It’s been some time since we posted a blog entry, and it’s long overdue for us to share some exciting and beautiful news with all of you. We wanted to tell you the tale of our incredible adventure into the Himalayas, and how our time on top of the world has changed our lives.

McLeodganj, Dharamshala

Violante and I decided to spend the month of May up in the Himalayas near McLeodganj, Dharamshala. One of the features of this incredible mountain town is the close the proximity to a few of the major cities in North India, like Amritsar, Chandigarh, and Delhi. In fact, after a gruelling 40 hour train ride from Pondicherry to Delhi, we were thankful to be hosted by Deep and Maninder (a wonderful couple from one of my adopted families in Delhi) for two nights of rest and recuperation, before jumping on the fairly quick 12 hour overnight bus that took us directly to the doorstep of the cottage we were staying in near McLeodganj. I had been to this cottage many times before; in fact I’ve tried to always make a point of going there whenever I’m in India. The owners of this incredible property that overlooks the foothills of the Himalayas and the plains that lay below them, Sheru and Geetika, are another couple, from that same adopted family. They graciously allowed us to stay in their beautiful cottage for our time exploring together in the mountains, while further developing our joint ventures and studies in Yoga, Music, Art, Creativity, and Lifestyle. The care takers of this property are a beautiful Himachal Pradesh family of 4; Hakim, Kusum, Jaideep, and Ajadeep. They are truly our family now and we loved spending time up there with them and their adorable dog Nonu!!

Some of the main attractions of McLeodganj are that it’s home to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tsuglagkhang temple, as well as the Tibetan government in Exile. During our days there we visited the temple a few times a week to practice meditation, japa (mantra chanting), and experience the pooja (worship) by the Tibetan Buddhist Monks. We were also extremely fortunate to attend one of the teachings of the Dalai Lama himself and were graced with his presence and incredible wisdom and guidance. Having both spent time studying Buddhism, but from our own point of view, it was a beautiful experience to join our paths and experience the teaching together of such an incredible human being. The Dalai Lama spreads a truly powerful aura of Hope, Joy, Love, and we could tangibly feel the light that he shares through his teachings.

We also spent some of our time further educating ourselves about the Tibetan situation; something that we can easily say is majorly overlooked and not considered enough in today’s world. The occupation of Tibet by China is a highly debated political issue stemming from the invasion in Tibet in 1950. A concise history of Tibet can be found here on the Tibet Museum website. What we learned at the museum easily convinced us that the systematic attack of the Chinese government and forces on the Tibetan people and their culture is one of the great atrocities of the modern world. Sadly most people don’t about what’s going on and we are never educated on the truth of matter in the news. If you don’t know the history, take a moment to do some research and learn about the situation. Then if you feel, there are ways that you can help to support Tibet and their fight for Justice and Freedom.

Here are a few links that can help you to get started:

History of Tibet (1950-present) Wiki Page

Free Tibet.org Website

http://www.tibet.org/

10 Things you can do to help Tibet

Take Action

Despite the unbelievable stories of escape the Tibetan people have lived through and their life threatening journeys over the Himalayas to reach McLeodganj, almost all of the Tibetans we met, from the street merchants, to the stores and restaurants owners, and the many monks inside and outside the temple, were among some of the most peaceful, considerate, happy, and welcoming people we’ve ever met. They are so proud of their culture and history and are happy to share it with everyone who comes to visit them in their home in exile.

