[vartakavi]

Wonderful and detailed travelogue Deky! Photos were great!

I have read three books on the Mansarovar Yatra and have been dreaming about going by the MEA route for some years.

This January, I happened to read your Travelogue and this inspired me to apply for the Yatra.

Luckily, my wife and I got selected for the 10th Batch of the 2014 yatra. Now I have to inspire my wife and both of us have to work to become physically fit for the Yatra . Both of us are in our 50s but lead a reasonably active life, so we should be able to make it.

Thankful if you can answer a couple of questions:

(a) If we hire a pony, can we carry a small backpack with our personal stuff on our back?

(b) If we hire a porter, how much can one give him to carry?

I am thinking of hiring one pony for my wife and a porter to carry our stuff, so that I can walk without carrying anything.

(c) I read in one of the Yatra books that the passports invariably become wet and are in a bad shape by the time we return. We have to go to the US within a month after we come back from the Yatra and our US Visa is in the passport. Getting a fresh passport within that time could be tricky. Were you able to protect your passport during the Yatra? Any tips other than storing it in multiple ziploc bags?

(d) The KMVN guide says there are toilets on the Indian side in all halts, but on the Tibetan side toilet facilities exist only in Taklakot. What does one do on the Tibetan side - go out into the open?

Thanks once again.

Venkatesh

[deky]

Originally Posted by vartakavi

Thankful if you can answer a couple of questions:

(a) If we hire a pony, can we carry a small backpack with our personal stuff on our back?

(b) If we hire a porter, how much can one give him to carry?

I am thinking of hiring one pony for my wife and a porter to carry our stuff, so that I can walk without carrying anything.

(c) I read in one of the Yatra books that the passports invariably become wet and are in a bad shape by the time we return. We have to go to the US within a month after we come back from the Yatra and our US Visa is in the passport. Getting a fresh passport within that time could be tricky. Were you able to protect your passport during the Yatra? Any tips other than storing it in multiple ziploc bags?

(d) The KMVN guide says there are toilets on the Indian side in all halts, but on the Tibetan side toilet facilities exist only in Taklakot. What does one do on the Tibetan side - go out into the open?

Thanks once again.

Venkatesh

Good luck for your preparations, you guys will do just fine!!

1. Carrying a small bag pack on the back is not an issue. Sometimes the pony men themselves will offer to carry it for you.

2. The porter will carry between 5-7kgs for you. If you get a good porter he will carry 10kgs also. But that will depend on the rapport you set with him.

The porters and pony men on Indian side are very nice and very considerate. Most of them are flexible and will work according to your needs. Its on the Tibetan side during prikrama that the ponymen and porters are very very rigid. The upper limit of 5-6kgs of a bag pack has to be followed there. And as far as I remember there they dont even allow a bag pack while on a pony.

3. I dont remember anyone from our batch whose passport got spoilt/wet. We were given a waist pouch for passports by one of the Sewa Samiti's at Delhi (before departure). It was water resistant. Anyway do keep your money and passport in a zip log bag and inside a waist pouch and always carry it on you. Thats the safest!!

4. Yes, on the Indian side the fascilities at KMVN stops are pretty good but basic. Toliets are clean and covered. On Tibetan side Taklakot has a proper hotel with good rooms and clen toilets. Even Darchen has proper hotels and toilets.

The issue of toliets is during 2 nights of parikrama and the stay at Mansarovar lake. You will have to go in the open. But its been 3 yrs since I went and things are changing rapidly, you never know you might find good guest house at these places too.

regards

[vartakavi]

Thanks a lot Deky for the quick reply. We will be sending our acceptance letters to KMVN this weekend. And begin regular exercises and walks to get in shape! Lets see how it goes!

[vartakavi]

Hi Deky:

Some more clarifications, if you do not mind:

1. I understand that one of the NGO's gifts a walking stick. Is this adequate, or is it advisable to carry a trekking pole (Decathlon sells a folding trekking pole for about Rs.900). Considering that we will be reaching Lipu Lekh and Dolma La passes at the end of July, I expect that they will not be too much snow.

2. In the list of clothing to carry which I have read by several yatris, I have not found a mention of sweaters. Do we need to carry one or two sweaters? Will it be cold enough to need wearing a sweater while going to sleep?

3. I am not able to find water purification tablets in Hyderabad - there are some descriptions of a Halazone tablet called 'Acquapura' on the net, but I can't find out where I can buy them online. Are these tablets necessary? How did you manage for drinking water - on the Indian side, and in Tibet?

