Scuba Diving at Murudeshwara - first but not the last time.

New year resolutions still fresh – year of few regrets –I signed Ankit (12yrs) and myself up for a BMC organized scuba diving trip to Murudeshwara.

Summary of events:

• Went through a trip organized by BMC. There were five of us along with a driver and a co-ordinator.
• We left Friday night at 9pm and were back Monday morning at 7am.
• Drive to Murudeshwara took 10 hours each way. It was hard to sleep in the car - little tight on space and there are lots of curves and bends in the road along the away.
• After a short two hour nap we did a swimming pool lesson Saturday afternoon that last for two hours ( 30 min in the pool)
• Spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying touristy water sports and visiting the amazingly massive statue and temple there.
• Took a one hour ride to Netrani Island where we snorkeled while waiting for our turn to dive. There were other groups ( around 10 other people) that had come on other boats. We never docked at the Island but mainly swam, snorkeled and chilled on the boat.
• Came back, used the swimming pool lockers to bathe and change before having dinner and heading back to Bangalore.

Great:

• Ability to do all this over a weekend ( Thank you BMC)
• Scuba diving experience ( read first timer learnings here )
• Snorkeling while waiting for turn to dive.
• Option to do a second dive ( at Rs 1000/- extra)
• Seeing the sights of Murudeshwara
• Very good seafood at Naveen Beach Resort.

Not so great:

• Long drive back after a tiring day - it ensured we were back in town on Monday morning but if you have an option try to stay there another night.
• Having a sick driver popping pills and driving 
• through hilly areas at night - once again ensured we were back by Monday morning.
• Being in the midst of co-ordination chaos with bad cell phone coverage. We were not always sure where and what was going on. This worked in a five person group but would have driven a bigger group crazy. All worked out in the end but there were frustrating moments.

Will I do this again? Yes !! I loved diving. The BMC trip was a great starter and as soon as Ankit and I get our swimming practice going and can do 200m with ease we will be going for a certification course.

First time scuba diving - a few learnings

Sensible Things I learnt from my first scuba lesson-

• You DO NOT need to be able to swim 200m. You should be comfortable in water. I have a feeling they have taken people that cannot swim much for a discovery dive. You are wearing something equivalent to a life jacket all the time.
• The first dive is more like a tour. You move your legs and obey the instructor. My second dive taught me a lot more about balancing and control - when my instructor did not hold onto me and control everything.
• The guided dives are safe - even if the equipment fails you can get to the surface with ease. They key overall is not to panic.
• It was a comfortable and enjoyable experience for a 12 year old.
• Calm is the word. Don’t move your arms and stay calm. Breath and soon you’ll forget you are underwater.
• You swim way faster and go further when swimming underwater.

Fun things I learnt -

• It is amazing down there. I would compare it to watching the forest scenes from the movie Avatar. A beautiful different world where the sun filters in through the water, hundreds of fish swim at arms length, then dart away and hide behind rocks and stare at you.
• Swim in the Indian Ocean - where it is warm and you don’t need a wetsuit.
• Unless a fish is stuck in a rock or something it is hard to touch one. I tired a lot :)
• If you can then do snorkel above a diver - it is a lot of fun to play with the bubbles.

Rajasthan - Doing Jodhpur, Osian and Udaipur. Forts, sand dunes and lakes.

This is a summarized take of our five day trip through three cities in Rajasthan.

Overview

We spent five days in Rajasthan during the first week of October. The trip booked by myself (no travel agent). I used makemytrip.com for flights.For staying I used hotel website (after comparative analysis from makemytrip for rooms). Emailing and calling up hotels ensured I got a good rate. I used tripadvisor and other reviews extensively to choose the places I wanted to stay at, eat at and go to.

Getting around Rajasthan:

Bangalore to Jodhpur flight.

Jodhpur - Osian - Jodhpur was by a taxi 

Jodhpur - Udaipur flight *

Udaipur - Bangalore flight.

*We could have done Jodhpur - Udaipur by car but it is an eight hour drive. We did not have the time or want (due to Ashvin's car sickness) to find a taxi for it. I have heard that it is not a bad ride. The roads in rajasthan are pretty decent unless it is after monsoon when they can get a bumpy due to potholes.

