Days 9, 10 & 11: New Delhi & Leh

After having missed Eric's phone call on Saturday morning, needless to say I was a little bummed. However, not for long! Later that night I was at a friend's birthday party with Jonathon, karoke at SpoonMe, and I got a call from an unknown number. Unknown=India. Not having talked to him for over a week I was pretty excited. He told me he had had yak cheese for breakfast and that Indians aren't as good with English as much as people say they are. One must adopt an Indian accent to speak with Indians, which in my very ethnocentric American view would seem a bit racist, if I were in the States. How different things are when you simply change the zip code and find instead that you yourself are the minority. Anyway, he is good. He is fantastic actually and perhaps dead on his feet tired from the sound of it.
If there is a time during this trip Eric will feel altitude sickness it was yesterday and today. Sunday, after having woken up in Rishikesh, they ventured back through Haridwar to New Delhi for the night. Then yesterday morning they took a 400 mile plane ride to Leh, way up in the nethermost northern regions of India. Think Pakistani and Indian disputed Kashmir to the west and Tibet to the east and a difference of only 300 miles between the two. Also, from New Delhi to Leh there is a 12,000ft difference in elevation. This is where the altitude sickness meds hopefully came in handy. Eric doesn't like to take medicine if he doesn't have to normally and while packing realized that between the malarial pills, altitude meds, and other various handy remedies, (think calming the bowels of 19 days of foreign fare), he was likely packing more medicine than he had taken his entire life. At the time I thought to myself, "I definitely could never say that! ...Am I a pill popper?" Haha. So, between the flight yesterday and today, the group has been attempting to acclimate themselves to the elevation before doing anything strenuous. This means they've pretty much been chilling around Leh like a bunch of bums, taking in the sights and probably taking much needed naps. Apparently this also means hanging out with the Mayor of Leh, since they were hoping to stay in his guest house if it was available. Again, I'm just reporting on the itinerary I've been given. Perhaps I should have at least looked at it and asked questions before he left? Nah, I'm sure I'll get the nit an grit of it all after he wakes up from brushing off the jet lag upon return, as will all of you.

On a personal note... tonight I attended an AA meeting with the girls at work. For those of you who don't know, I am a courier for a local sub-acute psychiatric treatment center for teenagers with behavioral disorders. Last Monday this meant taking the campus dog, Charlotte, to the vet to get her anal glands "expressed". Charlotte is a bear weighing in at over 170lbs. Imagine me getting that thing in to a van. Today my job meant taking the girls to AA. It keeps me on my toes. As a courier we get lots of one on one time with the clients but rarely moments of deep self reflection. Ex, "Rihanna is a fool. I don't care if he's Chris Brown... nobody should let their man treat them like that." However, tonight quite a few of the girls shared their thoughts, not just in meeting but on the way back as well, ranging from "AA is so boring it makes me want to use!" to "self inventory is what saves me every day. It lets me know I don't have to use, I don't have to be perfect, but that I can take this time for me to take care of myself and progress. Alcoholism is cunning, you know? But, I know it doesn't have to control me, that I don't have to obsess about my next drink, and this is what gives me the opportunity to be myself again. To find myself again." Sometimes it is really great to simply have the opportunity to hear their most honest thoughts, that they would trust me, their staff, and others, who are complete strangers, with those most precious self reflections. At work I get to witness the tremendous amount of work that has to be done for some people to simply survive but I also get to see the amazing potential of the human resolve to carry on, to want something better, to know one's self through learning to love one's self and the courageous people who do it and as well as help facilitate it. Whether it be a therapist, client or fellow alcoholic so much of our opportunity to learn and grow comes through each other, not simply because of one another. That's all for now...

Tomorrow: Leh to Chilling, 11,000ft ASL and first day of fall semester.

Day 8: Rishikesh

So we've caught up to the present. Still along the Ganga river it looks like. This is the city Eric called from and I missed it. Whoops. It was still good to hear his voice. He sounds well if not a little tired and trepidatious of the "naaaaaasty" bed he was about to sleep on. Haha. Tomorrow: back through Haridwar to New Delhi

Days 6 & 7: Rishiganga & Nandapryag

I'm realizing that Eric's pictures are probably a better representation of what is going on. There was a lot of deliberation on his part about what to carry the camera equipment in. He bought a brand new pack but in the end decided it was too nice, thus too much of a target, to take with him. Instead he took an old Northface bag he already owned and had seen a Holi Festival of Colors or two so it looked rather beat up. After roaming all over Provo he bought some foam and made a makeshift carrying case inside the Northface hip bag. He was quite proud of himself. Anyway, I'm only going to post a picture from now on of where he might be so as not to steal his thunder on the awesome sites and scenes that are Uttaharkhand.
After staying the night at the hotel in Badrinath the group hiked and camped the Rashiganga valley and Nanda Devi. Again, this area is an approximate guess according to Google Earth. Either way, hauling a 45lb. pack around must be something crazy because in the valleys they are over 10,500ft ASL. I'm wondering if the altitude sickness is setting in yet.

Days 4 & 5: Joshimath and Badrinath

I'm starting to think that he is likely spending as much time on a bus, or train as he is walking around exploring. Doesn't look like they are quite in the research area yet, but it still seems like there is plenty to see. After leaving Pauri, the next stop is camping in Auli. You have to take this tram to get up there. Elevation: 6200ft ASL.


After camping in Auli there was another bus ride to Joshimath and arriving in Badrinath by lunch. I think it's in Badrinath that there is the temple Eric's friend, Chris, was telling us about. Chris has actually been in India since May working on research for his thesis. From what he told us, you wait in line for hours to walk inside for 5 minutes. Still it must be a pretty awesome place since they scheduled the rest of the day to roam around once they arrived. Can you imagine being on a bus doing those switchbacks?

Days 3 & 4: Haridwar & Pauri

BYU Geology Department is working with the university in New Delhi for this project and so after staying at their guest house there will be a four hour train ride to Haridwar. Imagine seeing this as you entered the city. Probably beats the pink plastic dinosaur in Vernal, UT.





After lunch in Haridwar they embarked on a tram ride to the top of frontal anticline of MFT. I have no idea what this means, haha. Then there is the ensuing bus ride to Pauri where they stayed in a hotel for the night. Check out those steps.

Days 1 and 2

After a 14 hour plane ride from SLC to Chicago and New Delhi Eric lands here.





This is an overview of his trip. You can see he is in the northern part of the country so no Taj Mahal pics.




The first week, in purple, he'll be in the state of Uttarakhand. The second leg of the trip, in blue, will be after flying up to Leh. At one point he will be only 15km from the Tibetan border. Google maps didn't show any road names up there or towns. The plot points I used were the names of mountains or valleys in which they will be camping, so I could be off by at least a 100 miles in some locations. Either way it gives us an idea.

Where in the world is...?

So I don't know why I waited a week to do this but I just thought of it today. I realized I have a very cursory itinerary of where Eric is and thought I would share it all with you. I'm going to start from the beginning so we can all catch up. The pictures included are not those he has sent but some I found online to give us an idea of where he is at.

***** This just in!... I'm an idiot: Eric and I have the same phones and I mistakenly took his this morning when I left the house. He called at 12:07. The only call he's been able to make. He's in a town called Rishikesh and was about to go to sleep on a really nasty bed but had gotten an hour massage for $5. Hopefully he'll call when he wakes up.

So I'm going to do this in different posts so there isn't one huge long one. Enjoy!

Coldplay... I heart.

Pretty much this will blow your mind.

Also, Eric texted me from New Delhi last night saying that he saw a pooping dog (10 points!) and that he is safe.