9 and very cold even with 2 blankets. Going to toilet was an ordeal with water frozen and our toilet paper stuck in the bags. 

We woke up and brushed teeth after 2 days with temp brush and paste purchased at Phakding. Got ready and went down for breakfast at 730. Breakfast was omelette, bread toast, jam, butter, honey and coffee. Enjoyed the breakfast and got out to a bright and sunny day, it was great to see snow clad mountains all around.

We started our hike to Everest view hotel. On the way stopped at Sagarmatha National Park for our first view of Mt. Everest along with the first Sherpa to summit. We had very good view of all the mountains along with Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Ama Dablam, Thamserku, Kusumumkankaru, Black mountain – Kumbila (holy mountain).

Took some pictures and continued our climb to Hotel Mount Everest. View from here was awesome and it was dream come true for me drinking coffee and watching Everest and entire mountain range with clear skies. 

We enjoyed the views and started back and visited Nepal and Sherpa efforts in waste management and recycling. This was a great step with formation of a community to manage this while tourism brings money to Nepal economy it was also making it very dirty and since the past 30 years they have done remarkable work in cleaning this mess. We climbed back to our hotel and reached at around 115 for lunch. Had Pasta, veg fried rice for lunch and rested for a while. We then finally got our bags delivered by 450. We also went out and did not quick shopping of crampons, sticks and jacket for 6K NPR. Then got back and had our shower after 3 days and were able to change clothes and headed for dinner. Entire team was united for dinner and it was also decided that remaining 3 will skip Namche acclimatisation and join us as a team. Post dinner we played 2 games of UNO and it was fun. Finally retired for the day at 9

Day 05 / March 23 Saturday – Trek to Tengboche (3,860 m) from Namche Bazaar – 5 to 6 hours. Overnight at a guesthouse.

Sleep was ok but intermittent and not deep. Woke up at 530 and got through the morning ordeals. Packed day and duffle bag and got down for breakfast at 7am. Weather was bad with clouds and not much sun (unlike yesterday). We had good scrumptious breakfast of bread toast, butter, jam, masala omelette and coffee. Started our hike at around 8 to Tengboche. We got on top of Namche again and it was flat or downhill after Namche. We continued to go down (all the way to the river) and had some views of fresh snow and clouds clad mountains – Ama Dablum, Lhotse and few other peaks. No view of Everest today.

As we got all the way down, we stopped for lunch and had veg sandwich, fries, Egg veg fried rice and hot lemon juice. Then we crossed the bridge and climbed some pretty steep uphill paths for 2 hours and reached our hotel – Himalayan Hotel at around 2pm.  It started to snow through the Last half hour of the climb, we somehow managed to reach just before heavier snowfall. 

Plan was to visit Monastery at 3, but it was all wiped out and snow. So we continued to rest and read some books till dinner at 630. Dining area had two heaters with wrought iron that kept the place warm. I saw some other group drying their wet pants / jackets around the heater and I also got my jacket dried 😊. We had hot tomato soup, pasta with veggies and egg (no sauce or cheese), egg sandwich and tea for dinner. They served hot towel prior to dinner which felt like heaven to wipe your face and hands. Post dinner, we continued to chat. There was a solo American hiker (Max) who joined us for dinner. It was great that our team was finally fully united. Team had Gloria (24) Elena (21), sisters from Switzerland, Kaylea (31) from Newzealand, Charlotte (21) from Germany and Sam (LA) (30). It was a great mix of cultures and cross country discussions on siblings, food, education, passions, how our brain stops growing or thinking after 25 years. We finally retired and slept at 830

Day 06 / March 24 Sunday – Trek to Dingboche (4,410 m) from Tengboche – 5 to 6 hours. Overnight at a guesthouse.

Slept till 5 and woke up to get through morning ordeals. We had common  toilet at the ratio of 16:2. Room size was 8×10 and toilet was 4×4. Good thing with this toilet was, it had standing urinal so we need not sit to pee. Toilet seat being cold, avoiding to sit for peeing was a great relief.

Morning we had great views of the entire mountain range and all the mountains particularly Ama Dablam seemed very close and majestic. Skies were clear and sun was up, couldn’t ask for more.

Lunch was at Somare at 4040m with direct view of Ama Dablum. We then continued our climb along the Khumbu river and there was no trees anymore. It was very very windy and harder to climb. We crossed Khumbu river across a small bridge and continued climbing with small steps and water breaks to finally reach Dengboche at 230 and we’re going stay at Yak Lodge . We were all tired and I had a headache.My son was not feeling well with head ache and nausea as well. We slept for a while but this did not help much. We came back to warmth in dining area and were trying to read and explore options as Vibhu was not doing well. He couldn’t eat much, had soup and little food and I was very worried and thinking of heading down the next day. I gave him one Dolo-650 and put him to bed. Temperature in the night went down to -18. I was watching Vibhu and trying to sleep and contemplating options. Vibhu woke up at 1240 and seemed to be feeling better. We continued to sleep and I woke up at 440 for toilet and then slept again till 615

Day 07 / March 25 Monday – Acclimatization Day. Hike to Nangkartsang Peak (5,083 m) and back – 4 to 5 hours. Overnight at a guesthouse.

Woke up at 615 and brushed our teeth and packed only day bag for the acclimatisation trek to go 600m higher to the nearby peak and come back. We ate Muesli with milk, bread toast with jam/butter and tea. Vibhu and I were feeling much better compared to yesterday. Sleep does wonders and weather had dumped fresh snow all night around us. Morning sun was up and we had a different amazing view of Ama Dablum from our dining area.

We started our acclimatization hike right after breakfast and after climbing around 350m we got back by 10am. We both got changed after wet wipe bath and had early lunch of veg and egg sandwiches with fries and relaxed till 130 by reading book.

We then went to Cafe 4410 and had Masala tea and watched Everest movie. Got back at 430 and continued reading books and relaxing in the dining area. This was kept warm with a central wrought iron chimney burning Yak dung instead of wood (since we were above tree line). It was very relaxing to catch up on emails and reading while it was snowing outside at -6. We had sandwiches for dinner and retired early by 730 to prep for long day and further climb to Lobuche

Day 08 / March 26 Tuesday – Trek to Lobuche (4,910 m) from Dingboche – 5 to 6 hours. Overnight at a guesthouse.

Night sleep was good even though I woke up couple of times and once had to pee. Woke ups at 630 and got ready / packed by 730 and joined for breakfast. It was toast with jam / butter and honey,  cornflakes with  milk. We started the hike by 830 and initial part was gradual climb with amazing views of mountains and we were able to the third 8K+ Makalu peak. We continued our trek and crossed the river with a small bridge and reached Thukla pass for lunch at 11.

We had egg sandwich and onion/garlic grilled sandwich. It was very windy already and post lunch was a very steep climb for almost an hour before we had to cross the frozen lake/river. We then reached the tombs of all the Sherpa that died climbing Everest. It was a quiet and windy place. We then continued our walk for another hour to reach Lobuche by 2. It was very cold and windy here since we were at 4990m. We had some coffee and got to the room to get our down jackets. Room was really cold and place was windy. 

Time flew by as we all huddled up at world’s highest bakery cafe and enjoyed chocolate and mixed cake and played UNO till dinner time of 6pm. We had Mac’n’cheese plus dal Bhat for dinner and retired early by 730

Day 09 / March 27 Wednesday – Trek to Everest Base Camp (5,364 m) and then back to Gorak Shep (5,164 m) – 8 to 9 hours. Overnight at a guesthouse.

Sleep was disturbed due to cold and unable to relax with big day in the morning. Breakfast was early at 630, so we woke up at 530 and got through the morning with water almost frozen and we packed our bags and ate Muesli with milk and bread toast with omelettes. Started our hike early at around 730 and with some steep climb we reached Gorakshep by 930. We had some tea and dumped our bags to head out to EBC. It took 2 hours of climbing along the Khumbu glacier, extreme winds, loose rocks and Yaks, Horses crossing we finally made it to EBC at around 1230. There were only one more small group and we could see the Sherpas setting up the base camp for the busy upcoming Everest summit season. It was picture time at the rock and around the glacier and we could see Everest as we were hiking but one we reached there, visibility at the peak dropped due to clouds. We were able to see Lhotse up close and all clear along with the path beyond the Khumbu glacier from where climbers would ascend to reach the Summit. 