Overall – great experience, saw a bit of everything. Would love to do Jaipur and Jaisilmer but was happy we did not try to add any more cities. With kids I’d recommend people limit it to three cities maximum. We met another family that were doing Delhi –Agra-Jaipur-Jodhpur-Osian-Udaipur-Delhi in one week and I must say I had not seen sadder wearier travellers.

Summarized Details

Jodhpur - one night.

Stayed at : Taj Hari Mahal Booked the rooms from their website.

Other Hotels Reviewed:

Umaid Bhavan - too expensive.

Raas - did not find enough reviews on it. Taj seemed to be a safer bet.

Highlights

Ziplinning at Mehargarh fort. By far my favorite thing that I did in Rajasthan.

Evening entertainment at the Taj - very nice Rajasthani puppet show, magic show and traditional music and dance. High quality and nicely done.

The kid’s play area at the Taj Hotel - games and chocolates that the kids really enjoyed.

Swimming pools that the pigeons flocked at. There seemed to be guy whose only job was to shoo them away.

Lowlights

Trip to the old market. I guess I am not a foreigner enough. Growing up in a small town in Bihar we had plenty of markets like that - crowded and dirty. Places where you can get cheated and groped if you are not carefull.

Getting around

Used autos. Could have used the hotel taxi but we had short trips and autos worked. The auto drivers also give you a business card so you can call them to take you back if you want.

Osian (75Km from Jodhpur) - two nights.

Stayed at : Osian Resort Camps (they picked us up and dropped us back to Jodhpur)

Other places reviewed:

Reggie’s Camp – seemed a little too targeted towards grown ups.

Camp Thar – Not open till Oct 15^th ( we were there early October)

Highlights

Camel ride to the sand dunes. The boys buried themselves in the fine soft sands and never wanted to leave.

Good, homestyle Rajasthani food (lots and lots of ghee - clarified butter)

The cook walked us through the huge farm - the song "Along the fields of barley" kept playing in my head.

This camp was not high end like the Taj - entertainment in the evening was average but the people were great, the tents nice and there was plenty of sand to the kids to enjoy. By far my favourite part of the trip.

Lowlights

Nothing here. We really enjoyed it. There was another family that came by and the kids wanted pizza and were disappointed by the absence of anything but vegetarian Rajasthani food. My kids on the other hand gobbled up the parathas and kichdii and learnt to love ghee and jaggery.

Getting around

It was all inclusive so camel rides and jeep safari ensured we saw places around the camp.

Udaipur - two nights.

Stayed at:  The Sheraton. Nice hotel. Got an amazing deal from their website (something to the tunes of Rs 5000 per night for club rooms). The hotel was nice but really really pricey as far as food was concerned - even more expensive than The Taj. Club room perks were very nice.

Other Hotels Reviewed:

Lake Palace – too expensive

There are many other properties in Udaipur but after discovering the great deal at Sheraton I did not look. Most high end hotels are really expensive in this town so shop around a little.

Highlights

Dinner at Jag Mandir (in the middle of the lake, next to Lake Palace). You have to make reservations and there is a cover charge of about Rs 2700 per couple. The amount easily gets used up if you decide to have a drink with dinner.

Dinner at  Fateh Garh palace resorts. Were invited there by some friends and it is a really nice hotel. The view from the hillside looking onto Udaipur was perfect to say the least.

View from Karni Mata Mandir - the line to get up there via a cable car is very long but we thought watching the sunset, seeing the lights turn on in the city below and then visiting the temples where the rats run free was worth it.

Half day horse Safari with Krishna Ranch. Ashvin (4) who rode with our team leader got bored two hours into it. They were nice enough to send him and my nanny back and Ankit and I spent around four hour roaming the outskirts of Udaipur on our horses. Great little walk though a local village was a treat when we stopped for a break.

Lowlights:

Crowd at the city palace.

Trash around the city.

 Getting around:

The driver of the pre-paid cab I picked up at the airport was nice. I got his card and used him for the next two day - I'd call, he'd show up, we'd go over the rate for my plan for the day and go with it.

Adventures on airplanes - But that is my baggage bin.

I met a first timer on a flight today. Rare to see people taking a flight for the first time. He had boarded just behind me and showed up at his seat to find someone else putting their baggage in the overhead compartment. He checked his seat number, looked at the way more experienced man who had sneaked something to the tune of five carry-ons of all shapes and sizes. The man was stuffing them in the baggage bin above seat 30.

