Up the Mountain

The other day started out...bad. I woke up to find out 1) nearly the whole town was on a hunger strike at the temple, protesting China's control of Tibet and thus there was no food or shopping to be found unless you climbed an hour up the mountain; 2) the water in my cottage was out and I couldn't take a shower or flush my toilet; 3) one of my 3 shirts, and the only long-sleeved shirt I had, was stolen from where it was hanging to dry so I was forced to don a wet t-shirt; 4) I was getting the beginning of a cold and a wheeze from living in my very moldy musty damp cottage; and 5) I used my last sliver of western toilet paper. I was pretty grumpy.

But it ended up...phenom. I climbed Triund, a mountain of approximately 2900 feet with my Polish friends. The hike up took about 4-5 hours. The trail at first was very confusing and the mountain shepherds and others we met on the way would point us in any old direction when we asked where the trail was. After a while the trail became clearer but the view came and went with the passing clouds. A group of three dogs followed us all the way from town to the top of the mountain. Halfway up we met a shepherd from the Kullu valley (identifiable by his cool hat) who was very angry about the dogs. In a garbled mix he told us that the dogs had killed his sheep the day before. There were 3 chai stalls on the way up the mountain where we would stop and enjoy the view and occasionally run across other climbers. At the top, we were hit by the moonsoon and sat for 2 hours with Amil, the many who owned the place. He lives 8 months out of the year on the mountain top, tending to his store, while in the winter months he lives with his family in a village a few hours walk away. Every week or so he or one of his cousins go to town with a few horses to bring supplies like tea, flour to make chapati, bottled drinks, and other goodies up to the mountain. On top we also met some Indian tourists and huddled with them in the cold under Amil's blankets in his small stall, drinking chai and chatting about Hindu gods, the mountain people of the area, and politics. It is a rumored that a small band of approximately 1000 people of Scottish descent live in the mountains. They keep to themselves, wear tribal dress with kilts, and are very wealthy, with over 500 sheep. They are very reclusive and when seen don't allow any snaps. It is also rumored that with a day's walk there are ruins of an ancient Greek encampment. It was very cold and wet and half of the climb was on slippery large rocks and while we wanted to climb higher to the glaciers, we decided to head back down. It is possible to stay the night on a small shack up on the mountain but we passed on that opportunity and opted to walk back down in the rain. In a few minutes it cleared and the view was just unbelievable. We could see glaciers!!

This community here is fascinating. The city is filled primarily with Tibetan refugees and their families, Tibetan monks, Kashmiris who run many of the stores, and fewer Indians from here and surrounding areas. There are many domestic tourists here, right now mostly Punjabis. The Punjabis annoy me because the men stare at me a lot and always ask "ek snap?" ("one photograph?") They always want to take my picture. If you let someone take a picture you won't escape, they will keep clicking and clicking. I made this mistake at the Golden Temple in Punjab where an entire extended Sikh family was posing with me and putting their babies in their arms. That's one thing, but the men on holiday is another.

The past few days I stayed in town but yesterday I moved up the mountain to a much nicer and much cheaper room ($2.25/night) higher in the mountains. This is the area primarily populated by a few local Indians who run the guesthouses and also are shepherds or if the woman runs the guesthouse, the man is a shepherd higher up the mountain, Israelis, and assorted Europeans. Many of these foreigners have lived here for months or years and several have overstayed their visas. It feels a lot safer and quieter than the town. My view from my room is unbelievable and I have the worst room in the place, with no private bathroom. I still think it's nice and really the only downside is that the window to the shared squat toilet is on a hill, so the children playing in the fields can come up to the window and laugh at you when you squat to pee as they did to me yesterday. "Jao!"

My Polish friends left for Manali and then to Leh in Ladakh on the second highest road in the world. I was very tempted to go with them but the road frequently washes out and there really is no telling how long the journey could take, from here a minimum of 24 hours driving (10 hours bus and 14 hours shared Jeep; or 10 hours + 28 hours on a bus) and sometimes the entire road washes out and there is no way back. There are twice weekly flights from Leh to Delhi but they are expensive and unreliable. The road itself is only open a few months of the year. SO TEMPTING! But y'all might never see me again if I went.

Last night I attended a great party with a very international crowd and this morning I woke to eat Tibetan Tsangpa porridge and shortly I will try to navigate the Indian postal service, will eat some momos (Tibetan dumplings), and will try to figure out where to go next. I'll leave tonight or tomorrow, for somewhere. Maybe Gangotri, the source of the Ganga.