MUWCI
TWO YEARS AT THE HEART OF INDIA
TRAVEL WEEK
7-16 October, 2016
2pm - We were standing behind the pool lawn on the parking lot, our backpacks on our backs, wearing our heavy hiking shoes, our eyes full of expectations and excitement!
After a two-hour bus ride, we reached the railway station. Although Pune is relatively small compared to other Indian cities such as Mumbai and Delhi, the station was still crazy. The chaos was not different than anything else I had experienced in India. Hordes of people were shouting and pushing, trying to get through the crowd. We did the same.
As we finally reached our platform, we saw the travel week group on their way to Mardya Pradesh. They were taking the same train we were. Our train arrived, and we did our best to fit through the narrow door with our huge bags. The Indians in the train seemed confused by this group of over 50 foreign students walking in. After a back and forth with our teachers, other Indians in the train and the inspector, we finally figured out where to sit. I was sharing a compartment with Anna, Joao, Shaurya, Dheeraj, Zaid and two volunteers, Luka and Moises. As we were shoving our backpacks under the seats and locked them up with chains, we started trying to make the space as comfortable as possible. We were getting ready for over 24 hours on this train.
Time was passing by, just like the landscapes at the window. It was very similar to the rural areas around Pune, with occasional villages of clay houses. Vendors were walking through the corridors yelling out the names of their products. ‘Garam Chai, Garam Chai!’. We bought several cups of chai masala, some wada pav and chicken biryani, and all sorts of western junk food.
Next to the bathroom, there were doors which you could open. We would just stand there and enjoy the breeze whilst listening to the rhythmic sound of metals wheels against the metal rail.
For hours, we sat together eating food, singing, talking and playing cards. Time was passing by way too fast. It was so nice to have a moment with absolutely nothing else to do, no thoughts about upcoming trivenis, meetings or homework. We just sat there and talked, until we crashed in our beds.
I was woken up at 3am by the sound of chai sellers screaming ‘Garam Chai, Garam Chai!’. A few hours later, I woke up again, this time, because others in the compartment were already up. After cleaning up our beds to make some space, we bought cups of masala chai, toast with omelet and some snacks for breakfast.
At around 1pm, the group going to Mardya Pradesh go off the train, leaving us behind with another 8 hours to go on that train.
We reached Delhi late the next night, only to take another night train at 12am. By then, we were all starving, as we had been feeding ourselves with only junk food for the past two days. As we didn’t have much time, we ordered some Pizza hut which got delivered onto the platform, just in time for us to take it on the train with us. We got in, put our bags down, devoured the pizza and went to sleep.
Luka woke us up at 5am. We had finally reached Dehradun. The joy of getting off the train only lasted shortly, as we found out we were bound for another 10-hour bus ride. We loaded our bags onto the buses and got in. This was one of the worst bus rides. As we were driving up into the Himalayas, we drove through serpentine after serpentine. It seemed like the whole bus was getting motion sick. After a long and dreadful bus ride, we finally reached our destination. We transferred our bags onto open jeeps, jumped onto the back and after a very rocky twenty minutes, we finally reached Taluka. It was already night so we didn’t see much. Our guides were awaiting us, with some good food, introductions, and instructions of what awaited us. There was four of them. A local mountain guide, two flora and fauna experts, and an English speaking mountain guide. As hard as I was trying to listen to what they were saying, my eyes were getting heavier and I was having difficulties time staying awake. We quickly set up our tents and fell asleep, more exhausted than ever.
DAY 1
6am
We were woken up at 6am by Luka. I had barely slept as it was freezing outside and I was not prepared for these temperatures. We got out of our tent. It was still dark outside, and the cold foggy air was hurting my face. After drinking the sweet chai masala, we packed up our tents and got our backpacks ready. We were all so impatient as we didn’t know what to expect. The sun was slowly rising behind the mountains, but its light had not yet reached the valley we were staying in. An hour and a few pictures later, we were ready to leave.
8am
As we left the camp, we crossed the village which was already fully awake. I was observing the locals, their facial features and ethnicities were so noticeably different from the Indians I had seen up until then. Our guide started explaining how their ethnicity was more Nepalese and Chinese than Indian. The children’s skins were darker, their eyes skinnier and many of them were shorter.