"This is for seat 30" blurted the poor newbie.

With an exasperated look of someone who has been through this before he said - "It does not work like that, you put your luggage where you find space".

Newbie was taken aback but he must have had a talk in the mirror earlier in the day. One of those talks to pump yourself about an upcoming event- where you decide you will not be taken advantage of; you will not be a newbie.

"But it says seat 30 here" He pointed to the number below the bin.

"But it does not work that way, you find a spot and you take it" repeated the bin grabber taking off his huge jacket and shoving that into the bin too before walking away.

I saw newbie looking lost, and then he found a spot for his carefully measured and weighed airline recommended hand luggage. I saw a look of fear as he thought someone else was sitting in his seat. I saw the look of relief as the confusion was sorted and he sat into the exact seat printed on his ticket. As he had his back toward me I could no longer see his face but I could imagine him taking mental notes. He'd be further ahead in the boarding line, he'd never relinquish his bin again ever, and maybe he'd even bring in some more carry-ons. I am sure flying was not as dignified and civilized as he had imagined.

Sadly this was a long long 15 hour flight. I saw his face again as we were leaving the plane. Yes, flying was not as dignified and civilized as he had imagined.

Stories take work - sometimes they take two autos, two buses and a car ride.

Things don't just happen. I don't wake up in the morning and go off and something fun happens. Most of my days are pretty planned - even the ones that turn out to be fun. All in all most of what I have done in India has been very deliberate.

I had to take a train back from one of my trekking trips. It was four hours away from Bangalore. I was alone and when I reached the station I was told the train was cancelled. I asked the station incharge how to find a bus and he told me that I'd have to get to a town five kilometers away. I whipped out my phone and wrote down the name. It sounded really foreign. The way to get to that town was via shared autos - where you pay per seat.

I sat in a shared auto. One that had me alongside a group of interesting people. A woman - who folded her legs on the seat making room for a huge bundle of veggies and made herself really comfortable for the ride. A teenager in school uniform looking really depressed at having to wear school clothes on a Sunday. An old man with tobacoo stained teeth who shared the seat with the driver and talked non stop all the way. A middle aged man with a really strict face that kept sneaking shifty glances at everyone else in the auto. I really wanted someone to climb in with a goat, that would complete the picture of me backpacking through a small Indian town. The 5K trip  on this shared auto cost me Rs 5 (10cents).  It took that little to leave me with so many images and so many stories in my head.

The auto dropped me at the town's bus station. I walked around and bought two guavas for 20 cents from a guy I could not understand. Fingers and pointing helped. With fruit in hand I walked around looking for an air conditioned bus. The trip was going to be four hours long and I wanted something comfortable. It was a busy bus station but I soon realized that there were no AC buses so I got onto what is known as a local bus - with a hard wooden bench for a seat and open windows. Experienced, I placed my backpack on the seat next to me deciding to remove it only when the seat was needed. The Indian me had the whole bench to myself. I was pleased.

The bus stopped in towns I had never heard of. I ate boiled peanuts and South Indian fried fritters I had not seen before. I amused a tiny two year old that sat in the seat in front of me. I even sneaked a nap despite the hard seat and dusty wind blowing onto my face. I did cling onto my backpack as I slept but I slept.

As we approached Bangalore I pulled out my handy dandy phone with Google maps to find out that we were travling parallel to my house. Some five miles parallel but parallel enough. The bus conductor did not understand me but soon realized that I wanted to know how to get to Whitefield. Then it happened - something I have seen happen a lot in India (in a very positive way.) My business became everyone's business. Many conversed and then one man - who seemed to be the best in English and Hindi - walked over to me and told me the bus stop I should get off at. A college student was getting off at that stop and he was placed on the seat behind me to ensure I got off at the right stop. I was told what bus to take from there to cross town.

At the silk route bus stop I was seen off. The young man, whose name I never asked, walked me over two busy roads and saw me onto my bus. We did not talk but he seemed very pleased at having done a good deed for the day.

I had travelled 175km in five hours in under $10. Two autorides, two bus rides and a car ride later I was home. It would have been really easy to hire a AC chauffered car for less than a $100. I had had the money on me. I would have been home in three hours and would have had some good sleep along the way. But then I would not have a story. Stories take work.

