This entire blog will be written in English and not Spanish like most of my last blogs.
I have just finished a mountaineering course in HMI - India, from the attached first email to my brother you can get the impression of what was going there:
e-mail start**********************
hay again brother,
right now i am in a 5:30 hours break within the training, after a whole week that what they gave us, i was looking for this "outing" like a small kid (-:
last time i sent you these mails with the help of an Indian friends blackberry on our way to a very nice climbing area, they took us with all the luggage (10 kg) to get used to the equipment in a like a 5-7 km slope on the road, I got fond of many people, talked to many.
the course is overfilled with around 80 participants, most of them are from the Indian military (all fields there) the foreigners are 1 from New Zealand,1 from Oman,2 - GB,1- Bangladesh, me and a few private climbers from India of which about 5 are local girls.
It pretty much reminds an military training: we have schedule from 05:00 AM until 20:00 when they release us to go to sleep. light is down at 21:30 what or ever.
the showers are with cold waters (great for me) not from taps but taken by us from a water tank which sometimes is empty, anyhow I did not take an every day shower to get used to the following 17 nights at the snowy base camp without the above.
Days are full with lectures, climbing practice, interesting classes about medicine, ice, knots (which i did not know from the climbing course in IL), mountain behavior spiced with interesting mountaineering movies.
there was no fitness test on the entrance day and my blood/urine/argometrics test where hardly noticed but instead a 4.5 km run plus physical training each morning and 1 hour yoga right after that.
there are 3 hot spicy Indian meals each days and you can take double plate if you like..
Tomorrow as I mentioned before we leave to the base camp at about 4.5 km, (now we are at the insitude at Darjeeling something like 14200 Ft).
they equipped us with all really high equipment needed to such journey like snow shoes,crampons,bag (only the boots which has double shoes in each are 650 us$) the course is subsidized by the Indian government.
we should be back at the morning of 1/may,
Russian airport went ok, I have slept there, it was warm and I read a lot. luckily for me I avoided a 100-200$ expense by getting out of the airport.
I really hope everything is ok with your new job, tell me about it when I am back.
say hay to all the family,
cheers,
Ronen
e-mail end************************
(Darjeeling height was not accurate in the email, it should be: 2,134 metres, 7,001 ft Average)
At the base camp:
we started to go there after a week of training and learning at the Darjeeling HMI. the buses/ jeeps waited.
the last city before starting the trek was Jortang where we could travel,eat and buy last snacks for an hour before the next 17 or more days.
the way by foot from Yuksum to Bakhim, Bakhim to Dzongry and Dzongry to BC (base camp) took us 4 days including 1 day acclimatization in Bakhim we had to walk up and down the hill without equipment.
this was not an easy way especially with a rucksack that weight about 17-20 kg on your back.
as little as we climbed up the flora and the climate changed until land became covered with snow patches.
at the entrance to BC the advance course welcomed us with offers to help carry the bag, they were there a day before because they skipped acclimatization in Bakhim.
there we could choose whether to sleep in a big tent or in the hut. the next morning we had the regular orders (all-in) at 5:45 to 6:45 to go for the glacier for training and acclimatization. the air was thin and took some of us some time to get used to it. I had some coughs that did not stop until the last day there but insisted not to take medicine from the doctor who escorted us.
during evening some of the "kids" (young guys who lived in Darjeeling less than 18 years old) played football, others, like me and a bunch of interested guys trained in Judo tachiwaza (standing technics).
the last endurance there was climbing the Rinok mountain, with the help of ropes that the stuff prepared for us. actually is was not so hard as expected..
after this day we had a spontaneous local party in the dining room, we all danced together authentic dances to the sound of the chief cook singing folk songs with the help of two instructors and their mess tin band.
After 14 days at BC we had to come back (at last) to where we started the way up. The girls and some slow motion guys left 1 day before while we rested in peace, there was 1 order for us to return books to the library and to count out belongings before leaving.
as you can observe from the pictures below I totally lost my walking boots so one guy lend me his reserves which where a little short or rounded in shape what made me slow down my descend and think twice before any step.
While we were at the BC one of the founders of HMI (Nawang Gombu) expired. The ceremony at the end of the course as planned was canceled, so the 3 days back at the institute where a bit waste of time, apart for the written knowledge test, the climbing and running contests and depositing our equipment back which could take to complete all three tasks in 1 full day.
I was just a bit tired and wanted it to finish and see as much as I could sights from Darjeeling and New Delhi.
After course:
On the day in Darjeeling I made some clothes/pharmacy/snacks shopping and encountered other people on the streets and in the pub.
The cheapest hotel I have found was a 10$ one but it was worth it because it had HOT waters flux with a nice private room.
after the flight to Delhi I met a Turkish tourist guy who just came back from Nepal with whom I strolled a few hours in Delhi - CP (cougher place) and went back by the new and fancy metro to the Indira Ghandi airport.
At home:
first I felt a big depression than got used to where I came and slept like a pig for hours at a time, from the mail I read earlier - other people also felt tired when coming down from mountains..
Starting at HMI institute
In Darjeeling on a 5 hours outing after a week
Base Camp Pics
Summery - Rathong Glacier Map
Summery - Mountain medicine and first aid
I will finish with my own twisted version based on a quote from one of the most beautiful of Bruce Sprigsteen songs, Tunnel of Love album and
When your alone song:
it ain't too high mountains or nothing suger, it ain't was got me walk there alone.
It just that, nobody knows, honey, where love goes.
But where it goes - its gone gone
-Ronen