As my embarrassingly long stint in Riyadh draws to an end, I feel so excited to ramble on about my next few weeks which promises to be a mouth watering experience of my lifetime. If you’ve stumbled over Varun’s blog already you’ll know its called Project Ladakh!
Five months back, the very thought of returning to India seemed like an utopian mirage ,let alone making a trip to Ladakh! I’d waste away weekend after weekend popping in DVDs with titles like ‘Escape to Victory’,’The Great Escape’,’Pappilon’,'Escape from Alcatraaz' etc , wondering if it would take a Houdini-an effort to beat it from here. The closest we’d get to experience adventure was the odd weekend getaway for a desert cruise and camp by the side of an oasis. Little did I know then ,that there was a real peach of a trip waiting in the wings.
Meeting Varun and the rest of the long lost ‘Paul’s gang’ was the best thing that had ever happened since I had got here. Meeting them all on Orkut had brought a smile to my ever-drooping face. When I heard about Varun’s ‘orgasmic’ Sikkim trip, I went green with jealousy, only to narrate my Arabian plights in return to him. He also told me that he was making up plans on a trek to Stok Kangri sometime in September with his Cousin Rahul. Though I was a little skeptical of making this trip initially , I told him that I’d pile on(though Varun still seems convinced that I’m doing this for a certain other reason!) if I was granted the leaves and don’t get dumped on another sub-saharan assignment. I had got cracking immediately googling for blogs and reading up threads on indiamike, though I hadn’t the slightest of a clue if I could make it in time. Things were looking really bleak with my return getting postponed by two months. I thought, if I could get my return to time perfectly with the trip dates, then I’d get my leaves and there couldn’t be a better way to charge myself up for my next assignment. When Varun told me that he and Rahul had got their tickets booked for the 16th of September, I knew I had to decide up soon . I asked Roshan,if he’d be interested in making this trip in September. Having known Roshan for a long time and his fetish for ‘Chinkis’ (though he insists he’s in it for the mountains),I was sure that he’d pile on too. A few exchange of emails and International conference calls later,the quartret was formed. Tickets, which were of utmost priority were booked by Roshan immediately. Varun and Rahul got cracking too booking accommodation and contacting trek operators, while I continued to burn away in hell having to bear with the 53 degrees of the wrath of the sun unleashed on me.
Shopping for the occasion has kept me busy for the last two days. The camera essentials(tripod,batteries,carrying case et. al) for capturing the surreal moments in LEH have been bought .There would be more shopping to come for the next 2 days .
Two weeks from today,we’ll all be hip hip hu’LEH’ing, and one week from today I’ll be tanking with the gang. The wait is killing as I lay clutching my Riyadh-Mumbai Emirates ticket so that even a blizzard in the desert cannot stop me from leaving on the 6th of September.
More postings to follow.
