Friday, October 20, 2006
8 October, 2006
We left for our trekking expedition a little apprehensive. We drove about 2 hours until we reached the foothills of the Himalayas and the gypsy villages. We passed rice fields, walnut trees, mulberry trees and beautiful mountains on the way. The luggage and the food etc. was packed onto the horses and we started the trek in Naranag. It was very steep the whole way up and there was absolutely no downhill at any stage. We climbed high up through the forest full of pine trees and now and then we jumped on a horse for a while. The air was very thin and we were not acclimatized at all. It was really tough but we finally reached the campsite – exhausted. I felt really sorry for the horses who had to lug our stuff up and they were loaded with heavy blankets and the rest. One of the horses actually fell on the way up and that was not pleasant to see. He was alright but I would have preferred it if the gypsies carried all the stuff- quite honestly! Anyway, we were right in the mountains and our tent was perched above a gypsy house with magnificent views. It was fairly cold and the sun set quite early. Rich was a bit nervous about the whole camping thing- it is not quite his style. Chef Goolam was cooking up a storm in the kitchen (tent) and it was nice and warm their. We had a great dinner but unfortunately Rich was struggling to sit, it was a bit cramped and I think that unless you are a guy who does yoga, it is not easy sitting and eating in the confined space. We managed somehow and got to bed. Well, tossing and turning and not much sleep was had the first night.
We left for our trekking expedition a little apprehensive. We drove about 2 hours until we reached the foothills of the Himalayas and the gypsy villages. We passed rice fields, walnut trees, mulberry trees and beautiful mountains on the way. The luggage and the food etc. was packed onto the horses and we started the trek in Naranag. It was very steep the whole way up and there was absolutely no downhill at any stage. We climbed high up through the forest full of pine trees and now and then we jumped on a horse for a while. The air was very thin and we were not acclimatized at all. It was really tough but we finally reached the campsite – exhausted. I felt really sorry for the horses who had to lug our stuff up and they were loaded with heavy blankets and the rest. One of the horses actually fell on the way up and that was not pleasant to see. He was alright but I would have preferred it if the gypsies carried all the stuff- quite honestly! Anyway, we were right in the mountains and our tent was perched above a gypsy house with magnificent views. It was fairly cold and the sun set quite early. Rich was a bit nervous about the whole camping thing- it is not quite his style. Chef Goolam was cooking up a storm in the kitchen (tent) and it was nice and warm their. We had a great dinner but unfortunately Rich was struggling to sit, it was a bit cramped and I think that unless you are a guy who does yoga, it is not easy sitting and eating in the confined space. We managed somehow and got to bed. Well, tossing and turning and not much sleep was had the first night.
# posted by Heidi & Richard's travels @ 7:17 AM 