Jog Falls from Bangalore - a weekend trip

I have been to see Jog Falls twice now. To me it is not a fancy weekend getaway but a really nice fun one. You leave Bangalore on Friday night and are back by 5am Monday morning (in time for school and work). Taking a train means that you sleep well and reach back well rested to take on a Monday.

Below are the logistics I have used for both my trips:

Getting there:

Bangalore > A.Shimoga > B. Sagar > C. Mattuga (Homestay 6km from Jog Falls)

A. We went on a train Friday night. You leave at 11:15pm via Shimoga Express that gets you to Shimoga at 6:30am. We returned on Sunday night on the Bangalore Express that left at 10:15pm.

B. The first time there we got on a bus from Shimoga railway station (right outside the station) to Sagar. The second time we had a taxi waiting for us at the Shimoga station (arranged by the homestay)

 C. The homestay will arrange for a taxi to pick you up from Sagar and bring you to Mattuga - a 30min drive away.

Staying:

Both times we stayed at Stay@Mattuga – a home stay.

There are not many places to stay in that area and this is the most ‘luxurious’ and a pretty decent homestay.

Pros:

•  Really nice huge property with lots of fruit trees.
•  Nice people and nice home cooked food (only breakfast in included in tariff.)
•  Owned by a person staying in Bangalore but run by locals.

Cons:

I really like this place; it has potential but needs some overseeing and extra help during high traffic weekends. The first time we were there we were the only people and stayed in the main house. Rooms were basic but nice and we loved the attention we got. Since then the number of rooms has gone up but the number of staff seems to be the same.

Second time we ‘upgraded’ to newly build cottages and did not like it all that much (as of 11/9/2011) –

• Construction on cottages is still going on so there is raw material around the place.
• Cottages are complete but not ‘finished’ and tested. Teething pains are ongoing (only hot water in taps one morning), paint and dirt in the bath tubs.
• Beds felt damp and musty and towels were hard and washed out.

I expect these to be sorted over time and this is a pretty nice place for a home stay (best in Jog Falls area)

Getting around:

Full Day Taxi with awesome local driver (speaks very little English or Hindi)

There are buses from Sagar ( and Shimoga) that take you to Jog Falls. We opted for a full day taxi (Rs 1700 per day). The taxi is a slightly beat up Maruthi Van  but I cannot praise the driver enough. He is who made the whole trip for us. A local man he knows the place inside out. He showed us the waterfalls from three vintage points. Walked to the bottom of the falls with us. Took us to sugarcane, pineapple and coconut farms. Showed us rock and log bridges. Arranged for a motor boat ride on the back waters. He was the driver cum guide.

Things To Do:

• Waterfalls: See from multiple vantage points. Play in the water. Eat from the shops lining the path to the viewpoints. Walk down to the waterfalls (20min – 1hr), walk back up (25min – forever J) (Tip: Go early morning to avoid the touristy crowd)
• Village and Plantation visits: Ask the driver to show you what is local and growing. He will take you to really nice farms with hospitable people.
• Temples: Sagar is home to a lot of very old and architecturally beautiful temples. You can spend the whole day visiting them
• Backwaters: Motor boat and water adventure sports on the Sarawathi backwaters.

Contact Details:

Train booking : http://www.makemytrip.com/

Stay@Mattuga: http://matthuga.in/index.php

Driver:Mahabaleshwara – Phone: 9449454168

32 Hours – Bangalore to Hampi and back

It will be a hot there, it will rain there. I heard that a lot but what I heard the most was - one day is really not enough. I had a simple choice – one day or zero days. I chose one day. So this is a summary of 32 hours – from Bangalore to Hampi and back. For some funnier incidents read - Oye, you are not a foreigner?