After photos, chocolates and some rest, we started back and reached Gorakshep at 230. Had lunch (momos and veg spring roll) and then contemplated of going to KalaPattar. But it started getting cloudy and weather worsened with snow and there was going to be no views so we decided to relax. We were huddled up at dining area since there was warmth with the heater and played UNO and went around asking folks on what was the best and worst part of the hike so far. Dinner (Veg fried rice and noodles) was at 630 and we rested for the day

Day 10 / March 28 Thursday – Early morning Hike to Kala Patthar (5,555 m) and then, descend to Pheriche (4,240 m) – 7 to 8 hours. Overnight at a guesthouse.

Sleep was very intermittent due to extreme cold outside and I had my nose blocked. We were contemplating on joining the early morning KalaPattar summit or not. I was tired and had very little sleep but wasn’t getting any sleep either. Vibhu woke up to alarm and was ok to go. Decided to join the summit hike.. only 4 (Elena, Charlotte, Vibhu and myself) along with guides started at 430. I had my warmers for leg and hands and we all had our torches. As we got out to start the hike, we saw beautiful sky lit with stars and almost full moon and clear view of mountains all around. It was extremely cold (-15) plus winds and had snowed last night. Kalapattar mountain was white with all fresh snow. It was a very steep and strenuous climb and we worked together as a team climbing slowly. But very soon myself and Vibhu were not able to keep pace and were tired with constant steep climb. We decided to split the group and allow the other two to go fast and summit at sunrise time. As we came 3/4th, we could see Everest and all other mountains were clearly as the sun rose. We got some pictures and were again contemplating if we would continue to summit since Vibhu looked very tired and I was worried if he became hypoglycemic since it was early morning. Guide also suggested view is the same even if you summit. But, Vibhu managed to pull through and we did summit Kalapattar. Got some more pictures and view was awesome. It was extremely windy and it used to blow out a layer of fresh snow at us. We also saw mini avalanche across near Everest. All the mountains soaked in early morning sun was very memorable. We then came down by 8. Had breakfast (Muesli with milk, toast, omelette and tea) and packed our bags to start our descent to Dengbouche. Team decided to come back to Dengboche instead of planned itinerary of Periche since they were only 15mins apart and Periche was very windy and much colder since it was  by the river. 

Descent was harder since we were already tired. We stopped at Thukla pass for lunch (pasta and egg sandwich) and continued down. Passed through Yaks, Sherpas carrying unimaginably heavy loads to EBC for upcoming summit season. We passed through the tombs again and kept climbing down. It was a looong descent through the rocky surfaces, Khumbu Glacier banks and very very Windy. Wind was also on our face and cold air making our nose to run throughout. We finally reached Yak lodge at Dengboche at 230 after a  long 8 hours of some ascent and mostly descent. Had some tea and relaxed till 630. Ate Momos and veg spring roll for dinner and slept early at 745

Day 11 / March 29 Friday – Trek to Namche Bazaar (3,440 m) from Pheriche – 7 to 8 hours. Overnight at a guesthouse.

Sleep was good, woke up couple of times since it was very hot in the sleeping bag. I got rid of some of the layers and got better. Woke up at 545 and got ready by 630 for breakfast of cereal and sandwich/ toast and eggs.

We started our hike down at around 715 and it was going to be a long day since we had to climb down two days of ascent in one day. Weather was full of clouds and very little visibility throughout for us. Dengboche to Tengbouche had mostly descent with one steep climb at the end. Then it was a steep descent to lunch place at 12. We had Maggie noodles and egg sandwich for lunch and continued our hike. There was another steep ascent and then it became more like Nepali flat and finally reached Namche Bazar at 315. Very long day covering 20kms or so and descent of 1000m. 

We got to our rooms hoping of shower. But due to no sun, there was no hot water. We managed to shower in cold water and Vibhu wanted Pringles. Had to go out to buy this for 500NPR. We had a long call to home after a while. Then continued to relax and catch up on emails till 630. Has Pasta and Pizza for dinner and slept early at 745 

Day 12 / March 30 Saturday – Trek to Lukla (2,840 m) from Namche Bazaar – 7 to 8 hours. Overnight at a guesthouse.

It was great to sleep on regular mattress without requiring a sleeping bag. Slept well and woke up at 530, we had an early start due to long day ahead. Had breakfast of toast eggs and tea at 630 and stared from Namche at 7. It was a bright sunny morning with full view of all the mountains unlike the previous day. We started our descent and after about 30mins we got the final view of Everest and continued our descent till about 11 to Phakding. Had Lunch (Ramen soup noodles) at snow land where we had stayed on our way up. We continued  and reached Lukla at 230. Though it was a long day of up and down, everyone was excited to be finally back. After final pics, it was celebration time to have successfully completed the most difficult summit, EBC and back. We got to our hotel and this one had gas geyser for room temp shower. I showered and then we went to Everest Cafe for coffee and going around Lukla. Got back to our Nest Lukla hotel at 530 with chips and enjoyed some local Kukhri Rum. 

Day 13 / March 31 Sunday – Flight Back to Manthali/Ramechhap – 20 minutes from Lukla and same day drive to Kathmandu – 5 to 6 hours. Overnight at a hotel.

Slept well with electric blanket giving additional heat. It rained / snowed through the night and woke up at 545 with anxiety of Lukla weather and flights 

Got ready by 630 for breakfast of toast with jam/butter, omelette and muesli with milk. We got to Lukla airport at 730 and were 3rd in line for Sita Air. Luckily weather was great unlike previous day (flights canceled). We took off from Lukla at 855 and had great views of snow clad mountains for the last time and it was an incredible flight through the mountains to land at Ramechhap. Van was ready and waiting for us, we got our bags and entire team got to the van for road trip to Kathmandu.

Van stopped after 10mins for some shopping and I was very happy to get Tuborg at 10 to start the 4+ hours drive. We enjoyed the beer and chatted with the team. We stopped for lunch at a small hotel (similar to our dhaba) and had dalbhat, momos for lunch and finally managed to reach Kathmandu by around 3.

We all checked back in at Thammel House Hotel and had nice hot shower, cleared the bags and starred getting into emails. We met again at 530 for closure meeting, feedback, payment etc. we all got the certificate of accomplishment and then had the final team farewell dinner. Charlotte sang a song composed by herself, food was great, we were all exhausted and returned back to hotel 930 and slept. 

Kedarkantha Trek

Day1 – Jan 1st 2024: 

“A breathtaking view, a feeling like I was on top of the world and an immense sense of satisfaction lied waiting for me at the summit of Kedarkantha”. My sprits were higher than the mountains on the road leading to Gharwal Himalays to summit Kedarkantha peak knowing full well that the arduous path that lie ahead would be challenging, but would all be worth it in the end. I took a flight from Bangalore to Delhi and landed at 2240. I had a connecting sleeper bus to Dehradun booked from Kashmere Gate at 2340. Alas, as soon as I landed the bus Marshall called to inform me that there was an hour delay due to drivers strike (change in rules for hit and run), this start was rocky, much like the mountain I was to soon climb. I stayed back at airport for another hour and then took a cab to Kashmere Gate and reached at 2430. There was no sign of bus, they had a link to track live location of the bus and it seemed to saying another hour delay. The icy chill crept through all my layers of clothing, leaving me shivering in nature’s frigid embrace. My clothes did little to keep me save me from this icy chill, offering me only the slightest bit of warmth. At last I saw the headlights of a bus, shining like a beacon of light and hope through the icy night that it was. At 115 we finally departed, I slept instantly. When I was woken up by the conductor, the frigid night had passed and in its place was a breathtaking, sunrise signaling the start of something great. Despite the delays, bus got me to Dehradun by 0615 and my journey began in earnest.

