A stream at our campsite in Chitra Kantha



    getting ready for Kuari Pass Trek today.

    woke up to a group of sheeps passing through our campsite.
    the villagers use the trail passing through the forest to bring their sheeps
    to graze aat the meadows on the opposite side of the forest





    the first light of the day


    exiting the alpine forest



    Trishul Peak ( 7120m above sea level )
    The three peaks resemble a trident , the weapon of the Hindu god Lord Shiva .


    some visible part of Nanda Devi ( 7816 m / 25643ft above sea level )
    the second highest mountain in India
    ( the highest is Kangchenjunga at India-Nepal border )
    it has two peaks , and referred to as the twin peaks of the goddess Nanda.

    the Hanuman Peak 5980m
    it is a flat hill which according to legend was from where
   Hanuman the Monkey God cut the Sanjeevani mountain in order to save Laxman.
   And because of this a village on the foothills of this mountain
   got really pissed and have not worshiped Hanuman from generations.
   
    Ganesh Peak

    Dunagiri Peak 7066m
   

    Rishi Peak
    the Milam Glacier is located here ( the source of Goriganga river )


    Barmal Peak

    Haathi Parvat ( Elephant Peak ) 6727 metres / 22070 ft
   
    Gauri Peak

    drawing the names of the peak in my journal


   

    the Kuari Pass is all about trekking on high ridges .

    Pangarchulla


    Rhododendron flower.
   

    halfway before reaching Kuari Pass


    our team leader  Mr Mohan Singh.
    65 years old and still strong.
    he is probably the finest mountaineer & skier in India.
    For his feats in the Himalayas he has been awarded 
    the Padmashree award by the goverment.
    ( something like the title ' Datuk ' in Malaysia. )
    He has climbed Everest (without oxygen) and many more Himalayan giants. 
    But what makes him special is the fact that he has skied down 
    from the summit of most of these peaks.
    he's also many times India Ski champion , and used to be ranked
    14th in the world.
    and yet he is a very very humble person.
    very honoured to trek with him.






    some snow patches even during this time of summer

Played with sheperd dogs during trekking.
Fresh springs and soils are readily available all the way 
throughout the trek , easy for me to clean up ( samak / sertu ) 
after playing with dogs.

Some restriction in handling dogs and pigs in Islam 
doesn't mean we should hate them. 
They're god's creation anyway. Dogs are often mentioned in Islamic stories , 
even in the famous Al-Kahfi story.
And not even a single story has mentioned about hating dogs.

Some people has problem to set priorities.
More concerned about dogs and pigs rather than
corruption , stealing , fornication etc.
Touch dogs and we can clean up ( samak / sertu ) , but to touch
non-Mahram is a bigger sin and there is no samak for it.

and i truly feel dogs are very good companion during trekking.
( regarding handling dogs , click here )
  



    crossing a small glacier



    found this near a stream.
    its a herbalplant used by the locals as remedy for fever.
    and it tastes like crushed paracetamol.

 

    stop at a small spring.
    I brought along only a 1L bottle of water.
    and that is enough because there a lot of fresh springs to refill the bottle
    along the trek.

    probably the freshest water i've ever drank.



    at places we can see people lying on the ground.
    they are not sunbathing or something , but searching for a rare type of fungus ,
    the ' Caterpillar Fungus '

    we were lucky to bump into these villages who found the fungus ,
    because the fungus is too rare sometimes they found none of them
    the freshly found caterpillar fungus ( Ophiocordyceps sinensis )



    basically , its a type of fungus that infest a caterpillar.
    the fungus grows inside the caterpillar , killing and
    mummifies the caterpillar from inside.
    the caterpillar remains vertical with head up in the soil , and the fungus
    emerges from the head after infecting the brain and grow above the soil.

    one piece of this costs Rs500.
    one kilogram here costs Rs 1 lakhs ( 100k rupees ) ,
    and outside this area it can go up to $50k per pound.
    it is a chinese medicine believed to have aphrodisiac properties ( viagra )
    article of this in National Geographic ( click here )

    finally we reached Kuari Pass at 1.30pm , after 5 hours of trekking
    from camp 1 near Tali.

    Lut got injured , so i helped him with his knees.
    as doctors , it good to go trekking along , as we can manage the
    injuries ourselves.



    all 12 of us trekkers managed to finish the Kuari Pass Trek

    Colonel A.S Nakai and his daughters Inayat (19 ) and Mehar (13 )
    as a former Indian Army , he shared a lot of interesting stories with us
    at the camp.
    they became our best friends throughout the journey.

    from left : Dr Shamim , Mr Mohan , Dr Hamijuwain , Dr Qidran , Dr Lutfi.
    Shamim is an intern dentist in Davangere , while me , hami and lutfi
    is medical intern doctor in Karad , Belgaum and Davengere respectively.
    despite shamim having cervical spondylosis , Hami with ACL injury
    and Lut with knee injury during the trek , we still managed to complete it.
   


    reached to our camp ( camp 2 ) at 4pm after 2 hours trek from Kuari Pass.
    this second campsite is located at a high altitude meadow just below
    the Kuari Pass.
    its an open meadow with no trees around , so there's no
    bonfire for the night to keep us warm.
    this campsite is very windy and cold compared to camp 1


    maggi in the tent


    ray of light shining upon Kuari Pass


    sunset from our camp


    Day 3 : Kuari Pass

    Kuari Pass Trek & Pangarchulla Peak 4550m 
    Indian Himalaya Trek
    31st May - 5th June 2014
    Uttarakhand , India

    instagram : #KuariPassTrek2014