Timeline, experience and cost:

Time	Experience	Cost
10:15pm	Bangalore Cant for Hospet (AC 2 Tier) - Hampi Express	660
7:40am	Auto from Hospet Station to Bus Stand	30 (actual 15 but it was early J and I am a meter + twenty ;))
8:15am	Bus to Hampi (runs every 20min)	15
8:50am	Walk from Bus Stand to River to find an elephant being bathed	Free (would have paid for it)
9:30am	Good breakfast at New Shanthi Resturant with free guide book to Hampi, plus intro to some good autorikshaw guides	120
10:30am	Haggled with guide and got one with an auto for the next four hours	350
2:30pm	Exhausted but WOWed by the many sights of Hampi. Only Queens grounds required a ticket ( Rs 250 for foreigners, Rs 10 for Indians)*	10
3pm	Horrible lunch at Hotel Moonlight	140
4pm	Awesome lunch at Mango Tree (really nice)**	110
5pm	Exploratory trip up Matunga hill	Free (Priceless?)
6:30pm	Bhel puri and cuppa sweet tea for me and two friends I made	45
7:10pm	Bus back to Hospet (last bus leaves at 7:30pm)	15
7:55pm	Walk to station from bus stand	Free but little longer than I expected
8:20pm	Freak out at station as the train was at 8:40pm not 10:40pm as I had misread.	Free Adrenaline and relief
8:30pm	Shared a masala dosa from railway canteen with a dog	20
8:50pm	Unknowingly entertained a few people with photos on my iphone	Free (could have charged and got a full dosa for the dog)
9pm	Train was slightly late but my RAC ticket had a confirmed berth so found my seat.	Free
6:05am	Bangalore Cant Station, in time to rush home and see kids off to school	660
TOTAL:  32 hours	Too Many	Rs. 2175 ($ 48)***

* Four hours in not enough to see these ruins. I took it slow and spent time in places that I really enjoyed. I did not have a check list, I just wanted to see and be there. Places I loved – tank at the recently excavated marketplace. A little stand with an amazing 360 view at the Royal properties and the view from Matunga hill.  Climb up the hill – it is worth the steep and rock steps.

** The best eatery in Hampi. It is by the side of the river with an nice view and really good food. FYI – Hampi is an all vegetarian town.

*** Splurge on the best tix you can afford if you are down this kind of a round trip. A good night’s sleep helps a lot going and you are tired on the way back. I could have paid less by taking a cheaper train ticket and more by taking an AC taxi for the day from Hospet. I deliberately chose and paid for the experiences I wanted.


The river was full from the recent opening of Tungabadra Dam so there was no boat service and thus no way to see the other side ( not that I had too much time). But that is another place to goto if you have time. Shanthi Hotel on that side is recommended as a good place to stay. Gopi on the Hampi side is recommended if you don't want to chance the river.

Contact info of my nice autowala who explained all the places in decent English - only the basement remains cause the rest of the building was fired ;) -  (just don't take his recommendation on Hotel MoonLight) - Raghu 9449135915.

Oye, you are not a foreigner?

1. I asked for a guide and autowalla in English. They talked among themselves in Hindi sure that I was a foreigner. The discussion was about how much to overcharge me. When asked about the fare I said - "Teen sau chalayga?" (Will 300 do?). Surprised and realizing I had understood the whole discussion I got away with Rs 350, unlike a Spanish guy who paid Rs750.

2. My autowalla knew I knew Hindi but was not sure how well I spoke it. Unexpectedly just before we reached the Queens palace he switched to Hindi "Lets talk a little in Hindi", he said. His Hindi was bad, worse than mine for sure but we went back and forth about the palace a little. "Good" he said in English. "Now madam when you go to buy a ticket, talk in Hindi. It will cost you Rs 10. If you talk in English you pay Rs 250"
Look foreign, talk foreign then you pay foreign :)

3. A crowd of young men were posing for photos. One walked over and asked me - "Ma'am, photo please." "Ok" I said, holding out my hand for the camera. I mean they wanted a group photo right? "No, ma'am. You take photo with us".
What???
This happened five times during the day."Don't take offence," the autowalla explained, "they have not seen foreigners before. You are a tourist attraction for them."
 I must say on refusing most walked away politely. I really did not want to be shown as the foreign 'Humpi girlfriend' in some village.

4. Walking through the Queen's bath - a 15th Century swimming pool - I was surrounded by children. I had been shaking hand with them all day (see point 3). Some had come voluntarily and some had been pushed along by their parents - "Shake hands, say Hello". Just then a really white woman - blond hair and all walked in. I was amused to see a crowd bigger than mine following her. And then some of mine deserted me too !!! ;)

5. At the end of the day I was sitting at the platform looking through photos of the day on my iphone. Suddenly I realized there were some five people peering and "wowing" at the photos. "Ipod hai" "Very nice shot" I heard it all. I was tempted to shoo them away. Then I gave in to my exhibitionist side - I mean there was ready audience that did not care that half my friends and their SLRs shot things way better than this. I showed them photos from Seattle, of Rainer and paragliding, of fireworks. They were amazed and I was amused for the five minutes before the train showed up and I was not such a foreigner anymore.

