Author: Bill Aitken
Publishers: Penguin Books
Pages: 194
Those who are new to Bill Aitken might find his language of writing complicated, and at least initially, find it not very readable. But those who stick to him are the ones who are rewarded. Nanda Devi Affair is probably the finest book from Aitken portraying his love and passion for the mountains of Uttaranchal and is full of reverence to the goddess of the mountain in every page.
The book starts with Aitkens rambles about his love for mountains, and soon you will find him unable to stop raving about the beauty of Nanda Devi. As he explains the geography of the region, he walks the reader through his treks, sharing its beauty and talking about its lore mixed with little bit of history. His experiences of watching bharals(blue sheep) walk free, beauty of the high mountains and his ordeals of having to go through some difficult terrains and painful weather are all mixed with his greatest respect to what the mountain goddess has for him to offer. He also has plenty to talk about the mountain people of garhwal. An excellent book, and a must read for the mountain lovers.
Travelling in Himachal in June – 2007
Shimla >> Manali >> Rohtang >> Chandratal >> Ki/Kibber/Tabo >> Kalpa >> Shimla
+ Previous: Loosing things during the journey
+ Next: Giri River Camp, Himachal
+ Go to beginning of the story or index page
Next morning, I had to get down from the bus at Solan – a little before Shimla, and head to a riverside camp owned by a friend, which was another hour’s drive away. “I will be picked up by someone at 5.30 at Solan by-pass”, he had told me. Unfortunately my bus had reached there much earlier – at 3.45 and I had to wait till 5.15 in a nondescript place which, to some extent resembled a bus-stand but did not have a proper place to sit. Being up north, dawn broke earlier than I expected and people started moving up and down the streets a little before it was still well lit.
I started a conversation with the driver the moment I was in the car. He lived in a small village near the river camp with his family and they depended primarily on agriculture. Working as a part time driver earned him some additional income. He said “we are eleven people in the family”. Most of the houses in the region had a lot of people living under one roof. I asked the same question to another guy later on, and he did not have an answer ready. “Bahut log hein” – There are many, he said without bothering to get a count! Despite living in the hills and having to do some tough physical labour, most of the locals did not look very strong, but seemed a bit frail instead. Neither were they talkative, smiling and enthusiastic lot that you normally get to meet in the high hills.
We drove through winding hilly roads which offered vistas of the valley below. “You must be finding Himachal very beautiful”, said the drive, without really giving me a choice of an answer. I nodded. He suddenly stopped the car at a place nowhere, overlooking a valley and said – “spend some time and have a look at those beautiful hills”. It was very unlike any driver and I got down from the car, surprised. His motto became clear when he walked a little farther to quickly relieve himself and got back to continue the journey! We deviated from the main road, crossed a river on a narrow bridge and continued on a road that got narrower, lost its tarmac, and eventually terminated at a river-front. He halted and said “you need to walk on this track along the river bed”, and we parted there.
Continued at Giri River Camp, Himachal
Travelling in Himachal in June – 2007
Shimla >> Manali >> Rohtang >> Chandratal >> Ki/Kibber/Tabo >> Kalpa >> Shimla
+ Previous: The beginning
+ Next: The first morning in Himachal
My friend being an avid traveller and having been living in Delhi for a while, knew much about Himachal and surrounding region. We discussed places to go to and things to do over rest of the day, and he gave me reference of a jeep driver in Manali, which was to be of much use to us later in the journey.
That night, I boarded the bus from ISBT(inter-state bus terminus) heading towards Shimla. We took the Delhi Metro to ISBT and I was pretty impressed by it. We were infact getting late for my bus, and when I reached ISBT, the bus was almost ready to leave. The conductor said – “I was just waiting for you.. we are ready to leave!” and hurried me into the bus. And in the hurry, I dropped my woolen cap somewhere, which I realized later.
The woolen cap was meant to be just one of the many things that I was to loose or forget during the journey. When I started from home in the morning, I had forgotten to take a memory card which I had bought only for the sake of Himachal journey. Luckily I did not find the need for that, but many things were lost on the way which were of much more use. The monkey cap was not one of them, as we never had a single cold day anywhere during our journey! A shawl was another thing I had forgotten to pack, and I ended up buying a woolen shawl and a cap in Shimla. Both of them remained packed and unused through the journey.
The next thing to go amiss was my goggles. We were trekking somewhere in Manali and I had left behind my Goggles case when we had stopped near a stream. An hour down the line, I was wondering where did I miss it, and my friend told me that he had picked it up. We stopped, I picked up the case from him and put my (expensive)goggles inside, and as we kept talking, left it there itself on the ground and moved on! With high hopes, we even returned to the spot next morning and it was already taken.
The next thing was my hat, a very nice and useful one that I had purchased in Corbett. Being a bit sensitive to heat and sun, a hat and goggles were my important accessories, and only the hat had remained right now. I have no idea what happened to it or where did I loose it, but the next morning when I was looking out for it all around in my bags it was nowhere to be found. I spend a good 15 minutes searching all around for it, resulting in no good.
Having known that I can’t manage without Goggles and a hat, I purchased a pair of cheap glasses and a locally made hat, which served me well through the journey. The glasses, I finally gave to our driver, but the hat still remains with me today, and will probably never get used again.
So it was memory card, woolen cap, shawl, goggles and hat so far. I announced it all to my friend and we decided to remain doubly careful for rest of the journey. So until almost end of the journey, things were fine and everything was safe with us. My friend was so alert that he even picked up a hankey I had forgotten behind one day! But at the end of the journey, it was the turn of my lonely planet guidebook. Despite searching the whole jeep for anything leftover, the book had hidden itself somewhere and escaped being picked up. But this is one thing that eventually got back to me. Our good man driver couriered it back to me a month down the line!
+ Continued at : The first morning in Himachal