We were hiking alongside a large river, the mountains emerging on both sides. The sun was now shining brightly. We took some time to pause near the water, eat some cookies and enjoy the view. The mules carrying our food stopped and drank the fresh river water. The hike was rather easy, very flat, but many of us were still struggling. All the travel groups had been picked at random, meaning some people in the group had never done any hiking in their life.
1pm
Giuli, Shruti, and Paulina were falling behind, struggling with every step they were taking. Jess had Asthma and was having troubles walking uphill. Walking as a team became difficult, but people started taking each other's hands, encouraging each other to keep going or even carrying two backpacks.
3pm
“Only 500 more meters”, we heard someone yell. Giuli’s face brightened up, we started speeding up and before we knew it, we saw the campsite. It was a large green patch of grass directly next to the river. The mules had already arrived, been unloaded and were nibbling the grass. The kitchen tent was also already set up.
4pm
Matthew, one of the faculty members, had come up with the idea of a reflection book. Every night, we would sit together, talk about the day and discuss anything we wanted to. We sat down in what was meant to be a circle. I found a stone which I pushed inside the circle to sit on. We were looking down on to the campsite, the rushing white river, and the calm mules. I had forgotten what 10 ºC felt like, and was trying to warm my hands in my pockets.
We started discussing the impact of tourism in the area and had the Hindi speakers translate what the guide was saying. The circle cringed when we heard about the real effects tourism has had. “Tourism hurts”, the guide said. A sense of guilt rose from within me as I was listening to his stories.
9pm
Argos, the guide’s dog started barking as we got up to collect some wood. Shlok had started the fire, and within less than a minute, it was burning bright, warming all of us. We were sitting around the fire, eating the hot dal with some chapati and rice. We went to wash our dishes in the river. The water was freezing I hurried back to warm them next to the fire.
I watched the fire flicker in the dark whilst I was warming my hands. The heat was burning my face, but I knew that if I had moved back, I would have gotten cold. It was getting dark and with that colder. Only six of us hadn’t gone to sleep yet. Sitting in a circle, all cuddling, and holding hands, we were talking about anything that was passing our minds. Zaid, my Palestinian co-year was passionately talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as the fire was slowly dying out.
DAY 2
6am
We were woken up a little later that day, and the sun was already showing behind the mountain peaks. Huddling up around the fire, we silently stood there sipping our chai masala, while some people were helping to get the breakfast ready.
11am
Today’s hike was so much more challenging, and all of us were already tired after only three hours of hiking. Instead of having a gradual incline over a longer distance, we had very steep climbs. Giuli was struggling more and more so we started walking hand in hand which seemed to encourage the both of us.
12pm
Many of us were close to giving up. Everything was hurting but we had to keep going. One foot in front of the other. It felt as if I had weights attached to my feet, but together we climbed. I finally understood what second years had said before we left for the trip. Hiking, for the most part, is mental strength. I was still holding Giuli’s hand, and I think having to encourage her was perhaps the thing that kept me going as well.
1pm
I was sitting on a sunny stone for lunch break, eating fried rice and granola. The view was breathtaking, so beautiful I can’t even put it in words. The air was soothing my lungs as I looked at the pure white on the horizon. The glaciers, so close but yet so far. We could still hear the rushing of the river in the valley, but its sound was slowly diminishing.
4pm
Everything hurt. All of us were exhausted but we had made it. We had gotten to the camp, the site I thought we’d never reach. Giuli and I threw off our backpacks and shoes, and just started laughing out of pure relief. We had done 13km with about 1200 meters of elevation, to reach this campsite above 3500 meters. The length and elevation of the hike weren’t too difficult, it was just that there were incredibly steep climbs followed by path downhill on the other side, making the hike so discouraging. After setting up our tents, we gathered together for the daily reflection. We had gotten freshly cooked Maggi and chai masala as a snack. Dheeraj asked us about today’s greatest challenges, what we enjoyed about the day, how we felt and much more. As some started talking, others started crying, thanking each other for the small kindnesses, the encouraging words, and the constant support. Everyone had struggled differently, and we had all been pushed to our limits.
6pm
The sun was slowly setting, coloring the clouds orange and yellow. The smoke escaping the cooking tent was making me hungry, and I could smell the Dal and chapati. We were exhausted but the pride of accomplishing today’s hike was greater than anything else. Looking up at the walls of Himalayan mountains rising high into the clouds, it was hard to believe we were at an altitude of 3500m.
