eBird -- Sterling Mt Abu -- 04-and -5 Dec-2023

Sterling Mt Abu 
04-Dec-2023 
4:35 PM 
Traveling 
0.87 km 
58 Minutes 
All birds reported? Yes 

30 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 
15 Laughing Dove (Little Brown Dove) 
8 Red-wattled Lapwing 
1 Changeable Hawk-Eagle 
1 White-throated Kingfisher 
5 Rose-ringed Parakeet 
1 Ashy Drongo 
4 Red-rumped Swallow 
2 Red-vented Bulbul 1 Indian Robin
15 Jungle babbler 
35 House Sparrow
1 Gray Wagtail
1 Little Cormorant

Number of Taxa: 15

We walked down from Sterling onto Pilgrim Road. A casual stroll after an afternoon snooze that followed an overnight train journey that reminded us that India had over one billion people. People who are generally courteous and adjusting, but with no sense of 'personal space'. Interestingly, no in your face aggression that I was mentally steeling myself for, as we jockeyed for seats and luggage space in an overcrowded compartment, with the usual negotiations for those lower berths.

What a help to have Vish lift those bags with ease. 😄

So, it was good to be out and on our feet, relative quiet, and bird song A little nullah flowed by the roadside.

It was a sunny evening with clear blue skies. In contrast to the battering my dear Chennai was receiving at the hands of Cycline Michaung. I missed Vish, working in hazy Mumbai, whom we left behind.

Cacti, lantana, neem, palm trees dotted the rocky hill face. 

 

The Changeable Hawk Eagle was the highlight of our stroll. Sitting in a neem tree, while the babblers moved in agitated fashion all around.

5th December bird checklist

The CHE flew across the nullah - we probably startled it, and fixed us with a glare.  The parakeets and babblers feasted on grains put on the temple wall, buffaloes with immense horns made their way up the hillside, and we stayed out of their way.

We were off to the other side of Mt Abu - closer to Delwara temples,  later in the day.   

Swallows and us - coexistence in the hills

We saw them nesting in the roof of an enclosure in Dandeli.  It was close to sundown, and the parents were busy zipping in and out of the nests, bringing feed.  They were so fast, I was unable to see them except as a moving speck!


