Part 1.4 S to B

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getting ready for a trek to the bugyals....in this weather!!!!



it is snowing cats n dogs in the hills above us


and it is raining goats and sheep at the bona village


people were happy with the rains - they came after 2 months.






day 6
today we were to try and climb up to the bugyal. there is a peak nearby called chipla kedar. however, it seemed as if the weather god had some other plans. early in the morning, till breakfast time, it seemed as if things would be mine. the weather was sunny and we could see lots of snow on the mountains nearby. however, as we got ready and started for the next lap of the trek, the clouds started coming in. by the time we reached the first halt, it ws absolutely cloudy with the fog hovering a few metres over us and coming down every instant. This was a precursor to the biggest snowfall in the himalayas in many many years. with the weather conditions not improving, we had to turn back to bona village. we decided to cancel our trip to the bugyals above (we had to, the weather was not getting clearer and all the signs showed that a massive snowfall was on the way).
so we came down, had a lunch at the horseman's house and then just rested at ganesh's house. while talking to ganesh, i got to know that he is a descendant of nan singh rawat (same surnames) and he is also originally from milam village. nain singh was a headmaster in milam village during the 1870s. the british trained hm in the use of navigational instruments. then he had gone undercover into tibet, as he understood the language of tibet (in those days, tibet was called hun desh - country of huns). he had stayed in tibet, undercover, for many years, disguised as a lama. inlhasa, he witnessed the beheading of a chinese who had entered tibet without permission. his secret identity was discovered by a kashmiri merchant who was in lahasa, but it was not revealed to anyone. finally, nain singh came back to india after many mnay years in tibet. he was awarded highly by the royal geographic society (RGS). his great great grandson now lives in madkot village. i think they will still have a copy of the map that nain singh had drawn in the 19th century and the sword he was awarded by the RGS. one day i will definitely try to go out there and get an interview with this person.

early next morning..some of the weather was clearing up



look at the snow accumulated above..and this was just the beginning


the view of some snow clad ridges from ganesh's house


smira enjoying her first view of the snow


we trekked till some distance above the village...but the view did not clear. in fact, more and more clouds came in.

hill vultures hovering above






langoors (white haired monkeys) in the forest


close up of the langoor


the above reaches were already covered with snow


snow snow snow







with the weather not improving, we decided to turn back.



ganesh took us to a place from where we can have a look at the whole village

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