Tuesday 8 December 2009

On heights and introspection

Just finished going through all the photos from the trek! And wow! I'm still buzzing :). (I hadn't actually gone through them earlier to not unnecessarily use up the camera batteries.) I guess, for the sake of completion, I should mention that the trip back was rather without event. Mostly... Just a long long drive along the hillsides and a long wait at Bagdogra airport. One last glimpse of Kanchendzonga as we neared Dhotrey...I'd thought it would be harder, without all the things I've gotten so attached to these days, electronics and stuff. The Net. Music even! I was surprised therefore, to find out that I was perfectly content to shed all of it! I guarded the cameras with my life of course :). But other than that, the book and the notebook were all the means I needed to keep myself occupied when there wasn't more to be done.This was officially my first 'holiday' alone. I did okay, I think :). Met a whole bunch of people. Some for a few minutes, some for longer. Most I wouldn't be too bothered about keeping in touch with :). But some I would. I guess for the first days it was pretty good, trekking on my own pace. But once I got used to the company, despite the time issues :), I really hated to part ways.I didn't really know what to expect from the whole thing. For the most part I wasn't even sure if it would happen! (That's the other thing, why is it, that all the best things that happen to me keep threatening to not happen till the last moment?!!!) What did I get? I'm not quite sure :). Faith in myself perhaps, reminders why I loved trekking in the first place... But one thing's for sure, the Himalayas are something else :).

Oh, and a few realisations:

- The weight of the pack, once I got used to it, stopped being an issue.
- I was really lucky with the weather and the views, when it mattered!
- I've just survived a solely carbs diet for a week, with rice, variations of rotis and potato curries everywhere :).
- The only altitude issue I had was lack of sleep, but heading to bed by 8pm meant I got enough rest to keep going.
- I've managed to ingest more tea in the last week than in the previous decade!
- Those flip-flops were absolutely the best suggestion I got for the trek!
- I was more than a little surprised to see that my gel pen never froze up on me :). Now, that would really have been a disaster :D.

Currently: still on a high!
Listening to: Joshua Radin - These photographs

No comments:

Post a Comment