Day2 – January 2nd 2024

Boarded tempo traveller from Dehradun to Sankri (220kms away) and was going to be ‘8hrs drive.

TT driver Ramesh was typical gentleman and helped our bags to be tied on top. There were 10 of us booked with Himalayan Shelter for the trek. 2 Solo 2 girls (Nomita from Kolkata and Jasleen Delhi) like me, 3 girls (Kavitha, Manisha and Dimple) from Jaipur, 2 brothers (Dhruv, Shivam) from Delhi and 2 friends (Sumit, Naman) from Delhi. I was the only South Indian and married 😊 All others average age was around 24.

It was an interesting group and we started the drive through endless mountains, valleys, small towns and AlakGanga flowing in middle which we crossed several times. After a nap, we got a stop for brunch at around 11. Aloo paratha and tea was perfect and we continued only to be stopped due to Drivers strike. There was two halts and driver first said we would leave after 6 and reach Sankri by midnight. Delhi brothers and duo friends got Bacardi, Sprite and we continued new year party and first sip for 2024 middle of the mountains. 

Interestingly, Ramesh figured out we can continue and hope they don’t stop us. We resumed our journey at 1pm and were able to reach Sankri at 745pm. As we arrived hot dinner (Roti, Subzi, Dal, Chaval and Salad) was ready and we were hungry and tired after 12 hours drive. Post dinner, our rooms were allotted – I was sharing room with Delhi friends, Jaipur girls had a room and 2 brothers and 2 solo were the other pairing. It was very cold Zero or below at Sankri itself and we needed the thick bed worn on top as blankets and cuddled to sleep.

Day3 – January 3rd 2024

We woke up early (couldn’t sleep due to cold) to beautiful view of mountains from our room. Quick shower and got ready for the hike. We took the rentals that were needed like jackets, shoes, torch etc and had breakfast (Idly, sambar, chutney, bread, jam and coffee / tea). We started our hike and came down to Sankri market for some quick shopping of poncho, wet wipes, toilet paper etc., then headed into Govind National Park for our hike to Kedarkanta. Priyanka and Sonu were assigned as our guides. Both were very young (22 years or so), full of energy. Sonu seemed the softer kind and was literally dancing and running on the mountain while Priyanka was the lead and the one with clear instructions, managing time and keeping the group together. They both were trained and certified from HMI

I gave my bag to mules for 350/ day and had only another small bad with essentials and this was very helpful. We started to sweat after 20-30mins into the hike and had to stop to get rid of some layers of clothes and then continued. There were multiple tea shops selling all kinds of tea, juice, Maggie and bread / omelette. We stopped at few of these and I enjoyed some great Ginger Lemon tea or Rhododendron (Burranz) – juice from flower grown in the region that is supposed to be good for heart. After around 4-5 hours of steep climbing we reached day 1 camp near Juda Ka Talab. After some stretching, we were allotted tents (same arrangement and sharing as previous night).

We then had standard lunch (Roti, Dal, Subzi, chaval and salad) and the we were all getting to know about each other since there was no network or cell phones. After evening tea, it stared to get cold and we all cozied up in the dining tent for Antakshari (I went to back to some old memories of all Hindi songs and learnt a bunch of new or next gen Hindi songs). It was pitch dark and we needed our head torches even to move around to our tents or toilet tent. We were able to see clear sky filled with stars. Post dinner, we all settled in our tents. Boizs got together in our tent and had an hour of extended talk over Old Monk before we hit our sleeping bags.

Day4- January 4th 2024

We woke up to continued chilly cold morning. It was an arduous task to get through basic morning chores. We all huddled for an hour in front of the fire that was setup to get hot water. Then had breakfast (Puri, Bhaji and bread toast). Packed our stuff and started our trek to Kedarkanta base camp. We stopped at Juda Ka Talab which is a frozen lake / pond. It was amazing to walk / slide on completely frozen lake. After some great pics and views, we continued and reached base camp by 1145. In between, there was a network mountain/ point where we got JIO signal for calls and it was interesting to see everyone on phone and oblivious to the cold and trying to share quick updates to loved ones at home. 

There was some change in plan suggested by our guide to continue and Summit Kedarkanta today itself instead of starting at 2am tmr. This was based on two factors – weather and we had reached base camp relatively early compared to other teams. Everyone agreed to this change in plan. We finished quick lunch and started to summit by around 1pm. Terrain changed quickly and we hit the last of the tea houses and could see the summit in front of us. Tree link disappeared and we landed in snow and black ICE. Black ice was our new evil since this was completely hidden and hard to make out or find our step without slipping. We all got our spikes as additional grip for our shoes but I don’t think these helped much. Pace dropped drastically due to this black ice, altitude and steepness. We finally made it to the summit by around 440. Two girls backed off at the last tea house, so only 8 could summit. It was trophy or picture time as we waited for sun set in the windy and chilly peak.

Finally we had great views of the mountains around and vast sun set and our guides started rushing us down as soon as sun went down. We realised quickly that descent was going to be equally challenging with black ice and added constraint of darkness. Descent was on the other side (west) and not same as ascent (east) due to more snow and less black ice. We had shortage of head torches and couple of batteries ran out and I slipped and fell 3 times before we finally managed to hit the tea house. Through the descent, I couldn’t sense any of my toes since they were all frozen since I was the only one with no thermals and woolen socks. This was because they were in my other bag that was carried by mules and they did not arrive post lunch also when we started to summit and I had assumed summit will be tmr. At the tea house, I almost put my shoes in the fire that was boiling water / tea and slowly regained some senses of my toes. But we had to continue our descent, so we headed down in the dark all walking closely as a team and at some points holding hands to circumvent the fall and calling out black ice whoever fell or slipped and finally reached base camp. It was quick dinner and we all got into our tents. Boizs  got together for the much needed Old Monk and chit chat. For all (except me) this was the first summit and they were all very excited. Finally we hit our sleeping bags and thought we will sleep well given the long day, tiredness and old monk. But we could barely sleep due to the cold and icy conditions of the night and it was dripping ice and water in the tents, toes were freezing even though we had layers and were in sleeping bags. We somehow managed to get past the night.

Day5- January 5th 2024

We woke up or mostly awake through the night and started going through the pictures in the tent since we did not want to get out in the cold. Finally got out by 730 and had breakfast (Maggie and bread).. packed and started our descent to Sankri. We got down through Haragaon instead of Juda Ka Talab and through tea houses, some more stops and picks and then fields finally down by 12. I continued immediately on with some other group that was going down to Dehradun and reached hotel by 10pm. It was looong days and I managed to get down all the way from summit to Dehradun 😊 as soon as I got to hotel, I was glad to see the bed and hot water. Had a much needed shower after 4 days and crashed

Day6- January 6th 2024

Woke up at 5am and got my tickets changed to head home. Slept some more, then breakfast and headed to Dehradun airport for 3pm flight to Delhi. Spent the 2.5hrs break at Delhi airport lounge and then connecting flight to Bangalore. Vistara was good with meals and coffee and movies etc and landed on time at 1045pm. Got the bags and reached home by 1230 to surprise everyone by coming home a day early😊

Nature at its best in Norway

Norway is one of the world’s most beautiful countries I have ever visited. A progressive society, scenic mountains, waterfalls, several great hiking options, Norway is a great place to visit. We were in Norway for 4 days and managed 2 of the top 3 – Kjeragbolten, Pulpit Rock and Trolltunga popular hikes located in Western Norway, leads you to some of the most unique rock formations in Norway:

Trolltunga: We flew into Stavanger, drove to Odda village and stayed at Trolltunga Guesthouse, Tyssedal. We slept relatively early even though sun was still up at 11 PM in the night. This was in anticipation of the long day of hiking of Trolltunga. Also, we couldn’t get parking at P3, which means we had to park our car in P2 and hike another 7.5kms extra. We woke up early and started our hike as planned from P2 parking area at around 5:30 AM. There is a beautiful waterfall right at the entrance from P2 parking area and snow-clad mountains all around to greet us.

