Monday, December 31, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Himalayan Hike
My life is made up of seemingly whimsical choices, which through their inspired spontaneity seem to weave certain logical patterns that lead me straight to the right place at the right time. Super good moments in time that make me smile enigmatically and say, "Oh yes, this is where I want to be. This is what I'd rather be doing."
I continue to use this mysterious formula of life, plunging head on to one adventure after another that pop in my way. Once the wheels have been set into motion, there really is no turning back, and I could only kick back, wave my hands up in the air, and gleefully giggle in delight. It is not the result which determines whether I had a great time or not. I plan to have a great time regardless of the result.
Someone once said, "Life is meaningless. It is us who give meaning to life." Life events are fundamentally neutral; it is our interpretations that give it meaning.
Joseph Campbell's excellent translation of an ancient Hindu saying rings true for me time after time after time: "Follow your Bliss and the Universe will open doors for you where there were only walls."
So, what made me go climb the Himalayas? Originally, I had no intentions to do any hard climbing or hiking. I also had no plans to be out in the cold and to go on weeks without a shower. Most of the members of my hiking team were middle aged men, and seeing the Everest up close and personal were in their bucket lists.
I decided to visit Nepal because it was near India. I decided to go to India because when I was in Australia for 3 months earlier this year, the people there, the posters everywhere, and the movies I watched all shouted INDIA. Why was I in Australia for 3 months, some might ask. Originally, I had no means to stay in one of the most expensive countries on earth for 3 months, but through sheer intuitive inspiration, I stumbled upon 2 websites which offered some sort of free lodging. One was a free home stay experience, and the other was a volunteer farming program. I meshed both of them in my itinerary together with some island explorations and National Park treks and hikes, but I digress.
So how did I end up doing an Everest - Himalayan Hike? I didn't know much about it but I knew I wanted to experience the best of Nepal. When I started my research for India, an Indian guy I met on a travel forum had only high praises for a veteran Himalayan hiker who leads various mountain expeditions. His website said the trip I wanted to join was already fully booked. I tried anyway and emailed him directly. The Everest trek looked absolutely daunting but I told myself that if he could squeeze me in somehow then it was the Universe's way of saying I have to go.
What I realized was I could survive these very rough days and still manage to look quite human :). I got along very well with everyone in the group. Everybody marveled at my incredible appetite and lovingly shared with me their goodies. I had many memorable encounters and conversations, and at one point even channeled the son of a Sherpa lady owner and gave her a hug and messages from the beyond.
This sojourn cemented the fact that the best things in life are indeed free. And free stuff, I did get. Free chocolates, free accessories, free baby wipes, free Ringpoche blessings & masala from the monks, free mandarin orange from a seller I didn't buy from .... It's interesting how the double meaning of FREE applies to me really well. A member of my group couldn't believe that life just blesses me with free stuff and abundance at every turn. He announced that I was an undercover ninja yakuza out to plunder my unwitting fellow hikers. Har har har!
Coming back to Kathmandu after the hike, I was wandering around Boudhanath stupa one afternoon and heard some chanting. I joined in and sat in serene meditation. When I opened my eyes, a nice lady handed me a heavy bag filled with snacks, fruit and drink. I swear the Universe never lets me go hungry!
During the Everest trek, there were unforgettable glimpses of the full moon faces peeking out of gigantic mountains. Countless peaks with enigmatic names, too many to remember. I was thrilled to find out that Mount Everest's original local name is Chomolungma, which meant Mother Goddess of the Universe. It was hard to believe that I was walking, climbing up and staying on for about two weeks on places that were higher in altitude than the top of Mount Fuji.
Porters with concrete blocks, plywoods, and heavy bags balanced on their heads with string cloths pass by, and I wondered why with just a small backpack, I had to give my all physically to continue up to Kala Pattar's 5,545 meters (18, 192 feet). The yaks stampede on with their burdens, capable of thrusting anyone out of their way with their big horns. Dust and dung whirl in the air, coating my over-exhausted larynx as I catch my breath sharply ascent after ascent at extremely high altitude.
