Day 2, Acclimitisation Hike and Day 3: Rock climbing

Day 2

Two 'major' things on the agenda today: an acclimatisation hike, which was just a 20 minute hike; and prep for our camp-fire rendition. Not that I was excited about the camp-fire or anything; I wanted to have as little to do with it as possible.

For the hike, we went across to a nearby hill for a gentle climb. We eventually reached a temple, which also had a freshwater source. We cooled our heels and went through the obligatory 'introduction session'. There were about 12 of us; a number really small by YHAI trekking-group sizes. There was some talk of few more members joining in, which led to a bit of consternation from some of the participants, especially the older folks. "We have already gelled with each other.. newer people won't fit in with us.. we should complain to the camp field director", they protested. Interestingly, it was the older group members only who voiced this kind of concern, that too in spite of having known the rest of us for only 1 day!

That was the only amusing period of the day. We had a discussion on how to handle the camp fire.

Much to my feeble protests, I was made to play the role of a doctor in a small play, and sing a few lines in Malayalam to one song, which, incidentally has lyrics in all major Indian languages. I would have never done it, but it was one way to get the whole group off my back to partake in this program.

I had a lot of trouble with my lines for the play. I'm not stage-friendly, that's for sure. Anyways, I didn't screw up, the play was fun, my lines for the song were okay. No one understood me anyway. That done, the day was over.

Day 3
Rock Climbing, Rappelling

Early morning, which was always a pain for me because of the cold, I awoke early and took a few rounds around the camp. Met up with the new recruits to our team: Vihang and Anuj. They were part of a 15 member team from Gujrat, who, other than Anuj, were comprised of a father-son duo each. I was amused to think of the oldies' reaction to this.. addition. Hehe..

Long story short, we did some rappelling in the morning, and went for a rock climbing session in the afternoon. Total timepass, both were some easy stretches and we were back by 3, of course, having had lunch in between. Indeed, we hopped to Pritam's dabha (it was called 'Beas Bhojanalaya', by the way), ate our chicken-and-roti meal and came back just in time for rock climbing. "Where were you?" asked a concerned Sanju Baba, "You missed lunch!" We gave some excuses of having gone to Kullu to buy sunglasses for KC. Incidentally he DID buy sunglasses, for 15 Rs./-.

After coming back, we packed our rucksacks for the trek and had them weighed by Swami, our field director. Naveen and KC were unable to take their tripods, which affected KC the photographer quite a bit. Myself, I had lost all interest in photos ever since I forgot to get my camera from Mumbai. I simply can't use any camera other than my tried and trusted Sony DSC-P8.

There was a campfire by the group after us (SK-13). It was a relief to be a part of the audience this time. Lights out at about 9.30. Having gotten used to the hard ground and blankets, I drifted away.