Terrain quickly changed from rocks to thick snow / ice and we continued to climb through these slipping at times.

It was clear skies and sunny, helped our hike and they also have rods with red tip on the top to keep trekkers on the path.

We crossed through several small valleys, going down for sometime and again climbing up with great views all around. There were 2 steep ledges that were extremely slippery and on the edge, we had to slow down and as we slipped, holding onto the snow / ice around wasn’t really helping. Sticks and ice grip / ice cleats would have helped at couple of these places, but we managed without these. There were small river streams and bridges as snow and ice melted to quench our thirst throughout the hike.

After several hours of climbing (total of 13.5kms-oneway), we reached the summit of Trolltunga!!! and it was time for our trophy photos

After some snack / lunch on the top, we retraced our path back down and reached P2 parking area around 5 PM.. Total of ~28 Kms in around 10hours.. Phew, what a day and hike!!

Preikestolen (The Pulpit Rock) towers 604 metres above the Lysefjord, and the trek there is one of Norway’s most famous mountain hikes!! We drove back to Stavanger the following day since Pulpit Rock is around an 1.5 hours drive from Stavanger. Drive in Norway passes goes through multiple tunnels and some of these are ~14-15Kms looong, we also had to take the ferry to cross over the Black Sea!!

Throughout the drive in Norway, you will find many waterfalls and you cannot drive through without stopping for pics

Pulpit Rock hike wasn’t as complex as Trolltunga and we were well prepared for this shorter, more popular and filled with fit Norwegians hike. We were able to do this in 4.5 hours and total was around 8 Kms and got our pics of this yet another unique rock formation in Norway:

Zermatt (Mini-Paradise on earth) and Breithorn summit

We landed in Zermatt after 8.5 hours (2 hours delay.. yes trains in Europe also have delays😊) of train journey from Paris. Zermatt is a small self sufficient village in Switzerland at the bottom of Matterhorn (chocolate mountain!!). Total green village with only electric taxi (cars) and (E)-Bikes or Walk:)- We headed straight to Zermatters for confirming our hike to Breithorn at a height of 4,164 meters (13,660 feet) and is one of the 4000+ meters highest peaks in the Alps. Since Permitter closes at 6pm and we only had less than fifteen minutes. Interestingly, we were able to walk to Zermatters from train station and confirm, pay for hike with 2-3mins to spare. 

We then walked to our hotel Astoria, nice cozy old, well maintained Swiss hotel with incredible view of Matterhorn. Once we settled in our room, we headed out for dinner. Zermatt had stores for all Swiss luxury watches, hiking / outdoor and restaurants catering around the world. We found Italian place for dinner and had great pasta and wine.. in prep for morning hike!!

Hike day: We walked to the train station, where we met our Zermatters hiking guide Andreas at 830hrs.. We purchased cable car (2), gondola(1) ticket that would take us to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise.. starting point of our hike. 

Our guide roped all 4 of us (Andreas, Shashi, myself and Kallen from UK) and we set out for our hike to Breithorn. It was beautiful clear weather with not much winds, slight haze and all white with fresh snow!! We hiked at a constant pace and as a team through the snow lanes, could see few more teams /groups hiking like us. After 45mins, we took a break for water and our guide helped us with crampons. From here on, hike became more intense around the ledges, more incline to climb and slippery (at places) with fresh snow!! We had reached Italy as we just were hiking and we were going back to Switzerland as we reach the peak.

We had amazing views of Matterhorn at the back and we continued with the same pace for another 2hrs and summited Breithorn!!! We were able to see Mount Rosa, Matterhorn (covered with haze) and Zermatt village at the bottom. Views were breathtaking and we took pics / videos and spent 10mins on the top. As it started to get more windy and colder, we stared our descent. We traversed down with some more slips and I also learnt to keep heal first for better grip with crampons and we’re back down in another 2 hours or so. It was amazing Team work with one step at a time, in full sync for 5 hours and we were happily exhausted!!! 

We had some refreshments at the restaurant atop before returning back on the cable cars and gondola to Zermatt. We explored little more of Zermatt with more pics, beer, souvenirs and shopping. We had dinner at Golden India and returned back to hotel. We retired for the day with another view of Matterhorn from our hotel room and ton of memories!!!

Mudumalai forest adventure

Plan was to leave by 8PM on Saturday 30th October 1999 and the destination was Mudumalai. Information I had about Mudumalai was that it was a forest reserve of Tamil Nadu government, that is all. I also knew that we were going to make our journey through Mysore road. My friend had made reservations for us at Mudumalai. He had also gathered information from his friends and colleagues. I also knew that this place was around 200 Kms from Bangalore. With this we planned that if we left by 8 PM then we would be at Mandya by around 11 PM, so that we could spend the night in some lodge with another friend’s help, since he hails from Mandya. As usual there was lot of changes to our plan. I went to my friend’s place 15 minutes late by 8:15 PM, but others were still getting ready. Finally we left by 8:45 PM and had hot Badam milk at Kaggis bakery. So the team of 9 of us left. We all got into my friend’s new jeep, a commander from Mahindra, which could accommodate 10. So we could dump all our belongings at the back and we took off towards Mysore road by 9:30 PM. First stop was for fueling at Mysore road and then it was at Roseland Dhabha near Bangalore university entrance for our dinner. By this time I decided it would be better if we can go and get some more cash from nearest Citibank ATM, just to be safe. After calling up Citibank customer service we confirmed ourselves that the nearest ATM was at Vijayangar. Instead of all us making the trip, myself and another friend made the trip to the ATM and by the time we got back, others had finished their dinner and Dhabha was closed. But we could still manage to get some hot rotis and fried rice and peas palak masala and 7-up. So finally we took off at 11:15 PM and reached Nanjangud by 3:15 PM with a break for tea at one of the Dhabhas in between. Since everyone except myself and Yogi we expert drivers we had no trouble, but the trouble was the road. At Nanjangud, all the temple choultries and also private lodges were full due to two marriages. So we had to sleep in the jeep itself. While six of them stretched themselves in the jeep, myself and Krishna prasad ventured in the cold. I thought my jacket was good enough, but soon realized that I was being too optimistic that too with nature. Since it was the wee hours managed to have a brief cold nap till 5:15 PM, but then could not, while others got into the jeep to continue his sleep I had two cups of coffee, from the hawker who actually opened the shop by 3:15 PM. By 6:15 AM All others woke up and managed to get us a room in one of the temple choultries. We freshened up and had bath and were all set by 8:30 AM and we had a peaceful darshan of lord Shiva in Linga incarnation. We were fortunate to have one of friend’s know this place who managed to get us two packets of special prasadam, which was panchamrutham, with banana, honey, cobra and kalsakkare as the ingredients. After this it was breakfast time at Udipi tiffin room. We had hot idlis, vada, dosa varieties and ofcourse sambar, chutney and coffee. Some of them also had 7-up also instead of coffee. So we took off from Nanjangud by 10:15 AM. We were now heading towards Mudumalai, I realized that Nanjangud was on the way to Mudumalai and Mudumalai itself was after Bandipur. Actually, it is the same forest reserve which called Bandipur in Karnataka and Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu. On our way to Mudumalai we went to Gopalaswamy betta. We reached this place by 12:00 PM and spent near about an hour. This place is really yet another ultimate creation. I enjoyed every second of our stay on the hill-top. This place is actually on a top of the hill and the road is near about 45 degrees. S did a real good job driving up the hill and we all had the darshan of Gopalaswamy here and the priest also narrated the history of this place. Let me try to recollect his words, “This temple was built in the 13th century by one the chola kings. It has seven sarovaras around the temple which has water in them 365 days. The lord here is Sri Krishna with Rukmini and Sathyabhama and also there is sarpa on the head and cows (gomatha) around. Krishna here is with kolalu and with legs crossed. Also, though there is a gopuram to the garbha gudi, there is water that flows through this which is also there for 365 days.” People could really feel this and I saw them touching this water right in front of the lord. Though I could have touched the water source, somehow I did not feel like doing so. I enjoyed the darshan from outside the main garbha gudi itself. Also, inside the temple it was really very cool and the ambience is just beyond my limits to explain. It is really a must place to be visited.Now we were again on our way to Mudumalai. On the way, one of my friends made a stop to purchase some booze. C was busy shooting the drive, and since we were in the forest we restrained from music. We were fortunate to spot a herd of elephants on our way, they were actually crossing the main road. Then we were at the Inter-state border check-post between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. We were stopped by the forest officials (who were actually fully boozed on-duty. He frisked our belongings and found the Beer bottles D had purchased and he started making a fuss out of it. Finally we spoke to him and he said if we can leave the bottles there we could proceed and according to them it was against the law to booze in the forest!! Since we did not want an argument we just left without the bottles. There was a Tata-Sumo in from of us which was also caught but with more alcoholic beverages. We were lucky because the official could not find the Vodka bottle. Also, initially itself the officer caught C who was on the foot-board of the jeep with the camcorder. He snatched the camcorder and we all skipped a heart-beat, with G skipping two. So we just left without any argument, since we got back the Camcorder. Actually, might have been concerned that we might have shot him frisking bottles from the Sumo ahead of us.We reached Mudumalai and the Masina log house where we had reservations for 3 rooms – Dove, Shrike and Shringle (rooms were named after birds here). G had sent a DD for 1026 rupees for one day for these rooms. We ordered lunch and by the time we refreshed ourselves lunch was ready. We were really fortunate to have really delicious typical south Indian lunch on plantain leaf. Everyone one of us enjoyed the food. After relaxing for half-an hour we came back for the Safari into the Mudumalai forest. We could spot peacocks and deer’s on the Safari. We then got back to our rooms and watched the video captured till now and also our previous Hampi trip video while guys boozed and had snacks. Dinner was ready by 8:00 PM. We had our dinner and then slept with the promise that we would get up early by 5:00 AM since we had to be back at the forest office for Elephant ride booking by 6:00AM which was 7 Kms. This is the same place from where we went for Safari.We all woke up by 6:00 AM, had hot tea and enjoyed the early morning birds sounds along with exquisite sun-rise and left by 6:45 AM. Though we were late we were fortunate to get the Elephant ride because of Baby madam at the forest office. But, we could not two elephants together, so we had to split our rides. But that was good. We got back by 10:00 AM and had our breakfast of hot idlies and dosas with delicious Sambar and coconut chutney. While relaxing boys came up with the idea of going to Ooty which was 29Kms from there. So we ordered lunch for the afternoon at the lodge itself because food was really delicious and left by 11:15Am to Ooty. We reached there by 12:15PM after some mind-boggling driving on the steep ghat section by S. The curves were really steep and sharp, it was an ultimate challenge for any driver, but S was ready for them with all his experience. Actually there is a longer route to Ooty with about 30 Kms more which is supposed to be far easier to drive.At Ooty we went to boating and had Ooty apples, carrots, fried jolas(maize) and frooti. We refueled our jeep and started back by 2:15PM to reach the lodge by 3:15 PM. Had our lunch and started towards Bangalore by 4:30PM. We took a break for coffee at Amaravathi hotel on Mysore road and again with S’s excellent driving skills and so many others helping him, we were back by 10:30PM. I took my bike from C place and was home exhausted but with yet another memorable trip, in the days to come.

