Milam Glacier Trek Part 5 - Martoli to Milam village
Day 5
next morning u get up and have to lok for a place for theloo again. now that is a bit tough in a place like milam. i recommend to take the route going towards the nanda devi base camp. u can use 2 places...one u can walk some distance to the bushes near the bhopatra forest. or u can also do it behind the rocks/shrubs just where the path to nanda devi base camp starts. but in the second option, be a bit careful, coz there is a river flowing from nanda kot and it isa sharp fall down to the river. well, after the usual morning rituals, i paid a small visit to the temple. u get a good view of the village below and also of the nanda kot peak. however, it was pretty foggy and i had to return disappointed.
for breakfast, we had the same rotis again. then we guys went on. there is a sharp drop from the martoli village. u have to go down to cross the shalang gad that is coming from the nanda kot side. go down 500 feet almost. it is ok while going down, but while coming back, this was going to be really really tough. now we crossed the river and went ahead. we had to still cross the gori river. this was the first time in the trip that we were crossing the gori river. we crossed and came to teh river's true left side. then there was another climb to burfu village. they had put up a welcome (swagatam) banner on occasion of the nanda devi mela. some kids were playing. i just sat down at the first house and asked for tea very loudly. i did not even think that it was a restaurant. actually ganag had gone ahead and so i did not know which house is the village restaurant. still, i was very lucky. there was an ols lady with her 2 daughters staying there. actually, they stay in pithoragarh, but had coem here for the mela. they also had a pomeranian dog with them named pinky. i took some snaps of these ppl and later on, i had mailed them the printouts. then i went out to look for ganga ram. he was sitting in the actual village hotel some way back. over there the clouds cleared for some time and we got a wonderful view of the burfu peak. i also met the same guy here whom i had encountered in bagudiyaar (the one drinkin in the village restaurant). he showed me around the lace. there was a cute little atta chakki over there, next to the burfu gad. we had soem more tasty snacks over there (parantha and channa) and i took some snaps of the kids. soon, we were on our way again. the route ascends gradually to bilju village. on the other side of the gori river is pacchu village. there were many ppl on the other side leading a procession to apcchu village. from this vilage u get a clear view of nanda devi (on a sunny day that is). actually, there is a stream flowing right from nanda devi and it meets the gori ganga right where this village is located. a temple is located over here n many ppl come here on the day of the mela. then u go on and go down again, this time to cross the goenkha gad (this river originates from somewhere near the tibet border). it flows at great speed and cuts through the mighty mountains as if it was amul cheese spread.
now the milam village is located on a big flat plateau. first, u reach the itbp post n register urself there. we decided to stay in the pwd bunglow. 1 room + 1 toilet. finally, a place with a loo :-). we went to check outthe temple in the village. there were some other villagers and an itbp jawan over there. they were decking it up for the ceremonies in the evening. i took some snaps (as usual) and then the priest showed me a pair of brahmakamals he had. wow, i was seeing them in real life for the first time. we had some lunch at jeevan ram's house. he was the village sarpanch. then i just decided to roam around. there were some old bunkers made around the place, probably since it is so close to the border. this village was the home of the legendary travellers - nain singh and mani singh. 133 years ago, these ppl slipped into tibet with the herculean task of drawing the map of tibet. milam was an important trading post with tibet in those days. so these chaps knew tibetan. they dressed up as buddhist monks. now u must have seen these monks carrying little bells in their hands. inside those bells were hidden their survey equipment. now these guys wrote doen a number ofr every hundred or so stpes they took. then they also measured the latitude n longitude of important places by the angle the stars made. they measured the altitude of lhasa by checking the boiling temperature of water, and so on. these feats were never achieved by anyone in history before. in those days milam was a really fundoo village. there used to be withc doctor among the first ppl to come from tibet. he used to see if the village is ok for the tibetans to come, and then only will the rest of the caravan follow. i also found some ancient tibetan inscriptions on soem of the rocks.
now, after lunch i decide to check out the place. went in direction of the glacier, but it was a bit too far off. then i climbed the ridge overlooking the goenkha gad. checked out the old bunkers/sangarhs. from ther i could see the path going towards dung and topi-dung (last posts used by the itbp). after these posts lies tibet. meanwhile, the festivities had started in the temple. since they were about to cut the sheep, so i decide to stay away. there was dancing and revelry, just as we used to witness in the naina devi festial in nainital. i also met a colonel joshi. he also belonged to almora and was stationed at pithoragarh. he was returning from an assignemtn to patrol the borders from munsiyar to milam. so he had gone from munsiyari, to the darma valley and the lassrer yankti valley and had finally come to milam, after visiting every post. it was over by around 6:30 pm and the sun ahd well and truly set. the itbp ppl started singing the national anthem before being dismissed for the day. i decided to wait for dinner at jeevn ram's hut. they were cleaning the goats outside his hut. so i decided to wait inside. finally, since i was feeling a bit tired, i dozed off just liek that. at around 11 pm, ganga ram came and woke me up. the diner was about to begin outside. almost the whole village had assembled there. the menu was rice, poori and mutton. of course, some beer also to guzzle up. there was a scientist over there, who was doing soem work on glacier hydrology. i felt that chap was trying to be a bit too friendly in the evening. and now, since he was drunk, he was now being just too pally. and since i havethis habit of suspecting every second friendly guy to be a gay, i decided to leave quickly. i met colonel joshi in the room next ot me. his junior was also with him. chatted with them for some time. they were saying how they felt in heaven to be back under a concrete roof. till now, in the past one month, when they used to go to sleep, they had to knock the roof of their tent with a stick to shake off the snow. otherwise they might be buried under snow if they slept till morning :-O. after some chit chatting with them, it was time to go off to sleep.