The mountains loomed large, foreboding and ominous, protective and unmoving. The sky draped itself with every wondrous shade of vibrant blue. The moonrise for three nights popping out of its hiding place behind Everest and Nuptse outside my room window were just splendid surprise presents from the heavens. Black ravens floatingly circled the air. Mountain goats made their rare appearances as foolish, dreamy me look behind them hoping for glimpses of snow leopards or yetis. The mountain monastery Thyangboche enchanted our souls with their serenely guttural chanting, opening lotus flowers in our souls and minds, giving me the one long, continuous sleep during the 2-week hiking period. Children with perennially dirty cheeks looked at me squarely, sometimes suddenly cracking into exuberant smiles. I stare at exotic Himalayan women as they stare back at me asking if I was Bhutanese, Tibetan, or Chinese. Exchanging Namastes with fellow hikers along the way. Countless white stupas with Buddha Eyes dot the numerous trails along the way. Humongous, sacred Mani walls loom big in the horizon charged with super currents to give the body its much needed energy to go on. The kindly porters who even though with their back-breaking loads were always day to offer a hand during dangerous icy crossings and slippery, pebbly descents. The monks and porters thought I had a man's name when I introduced myself as Jackie. They are only familiar with Jackie Chan, and Jackie Kennedy is an unknown to them. And there I was in my childhood, wondering why Jackie Chan had a woman's name. It's all perspective, isn't it?
Yesterday, while at Pashupatinath, I saw dead bodies wrapped in orange cloths ready for their cremation rites by the river. A nice, local freelance guide started explaining what was going on to me, and later, I rode on his motorbike as it zipped dangerously along the crazy freeway to the ancient city of Bhaktapur. I had no defenses, no helmets, no armors. Just an intuitive trust that all is well, and I am riding on the edge of adventure of life.
Today, I am writing this sitting in a lovely monastery garden filled with fluttering, chirping birds.. small, jumping squirrels.. and slants of warm winter sunshine. Tomorrow early morning, I'll take my flight to India, and begin yet another adventure. A few weeks ago, a friend commented that my plans seem a bit crazy. I said to him that while that is true, I find that oftentimes, it is when I live on the edge of adventure that I feel the most alive. And to feel alive, to feel the blood flow through one's veins, to face the sunshine with an incredible sigh of happiness in one's heart, well, I guess this is the life I had intended to live when I made the decision to come.
When I was in Mongolia in July, I took the distance and went far off in the heart of mystical Khuvsgul Lake. There I met a shaman from the Tsaatan reindeer tribe. This nomadic, shamanic tribe live with reindeers high up in the mountains. They use reindeer milk, reindeer meat, reindeer hide, and also reindeer transport. This particular young shaman had decided to bring some reindeers down to lower altitude and set up his yurt near the tourist area to make money. He looked at me with yellowish eyes as he puffed out circles of tobacco smoke in the air. Speaking in local dialect to the man who volunteered to be my interpreter, he said, "She will amass more spiritual power and energy when she reaches a high mountain place with lots of snow on top." I looked at him quite contemptuously then, this corrupt shaman who obviously says a lot of crap to tourists. But then, four months later, here I am in Himalayan country, and loads of high mountains with snow on top. Life boggles me no end, and I sit in anticipation to be mystified and swept by it all. Spiritual energy or not, I shall tuck one more incredible experience under my soul, and let it add to the person I have become and becoming still.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
"There are other Annapurnas in the life of men"
Maurice Herzog the first man to break the 8000 metre barrier by climbing Annapurna I in 1950 has passed away.
Famed French Mountaineer Maurice Herzog Dies at 93
France
loved him for his indefatigable, pioneering spirit — the first man to climb an
8,000-meter Himalayan peak despite losing all his fingers and toes to frostbite,
a man who later went on to scale the heights of French politics.
Six
decades after his 1950 Annapurna climb made Maurice Herzog a household name, the
famed French mountaineer died Friday at age 93.
The
statement from the Elysee Presidential Palace said he died in France but gave no
further details. He had lived just outside of Paris.
A
photograph of Herzog waving a French tricolor atop the 26,545-foot (8,091-meter)
peak in Nepal captured a seminal moment before the grueling descent, during
which subzero conditions led to the amputation of all his fingers and toes.
"The
marks of the ordeal are apparent on my body," he later said.
Although
the 1953 ascent of Mount Everest — by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay somewhat
eclipsed Herzog's achievement, Annapurna was not scaled again for some 20 years.
Although Everest was the highest mountain in the world, Annapurna was said to be
the most dangerous.
His
book about the epic expedition, "Annapurna: The First Conquest of an 8,000-Meter
Peak," was called "the most influential mountaineering book of all time" by
National Geographic Adventure and made Sports Illustrated's list of the top 100
sports books of all time. It has sold millions of copies — the IOC said more
than 20 million copies — and has been translated into dozens of languages.
"In
overstepping our limitations, in touching the extreme boundaries of man's world,
we have come to know something of its true splendor," Herzog said in the
best-selling book.
The
International Olympic Committee expressed its deepest sympathy to Herzog's
family. He had been an honorary member of the IOC since 1995, after some 25
years as an active member.