Jai Mata Di – Vasihnodevi

Mata Vaishno darshan is very convenient after Shrine Board has taken over. Devotees of all age groups can come and pay visit to the holy shrine as per their comfort levels.

Journey begins @ Jammu which is easily accessible by Flight or Indian Railways. We took the flight to Jammu and then taxi to reach Katra (~50 kms). Katra is the base from where you start the ascend for Darshan. Alternative are buses that ply at regular intervals. There are luxury buses also available but their plying frequency is low. The journey from Jammu to Katra takes about maximum 2 hours.

Katra was bustling due to tourists / devotees and base / hotels, restaurants and all kind of devotional services. Depending on the level of comfort you prefer, you can get the right hotel option. We stayed in Hotel Orchid which was a 5 star rated hotel and is very comfortable. In case you have any elderly person with you, I would recommend it.

Any hotel in Katra will be happy to drop you at the place from where the actual climb starts. To climb the 12 km you have 5 options. Further 2 km up is Bhairon temple which is little steep but can be done slowly and steadily. I have been there on foot only so not much idea on other means of transport to that destination.

The 5 options for first 12 km are:

  1. Walk all the way up
  2. Pony ride
  3. Seat ride. In this mode you sit in a small box kind chair and 4 people will lift you till the top.
  4. Battery operated green vehicles
  5. Helicopter ride. This is till mata vaishno devi cave and not to Bhairon. It will cost you about 1500 per person and is a 10 min joy ride. Best for people running short of time or any other physical challenge.

Whatever you plan to do decide at the base that you need to do the full 14 km or skip the last 2 km journey to Bhairon temple. This will make you mentally prepared for the complete journey.

You can start the climb at any time of the day and come down also any time. The route is busy 24X7 and you will find lot of people of your way up or down. For night times at the Darshan, carry some woolen clothes. Climbing up in day time might make you sweat but the night time can get little chilly. Darshan is open 24 hours and hence night trek is also possible through all 5 means mentioned above.

Once you have reached the top at 12 km, you need to get in a queue which can be long of festival times and summer vacations. You can carry some general medicines otherwise the altitude is not that high to cause any problems. In case any irritation or any other problem comes up, there are health check centers at some distances on the route up.

At Katra, there are hotels/lodges/rooms at all price levels ranging from probably Rs 500 to Rs 10,000. I have stayed at vanilla rooms as well as 5 star rooms. You pay for the services you are expecting. The economical ones are operated by Shrine board but they are the first ones to get filled. Also they are the preferred ones.

Wishing all you travelers a happy darshan. Jai Mata di!

Portland and Rains

Feb 10th and 11th 2007: Trip to Portland

Left early to the airport – found parking for the car at Double tree hotel which has $8 / day for long term parking, which was also valet parking though, plus they have a shuttle drop and pick-up from the San Jose airport. It was a tiny Horizon Air flight, but landed early by 8:35 AM at Portland. My friend came to pick me up only by 9:15, then we went to his home. Breakfast was Akkirotti, then we packed some food and headed out to checkout Multnomah water falls. It was about an hours drive, we stopped in between at view points. Drive was parallel to the free-way which runs parallel to Columbia river. But this drive takes you up (ghat section). So there are view points where you can see the entire Columbia river and there is really really Windy.. Strong winds.. you could end up “flying like a kite”.

There are multiple waterfalls and trails all along.. we stopped for some pictures.. then headed to Multnomah water falls. This falls is really pretty because it falls in two stages and you can also hike all the way up. We both did the hike, while Shwetha and Amulya were waiting down. View from the top again is scenic and worth the hike.

We then got down for some shopping / sovereigns at the gift shop below – picked up picture of the waterfall itself which can be framed at homeJ

Then we had Irish coffee, hot chocolate and returned home by 4 for lunch, we had some Pongal (which we had packed to have at the water fall.  After this we went to Costco for some shopping – camera gift for my valentine.

Evening dinner was at Salvador Molly’s Westside Restaurant 1523 SW Sunset Blvd, Portland, 97239. This is a Brazilian restaurant which has the first item on their menu as “Balls of Fire” – If you have 5 of these with the sauce they provide, they take a picture of you and post it at the restaurant as a HERO. We ordered 5 balls and I have never had anything as hot and spicy as this before. It took a good amount 20 amounts for fire in my mouth to douse – no amount of water, beer, sweet nothing helps.. Inspite of this, trying to be hero, I had 2.75

Below is what they say on their menu!!!

The Infamous Great Balls of Fire – Many have tried, some have died!