4. What did you do to protect your SLR from rain?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[deky]

Originally Posted by vartakavi

Hi Deky:

Some more clarifications, if you do not mind:

1. I understand that one of the NGO's gifts a walking stick. Is this adequate, or is it advisable to carry a trekking pole (Decathlon sells a folding trekking pole for about Rs.900). Considering that we will be reaching Lipu Lekh and Dolma La passes at the end of July, I expect that they will not be too much snow.

2. In the list of clothing to carry which I have read by several yatris, I have not found a mention of sweaters. Do we need to carry one or two sweaters? Will it be cold enough to need wearing a sweater while going to sleep?

3. I am not able to find water purification tablets in Hyderabad - there are some descriptions of a Halazone tablet called 'Acquapura' on the net, but I can't find out where I can buy them online. Are these tablets necessary? How did you manage for drinking water - on the Indian side, and in Tibet?

4. What did you do to protect your SLR from rain?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Hi,

1. The walking stick given by the NGO is good enough and very sturdy. No need to invest in anything else. You wont be finding much snow then but the walking stick is very helpfull while negotiating inclines and declines while trekking.

2. Woolen sweaters get very bulky and if they get wet its very difficult to dry them, hence i do not advise carrying sweaters. A nice sweatshirt and a nice jacket with a water resistant exterior is always better. The coldest are two days, first being crossing lipulekh and the second is crossing Dolma. That time you can wear lots of layers of clothings. While sleeping if you wear a sweatshirt and a woolen cap you will feel fine as the guesthouses/hotels provide adequate blankets. But mind you my resistance to cold is high, it may not be the same for you. So if in doubt, do carry an extra sweater.

3. I didnt carry any purification tablets. I filled my bottles through the sping water, which were in plenty en route

4. Luckily during our trip it didnt rain much, so dslr was not much of a worry. yet i had carried lots of polythene bags to save my equipment, my passport, money and my clothes.

Regards

[vartakavi]

Hi Deky.

Sorry to bother you again, but a few more questions.

1. Quite a few travelers have mentioned an Umbrella in the list of things to take. Do we need Umbrellas?

2. My wife and I bought Quecha Foreclaz Trekking Shoes based on the recommendations of several travelers. Even after walking for 15 days with these shoes, they do not feel as comfortable as the normal light weight sports shoes (eg. Reebok) . My toes heat up and feel tender after an hour's walk. I am worried about blisters if I walk with these shoes for a number of hours every day. Of course, we will walking much more slowly in the hills (now we do about 5 kms in an hour). Question: Can we manage with two pairs of lightweight sports shoes?

3. About the Porters and Ghorawallahs - do we need to factor in paying for their food as well? Or are they supposed to take care of their meals?

[deky]

Originally Posted by vartakavi

Hi Deky.

Sorry to bother you again, but a few more questions.

1. Quite a few travelers have mentioned an Umbrella in the list of things to take. Do we need Umbrellas?

2. My wife and I bought Quecha Foreclaz Trekking Shoes based on the recommendations of several travelers. Even after walking for 15 days with these shoes, they do not feel as comfortable as the normal light weight sports shoes (eg. Reebok) . My toes heat up and feel tender after an hour's walk. I am worried about blisters if I walk with these shoes for a number of hours every day. Of course, we will walking much more slowly in the hills (now we do about 5 kms in an hour). Question: Can we manage with two pairs of lightweight sports shoes?

3. About the Porters and Ghorawallahs - do we need to factor in paying for their food as well? Or are they supposed to take care of their meals?

Thats perfectly fine, you can ask me whatever, how many ever times you want, no issues at all. I would love to help out in whatever way I can.

I apologise for not answering in time. These days I have been pretty busy with work so not going much on forums. If anything is urgent, you may plss send me a private message as well so that I can check the log and answer.

1. I personally do not like carrying umbrellas. Because in heavy rains umbrellas do not protect your lower body from getting wet. A better bet for me is a Quechua Poncho (knee length atleast), that protects you and a small bag pack that you carry on the treck. And its very light as well. So my suggestion will be to avoid an umbrella.

2. I wore the forclaz 500 when i went for this trek. The good part about these shoes are that they have a good grip on wet surfaces and also they are water resistant to quite an extent. Luckily I found these shoes very comfortable and had no problems whats so ever.

But if you are not comfortable with the shoes I strongly suggest to look for another alternative. The reason being that its not just simple walking you would be doing. Here you have to go up on inclines and come down all the time. These, specially declines, take a lot of toll on the toes.

