Picture taken: May 2005, about 13,000ft from the base of Kedar Kantha peak. Here is the travelogue of my [tag]Har-Ki-Doon[/tag] trek. The weather was changing so rapidly that within 30 minutes we had a hail shower, bright sunlight and then a wet spell. Needless to say, it was chilly, but unbelievably beautiful outside.

Picture taken: May 2005, about 10,000ft in Garhwal Himalayas. Here is the travelogue of my trip.

One of the interesting things about high altitude camping is the unique taste of the food. Above the tree line, water becomes more-or-less tasteless. Since Indian cooking involves generous use of water (from stewing vegetables to preparing dough), food cooked here does tastes funny. जेवणात चव उतरत नाही (the taste doesn’t sink into the food). Even before you hit the tree-line, cooking yummy food becomes increasingly difficult.

There are other operational issues:

• Due to low atmospheric pressure, boiling point of water reduces. So, water boils at a much lower temperature, for example, at the place where this picture was taken the BP would be approximately 90° (Rambodoc would say: “Its cool to boil water”)
• The only source of ignition is firewood. The three basic factors required for a fire are – (1) source of ignition, (2) Oxygen and (3) heat. The last two being less available, it takes long time to light a fire.
• More water needs to be used to compensate faster losses (moisture in the air is very low).
• Finally, food needs to be cooked for a longer time.

Why??

Consider boiling an egg. In the plains, water boils at 100° and it takes 5 minutes for an egg to boil (assume). At 10,000 ft however, water boils at 90°, and in order to equalize the heat (calories) gained by the egg, it has to absorb heat for a longer time. The cooks that I spoke to told me that it takes 25 minutes to boil one egg (boy! thats a hard-shelled egg).

Turning up heat will not make a difference. Figure out why

Baking food needs even more care, such as leavening gases in breads and cakes expand more, or an extra egg may be required to enhance bonding and strength. I have no knowledge about cooking meat though.

Can I cook the same taste food somewhere else? I tried using Distilled water once, but thats just one factor. Perhaps in a laboratory simulation, cooking few grams of high-altitude tasting food would be possible!

Shringi Rishi was the legendary Indian Hindu saint or Rishi of sage Kashyapa ‘s lineage.Shringi Rishi was great saint of the Ramayan era of ancient India.His father was great saint Vibhandak Rishi.Shringi Rishi performed ‘Putrakameshti Yajya’ for King Dashrath of Ayodhya,after that Lord Rama and his three brothers were born….A temple of Shringi Rishi, is also located at Banjar in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, in whose honour a fair is held every year in May.

A small village located above the temple of Shringi Rishi has two intimidating tall structures These towers, the highest one being 11 storeys high was built in 19th century at an height of about 7000ft. The earthquake of 1095 destroyed two floors of the tower. Entry is now restricted to the buildings, but the priest was very generous to allow visitors from Mumbai to take a peek inside the sacred temple located on the highest level. Its a wonder and a priceless archeological landmark. Unfortunately not many people know about it.

If you have more information about this place, please share it with us

Related photos from my gallery:

Photo from my [tag]Har ki doon[/tag] trek (May 2005). First camp at [tag]Juda Talao[/tag], 8000 ft.

Band members playing some nice music

Some fireworks while the couple exit the temple after darshan

People break into celebrations

Celebrations – dance, music, crackers and some rain!

It was good to see that the people were very liberal and girls were participating with boys. They invited us to participate in the celebrations. I tried to play the huge pipes (dunno what they are called), but in vain…

I was touched by the simplicity of the people here, and the whole region in general (Kullu, Banjar, Jibhi, Manali etc). I spoke to one of the guys. He appreciated that people from cities are visiting remote places now. But he also expressed concern that it shouldn’t be overdone. Ok all that’s a different post.

Mountain cycling right up to the snow clad peaks was amazing and the cold winds with occasional rain refreshed my turbulent soul. A heat treatment followed later at Amritsar and Delhi, which burnt my skin and left me dehydrated. It was fun though.

This year’s itinerary consists mainly of a himalayan [tag]mountain cycling[/tag] expedition arranged by Youth Hostels Association of India. I will also visit other places in North India: Chandigarh, Kullu-Manali valley, Dharamsala, Amritsar and New Delhi.

seeya !