Eat all 5 habanero-cheese fritters with the sauce, & get your picture on

the Wall of Flame!! $7.00

3 balls-$5.00 2 balls-$3.00 1 ball-$2.00

Other than this food was good, they also serve you roasted peanuts (raw) and you and just leave the “sippe” on the floor. So as you enter it looks like our Kadalekai parse. So it was a fun evening.

Fun really didn’t stop there, it continued back home in the night as well. We had great plans to watch – The Matrix (part 3) – Revolutions. But, I was way too exhausted with my previous day’s trip from Boston to San Jose and then waking up early to get to Portland.. then the hike, shopping.. so retired within 15 minutes. But, woke up within 2 hours and had to rush to bathroom – after effects of habanero – now my ass was burning and had to do this thrice.. Wow what an experience.

Next day morning – we had uppittu for breakfast, then we went on bike ride – my friend has purchased a new Kawasaki R6 (650 CC sports bike). It just flies.. was a different experience riding this (though I was pillion rider) on the freeways with 100 miles an hour.. it really has superb power and pickup.. but it was very cold.. my hands were frozen, trying to hold on.. Tried riding the bike in parking lot.. it was really ready to take off. Then we returned home and packed up.. We went to just see the bikes in the showroom there were awesome cruisers, sports bikes.. then after shopping (at outlet mall) which was for Shwetha for her upcoming birthday and valentines day. We had Pretzels at Aunt Annie’s – these were too good – I had missed this not trying for the past 10 years here.. You learn and see something newJ Then went directly to airport and was back to San Jose..

Destination Las Vegas

23rd December, 2000:

Scheduled departure was at 6:30 AM, but since one of my teammates was heading back to India at 7:30 and we were also late by half-an-hour already, we bade good-bye to them and then started off by 7:45 AM. There were three of us for this trip, myself, S and A. We had all the driving directions that is the highway and route to take, my car was all checked that is for tyre pressure and gas was filled to full tank the previous day itself, so we were all set. We were heading towards NorthWest towards Las Vegas, which is adjacent state called Nevada, wherein we are in Phoenix city which is the capital of Arizona State. The total distance between Phoenix and Las Vegas is around 300 miles (450 Kms), and the estimated time to reach was 4 and half-hours

As per plan we reached Hoover dam by 12:30 PM which is on the way to Las Vegas. From here Las Vegas is only 30 miles. Hoover dam is built on the Colorado and Lake Mead rivers just like our KRS dam on Cauvery. But this one is gigantic compared to KRS and it generates power for around 1.2 million people and also provides irrigation water to the whole of Nevada state. We spent around 3 and half hours at Hoover dam, there was a guided tour of the dam, power generation facility etc for $8 which I highly recommend. Also there is a boat-cruise for another $10 which we could not due to time constraints. Also, there were some video movies showing how the dam was built.

So here are some more details about Hoover dam:

1. Hoover Dam is 726 ft. tall. That is 171 ft. taller than the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. and twice as tall as the Luxor Casino (338-ft.) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

2. At its base, Hoover Dam is as thick (660 ft.) as two footballs fields measured end-to-end.

3. As many as 20,000 vehicles a day drive across the 45 ft. wide top of the dam between Nevada and Arizona.

4. There is enough concrete in Hoover Dam (4 1/2 million cubic yds.) to build a 2 lane road from Seattle, Washington to Miami, Florida or a 4 ft. wide sidewalk around the Earth at the Equator.

5. During peak electricity periods, enough water runs through the generators to fill 15 average sized swimming pools (20,000 gallons each) in 1 second.

6. Each of the 30 ft. wide penstocks (water pipes) can carry enough water to fill 900 bathtubs (100 gallons each) in 1 second, or 960,000 (12 oz.) cans of drink in 1 second.

7. Hoover Dam is shaped like a huge curved axe head, 45 ft. wide at the top and 660 ft. thick at the bottom.

8. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the USA and contains enough water to flood the entire state of New York with 1 ft. of water (26 million-acre ft.).

9. If you drink water from the tap at Disneyland, Anaheim or Sea World in San Diego — that water is coming from the Colorado River and Lake Mead, 300 miles away.

10. Each of the 17 generators can supply electricity to 100,000 households.

11. When operating at full power, the 17 generators can supply all the electricity needed by a city of 750,000 people.

12. Each generator weights (4 million pounds) as much as 4 1/2 fully loaded Boeing 747-400’s.

13. The Colorado River is more than 1,400 miles long and supplies water to Los Angels, San Diego, and Phoenix. Las Vegas gets almost all its water from Lake Mead. Lake Mead was made by Hoover Dam when it blocked the Colorado River and flooded the Mojave Desert.

14. Between 1931 and 1936 when the dam was built, 96 men were killed in industrial accidents. None were buried in the concrete.

15. The mascot dog and favorite pet of all the construction workers during the building of the dam was buried at Hoover Dam. The grave is near the Hoover Dam Visitor Center and can be visited.

16. It would take $2,000,000 worth of copper pennies to make the copper buses (4-inch in diameter hollow square wires) that carry electricity inside the powerhouse.

17. Every state in the USA furnished supplies and materials for the construction of the dam.

18. More than 8.5 million pounds of dynamite was used to blast the foundation for the dam and 8 miles of tunnels through the canyon walls.

19. There are 2700 miles of transmission lines sending electricity from Hoover Dam to Los Angeles.

Source of this information: http://www.hooverdam.com/

So from there we started off and reached Las Vegas by 4:30 PM, checked into our hotel – Quality Inn, refreshed ourselves and got ready to explore Las Vegas. This is a city of lights and hence city wakes up by 5 PM in the evening and sleeps by 4 AM in the morning, so it is a night city and we were right on time. Also, we were lucky because we had Gandhi Indian Cuisine an Indian restaurant right across our hotel, so we first went to the hotel to have our lunch since we ate some fruits, chips, biscuits and apple juice in the car and we were hungry. So we were the first for dinner, though it took a while for the food to arrive we finished our dinner cum lunch and started off to the main attraction place in Vegas, which is called ‘The Strip’. Hotel had a free shuttle to this center point, and I did not want to drive in a new city with not much of direction sense, so we took the shuttle to the Strip, which was actually pretty close.

slot machines – Casinos @ Paris hotel

Before I continue explaining what all we saw at Vegas here is brief about Vegas. This city was built with the main goal of entertainment for all other states in US, since the weather here is very moderate and pleasant all through the year unlike other places in US (so they choose this place). Since it is the entertainment city, there are a whole lot of hotels for tourists or travelers to stay, real good variety of food, casinos, bars, different kinds of shows (magic show, dolphin show, simulation of volcano, treasure island show), movies, various rides like roller coaster, big-shot. Also, all these hotels are built on the Strip (the road name) and these hotels are real big. Another important feature of these hotels are, they are all modeled on famous places in the world (architecture model) like Paris, Venice, Desert (Aladdin), New York etc. Each one of these hotels is unique and they all contain different sets of shows and games and ofcourse all of them contain these casinos where people come in and bet big money on gambling. We did a sightseeing of these casinos because the betting was starting only at like $100.

But there were these slot machines which takes from 5 Cents which is all we could try and that also just to have fun. So we were looking at the rich and decorated interiors of each of these hotels and also window shopping in the shopping centers with in the hotel and ofcourse we could not try any of the restaurants either because they are too expensive or they offer 99% non-veg stuff. So you might ask me what did I do in Vegas then, the lights were awesome, the whole strip road is always glittering and there are these real fun rides and ofcourse the dolphin show, white tigers, the Volcano, Stratosphere all these are memorable. So you can still enjoy the city with all these and we could not anyhow complete all the hotels and all the shows and games though we spent two full days. We were very tired walking because each hotel inside is so big just walking and looking around one of them is a minimum 2 hours. So we spent till 2 Am in the morning when we finally said we

Those slot machines – Casinos @ Paris hotel

have had enough because our legs were no longer with us, we headed back to hotel and slept till 11 Am in the morning.

