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Houte Route - Summary Post

It's a pretty popular walk from Chamonix (France) to Zermatt (Switzerland). In winters, it becomes a cross country ski route, but in summer, it transforms to a hiking route, which traverses through pretty high elevation, hence its called Houte Route (High Route). Unlike backpacking in the US, this backpacking was supposed to be much easier, as we were basically staying in hotels/dorms, and we didn't have to carry tents, sleeping bags, and food. But, we were surprised how hard some of the hiking days were. We were a group of 6 friends. My wife (Mona) and I were the most "untrained hikers"; others in our group were more committed and better prepared than us. We expected to walk through Swiss meadows, mountain villages, hi-fi ing cows along the ways. Even though some days were exactly like that, around 1/3 of the trails were very tough and tested us physically and mentally. Here is a very brief summary of our daily adventures on the trail. Day 1 : Chamonix ->

Walk in a Temperate Rain Forest

We marched along exhausted, wet, and worried, on a lonely trail in a densely wooded rainforest. It was getting dark; we were hungry. We have been walking in the rain for more than 3 hours and we expected to arrive at our campsite any second for the last 40 mins. My socks were wet, my backpack was weighing heavy on my shoulders, and I was ready to just crash on the trail. Why torture ourselves by backpacking miles in unpredictable weather and challenging landscapes, rational people often ask hikers and backpackers. There is not one definite answer; there are so many reasons, and everyone has different personal ones. For me, I derive energy from the natural world whenever I am in a forest. Additionally, I truly experience living in the moment, all that matters is the next milestone, which path to take, how much water is left, do we have enough food and where is that damn campsite. Out of mist of rain and dwindling dusk light, the sign board of Lewis Meadows campsite greeted us. We we

High Stake Meal

Jack dived into the sea with sudden violence. He had spotted a fish just a few seconds earlier. His aim was true; he emerged out of the water with a struggling flapping fish in his beak. It was Jack’s first fish in nearly 3 days. He had been patrolling the sea for miles relentlessly without any luck. His wife Trilla has recently given birth to little Gil and Leo. Young sea-gulls are particularly ravenous in their initial days. Jack and Trilla had their work cut out for them. Unfortunately for them, the fish stock seems particularly depleted this year. It was unprecedented; millions of seabird families had been gathering on this island for many years and nobody recalls such shortage. Jack knew he should head straight for the nest but pangs of hunger had better of him. He swooped down to a small rock jutting out of the sea and laid the fish to nibble on it. Just as he was contemplating which part of the fish he should eat; there was a terrible screeching sound from above, w

AAJI

Grandmothers are supposed to be doting, fussing, overprotective, sweet, caring, the conventional qualities of grandmom’s can go on and on. Aaji certainly hit all the checkboxes that makes for a loving affectionate Indian grandmother. But her devotion to her family ,(pretty extended one that too) ,her willingness to help family members in need , her willingness to play perfect hosts to anyone who was in need and her simplicity made Aaji surpass mightiest of expectation that one might have for goodness of grandmother. As far as I can remember most of our childhood vacations were spent with Aaji-Azoba. Either we went to Mumbai or we choose to go somewhere together (tourist destinations with temples). Every such sojourn I pampered with love from Aaji, on such trips I used to spend more time with them than with my parents. My earliest childhood memories were of house in jogeshwari. Reflecting about that flat now makes me feel that somehow it defied laws of physics. There were so m

Buy My Book

This was part of our assignment in the class. We had to come up with adverstisement of an imaginary book that we wrote , and speak for 2 mins. ********************************************* Have you heard something like this from your friends? “Hey you know what, I got a super deal from Wal-Mart, the chair you bought for 70 $, I got it for 7$”. U smile and say, How nice, but on inside u r thinking “what the hell”. Well not anymore, I bet u don’t have to worry about these situations anymore. After you read my book “ The essentials of super market ”. I am Aniket, and once like you victim of super markets, always getting bad deals , mocked by my friends and buying stuff that I never used , just because , it was on Sale. Then one day I said to myself Enough!!! . I got down to uncovering truths about these supermarkets. I did odd jobs; like salesman, watchman, even janitors in these stores to understand there working. I went through their catalogs, from point of their incepti

Home Coming to The Whitehouse

OK! its not really whitehouse types.. But its white and its our house .. so we affectionately call it our little 'whitehouse'. 4B2HK , with a front lawn ,duplex its not that little either :P. Its named 'Apoorva-Sandhya' after my bro and my mum. Which means 'an evening likenever before' :D, enchanting ain't it? Since its completion i was never fortunate to live here for considerable amount of time, I was forced to live in utterly puny and constricted rooms , all over the country , literally :(. This time around also i don't have much time to enjoy here :( . Just few days then I am off to living in some dingy flat in a strange country. I am trying to enjoy the max, whatever time I have here. Sleeping peacefully , eating with full gusto ;), spending time with family. But highlight of the day is the daily cycle ride that I undertake , through serene cantonment area nearby. Pelting berries, riped by time and intoxicated by gravity, and sw