A Weekend Trek into the Himalayas

Another highlight of our time in the Himalayas was our adventure up the mountains during a 5-day voyage from our cottage to the snowy peaks of Dhauladhar Range. We managed to acquire the necessary, but by no means completely adequate, equipment needed to camp up in the mountains. We started by hiking to Triund, the most popular spot for most tourists, as it’s easily accessible by a one-day hike, or an overnight camping trip. It’s become so popular that on weekends there can be as many as 100 tents pitched on the hilltop, with hundreds of young people partying during their camping weekend away from the big city. I’ve stayed there before and enjoyed the chaos and energy of these almost festival-like gatherings, but this time we decided to continue hiking to the snow line, which is just far to be out of reach for most of the weekend tourists. We started our journey early on a Friday morning, so we knew we could get a comfy spot to camp for the next few days before any of the more adventurous hikers came to join us. Despite being called the “snow line”, due to the very warm winter and lack of snow, sadly there was no snow to be found here. For sure this was a disappointment to the more adventurous weekend hikers that pushed on to reach this point, only to learn that in order to actually touch the snow they would have to continue for another few hours, meaning, that without the time or proper camping equipment, they had to turn back with bitter frustration. We settled in to our camp and enjoyed the fire and some warm food prepared by the owner of the Snowline Café, the ‘oldest and last’ stop in this range for over 20 years! The café was really more of a shelter and wasn’t exactly the most comfortable place to relax in. It did however become necessary to dive inside during a huge wind and rainstorm we experienced on our second day. We had to hide inside the tarped hut, all huddled together, as we truly thought our tents we going to blow away! When the storm stopped and we emerged from the shelter, we luckily found that our tent had survived, somewhat better better than some others. Also, in an instance of sheer luck and fortune, a man who had been sleeping inside his tent during the storm, came out to find that a giant tree, maybe a few hundred years old, had fallen only 10 feet from his tent. He was lucky to come out alive with no injuries or damage to his person or equipment! This storm was a little bit of a wake up for us as to the severity of the climate here in the mountains, and how quickly it can change. Also how being well prepared, with more than adequate equipment, was really the only way to survive up in these beautiful yet treacherous mountains.

A Difficult Decision

Having spent a full day relaxing at the ‘Snowline Cafe’ with our new found friends, Nathan and Sara from Australia, we started to get a little bit of an itch to adventure further from our camp, and deeper into the wild. We met a few brave individuals that had ventured up the steep mountain to the top and were now on their way back down. One man from Italy, seemed to convince us that we looked like the type of people that could do it, which certainly boosted our desire to summit the snowpeak and get a glimpse of what laid on the other side. Another pair of young local Indian men, although from another part of the Himalayas, ended up being caught on the side of the rockface in the storm that I just described the day before. Despite almost losing their lives, yet surviving to tell the tale, they decided to try again for the summit that day, convinced that they would not go home without success. All of these meetings and stories cultivated a growing urge in us to just go for it, but also brought along the fears and risks of doing such an epic thing. Finally after a day of going back and forth of deciding to go for it or not, we made the decision that it was now or never. We left in the late morning after packing up our tent and stashed it with the owner of the café, and told him to send help if we didn’t return by tomorrow night. We hiked with our new Aussie friends, who wanted to reach the glaciers, as Sara had never touched actual snow before. Our plan was to reach the Lahesh cave, situated on the side of the towering mountain face and sleep inside the cave for the night, with just our sleeping bags and enough supplies for the next day’s trek to the summit and back. After saying goodbye to Nathan and Sara, who were heading back down to their camp, Violante and I continued up the steep and rocky path to the cave. We reached with lots of time in hand before sunset, where we tried our best to gather whatever fuel we could for a small fire in the evening. The only thing we could find were small hollow weeds in the cracks of the rocks, and we weren’t really convinced that it would create much of a long lasting fire.