For details on the trip read - 32 hours Bangalore to Hampi and back

A weekend trip – Bangalore to Wayanad

One of my biggest complaints about Bangalore is the lack of things to do during the weekend in town. You can go to places like the mall or the zoo but during the weekend they are super-packed. As I am not one to sit and complain I have decided to do what I think is one of the best things In Bangalore – its surroundings. I have many trips planned. This weekend it was Wayanad.

The trip to Wayanad came into being by getting a link to Exotic Expeditions on Facebook. They had a trip coming up on the weekend. I called them up to find out if this was a kid friendly trip. Santosh – who runs this outfit – was extremely helpful and accommodating. After answering my questions I decided we would join them with my two kids ( 4 and 12) and two maids. Santosh dropped by the next day and picked up the payment for the trek.

Logistics:

Rs 2800 per person – inclusive of almost everything on the trip - transport, lodging, most food and all activities.

Pick up : MG Road at 10pm Friday

Drop Off: MG Road 10pm Sunday.

On Friday I found out that other people supposed to be joining us on the trek had dropped but Santosh did not bail on us. He got a Qualis that accommodated my group and another person who joined us. We left Bangalore around 10pm and after a few stops made it to Wayanad at 8:30am.

Stay in Wayanad: Hill View homestay. Basic homestay with clean big rooms and awesome food. The owner was a very nice welcoming man who fed us well and made sure we were comfortable.The homestay is not on any plantation but by a road. The rooms are on the first floor but it has a nice rooftop with a view. Not fancy but very comfortable and I must say we had a very nice time there.

Day 1:

The plan of the day was to first visit Meenmurty waterfalls. Meenmurty is  three kilometer roundtrip trek. Not a huge distance but pretty steep and thus not recommended for kids. We sent the kids and the maids off to Pookot lake for a boat ride while the rest of us went on the hike. After the boat ride they went on a plantation walk - seeing coffee, tea and cardamom trees.

After the hike we had a good Kerala style lunch at Santosh Hotel and joined the kids at Soochipara falls. This waterfall was more accessible and easy to reach – half a kilometer walk maybe. We all played in the water and lounged on the rocks here for a long time.

Day 2:

Trip to Eddkal Caves – steep walk to come interesting and very old caves. They had carvings from 3000BC. There were juice and snack stall all along the way and besides enjoying the caves and the view from the top we really enjoyed pickled pineapple, mango and amla. There were monkeys that entertained us along the way and watching one eating a jackfruit off the tree was fun.

Phantom Rock: After the caves we visited phantom rock. It would have been great to climb it and I did see one local man lounging up there. We however walked through a rubber plantation, watched frogs swim in puddles and enjoyed the scenic view before walking back.

We stopped for lunch at Sultana Bathery and then drove all the way back to Bangalore. Reaching at 10pm.

Long story short. This was a great weekend getaway. Nicely arranged and executed. I will be going on more trip with them in the near future I am sure. 

Exotic Expeditions

811, 8th block, NGEF Layout, Near Old Madras Road Big Bazaar, Bangalore, India 560038

Phone	9986450370

Glad to be home – learning’s from Everest Summiteers

For a non-romanticized post of an overview what it takes to summit Everest read this. The following is an emotional account of my trip J

I knew it even before he opened his mouth and excitedly told me that he had summited Everest. I knew he had been up there, not just by the chapped black face, lips and cheeks covered by frost bite but by the way he was proudly flying the Pakistani flag and rushing with renewed energy down the mountain. He was the first Everest Summiteer I met and the most excited one. He wanted to talk, he wanted to tell everyone about his experience. He was happy to talk. I would have been as excited if I had done it. Climbed to the top of the world.

The next night we saw a bottle of wine being opened, sizzlers came to the table for two. Celebrations for a husband and wife couple that were returning after their summit. Skinny but smiling. Wine and steak are expensive here but they deserved it. As much as they deserved the smiles and admiring looks at their table. People controlling their desire to walk over and talk as they ate their dinner.