24th December, 2000:

Simulated sky at Aladdin hotel and Casinos

We went to Gandhi and had our lunch first after we got ready by 12:30, then took the shuttle again and we were back on the strip a little early today by 1:30 PM itself, because there was this Dolphin and white tigers show in the afternoon. We finished them then headed to Paris, which also has a replica of Eiffel tower, only difference being it is 50 % tall as against the original one but you can still see the whole lit Vegas city. We went to the top of the tower took some nice pictures, then headed off to Aladdin- desert shopping, casinos and hotels. Then from there we came to New York, where we had this enjoyable roller coaster ride which again takes you to the top and comes back down in a second at 45 degree angle and also go through 360 degrees and reverse. The tracks are laid in this manner and this ride is something you have experience, which is not available, any where else, I might not be doing justice by explaining them, but you have to come and experience this. From here we went to Stratosphere, which is the tallest point in the whole of Vegas from which you can see the whole city, we took some more pictures and then it was already 11 PM so we headed back. Then I took the car and explored the night lights and the hotels and casinos, it was a good ride and returned home by 2 AM again and crashed (slept) instantly.

25th December, 2000:

We checked out of hotel by 12 after we got up and got ready. Went to Gandhi again for lunch since food was really good over here, then filled up petrol for car also, and headed back home. Traffic on the return was much lesser as against the onward since it was Christmas day. We stopped at Lake Mead, which was really huge and awesome scenery. Water was very cold since the temperature was around 10 degrees, we took some more pictures spent near about an hour and headed back straight home and reached home by 6:30 Pm.

Travel Tips:

Vegas is around 300 Miles from Phoenix located very ideally for a comfortable drive (Approximately 5 hours). To fully explore you will need 2 nights at Vegas, check the web-sites for good hotel deals, weather details.

Yosemite Hike

August 31st, 2001, Friday

I came back early from office by 1:30 PM, packed my back-pack for the three days and left to the Airport by 2 PM. Had to first return my car at the airport and then take the 5 PM flight. Since it was a long weekend over here, thought the traffic into airport would be heavy so left by 2 itself. But, was comfortably at airport by 3:30 PM. Since I had an electronic ticket, I had to get the boarding cards. Electronic ticket, is wherein you don’t have a actual ticket at all. When I made the booking online (through the web) they gave a confirmation number and that is all, no actual tickets. You will not get any tickets at all. Once you give the confirmation number and photo identification to match the name and date of birth, they issue you a boarding card. Over here in US this type of paperless (or rather ticketless) travel is 90% prevalent for all within US travel. Also, it is good enough to be half-an-hour early before the scheduled departure. So I was a little early, so started reading my novel.

Then the journey was for total of  6 hours with 2 hours of waiting in between at Salt Lake City. I had to take two planes to reach San Jose (pronounced as San Husse). I was at San Jose by 11 PM. My friends G & V were waiting at the gate for me. G had arrived one hour earlier at San Jose from Chicago (where he lives). San Jose is a much smaller and older city, so was the airport, as against all the sophisticated really huge airports in US over here, this was a small one, closer to airports in India. Even the roads here were not as in other places in US. It was with pot-holes, reason why they haven’t repaired is, it is busy 24 hours and very narrow and hence they cannot do much.

From the airport we went and did some shopping like some water, pepsi, fruits, granola energy bars, bread, jam etc.. for our trekking. Then we finally reached V’s place by 1 AM. We then ate dinner, along with Minsara kanavu video songs playing. V is staying as paying guest at his friends place. His friends wife had cooked very good (Madrasi sambar), poriyal, rasam. But, they had also gone out to New York for the long weekend to meet someone. So just when I was leaving Phoenix, they had left San Jose. So I did not even meet them because same thing happened on the return. But we had a good dinner.

Then myself and G were talking for sometime and finally we slept by 3 AM.

September 1st, 2001, Saturday

We had to start early since we had 4 hours of driving to Yosemite National park our. So we woke up by 6:30 Am, finished our morning chores quickly and were ready after a quick breakfast of Cereals and milk by 7:30 AM. We went to R and Sagar’s place, who were supposed to join us. They were also G’s classmates at Engineering college. I only knew V from Bangalore itself, had met him at G’s place. But he was also at New Jersey when I was there last year. So we had been to Washington DC and other places together.

So the team of 5 was all set to Yosemite National Park. Click on this document attached for an insight into Yosemite and nature richness.

It was about 4 and half-hours drive from V’s place to Yosemite. We took a break in between for lunch or brunch for R and Sagar. Ate some sandwiches and some cold tea and continued our journey. Since V’s CD player had conked off, music was out of question. So we were back to our good old engineering days each one reminiscing their best moments.

We finally made it to Yosemite by 1 PM. Team decided to start exploring all the sight-seeing areas and a little warm-hiking for the day, so that we can do the toughest hike the next day. So first we drove to bridal veil falls. Since it is end of summer, there was not much water, but still it was a very good view of the falls. We did climb up 1/4th of the falls to an in between area wherein the falls first touches the ground. This was a climb in between the rocks and we relaxed ourselves in the cool water. We climbed because that was the place where we could get to touch water. Water was really cold. After photo sessions with G’s camera, we climbed down and then continued our drive to Glaciers point.

Drive all the way up was very scenic and they had a lot of in between stop areas called as scenic view point areas. You can stop your car over here and enjoy the scenic beauty and we took some photographs all along. There were 3 tunnels and we were finally at the Glacier point. Had some good ice-creams since we were kind of little hungry. Also, ate some chips that we had purchased the previous night.

Then we did a small hike which was actually one of the routes which would have taken us all the way down, which we had climbed with our Jeep (V’s car). We did not go all the way down because it really takes one whole day to climb down and back. You can also, climb (hike) all the way up through this jungle trail. But we had our car already up, so we climbed down a little since it was late 5 PM already. Sun sets here by 7 PM, so we had to be back by then. We saw one bear and two cubs on the way back. We all were a little afraid, but we silently and slowly hiked up and bear kept on looking at us. It was protective of its cubs I guess, but it was very close to the trail.

Then we drove back down and came to Curry Village. This is the camp-site where we had our cabins (or rooms). V had the booking done already, it was very busy and lot of people around. We dumped our luggage in the cabin and headed directly for dinner. It was 8 PM already and we were already tired. Pizzas were the only food over here in only one restaurant. We ordered 3 large pizzas, which was really plenty and would actually suffice 8 to 9 people, but all of us were hungry and 2 and half of this disappeared in just 20 minutes. Then we returned back to our cabins and were all instantly asleep.

September 2nd, 2001, Sunday

We were all ready by 7:30 AM, after our mini-breakfast of bread that we had brought. They had a common bath area, since these were cabins right in the middle of the jungle. There was small queue for the bath, but that was Ok. I found a small restaurant for coffee all of us enjoyed the coffee and then headed off for our hike trail.

We took the free shuttle bus to our hike trail starting point. We started hiking by 8 AM, towards Half-dome (8,842 ft.) peak that is a distance of 16 miles (to and back). I wasn’t really sure if I would be able to complete this hike, because I was out of touch for the past two years. But R and V were with full josh and were all set. Myself and G thought if it gets really tough we would stop in between at Vernal Falls (which is like half-way) and let others complete it. So with this plan we continued. It was really a tough hike given the state we were in. But the scenic beauty and small falls all along and the jungle smell and fresh air was more than sufficient to keep us going. We reached Vernal falls by 11 AM. We took a break and ate some biscuits and granola energy bars. We were already at the top of the other side of the falls that we saw yesterday. This side was called Vernal falls. Stream of water was much stronger over here and it was really a different experience to be watching the falls right from the top of it. We relaxed for 30 minutes at the water stream, which is just before it falls of the cliff to become the falls if you see from bottom. Then we continued our journey. Myself and G had gained our energy by looking at the nature and did not want to be left out all alone and split our water and food and other things. So we continued, leaving R and V to take lead. We were making progress a little slower than the early morning, took more breaks in between for water. My legs were telling me that it cannot climb anymore. It was on average 45 degrees steep climb. But my mind kept on pulling it. We somehow managed to reach the top by 3:30 PM. Ate some apples and some more cookies and then took some rest till 4 PM. But now we had to climb down by 7 PM before the sunsets. None of us had torch, I actually did not even know that it is going to be such a hike.