A Full Moon Night with the Shepherds

As the sun was setting and we settling into the feeling of being all alone on the side of the mountain, we heard a distant bell, voices, and some strange sounds we couldn’t quite figure out. We walked to the ledge of the cliff and looked down, only to find a large herd of sheep and goats heading on their way up to us…   It was dusk and almost dark out, so we knew that they weren’t going to the summit on this day, and were most likely planning to camp with us for the night. We tried to prepare ourselves for the idea of sharing the small cave with 7-8 sheepherders, but as the first few herders arrived just below us we could see that in fact they would not join us in the cave, but set up camp out in the open with their flock of sheep and goats sleeping on the grass and rocks around them. As we looked down on them, they looked up at us and we exchanged a gestured greeting. Even though it was already almost dark and was quite cold, we decided to venture back down to where they had set up camp and say hello. When we reached their camp most of the sheep had arrived, as well and the rest of the herders. They were busily setting up two camps beside each other, lighting the fires, and unloading all the gear they had just lugged up the mountain. We introduced ourselves and they welcomed us to sit by the fire and stay warm. It was amazing to see how they all had their own responsibilities and carried them out quickly and efficiently, all the while working together for each other. There was the cook, who started to prepare the rice and dal. Then the doctor who administered the shots to the sick and weak sheep. Also, a ‘preist’ who made prayers and prepared the various items for the pooja they would do once they reached the summit tomorrow. There was also a fun and carefree ‘older brother’ who seemed to be in charge of the dogs, but more importantly the hooka pipe. He prepared the hooka and starting smoking just after we arrived and didn’t stop until after we left! We brought a few gifts of food and drink; some dried nuts, which no one seemed very interested in, and some rum, which everyone seemed interested in. We were glad to be able to offer them something, because their warm welcoming embrace of us into their camp was greatly appreciated on this chilly yet stunning night. As the last lights of the sun died away on the horizon to the west, the bright full moon rose over our eastern shoulders, appearing from behind the last of the great mountains that lay behind us. A perfect and clear night….now we understood why they would camp outside…in much more comfort than huddled inside the cramped cave. We spend a few hours together with this family of 7 herders, 4 dogs, and 600 sheep and goats. My limited knowledge of hindi matched their limited english and we basically spoke with gestures and charades. It was beautiful to communicate on a different level and we felt at home with these fine men who offered the warmth of their fire, food, and hearts to us so unconditionally. As we planned to leave them and head back up to our camp in the cave above, they offered us a cup of hot sheep’s milk, freshly gathered, heated on the fire, and sweetened with sugar…a concoction they guaranteed would put us to sleep and give us energy for tomorrow’s trek. We gratefully thanked them for their hospitality and understood that we would see them again tomorrow, either in the morning when they departed at 5 am with the sunrise, or somewhere along the route to the top.

Summiting the Snow Peaks

We awoke to the sounds of the shepherds waking their herd and singing out their morning pooja, preparing for the long and arduous day they had ahead ; travelling over the gigantic mountaintop that was currently between them and their homes. We saw the last of the full moon as it was now setting in the west while the sun was rising in the east. A beautiful experience of a moment in time where we could appreciate the balance of Nature and the relationships between our home here on Earth, and our life giving parents of the Sun and the Moon, our Father and our Mother. As we gathered our things and stashed our extra gear in a nearby crack in the rocks, we heard the herd pass by us and take a heard start on the path to the Indrahar pass. We left about an hour after them and it took us about 3 hours to ‘catch up’. In reality moving 600 sheep up a steep rock face isn’t exactly easily, and despite their incredibly fast pace, with many kilograms of gear on their backs, the path became so narrow and steep that they had to wait while the sheep and goats reluctantly, yet courageously leapt up the rocky steps. Meeting our friends again was a lovely moment on the trek and they gave us hope when we already felt like this decision was a bit somewhat a bit more epic than we thought. We thought that for sure we’d be ‘stuck’ behind the herd until we reached the top, but within 30 minutes of ‘catching up’ to them, we had fallen behind due to a few dangerous sections of the path that were covered in glacial snow. We struggled to climb with confidence and a feeling of safety, but managed by going slowly and carefully. We were amazed at how these men could walk straight up the icy snow faces, with packs on their backs, while keeping an eye on all the sheep, young and old, and getting them to continue up the mountain. They had also adopted us and were trying their best to encourage us to go faster and keep up with them, but within an hour they were already well ahead of us, as we struggled to cross some of the more treacherous glacial paths and catch our breath in the thin air. We heard the moment that they summited, as their cries and cheers echoed throughout the valley; we were still at least a hundred meters below, stuck on a very steep and dangerous glacier, trying to decide whether or not we should turn back or continue on. It’s hard to describe the feelings we had after making it so far and coming so close to reach the top, yet feeling like it was truly too dangerous to continue and that we really didn’t need to unnecessarily risk our lives. It was even harder to think about quitting when we knew that our shepherd friends just did it in plastic shoes with heavy packs, while we had serious hiking boots, very light packs, and a couple of hiking sticks to help us. Just as we were about to turn back, one of our friends looked down at us and called us to keep coming…we waved back trying to tell him not to worry…and before we knew it, he was hiking back down the last part of the mountain to reach us. He extended his hand and basically pulled us up past that last difficult and scary section. As we gathered ourselves and took the final steps towards the summit we realized just how lucky we were to have met these fine men whose energy and care, so greatly helped us to summit these incredible mountains. In our final steps to the peak we were finally able to look over to the other side and gaze upon one of the most beautiful vistas we’ve ever seen on this planet. We also had the joyful congratulations from our shepherd friends and their herd and they rewarded us with a fair share of their prosad (food offered to the God Shiva), which consisted of specially prepared bread and some dried fruit and nuts. They didn’t spend long with us at the top, as they had already been there for almost 30 minutes and they had a long way to go to their next pit stop; a cave down the other side of the mountain which was another 5-6 hours trekking. We took some group photos and they asked us to send them in the mail; giving us one of their addresses on a scrap piece of paper. We said thank you and goodbye, and wished them well on their journey, and then spent the next 15 minutes watching them try to convince the sheep to slide down the steep glacier that was the first part of their path down the other side. As the last shepherd slid down after the last sheep and joined the herd we looked down on the whole group from above, standing on top of the world, alone, but together.