A sad chapped nose -little exaggerated ;)
 Wonder what the summit would do to
me. 

We met many more summiteers, part of the first father son group from the UK to summit, women going up for their third time, youngest Indian to climb Everest and a man who had just scaled the eight thousanders.

I know that I will not summit Everest – I cannot bear to see my face covered with frost bite ;) -  but I wanted to go meet these people. Be inspired and soak in some of the excitement. In the twelve days up there some of it did brush off on me. I want to do bigger things in life, push limits and live to the fullest but I also realized that I do not need to climb Everest. I instead have a need to be with people I love. I will find my limits and summit them with people that love and adore me.

The summiteers - they talked to us, inspired us and made us feel so little at the same time. As one of my wise fellow trekkers put it – it is a matter of perspective, here we are nothing, people walking up a mountain. Back home we will be the people that walked up the mountain.

I am glad to be home now, one of the people that walked up the mountain.

What does it take to summit Everest

By Pradeep Prakash - Click for high resolution and more pics .
Gorakshep - the last settlement enroute to Everest. Then comes the Base Camp and the High Base Camp - Camp-I, Camp-II, Camp-III and Camp-IV. Kalapattar[5550mtrs above MSL] is also seen here [ mountain devoid of any snow and so the name].

What does it take to summit Everest - A good pair of legs, time and oh yes, $45,000.

I guess you could do away with the legs but you do need time – at least six weeks for the final stretch – and money. If you did away with the legs then I’d say you need considerably more than $45,000.

Jokes asides, I had a friend ask me why it is so expensive and time consuming, why can you not just go up and climb, will they jail you if you do not buy the $10,000 permit.  Having just returned from the Everest Base Camp I initially giggled at the questions, told him that he really needs to read up but then I thought about the scores of summiteers that we saw coming down, one of them even commented of a traffic jam up there – too many people trying to summit. So, I decided to do some research on what are the basics required to climb Everest.

FACTS

• Approximately 400 people on average climb Everest every year – 512 summited in 2010.
• There were just four deaths in 2010. Since 1990, the deaths have dropped to 4.1% due to better gear, weather forecasting and more people climbing with commercial operations. Annapurna is a much more deadly mountain than Everest with a summit to death ratio of 2:1 deaths for every summit (109:55).
•  It is harder to set records now, youngest, oldest, women, men, number of summits are all taken… so people are doing back to back and even funkier stuff now. If you want to climb it is unlikely to set any records.
• It is twice as hard to climb from the China side – more technical and cheaper but your chances of summiting is halved and chances of dying is doubled.

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BASIC CLIMBING DATA

Cost:         $45000 and up
Deposit:  $15000 upfront
Length:   70+ days
Type:        Mountaineering

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE

You need a climbing resume – experience with HMI, mountaineering experience is all required.
Sample ask  - Participants on our Mt. Everest Expedition must have a solid understanding of mountaineering skills. We require that each team member have previous high altitude experience, such as McKinley, Aconcagua, Cho Oyu or other 7,000 - 8,000 meter peaks. Screening and final selection will be done on an individual basis after we have reviewed your climbing resume and our veteran Everest Guides have spoken with you directly

Just to show how commercial it can get there was an ad that cracked me up - Want to Climb Everest? $50,000 + 2 Weeks Training (no experience necessary)

At the same time a heartbreaking article on the death of someone who took a cheaper route and wanted to do it on his own made me rethink the journey up http://climb.mountainzone.com/2006/david_sharp/index.html

It is expensive for a reason - the money goes for a permit, guides, sherpas, oxygen, to fund the five camps that you have to stay in for over six weeks. You stay to acclimatize and slowly get strong enough to take the mother of all heights on. There are stories about the ice falls, the balcony, the Hilary steps and if you really want to climb then you need to give yourself a minimum of a year to prepare (and a minimum of a month to read up about all this)

I know it is something I am not going to do. They say a bug gets into you when you first see Everest- even just a photo of it. It devours you from inside and makes you crawls up to the top. I saw Everest when I was twelve and I saw it again last week. I admire it. I admire those that climb on it but I am happy looking up at it. I don’t have the need to look down from it.