Tributes
came in praising Herzog as an inspiration.
"Our
nation will miss Maurice Herzog," said French President Francois Hollande,
evoking the historic climb "that is engraved enduringly in our collective
memory."
Hollande
also praised Herzog's wartime engagement in the French resistance and his second
career in public life.
Herzog
was "a great figure of the mountains, Haute Savoie and France," said Sophie
Dion, a deputy in the French parliament from Herzog's much-loved home region in
the Alps.
As
a symbol of the place he occupied in collective French hearts, Herzog was
decorated with the Grand Cross in France's Legion of Honor last year, the
country's highest civilian honor.
Annapurna
is ranked the 10th highest peak in the world and has been described as the
"world's deadliest peak." Up to 2009, 60 climbers had died on Annapurna,
according to climbing statistics website 8000ers.com, for a fatality rate of
around 40 percent.
Herzog,
who was born on Jan. 15, 1919, parlayed his post-Annapurna fame into a career in
French politics, first as a minister for sport under President Charles de Gaulle
and later as a national lawmaker and long-time mayor of Chamonix, a famous
mountaineering town in the French Alps.
He
also helped France obtain the 1992 Winter Olympics for Albertville.
Still,
later in life, Herzog's legend was tarnished when it came out that he sought to
diminish the role of his climbing companion Louis Lachenal — who died in 1955 —
by editing his memoirs, which were published after his death. Lachenal reached
the summit of Annapurna with Herzog and also lost all his toes to frostbite.
There
was no immediate information on survivors or funeral arrangements.
———
Thomas
Adamson in Paris contributed to this report.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The Gokyo Lakes, Cho La Pass and Kala Pattar
Join us for a trek of a lifetime covering two dream viewpoints in the Everest region Gokyo and Kala Pattar! April 20th 2013 to May 6th 2013!
For more details please do visit http://www.southcol.com/Treks-Nepal/the-gokyo-lakes-cho-la-and-kala-pattar
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Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Prayer and Worship Photos
I had posted some photographs on Prayer and Worship on this blog http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2010/10/prayer-images.html. This the second part of the photo-essay.
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| Tsulakhang Temple, Mcleodganj |
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| Golden Temple, Amritsar |
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| Bodhnath, Kathmandu |
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| Karsha Monastery, Zanskar |
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| Swayambhunath, Kathmandu |
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| Wat Suthat, Bangkok |
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| Tashiding Monastery, Sikkim |
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| Leh, Ladakh |
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| Before Dussehra, Amritsar |
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Camping & Trekking Equipment Kolkata
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| The Adventure Point store in Kolkata - photo Tarun Sachdev
Delhi based Adventure Point (www.adventurepoint.in) has opened it's first retail store in Kolkata. There are a number of reputed brands on display like Deuter, N-rit, Salvas, Trek Mates etc.
The store has jackets, thermals, boots, daypacks and backpacks and a host of other trekking items.
Do visit the location at :
51 Chowringhee Road ( near Bishop's House)
Ground Floor
Kolkata 700071.
033 40014676
09810027770 09038080090 |
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Photo Workshop with Aquaterra Adventures
I am conducting a photo workshop with Aquaterra Adventures www.aquaterra.in at their resort/camp near Rishikesh on the banks of the Ganga from Jan 25-27 2013 and again from March 15-17 2013.
PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
SCHEDULE BY SUJOY DAS
WHAT GEAR TO BRING?
PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
SCHEDULE BY SUJOY DAS
Jan 25-27th 2013 and March 15-17 2013
Day
1
Arrive
from Delhi
1
pm to 2 pm lunch
2
pm to 6 pm First Session: Photography Fundamentals and Essentials followed by Q
&
A
Day
2
Sunrise
to 9 am: Morning Photo Shoot 3 pm to Sunset; Evening Photo Shoot
7
pm to 8 pm: Slide Show covering photo tips and techniques like Compositions,
Lighting,
Exposure, Basic Photo Editing
Day
3
8
am to 12 noon: Photo Critique Session of three photographs taken by each
participant
12
noon to 1 pm: Lunch
Back
to Delhi
SCOPE
OF THE WORKSHOP
Master
Exposure: Learn how to make a great exposure and forget all the
guesswork.
Learn
about auto modes, shutter priority, aperture priority etc. It is all about
recognizing
middle-tones;
exposing for all tonalities - grey, black, and white, understanding
histograms
and using them effectively. Understanding exposure is one of the KEYS to
successful shooting, and you will master exposure during this course! Also
learn about depth of field, different lenses and their uses.