We spent a few minutes resting and gathering strength for the intense hike down. Even though we had a great feeling of accomplishment for reaching the summit, we knew that it could also be harder heading back down. There were some dark clouds forming below us, and we had seen how quickly the weather could turn from bad to ugly only a couple days before, so we knew that we should leave as soon as possible. We had taken photos and videos with our friends, but I realized that we didn’t have any of just the two of us, so I demanded that before we leave I set up the camera for a ‘pro-selfie’….plus I had something important that I wanted to ask Violante before we left…

Top of the World Proposal

I can’t say if it was just the incredible feeling of being on top of the world or maybe just the thin air, but when I proposed to Violante and asker her to spend the rest of her life with me, I don’t exactly know if she actually heard me the first time or maybe just didn’t understand or believe me, but when I asked her again and said I was serious, the joy and light that burst from her eyes matched the overwhelming feeling of love I felt when she said YES!!

We spent a moment together in joy and bliss before we really did feel the need to gather ourselves and get down off that mountain before this impending storm took shape. We shared our last embrace at the peak of the Indrahar Pass, standing on top of the world, at 4375 meters above sea level, said our thank you’s and made our prayers for our safe journey back down. I think we can both say that the buzzing through our bodies and the beating of our hearts was stronger that we could have ever imagined.