Ducking shoppers, hidden swallows - ALL - The Hindu


By Janaki Lenin

The shopkeeper is serving his customer when something drops on the counter near his elbow. The man doesn’t even flinch, continuing with the transaction. On closer look, there are many white-and-black bird droppings on the newspaper beside him.
High above their heads, four identical chicks sit motionless in a small earthen cup. A barn swallow that swoops into the shop lands on the edge of the nest. All three mouths gape wide, each vying for the insect tidbit. A few years ago, the parents had ferried several pellets of mud and grass mixed with their saliva to build this nest. As it dried, it hardened to form a cup to which they return every year.
At first, the parent birds ate their newborns’ excrement, keeping the nest hygienic and saving the shopkeeper the hassle of cleaning it. Then the offspring pooped faeces enclosed in a membranous sac for easy disposal. But now the chicks are older and their parents can’t deal with their frequent pooping. So the chicks back up to the edge of their cosy nest and aim out to the cash counter below. These random squirts could have targeted merchandise, the billing machine, or the shopkeeper’s head had he not made some changes. He cleared the area of stock and moved his chair. Instead, the droppings hit a newspaper that the man changes as needed.
Elevator nestMany shops in market areas across the Himalayas — from Kullu in Himachal Pradesh to Kurseong in West Bengal — host the nests of barn swallows. Some have three or four nests, and the space above people’s heads is busy with air traffic as the parent birds speed in and out, provisioning their young.
When humans began building shelters, these cave-nesting birds were spoilt for choice. Unlike other birds that seek natural settings far away from humans to raise their young, barn swallows, as their name suggests, seem to idealise human-made structures.
Suhel Quader of the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) says even restaurants tolerate the birds’ unhygienic toilet habits. They affix a metal plate below the nests to catch the poop, so it doesn’t contaminate their clientele’s plates.
No raptor has the gumption to fly into small spaces crowded with people. So the diminutive birds go about the business of rearing babies without having to look over their shoulders all the time. But people bring their own set of problems, such as pet cats. If the birds choose the spot well, no feline can scale sheer walls. An American book says the birds even nest in slow-moving trains!
Another unorthodox nesting location that Quader has noticed is the handle of a shop’s rolling shutter. Every morning, when the establishment opens for business, the birds enjoy an elevator ride from the floor to the roof. And every evening, they come down to the ground. A shopkeeper told a surprised Quader that his shop had no rodents to bother the chicks.
Elephant tricksBut what of the humans? No one appreciates filth falling on their heads or floors. Elsewhere in the subcontinent, we dislike cobwebs, and we don’t tolerate house geckos soiling the ceiling. American wildlife agencies advise homeowners who don’t want the birds nesting in their homes to install barriers, make noise, remove nests before they lay their eggs, or paint a nonstick silicone paint, so the mud doesn’t stick. But in the Himalayas, the birds got lucky.
The hill folk think barn swallows bring them good luck. Some try to offer full board, laying out feed for them, but the birds are content with boarding alone. They prefer to catch their own meals in a high-speed chase. These small birds sit on overhead electric lines, watching the hustle and bustle of the street below. When one spots its quarry, it swoops down, weaving its way between pushcarts, vehicles, and pedestrians. The bird snaps up its insect prey in mid-flight and dives into the shop or house to cram its prize into a hungry yellow mouth.
What happens when the shop closes for the day? Shopkeepers told Sanjay Sondhi of Kalpavriksh that the birds know the shops’ schedules and swoop in before closing time. Most of these are family-run establishments that open every day and take no days off. If they can’t open the shop themselves, they make sure someone else does.
At a police station in Uttarakhand, Quader noticed barn swallows come and go through a broken window, so they were not dependent on the police to let them in.
The owner of a pharmacy in Kurseong cut a hole in the shutter for the birds so they’d have their own entrance. But they refused to use it, to his distress. Santhosha Gubbi, a forester, writes in his blog that he borrowed an idea from a colleague, who had persuaded wild elephants to use an underpass in Rajaji National Park. He collected balls of elephant dung and placed them strategically along the trail he wanted the animals to use. On seeing and smelling the ordure, the animals assumed that since others had passed through, the passage must be safe to use. Gubbi advised the pharmacy owner to smear swallow dropping on the exit hole. Apparently, barn swallows reason like elephants, and the trick worked.
Once the youngsters fledge, the parents lay another round of eggs, and the whole scenario plays out again before cold winds sweep down from the mountains.
Even restaurants tolerate the birds’ unhygienic toilet habits. They affix a plate below the nests to catch the poop

Bhutan Memories

Rufuous Sibia singing, in clear view.

Lifting even the lowest spirit.

Sinnadorai bungalow, Iyerpadi in Valparai.

26th to 30th July 2015

Hot, sultry Madras.  Our son was home on summer vacation, and I was away from home with long days at work. A family get away beckoned, and it was then that I once again thought of Sinnadorai bungalow, Valparai.  I had to be in Coimbatore on work, and learning that this was just 3 hours from there was an added bonus.  

MNS Sripad had posted some lovely videos of the place, a tea estate manager’s bungalow now converted into a lovely remote hideaway.  Then,  I also discovered that Meenu my college mate was the manager’s wife and running the place.  Decisions made with rare family unanimity and speed, and we were all set!

The Alayar dam at the foothills has created a huge lake, and the place was choked with tourists.

Forty hairpin bends later and we were almost there.  Well, almost.  We decided to use Google maps, and were told to take a left on Balaji temple road…we proceeded, dutifully following instructions, rather pleased at this aid of modern technology.

