[sesame]

I love walking tours. I have done it quite often in the past. If you go visit the high mountains, there is no other alternative but to walk! Pack up all things really really necessary, get rid of worthless trifles, and carry it all on your sore back! Oh, forget whatever you may, dont forget your food! It can make a difference between life and death!

It happened to me several times. Once I was dying in a heavily forested gorge, without food! It was infested with wild animals and I seriously didnt want to spend the night there. I travelled until the end of my stamina and then, just gave up! I couldnt move, my muscles bagan to fail. I just sat down to pray and slowly die. Along came a woodcutter, and my hopes rekindled! I asked him for food, he smiled and told me that he had none, only a pile of firewood! By the way, he told me that there was a spring nearby. I sat up, concentrated on my options. I was out of water. Since I was going to die anyway, why not look in my bag one last time? I rummaged my bag and found a packet of 200 gms of sugar! Just what I needed. I part crawled on all four, part walked to a very shadowy part of the woods, following the mild hisss sound of the spring. I filled my bottle with water, poured all the sugar in and shook it to a solution for minutes. And then, I drank that life saving nectar! Yes, thank God! That liquid, rich in all the energy I needed, sustained me for a 5 km uphill climb! This happened somewhere near Chopta and Mukku-Bend on my way to Tunganath. Its marked reddish in the map. Those days were really good. I walked about 215 kms in 8 days, without rest. I took many shortcuts through jungles and avoided the road as much as I could. The whole 5 Kedarnath belt was covered on foot! First I wore canvas shoes! The leeches got inside the socks and sucked my blood for hours! The white shoes became brown at the end of the day. After a few days, they were shattered rags! I got rid of them and purchased a pair of slippers from a village local store. After some more stressful walking, I developed sores all over my feet, from constant friction. The next scene is pretty hilarious, an ironic grin comes to my face, every time I think of it. That is, me limping barefooted over the tracks, slippers in hand. Wherever the stretch was filled with jagged rocks, I would put on the slippers and go barefoot again when the pain became too much. I was so thankful & glad when I finally completed my route and finally stood on the asphalt road with transportation in Helang, not far from Urgam. Mission accomplished! :D

Advice: Better be very choosy about what you carry, its your own hide! Or else if you are a rich lucky fatso you can afford to hire a porter or two. Dont just leave your trash in the mountains or forests, collect them, bring em back to the stinking city, where they belong! Wear waterproof shoes with 2 socks or anklets inside. That way, your feet will be in good working condition for a long time. Always keep some Glucose in handy.

Image: My hand drawn map from 2004. It describes in detail the route I took from Kedarnath to Helang.