Everyone, including my ever patient mom, got irate with me after hearing umpteen times my gushing about the last weeks trek experience. So i resorted to the only other option available in hand, to blog about it. And here goes ...

To start off, I had been on a trek to the Himalayas (Hamptah Pass) - yes , u heard rite - last week and from the moment I got back, I haven't been able to think of anything else but the trek .. the lovely landscape, chilly mountains, the absolutely awesome gang, the heavy backpacks, soggy clothes, the snow, rain, water, rocks .. green, white, red everywhere ..

How I miss waking up in the tent each morning, frozen with cold .. brushing at the streams .. the hot tasteless chai outside the kitchen tent that was like heaven .. the dhal-chawal dinners of 15 hungry, cold n tired souls crammed into the dining tent with a bleak torch that made everything in the vessels look yumm .. the customary sip of vodka or rum in the nites rite outta the bottle that gets passed around in circles .. the desperate hunt in the backpacks each day to find some dry, warm piece of cloth .. the unpaved grounds of the mountains that remind u of the olden days Robbie rides to office in OMR road ..

And best n the most missed of all this, the 14 ppl i spent that one week with .. who wud have known that i can miss folks whom i had no clue existed just a few days back !! Miss u guys !! each person was unique in his/her own way .. and best part was, inspite of the differences, v jus felt rite together as a group ..

so, there was Pavan, our Organizer , to whom v owe this trek. Thanks pavan ... if not for u, i wudnt ve had such a memorable trek .. a serious, very responsible n caring person, our pavan was .. i jus hope his fren tamal joins for his next trek bcoz pavan had tears in his eyes when he said he missed his fren .. tamal, whoever u r, make it to pavan's nxt trek :) n make sure this guy has some fun n is not alwayz a busy body, running around all over the place worried bot organizing things wel ..

n then there was Vignesh (the only person I had known before the trek) , henceforth to be referred to as 'scientu anna' .. scientu is a quiet, calm, caring person .. but he transforms into a tarzan the moment he sees any of his fellow trekkers in trouble .. then he starts prancing frm rock to rock , trying to save the soul in need .. like the time he decided Vish was in trouble and he had to save him and so he jumped rite over an edge and was dangling for dear life .. :P

then there was Harsha, my tent mate .. wat can i say !! each morning whn i wake up, i peep outta my quilt half expecting to c her in her sleepin bag in the tent .. miss u lady!! the first time i spoke to her, i knew i got a fren .. each day started with her n me brushing n washin our face with ice cold water in the streams .. and the last person to wish me gn was her during the entire trek ..

then Arun .. he's the youngest in our gang .. like a kid bro to everyone .. he's so full of energy and enthusiasm, u cannot help but get infected with a li'l of that, whnever u are around him .. arun, 'll surely send u the song list, u really need a lot of mending in that front .. ur list sucks!! big time !! :P:P btw, did u do that facial?? n did it help?? :P:P lol and henceforth, this guy will be referred to as 'the baniyan guy', as s'one addressed him during the trek (dnt blame me re, u lived up to it..) .. and oh yeah , he tried to murder me twice during the trek !!! GRRRR !!! twice that i know of, atleast !!

next person wud be Prasanna .. wat, oh wat, can i say bot this guy .. i dnt ve words to express the spirit and energry this guy has in him .. with him around, u dnt ve time for anything else but to laugh .. he's such a sport (and the Donkey in all the games ..he he) .. Prasanna, all thanks to u , v all had a lovely time in Chatru .. i dnt remember the last time i laughed so much, with no care bot anything .. that nite's games of Bluff and Donkey wre the best i ve ever played .. :) u rock prasanna !!