 The voice soon said turn right.  The only problem was that there was no right to be taken.  Thankfully, a helpful local told us that we should retrace and follow the signboards  

As we got back on to the main road, we realised that “Sinnadorai Bungalow” was well signposted!  Somewhat sheepishly we followed the boards now, and descended into the heart of the tea country here.  Every hill was covered with tea and the ubiquitous Silver Oak trees.  We arrived at the check post for the bungalow, and my excitement grew as we wound away from the main road, and up and up to the bungalow.

We arrived to mist that gusted across the driveway.  Bulbuls chirped in the trees, spotted doves called and squirrels ran across!   It was like arriving in Paradise.   I could get used to this, I thought.

The most enamoured of the lot, quite surprisingly, was my son, who at this point thinks a tea plantation job a good career option!

Greeted with a several-course hot lunch, which we downed with great gusto, we sat in the verndah lunch room, and the skies opened up.  We watched the rain fall with delight, feeling like those legendary sheikhs from west Asia who would land in Bombay to enjoy the monsoon!

It was such a wonderful start to the holiday, a perfect wind down, to sit there watch the rain, and delight in the thought of a week ahead of this!

The main bungalow

The Sinnadorai bungalow here is on top of the hill and dates back to 1929, one of the earliest residences of the area.  Part of the Paralai estate of Parry Agro plantations, it has been renovated and restored beautifully and tastefully.  No TVs and wifi in the living room offered just enough connectivity to the outside world.

The Sullivan and Wells rooms, date back to 1941, when they were the quarters used by the house help.  

This is the view from the Sullivan.  The Paralai estate is organic, and I wondered if this explained the abundance of bird and animal life. 

The bench with a view

We stayed in the room called Sullivan with a lovely view down the valley, a beautiful bench where we spent a lot of time.  We also managed to tear the cloth of the two easy chairs and fall through!  I, giggling helplessly and unable to get out of the frame of the chair into which I had got myself wedged!

As I looked down on the rolling tea plantations, I reflected on how the British came and completely changed our way of life and even our geographies.  Plantations are now part of our consciousness, and so is chai.

The drink of the British, a drink that Gandhi asked Indians to avoid, a drink that was a sign of anglicisation, has now become more Indian than cricket.

Tea estates have long been considered "green deserts", seemingly green, but not really supporting a thriving ecosystem. 

With acres and acres of plantations that are not going to vanish, environmentalists are now working to develop these environments into more diverse landscapes.

"How Green is your Tea?" estimates that tea landscapes in the Western Ghats support more than 250 animal species.

The main bungalow at night

I should introduce you to the cast of characters at the Bungalow.

Thavam - the night watch, who reminded me of a lighthouse keeper in a PD James mystery set in some remote corner of the British Isles, with his gum boots and quiet air, vigilant for Gaur, wild dogs and leopards.  A calm presence, he pointed out the Gaur to us every morning.

The Gaur are plentiful around here.  They wander through the tea estates keeping a safe distance from the tea pluckers and doing the useful job of keeping the undergrowth in check.  This part of the estate is organic, and I believe they like it better here.

Hello!  Alert and vigilant at our every move.  We retraced our steps as these three ladies were in our way.

We saw them almost everyday.  One senior male was a regular and a loner.  He had a broken horn and his ear was torn and he snorted his way up the slope in the mornings and into the forest, and came down again late at night.

Murugan - our guide on walks, whose love for the forest had to be shared, There was a wonderful positive air to him, earnest with his spectacles and ready smile.  So excited to spot the hornbills, and fill us in on the ecological history of the place.

Myophonus horsfieldii.  

Myophonus horsfieldii

The resident Malabar Whistling Thrush entertained us every morning and evening.  He sang only when in the tree, and when on the lawn he only let out a simple whistle.   He would hop onto the verandah in front of the bungalow when no one was around, and if we happened on him by chance he would let out an offended whistle and fly into the tree at the edge of the garden.  We loved to catch him in the sun, so we could admire the lovely blue in his wings.  Mornings were spent rummaging near the rose bushes for earthworms.