So we started off early after all the photographs and savoring the view from the top of the mountain. It was the tallest point at Yosemite and it was really awesome view. Since getting down was a little easier for me, but still you knees are the ones that are under constant pressure while getting down, since it has to withstand your complete weight and it is 45 degrees steep. We reached vernal falls by 5:30 PM. Took another break over there till there we did non-stop. We knew we had another 1 and half hours. We finished up all the food we had, but we were still very hungry and exhausted. Drank more water from the cool stream and relaxed our legs in the cool water and started off. We were back by 7:15 PM back at Curry village.

We had another shower with hot water, which was a little relaxing, then headed straight to Pizza center. I was ready to first eat and then shower, but there was a queue at the Pizza center, so we had to wait anyway. But finally once again the Pizzas arrived and disappeared.

Now we had one more problem, we did not have the cabin to stay for today night also. V did not anticipate that we would be scaling Half-dome so he had booking only for one night. We checked again but it was all full. So we had to drive back and V was the only driver, since others cannot drive his car because he is the only one who has insurance and rights to drive. So we took some rest and started off by 9:30 PM towards San Jose.

We kept on making as much noise as possible to keep V and all of us awake and took two breaks in between. We were all back by 1:30 AM. We dropped off R and Sagar and then we returned to V’s place and SLEPT….

September 3rd, 2001, Monday

Woke up late by 10 AM and got ready. G wanted to go to San Francisco. So we three got ready and headed to San Francisco. I had seen this place last time, but G wanted to see. It was 1-hour drive from San Jose. But it was only sight seeing and we headed straight to Golden Gate Bridge and took some pictures and headed back. Went to Udupi restaurant and had our lunch. Lunch was really good.

I had my return plane starting to Salt Lake City by 5 PM, so reached back Phoenix by 9:30 PM because on the return there was only half-an-hour wait at Salt Lake City. So was back home by 11 PM from airport and SLEPT…

New York, The Big Apple

I am back with my New York trip update. Plan was to leave on 17th June, 2000 Saturday early in the morning (me and Guru). Meet Guru’s friend Krishna at the World Trade Center (WTC) Station. As planned we left by train to WTC, and reached there by 10:30 PM. But, guru’s friend was yet to arrive. Guru hadn’t had his breakfast so he had sandwich and I settled with StarBucks (the famous American coffee). I actually had cold coffee, because was bored with the usual black coffee and wanted a change, and the surely the cold coffee was good. Then we rang up his friend but he had already left so we came back to the place we were supposed to meet him and we found him.

Then, we started our journey to explore New York. Places which are usually visited by anyone going to New York are Statue of Liberty, Empire State building, Times Square, 5th Avenue and we were going to do exactly this, but with Guru’s friend as our guide since he stays very much at New York. He is an archietect. He did his B.E. in Archietecture from BMS college came over to New York and did his MS and now works at New York itself. He knew the city really well. So he had a plan for us. As he guided both of us purchased the Metro Train card for the entire day, which he said will be the best because we could switch to any train or bus and need not keep paying. Now before I start explaining our trip here is some of the facts I gathered or concieved about New York. It is the most densly populated city in US. It is also one of the most unique cities in New York. I call it unique because the entire life style and pace is really different here. In all other cities which I have seen till now, a car is a mandatory and good thing to have. But in New York you better off without a car because you don’t have parking place. But, the public or metro trains and bus transport system is so good you need not repent that you don’t have a car. Since it is the most densly populated city, when you get on to any train station or roads it is all fully crowded just like any other city in India, which again you won’t see in other places in US. Actually, you have to be careful with your purses and other belongings in train and buses and even while walking just like in India, that is the advice I got from everyone, and I feel that is true. For population it might be like India city but as far as advancement goes, it is like huge tall buildings all through the roads, on average each building being at least a 50 floors and maximum is the Empire State Building with 102 floors. Each of these contains all the offices, this is in the central place. The residential areas are also very densly populated. But you have to travel by train for half an hour to any of these from the central concrete jungle. Since the city and population grew and they wanted a good public transportation which was difficult by bus they have planned these trains so well you have to appreciate their planning. All the rail-roads are underneath, that is they have dug tunnels for all the train and it is virtually throughout the city. Between these for small transport they still have the buses. So the metro transport is the heart of the city, which runs 24 hours 365 days, I think if this is stopped or if there is strike even for half-an-hour like our BTS strike the entire city will go totally out of control. Also, all these trains are electric trains, with no passenger and they are almost always full and full to the extent of standing. Doors are all automatic, it stops at each station for 1 minute and the station stop name is announced, so you have to be ready to get down or else the door will automatically close. So swipe your card and enter the station and then find the right track and get on to the train you want. So you 100% need the map of the metro rail and bus route showing you how the city is connected, each rail route is numbered and also they have color coding and marked with North, South, East or NorthEast directions. So direction sense and understanding of the map and the figuring out the train number and getting on to the right train is very important. You might ask me how long is the wait, maximum is 5 minutes, but after 10 PM in the night it will be 15 to 30 minutes that is the frequency is reduced (that is what I learnt from my friend), but during the day you just need to get to the track you will get the train. So it is more or less the city that never sleeps.

Now our friend had the plan ready, he asked us if we would like to go to his place and also a temple close by where we could have good lunch also. It was a long time since I had gone to a temple, so we took the Metro train and by 12:15 we were at the temple, which was at a place called Jackson Heights, which has the most Indian population migrated to New York settled. On the way we also saw the US open court that is where the US open tennis is played. My friend was telling me if I am here till August we could go to US open and watch it live. Now the temple was really good, there was all our dieties (Shiva, Muruga, Lakshmi, Venkateshawara, also opposite to the temple there was a small Brindavanam, which is Raghavendra temple) in a single temple but the main god was our Ganesha, there was also the Brahmostavam going on. After all the prayers and prasadam we went down to the canteen. This was where they had all our food but at a very nominal price. I had Masala Dosa and VenPongal. So after lunch we took the train back to 5th Avenue, this is the place just like our MG Road, that is the pretty much offices with every building around 50 or 70 floors, with full of shopping complexes and offices. But, everything was just very expensive. This is the place where all the Hollywood folks or rich folks do their shopping so we did our window shopping. Then we went to Krishna’s office which is also in 5th Avenue. It was nice to see the architecture office theirs is the 5th largest architects office. He was working on the a building for Supreme court which was again 58 floors and they had the design goes for around 2 years and then building it itself will be another 3 years. After a brief rest and coffee at his office we started off and headed to Statue of Liberty. Took another train and reached there, but we could not go to the Island since we were late, they close to boats that take to the island by 3:30 PM. So we saw the liberty statue from the far, and took pictures thinking of getting back to the island later. This is the island which was the entry point for all the immigrants entering US in 17 and 1800’s and they have a lot of history.

Then we took the train back to Empire statue building. This building is 102 floors and they took one year to build it. It was built in 1932, and they take you in a lift to 86th floor. The lift that takes you up to 86th floor is so fast that it is less than 2 minutes. Now up there at 86th floor you can see the New York skyline and all the other tall buildings from the tallest building of all. But this is the second tallest in the world with the first being in Malayasia, Kaulampur. It takes $9 to take you up and the view is really worth it. Then we came back to Times Square. This is the central place where all the major channels head quarters and broadcasting stations are present. Like the MTV, CNN, ESPN, ABC (American Broadcasting Company and even the WWF live show that is shown on Star etc is right over here. Next time probably might watch one of the WWF shows. It is like most of the stuff that we see on TV are right over here. We took some pictures and then went to McDonalds had dinner. I was totally exhausted with walking and the train journey that is standing in most of the trains, so finally took the NJ transit train back to Morristown and was too happy to find a seat, fell asleep for the 1:15 minutes journey to Morristown.

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