then there was Raja (henceforth , Doc S @ Doc Senior) .. he was the quietest of the lot and the most mature .. most of the second and third day, he accompanied me thro my slow progress towards the base camp and he was one of the first frenz i made so easily without even realizing it .. thanks doc .. doc is a storehouse of brains .. i was ashamed of myself whn he talked bot linux and some IT stuff .. even though he's professionally a doc, he knws far more than i ever did/wud bot IT .. hats off !! and yeah, doc, u owe some of those gud pics of u , to the not-so-bad photographer me, like the one in ur FB :P:P n me read that book u suggested , luv'd it :)

comin next is our other doc Sudhakar (henceforth, doc J , for Doc Junior) .. he likes to kick start things n then disappear :P doc J is a fun guy n maintains balance in the gang by being talkative n is vry interesting to listen to .. btw, frm now on, u r my route map for gud Eat-outs in singapore .. :) i was vry touched whn on the last day bfr i left, he came to me n said i was like a younger sis to him .. thanks doc :) that was vry nice of ya .. really ..

then thr was Pilot (@ sushanth) .. pilot seems, on the front, a quiet n soft guy .. but as u get to know him, u realize that he's jus the opposite .. he's tough, adventourous n fun-loving n a very very caring guy .. n he seemed to ve impressed everyone in the gang, some more and some others, more so :P and his tales frm his army days r a treasure .. njoyed that day's breakfast-time tales Pilot .. a lot .. :) wud luv to listen to more , all of us wud ..

Vishravars .. first thing bot him anyone would notice is his name .. he's as unique as his name .. he has a lot of talents .. havin never been a scholarly, outstanding student myself, vish is like the enemy guy everyone wud show as example to folks like me .. ha ha .. he's a nice chap awrite, once u get to know him though .. soft n quiet , not jus on the front but actually is .. has a gud sense of humour too, that me n harsh discovered on the journey back to manali .. poor Vish though, his Tale of Woes in this trek wre never ending .. hope ur leg has healed Vish !!

And Sam .. wat do i say about u sam?? sam was the guy with all branded stuff in our gang :P all 'Foreeeen' brands .. smiles all the time .. half the time, u dnt know if he's thr .. that quiet he is .. n he was one of the better trekkers in our gang, alwayz s'wre in the front of the chain .. btw, Sam, i need to return cash i borrowed frm u for Alu Tikki in Manali :P i remember the gifts i owe u too ..

next was Marie .. i just cannot stop admiring the lady .. she can gel wel in any group and with anyone, under any circumstances .. n u dnt need to ask her for help, whn in need, she'll b rite thr by ur side .. n she was , without second thoughts, the best trekker in our group .. n also, the most travelled .. 'm jealous of u Marie :)

and then Sara .. the other person i admired a lot, though not for the trekkin this time (even though shez among the better trekkers) but for the gr8 job shez doin .. gr8 goin Sara !! three cheerz !! n i hope u get to c all ur frenz this time whn u go home .. and get to spend quality time with ur family too .. keep me posted bot it all after ur return :)

n then there was Mohan .. this guy has a gr8 sense of humour .. i think i had the least number of conversations with mohan outta the 14 .. :P he was alwayz trekking either in the front or he was the last .. lol .. n he was a sport, ever ready for fun .. maybe v'll get to converse mre in the next trek mohan :)

and the last member who joined the gang in manali was our Gikki .. to tel bot gikki, i wud need to write a book, not a paragraph in a blog .. 'm amazed at her levels of energy .. i was literally dragging myself (with Pilot saying he can see the tent with my every two steps + a stop, God knows , if t'was his figment of imagination or he was as exhausted as us n was hallucinating) on the day of crossing the Hamptah pass .. that too in day lite .. and this lady crosses the Pass in the dark and says shez not even cold .. i hear her rapidly talkin away in her usual decibels whn she arrived and i was hunched half dead nxt to the stove in the kitchen tent, too weak to breathe properly .. wat determination n energy n wat a voice !! btw, Gikki, trust me, loads of ppl wre praying for ur safe arrival at the camp that day n breathed in relief only after hearing ur voice !!

so that was bot the gang .. WAIT .. n then there was me :P .. ahh .. not much to tel bot me .. except that maybe i ditched my backpack halfway to the mules and watched on as everyone trudged along with the load on their backs .. n bfr 'the baniyan boy' pounces in to let knw the world like he did in FB that inspite of not carrying the load, i still ended up spraining my leg .. otherwise, not much to tel i guess .. i was happy .. vry happy .. n had an awesome time with all these wonderful ppl .. amen !!

so thats bot Part-1 .. 'll try to post a part-2 with the trek details s'time soon ..