9pm
After dinner, the same six people had stayed up around the bonfire. None of them were people I frequently hung out with back at MUWCI. I guess that was the magic of this trip. All of us had become so close in just a few days. It was even colder than the night before, but luckily Anna, the Canadian in the group, was well equipped and lent me extra pants and a sweater. Whispering around the fire in order not to wake up everyone else, we were laughing about our first impressionsof each other, talked about home, our families or what we missed the most. The fire was now out and it was pitch black, so we went to sleep.
DAY 3
7am
It had gone below 0 ºC that night, and despite Anna’s extra socks and sweaters, I was freezing. We sat down around the fire which was barely alive. After some chai masala and aloo paratha, we packed up our tents and got ready to leave. Waiting for the rest of the group, we sat down on a huge rock to soak up the first rays of sun. The trip was halfway over, and just thinking of that already made me nostalgic, thinking back to the previous nights, the camp, the people and the bonds we had formed. After loading the mules, we started hiking.
10am
We were walking the same way we had walked yesterday which meant steep ascents. The view looked different, somehow even more beautiful than yesterday. Maybe it was because all of us were incredibly happy to not have any steep inclines. We stopped to take photos every few meters, and my camera still smelled like the smoke of yesterday’s bonfire. So did the rest of my things.
1pm
We had come across a little stone shack, more of a with a wooden roof. Three locals were sitting in a cloud of smoke, cooking chai masala in an old rusty metal pot. We all sat down, many were writing and reading, others talking or contemplating the view. The sun was bright but we all pulled out or fleeces, as the wind was getting stronger.
“Chalo,” we were leaving again!
3pm
Back at the same camp, we were at two days ago, we started setting up our tents. Anna, Joao and I had gone inside the cooking tent, seeking some warmth. All three of us had caught a bad cold and were trying to warm up with ginger chai masala. Next to us, the staff was preparing dinner but refused our help because we were sick. My eyes were tearing up because of the smoke inside the tent. Despite being sick, all three of us were laughing out hearts out, about things I don’t even remember. Giuli came in to join us, opening the tent. I felt the rush of cold air coming in from the outside. I don’t remember how long we stayed in the tent before joining the reflection, but it did feel like forever.
DAY 4
7am
The faculty had let us sleep until 7am. We got out of our damp tents, getting ready for the last day of hiking.
10am
This was definitely the easiest day, whether it was because we had already done three days of hiking or because it was just an easy path didn’t matter. We had taken a break on a small meadow alongside the river. Nature here looked so different compared to where we were just 24 hours ago, more trees, greener, slightly hilly but never steep. We were soaking up the sun whilst chatting and eating unhealthy chocolate cookies.
3pm
We had reached Taluka, the village where we had started our hike a few days back, but we walked past it. This was the most beautiful campsite of them all. We set up our tents on the edge of a cliff, looking onto the mountains. You could see how done we all were, broken arms, twisted ankles, people coughing and sneezing everywhere.
5pm
We had taken our mattresses and sleeping bags and arranged them outside. Lying in a big circle, we started our last reflection. Many of us were on the edge of tears, just thinking of the fact this trip was almost over. We started playing music, singing songs, talking laughing. We didn’t do a bonfire, but us lying there as tight as sardines covered in sleeping bags was helping!
9pm
We were still lying there, holding hands, cuddling and looking up at the stars. The moon was shining bright, revealing the silhouettes of the trees. This was one of these moments you would want to freeze yourself in forever. I left a part of myself with every single one of the people that attended this trip, and we had gotten so close to each other in ways I never thought we would. We were cold, but we didn’t care.
I thought about how I was going to miss this, the morning chai masala, the supportive words, the breathtaking views, the laughters and the pain. The friendships formed in these mountains were incredibly special, and I loved every single one of the people on this trip. Joao, Zaid, and Shaurya were making some idiotic jokes, but Anna and I couldn't help but laugh. I was scared of how much this was going to change once we got back to campus, once the MUWCI life caught up with us.
All I wanted was for us to lie here forever. I didn’t want to think of the 65-hour trip awaiting us.
All that mattered was us, the starry sky and the memories we had left in these mountains.