Surviving the Himalayas

Well, I'm still alive (though you might not have known considering how infrequently I update this) and I'm back from my Himalayan trek! I'm also terrifyingly only a month away from going home. I have a lot of feelings and thoughts about this huge transition, but let me first talk about the trip!! 

 First of all: it was the best trip of this year and also one of the best experiences of my entire life. Just 10 days filled with my best friends, hiking and camping, beautiful nature and a new favorite city - Manali. 

We started by taking a train to Delhi and spending a half day there. Unfortunately I was pretty sick the few days before the trip (that combined with no wifi at my house was why I didn't finish my North India blog before I left) so that day I basically just rested. We had a long overnight bus ride to Manali and arrived in the morning. One of the things we noticed immediately was that it was cold. Now for those of you in Minnesota that probably doesn't sound very exciting. But considering that it's been roughly 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit for the past month and half in Pune and even in the Winter it never got below 30 or 40 degrees (again, obviously, Fahrenheit), the cold was incredibly exciting. Plus: SNOW!!! And pine trees!! And proper mountains! This woke us up pretty quickly. 

Delhi!

We had a day in Manali in which we saw two temples and walked around the town and prepared for our trek. We ended up having to buy a lot of supplies (which was a bummer because Rotary had told us we could rent things) but I think I'll be able to use everything back in the US. We packed carefully and rested up for the big trip. The hotel was simple, but very comfortable and homey (Audrey and I had a gigantic fluffy comforter which we loved). The next morning we started off.

The first snow! (it's the little white bit in the back) 

Old Manali

In total it was 5 days of hiking. Each day was a little different. The first and the last were by far the hardest. The first day was difficult because it was a lot of stairs and we weren't used to so much hiking. On the last day we had to hike the entire way back which we had came, though by a different route, and going downhill was hard. 

Old Manali was beautiful

We had two campsites and spent two nights at each. Two of the days we just sort of explored. The first one we went pretty much straight up the mountain...to snow! It was very exciting. We all threw snowballs and ran around and sledded down the hills and had a lot of fun. Winter is my second favorite season (it's close though after spring) and since it was the first snow I'd seen in a year and a half I made the best of it.

Right outside of our hotel!

The other day that we explored we walked a very long ways away and made it back exhausted. It was (mostly) worth it to be able to say that we did that and for the amazing view, but it was tiring. Overall though the scenery was simply gorgeous. There's not really anything I can compare it to. I barely remember seeing the Rockies or driving through the Alps because I was so young. There's just not really mountains this huge in the US. It was especially humbling when we realized that we were only in the low area of the Himalayas - so they were relatively small!

All of us ready to go!

A temple!

On our trek we had an amazing guide named Mohan who was very fun but also interesting to talk to. He spends half the year guiding in Manali and the other half guiding in the Alps, so he was fluent in French and spoke English with an adorable French accent. Along with us we also had 12 ponies who carried all of our supplies. They were ok but not friendly (despite my many blown kisses and pet names only one or two begrudgingly allowed me to pet them) and unfortunately the bells they wore on their neck kept us up at night (Audrey and I are convinced they purposefully ran circles around our tent.) There were two handlers for them and 4 helpers for our amazing cook. They made very simple food but when you’ve been hiking and sweating for hours we all would have sold our soul to the devil for another potato or hard broiled egg.

Luckily the hikes weren’t too long so each day we napped and explored the area around our camp. Every evening we also made a big fire; one evening even cooking delicious vegetables over it! It was a little strange because it reminded me so much of camp (side note: for those who don’t know I’ve been going to YMCA Camp Icaghowan every summer since I was 11 and I’ve worked there the past two summers.) but it was also really new and fun for that reason. Whereas on all our other trips we’ve seen amazing places and sites it’s been very hectic with lots of driving around and tours. This trip was about relaxing, relishing the amazing landscape and appreciating the company of each other.

A yak!

The first snow!!   

When we got back we had a day and a half in Manali before we left for Delhi. We lounged around the hotel, watched some movies (a mix of newer good animated ones and obscure older ones) and shopped. Manali has two pretty distinct parts. There's New Manali, which is basically a giant pedestrian area with little streets branching off and full of tourists. Surprisingly Manali is a very popular place for honeymooning couples. How to spot them? The women will have fading mehendi up to their elbows and most are wearing at least 20 cherry red, rhinestone encrusted bangles on each wrist. And they wear this no matter what! Often they’ll be wearing fancy dresses with matching odni (scarf), leggings and heels but sometimes a woman will be wearing simply jeans and a t-shirt but the bangles and mehendi give her away as a newlywed. I kind of like it, and I feel like it's a good representation of India. No matter the western influence it retains it's traditions. Speaking of traditional, the other part of Manali is the old area. It's still pretty modern but there's women washing laundry on rocks how I'm sure they have for the past few generations. Walking outside the entry of our hotel there was a small barn with several cows (whom I unsuccessfully attempted to befriend). And the houses are also obviously much older and have probably been there for many generations. That's something that as an American is hard for me to grasp. That the building that I'm looking at is possibly older than my country and for hundreds of years as technology advanced and humans discovered the world these people have continued to live in much the same way. It's just a perspective that you never encounter in the United States, but it's one I've come to appreciate in India. 

In the older part there were less tourists but the foreigners definitely outnumbered the Indians. There was one main road (which our hotel was at the very end of) and the sides were lined with every manner of shop. From restaurants (we went to a little place just to play chess and eat falafel and hummus and pita twice!) to tons and tons of clothing and blanket and handicraft stores. There was also lots with hair braids and piercings. On our last day while hurrying back from shopping Audrey and I passed one such establishment. She turned to me and asked if I’d go with her if she got her ear pierced. I had promised my family (and tentatively myself) that I wouldn’t risk infection by getting one here, but I was sorely tempted. She reassured me that we wouldn’t do it today, probably tomorrow if at all, but we should just go in and take a look. We went in and interrogated the very nice owner about his sterilization techniques. Long story short we both got our ears pierced, a hair braid and she got a dreadlock. It was all incredibly exciting and very, very spontaneous, but I loved it. And it definitely bonded us together, basically if our ears get infected they’ll get infected together! I don’t know if I’ve really emphasized it enough in my blog (or if it’s possible to do it enough) but Audrey has been my absolute best friend this year and I can’t imagine my year without her company (I love you so much Audy that I might write a blog just about our adventures and fun!). 

To try and wrap this up we drove back to Delhi, relaxed and went to an amazing mall for the day and then took the train home. Having the few days of relaxation bookending our trek was really nice, especially because we were all exhausted and sleep deprived. But now I’m back in Pune and realizing how little time I have left! I’ll stop here because I have so many feelings about leaving that it’s at least one blog. Hope you enjoyed and I promise to get the others up soon!