next morning u get up and have to lok for a place for theloo again. now that is a bit tough in a place like milam. i recommend to take the route going towards the nanda devi base camp. u can use 2 places...one u can walk some distance to the bushes near the bhopatra forest. or u can also do it behind the rocks/shrubs just where the path to nanda devi base camp starts. but in the second option, be a bit careful, coz there is a river flowing from nanda kot and it isa sharp fall down to the river. well, after the usual morning rituals, i paid a small visit to the temple. u get a good view of the village below and also of the nanda kot peak. however, it was pretty foggy and i had to return disappointed.
for breakfast, we had the same rotis again. then we guys went on. there is a sharp drop from the martoli village. u have to go down to cross the shalang gad that is coming from the nanda kot side. go down 500 feet almost. it is ok while going down, but while coming back, this was going to be really really tough. now we crossed the river and went ahead. we had to still cross the gori river. this was the first time in the trip that we were crossing the gori river. we crossed and came to teh river's true left side. then there was another climb to burfu village. they had put up a welcome (swagatam) banner on occasion of the nanda devi mela. some kids were playing. i just sat down at the first house and asked for tea very loudly. i did not even think that it was a restaurant. actually ganag had gone ahead and so i did not know which house is the village restaurant. still, i was very lucky. there was an ols lady with her 2 daughters staying there. actually, they stay in pithoragarh, but had coem here for the mela. they also had a pomeranian dog with them named pinky. i took some snaps of these ppl and later on, i had mailed them the printouts. then i went out to look for ganga ram. he was sitting in the actual village hotel some way back. over there the clouds cleared for some time and we got a wonderful view of the burfu peak. i also met the same guy here whom i had encountered in bagudiyaar (the one drinkin in the village restaurant). he showed me around the lace. there was a cute little atta chakki over there, next to the burfu gad. we had soem more tasty snacks over there (parantha and channa) and i took some snaps of the kids. soon, we were on our way again. the route ascends gradually to bilju village. on the other side of the gori river is pacchu village. there were many ppl on the other side leading a procession to apcchu village. from this vilage u get a clear view of nanda devi (on a sunny day that is). actually, there is a stream flowing right from nanda devi and it meets the gori ganga right where this village is located. a temple is located over here n many ppl come here on the day of the mela. then u go on and go down again, this time to cross the goenkha gad (this river originates from somewhere near the tibet border). it flows at great speed and cuts through the mighty mountains as if it was amul cheese spread.
now the milam village is located on a big flat plateau. first, u reach the itbp post n register urself there. we decided to stay in the pwd bunglow. 1 room + 1 toilet. finally, a place with a loo :-). we went to check outthe temple in the village. there were some other villagers and an itbp jawan over there. they were decking it up for the ceremonies in the evening. i took some snaps (as usual) and then the priest showed me a pair of brahmakamals he had. wow, i was seeing them in real life for the first time. we had some lunch at jeevan ram's house. he was the village sarpanch. then i just decided to roam around. there were some old bunkers made around the place, probably since it is so close to the border. this village was the home of the legendary travellers - nain singh and mani singh. 133 years ago, these ppl slipped into tibet with the herculean task of drawing the map of tibet. milam was an important trading post with tibet in those days. so these chaps knew tibetan. they dressed up as buddhist monks. now u must have seen these monks carrying little bells in their hands. inside those bells were hidden their survey equipment. now these guys wrote doen a number ofr every hundred or so stpes they took. then they also measured the latitude n longitude of important places by the angle the stars made. they measured the altitude of lhasa by checking the boiling temperature of water, and so on. these feats were never achieved by anyone in history before. in those days milam was a really fundoo village. there used to be withc doctor among the first ppl to come from tibet. he used to see if the village is ok for the tibetans to come, and then only will the rest of the caravan follow. i also found some ancient tibetan inscriptions on soem of the rocks.
now, after lunch i decide to check out the place. went in direction of the glacier, but it was a bit too far off. then i climbed the ridge overlooking the goenkha gad. checked out the old bunkers/sangarhs. from ther i could see the path going towards dung and topi-dung (last posts used by the itbp). after these posts lies tibet. meanwhile, the festivities had started in the temple. since they were about to cut the sheep, so i decide to stay away. there was dancing and revelry, just as we used to witness in the naina devi festial in nainital. i also met a colonel joshi. he also belonged to almora and was stationed at pithoragarh. he was returning from an assignemtn to patrol the borders from munsiyar to milam. so he had gone from munsiyari, to the darma valley and the lassrer yankti valley and had finally come to milam, after visiting every post. it was over by around 6:30 pm and the sun ahd well and truly set. the itbp ppl started singing the national anthem before being dismissed for the day. i decided to wait for dinner at jeevn ram's hut. they were cleaning the goats outside his hut. so i decided to wait inside. finally, since i was feeling a bit tired, i dozed off just liek that. at around 11 pm, ganga ram came and woke me up. the diner was about to begin outside. almost the whole village had assembled there. the menu was rice, poori and mutton. of course, some beer also to guzzle up. there was a scientist over there, who was doing soem work on glacier hydrology. i felt that chap was trying to be a bit too friendly in the evening. and now, since he was drunk, he was now being just too pally. and since i havethis habit of suspecting every second friendly guy to be a gay, i decided to leave quickly. i met colonel joshi in the room next ot me. his junior was also with him. chatted with them for some time. they were saying how they felt in heaven to be back under a concrete roof. till now, in the past one month, when they used to go to sleep, they had to knock the roof of their tent with a stick to shake off the snow. otherwise they might be buried under snow if they slept till morning :-O. after some chit chatting with them, it was time to go off to sleep.
posted by Prashant Joshi at 11:48 PM
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