No wonder NCF's Shankar Raman calls them the Musicians of the Monsoon.

the “whistling schoolboy”. And yet, when one awakens on monsoon mornings to the symphony of its whistles, the name seems inadequate, and one wishes one had greater tribute to pay. In the great traditions of Hindustani classical music, it is the Raag Malhar that is associated with the rains; among our birds, surely then, this is the Malhar whistling thrush.

The whistling thrush has a fondness for flowing waters on the hill slopes. There it hunts aquatic snails, frogs, and crabs, staying open to what opportunity may offer, including worms and bird nestlings. Holding the prey firmly in its bill, the thrush batters it lifeless on a rock before consuming it, concluding their predatory bout with a piercing whistle, perhaps, or a dipping flight down the stream in search of more. With the approach of the monsoon, as the streams are recharged with waters, its song acquires a new zest and the bird begins to breed, even as other bird species in the rainforest are already done with their nesting and are out with their young. It builds a nest in little nooks and crevices along streams, among rocks and cut banks. When forests give way to plantations and rocks to buildings and bridges, the thrush, fortunately, is forgiving and may adopt a space under the eaves or a hole in a wall to nest. Yet, the streams and rivers are never far.

As long as the streams are alive, even with a vestige of flowing water, the thrush may survive in the ever-changing hillscapes. One may see it in coffee, cardamom, and tea plantations, swamps, and rocky, wet slopes, and hill towns.

One morning we caught the Whistling Thrush having a bath in the garden bathtub.

Two orange headed thrushes

Another neighbour who loved those earthworms was the Orange headed Thrush, a regular, rummaging about the leaf litter, picking up the worms and bashing them about before gobbling them!  These thrushes seems to live here as I saw them during our walks.

Zoothera cyanotus

Green Forest Lizard

Early morning walks were rewarded with an encounter with  a ruddy mongoose ambling across the path.  Sensing our presence,  it was up on its hind legs sniffing the air to determine if we were friend or foe.  With no threat detected it got back on all fours and moved into the undergrowth, before I could take a picture for posterity.  We saw him another evening too,  as curious about us as we were of him!

A Green forest lizard would regularly sun itself on the stone driveway, keeping  a wary eye on us.  Any sudden movement or loud sound, and in a flash it would be gone into the bordering hedge.

Our walks skirted the thick patches of shola forest that separated the estates, and served as refuge for the wild animals by day.

The shola forests, I was content to see them, comforted that atleast some of this precious resource is well.  Our continued existence dependent on their wellness, and I sent out a silent thanks to NCF and all those wonderful bodies working hard to preserve them.

The walks kept our appetites up, and a good thing that was!  Ashirvad the cook had a special magical touch - with his coconut souffles and caramel puddings irresistible.  I am not a great fan of caramel custard, finding them usually to slobbery and “eggy” - but this was different.  A beautiful, smooth texture and the lovely flavour of caramel.  It was wonderful that they stuck to south Indian food for the most part, with every item being well made, not too oily, and fresh.  Needless to say, we all overate.  

He and Rani together worked the kitchen with the mixie and pressure cooker heard all through the day, as they planned and executed their menus.  Rani’s tomato chutney was a favourite of ours too and we consumed vast quantities of it, with everything, including toast!

Uma, the housekeeper was very crestfallen unless we polished off all the food on the table, of which there was plenty!  She accommodated our laggard, malingering ways with cheer and efficiency - I think we were late for every meal!

Panchavarnam was her cheerful assistant, and her spry, slight frame could be seen through the windows as she went about sweeping and cleaning up.

The Spotted Doves were also in plenty, waddling across our paths, reluctant to fly until we were real close.  They cooed to each other through the day, and their calls after a while, were like the passing car horns in Madras, not even registering after the first day.