Composition:
Learn the fine points of effective compositions - Finding effective
compositions,
using lenses effectively; seeking the best perspective; texture, color,
point
of view; knowing zones of sharpness; selective focus; and the rule of thirds.
This
will
also make you think like an artist. From trying to take pictures, learn to make
photographs.
Learn some of the fine points from painters and others, who use visual elements
to compose beautiful imagery.
Maximizing
the Digital Potential: Learn color management, post-processing
methods to improve the brightness, contrast, and white balance of
your image.
Equipment
& Lenses: Know what to buy and what not to buy and learn how to
use your gear effectively. Learn from choosing the right body with right
features to connect to the right set of lenses. Also tips about photography
accessories like tripod, CF cards, flash,
filters,
bags, etc., will be discussed. Understand the tools of trade for Close-up and
Landscape
photography. This session will also teach you how to manage and take care of
your camera gear.
Critique:
This workshop also gives you a chance to get your images critiqued. A very
constructive critique session which will include technical and aesthetic
aspects.
Photography
in Practice: Learn what it takes to push your photography to the next
level and keep it going.
WHAT GEAR TO BRING?
Bring
your camera - DSLR, Point and Shoot, Compact etc. Cameras like Nikon
Coolpix,
Canon Powershot are also welcome though it does help to have a capable camera.
If
you are a DSLR user you may like to bring your extra lenses as well.
Laptops
are welcome though not essential for editing and viewing photographs.
COSTS
The costs of the workshop are given
below for each of the options of accommodation. Please note that these costs DO NOT INCLUDE the cost of travel.
Workshop Fees: Rs 10,000 per person
Accomodation at Atali Ganga - Rs 12,000 per person
or Accomodation at Camp Silver Sands - Rs 4,200 per person
The above costs include all course costs, all accomodation, all meals.
For further details please do visit the links below
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Nikon D5200 Announced
Nikon has just announced the launch of the D5200 a DX SLR which is an upgrade of the earlier D5100 packed with a 24 mp sensor, high ISO capability and muti cam 4800 DX AF with 39 focus points.
- Sensor: 24.1 MP DX
- Sensor Size: 23.6 x 15.7mm
- Resolution: 6000 x 4000
- Native ISO Sensitivity: 200-6,400
- Boost High ISO Sensitivity: 12,800
- Processor: EXPEED 3
- Metering System: 3D Color Matrix Meter II with face recognition
- Dust Reduction: No
- Weather Sealing/Protection: No
- Body Build: Plastic
- Shutter: Up to 1/4000 and 30 sec exposure
- Storage: 1x SD slots
- Viewfinder Type: Pentamirror
- Viewfinder Coverage: 95%
- Viewfinder Magnification: 0.78x
- Speed: 5 FPS
- Exposure Meter: 2016 pixel RGB sensor
- Built-in Flash: Yes, full CLS compatibility
- Autofocus System: MultiCAM 4800DX AF with 39 focus points and 9 cross-type sensors
- LCD Screen: 3 inch articulated screen with 921,000 dots
- Movie Modes: Full 1080p HD @ 60i fps max
- Movie Exposure Control: Full
- Movie Recording Limit: 30 minutes @ 30p, 20 minutes @ 24p
- Movie Output: MOV
- In-Camera HDR Capability: Yes
- Camera Editing: Lots of in-camera editing options with HDR capabilities
- GPS: Not built-in, requires GP-1 GPS unit
- Battery Type: EN-EL14
- USB Standard: 2.0
- Weight: 555g (body only)
- Price: $1,150 MSRP (body only)
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Emergency Evacuation Insurance for High Altitude Treks in Nepal
 |
| A rescue helicopter leaves Namche Bazar for Kathmandu |
On most of my treks in Nepal
This was quite a grey area for me but after
some research and with the help of some friends in the USA and UK
Firstly, let me say that you cannot get this
insurance in Nepal or India
The largest world-wide rescue organization in
the USA
The second option is to join The America Alpine Club as a member. It provides limited evacuation insurance benefits, a maximum of $5,000 which is sufficient for a helicopter rescue in
However,
please do keep in mind that Global Rescue (through American Alpine Club) is
primarily an emergency rescue organization; it is not an insurance company as
such. They keep trained rescue personnel on duty 7x24, helicopters, and jets on
standby around the world (including India
& Nepal Nepal
helicopter evacuation, but would not cover flying you back to the U.S.
The Austrian Alpine Club (UK) provides more extensive evacuation/medical insurance.
This organization specializes in rescue insurance for Europe and Asia and they
have members from the USA Nepal
For more information please do visit
the web sites given above.
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