Storm of the Century

Heading down wasn’t so easy or fast, as we took our time to safely cross the most difficult sections and make sure to not make a mistake or trip and fall. We could both already feel our legs getting tired and knew that we would have to concentrate and focus to descend safely. After about 3 hours of heading down, we really couldn’t believe how far we had actually come up the mountain earlier, as every corned seemed to be further away from where we were headed than we thought. The path seemed to take longer than we expected and the storm that we had seen gathering at the top was starting to manifest into a scary looking scene. We wanted to make sure we got down quickly before it turned worse. From the bright full moon and clear skies of the morning, the darkness was growing with the gathering of the clouds and it was getting chilly quickly. We made it back down to Lahesh cave in about 4 hours arriving at around 4:30pm. We had already been awake for almost 12 hours and hiking for more than 9 of them! We were hoping to make it all the way down to the snowline in order to have time to set up our camp for the night, but as we collected our stashed gear and fueled up with some snacks, the first drops of rain started to fall. We thought we could wait it out for a little bit and avoid getting soaked, so we joined another group of 8 people in the cave who were planning to head up to the top in the morning. In the following 30 minutes the rain got heavier and heavier and then turned to hail, which continued to completely cover all the rocks and grass with a layer of slippery ice and snow. We really didn’t want to stay another night in the cave as it was quite cold and there were already a group there, so at a certain point we decided to take our chances and see if we could make it down to the next shelter. Maybe the storm would calm down or even pass. As we stepped out into the hailstorm and took our first steps on the newly covered ground we realized that this was not going to be fun. We started with a pretty moderate speed, which quickly turned into almost full speed running down the mountain, as the hail got bigger and heavier, pelting us on our backs, almost pushing down the mountain. We made it down to the next shelter, a small tarped hut, in about 30 minutes, each of those minutes getting exponentially more intense and scary. This section of the trek usually takes at least one to one and half hours to hike, but there was no way that we would have survived if it had taken us that long. Thank god that we almost insanely ran the entire way. As we reached the shelter, the wind picked up even more and within minutes the owner told us to leave and go over to another shelter, which was a small area under a giant boulder where he stored some of his supplies. I helped him move the rest of his supplies into the space before the heavy hail collapsed the structure and the strong wind blew it away! The three of us gathered in the small rock shelter and changed our wet clothes and got inside a couple sleeping bags to get warm. We were both shivering and hungry, but thankful that we had at least made it to this shelter when we did. Our host made us a cup of chai and some hot noodles, which brought us a little bit back to life, yet we were both still quite scared for our lives with the storm that was continuing to get worse and worse outside. What followed was another 5 hours of the most intense storm we’ve ever experienced, filled with hurricane force winds, heavy hail, powerful lightning, the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard, as well as the sound of avalanches that we expected to come crashing down on top of us. At one point a young man, with only a light sweatshirt appeared, shaken and soaking wet, and continued to tell us that his two friends we still out there somewhere trying to hide behind a rock! He was freezing cold and almost hypothermic, so we offered him some chai and a survival blanket to try and get him warm. At another point 3 Americans showed up, however they seemed prepared for this kind of weather, with serious gear, from ice picks, multiple layered mountaineering jackets, pants, and boots, as well as their own portable stove, which they made their own soup. They admitted that it was an incredibly intense and scary storm, but considering they had tents set up back down near the snowline, they wanted to keep on heading there to try and save them!! So they gathered their strength and courage and headed back out into the storm to go and find whatever was left of their camp. Violante and I, alongside our host, a young local boy who had only set up this camp this year for the first time, stayed huddled in the small shelter, trying to stay dry and warm and pray for our survival while the storm played out. The most intense part of the storm ended after about 5 hours, but continued throughout the first part of the night and we ended up staying there until the early morning, when we awoke to a calm after the storm and decided to head down and finally get off this mountain. We thanked our host and offered him some money to help rebuilt his hut, well aware of the fact that his shelter and help had saved our lives.

A Safe Return

When we reached the snowline café, we heard the stories of the other people there and saw the damage that the storm had done to their shelters. Many people had lost their tents, which had blown away and down the mountain. We told people our incredible adventure and ate some dry food and then continued on our way back down the mountain. We saw that even in Triund many people had lost their tents and were very unprepared for the storm; looking quite beaten and battered. The last section of the trek down we basically speed hiked, striding together with a fast pace, again trying to make it down to McLeodganj before yet another rain storm hit. We passed so many people who were on their way up, not knowing if they were in for another storm that night or might get caught in the rain. We made it back down in record time, only 8 hours of hiking this day, and went directly to The Common Ground café to indulge in a tasty hot pot, which was not only deliciously hot temperature wise, but also spicy hot, and warmed our entire body after 5 days in the mountains. After that treat of a feast we stocked up on some food and supplies for the cottage and headed back down to the warmth of a bed and some home cooked food. We were certainly grateful to be alive and to have survived such an epic adventure. Not only did we have the incredible story to remember and share for the rest of our lives, we also had each other, engaged to be married, the start of our life together.