Now coming to what you should carry! Well I carried two pair of shoes, one was the forclaz and the other was normal sports shoes (i never used them). For you, yeah you may carry 2 pairs of sports shoes as lots of people did wear sports shoes only. Just be care full at the wet patches, specially between Gala and Budhi

3. No you just pay them the contracted rate and and thats it. Ofcourse some gratuities are expected!!

Regards

[dhruv45in]

Very good journal deky! Enjoyed a lot and I am inspired to do a yatra myself. Very thoroughly written and the pics were really good and descriptive. Thanks for the virtual tour.

[sivadas]

This is really outstanding!! My bad! I somehow missed it all these days
What great photos, what a detailed description!! Just amazing!!
Deky, please think of publishing this as a book. This definitely deserves to be read by a larger audience.

[adtalwar]

New route is now open via Nathu La.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle7343741.ece

Would be relatively easier now but it would be great to have alternate view. Lookingh forward to a travelogue for the new route from one of the lucky ones.

Regards
Anand

[deky]

Originally Posted by sivadas

This is really outstanding!! My bad! I somehow missed it all these days
What great photos, what a detailed description!! Just amazing!!
Deky, please think of publishing this as a book. This definitely deserves to be read by a larger audience.

Thanks, I would if I find a publisher

Originally Posted by adtalwar

New route is now open via Nathu La.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle7343741.ece

Would be relatively easier now but it would be great to have alternate view. Lookingh forward to a travelogue for the new route from one of the lucky ones.

Regards
Anand

I think the original MEA (via Uttarakhand) route would still be the best as walking gets you best acclimatised for the grueling 3 days parikrama around Mount Kailash.
The new route via Nathu la, may be faster but the bus journey wont acclimatise a yatri as much as it does via the original route.
regards

[skdking]

Originally Posted by deky

Hi Sachin,
Thank you for all the kind words, it feels great to be compared to him!!!

CONTD.....

DAY7 : SIRKHA TO GALA

...

Infact after you are ascending for a while and your muscles get used to that motion (well at my age atleast), and suddenly you are asked to do a descend your muscles specially (knee joints) start revolting. So for me descend was proving to be more of a pain than the ascend.
...

After the daily dose of Bhajans and devotional songs in the evening and dinner it was time to sleep. By now mostly the yatris know whom they are compatible with most so rooms or dormitories are occupied in such a manner that everyone is comfortable with each other.

Another day over!!!

PICS FROM DAY7

Route from Sirkha to Gala
Attachment 600673

Altitude detail of the route
Attachment 600674

....

Hello Deky,

Firstly, no praises from us to you will be sufficient.

The way you approached the journey and the way you documented the trip is fabulous.

Secondly, I see that you have attached many screenshots of Google Earth where the walking route is marked.

How does one mark routes on Google Earth?

Some guidance will be welcome.

[Hunter3077]

Hi Deky. Wonderful wonderful post with superb details.

I guess this has to be the 'go to' thread when it comes to Kailash Mansarovar. I am amazed at the eye for detail that you have exhibited all through your write up. No praise can be enough.

Cheers!

[deky]

Originally Posted by skdking

Hello Deky,

Firstly, no praises from us to you will be sufficient.

The way you approached the journey and the way you documented the trip is fabulous.

Secondly, I see that you have attached many screenshots of Google Earth where the walking route is marked.

How does one mark routes on Google Earth?

Some guidance will be welcome.

Thank you very much for the appreciation!!

Regarding google map route marking, I used a nokia 5800 phone GPS to store way points and then later plotted a line to make the route on google maps. But now if you zoom in on the google maps the Kailash Mansarovar yatra route is already marked so no need of all this exercise

Originally Posted by Hunter3077

Hi Deky. Wonderful wonderful post with superb details.

I guess this has to be the 'go to' thread when it comes to Kailash Mansarovar. I am amazed at the eye for detail that you have exhibited all through your write up. No praise can be enough.

Cheers!

Thank you, and what a coincidence, I just replied on your Ranthambhore thread only to come here and see that you have read mine. Your thread is aweome too.

Thanks!!

[autobahnjpr]

Dear deky,
Thanks for the wonderful and insightful post.

I was fortunate to complete KMY last month from the same route as part of batch 8 of MEA conducted Yatra. It was a wonderful experience and am already itching to go back.

Here are some pics of the yatra (clicked on mobile phone so quality may not be good)