The bulbul roosting tree

So too the red whiskered and red vented bulbuls which were in plenty in the lantana bushes in the little patches between the tea, and they roosted in a tree in the Bungalow, and so were very noisy in the evenings as they settled down for the night, saying their good nights.


Streak-throated woodpeckers, streaked through the gardens with regularity, and I enjoyed watching them peck their way around the tree trunks, now in view, now not.


In fact they were the only birds who seemed to care for the Silver Oaks, all others giving them a pass.

Squirrels ran around with abandon, chasing each other in what seemed like a very involved game of tag cum hide and seek! What is the evolutionary use of this extreme activity I thought? Or was it really an expression of fun and joy as I saw it?  And then they would also get very vocal and noisy, setting off an incessant chatter through the gardens.

Another vocal group were the peacocks.  Yes, pea fowls.

They were in abundance in the estate, and supposedly have prospered and multiplied in the last one year.  We heard them through the day and saw them everywhere - on the trees, crossing the road, on the roofs of homes, in the tea gardens.  We even saw one spread its fan and go into a courtship bum-wiggle, but the peahen was most unimpressed, poor fellow.

Scarlet minivets darted around in plenty, streaks of brilliant red and yellow as they caught the sun.  They were also chirpy and noisy, unlike the Barbets who were uncharacteristically silent I thought.  I only saw them, rarely hearing their familiar kutroo kutroo.

Strangely for anywhere in India there were no stray dogs.  None.  And the reason for this we learnt were the leopards who feasted on them.

My friend Meenu has a pet Lab and she keeps it indoors all the time, unless accompanied.  We came across evidence of the leopard - an eaten porcupine, scat - but did not see one.  But we heard a pack of wild dogs one night, and it seems that they had successfully cornered and killed a baby gaur.  

Rufous babbler

The other cheerfully noisy lot were the Rufous Babblers, who had a lot to say to each other in the tea bushes.  With their tails wagging at every loud chirrup, they always seemed to be scolding each other somehow.  It was delightful to catch them in the evenings when they were at their most vocal.

Of a more solitary nature were the Long-tailed Shrikes seen on the electric wires, their robber baron looks giving them a menacing air.  The Magpie Robins were also solitary, but their upright tails and cheeky boldness along with their calls made them appear cheerful.

The raptors seen most commonly were the Crested Serpent Eagles, and one morning we heard pair of them up in the sky.  They called and circled for a long time above us, suddenly falling into dives before levelling off.

As they called, there was an answering call from further east.  Were they all a family?  Was the juvenile being a laggard, I idly wondered.

The next day, we saw this one in the tree, and it called repeatedly.

Hill Neem - a favourite with the hornbills

One morning I saw a lone large pigeon in the Hill Neem tree across the front lawn.  I hurried to consult Grimmett and Inskipp, and yes it was an Imperial Pigeon!  The first time I was seeing this large Pigeon.  Subsequently we saw a whole flock of them up on a tree, and their call was magnificent and deep, like my Madras rock pigeons with the base and volume turned up!

The days were filled with butterflies and the nights with moths, of various sizes shapes and colours.

The evening light was beautiful and magical.

And the sunsets were spectacular on the days when there were no clouds in the horizon, and the Bungalow and our room was well located to enjoy the beautiful skies and the layers of hills and mountains, each with different depths and shades.

Dusk, and the magpie robin would signal the end of the day, even as the bulbuls crowded in to the trees in the bungalow for their nighttime roost.

All of this faded into the background that one morning when we saw the Great Indian Hornbill. Murugan had taken us on a walk into the neighbouring coffee plantation with the hope that we would see them.  (My naturalist luck is pretty abysmal - I always miss the tiger, don’t see the Trogon, arrive just after the owl took off, etc etc - and therefore I assumed that this morning would also be the same.)

Some heavy swooshing in the trees and I saw a pair of Malabar Grey hornbills.  Not bad I thought, Some Pompadour pigeons, a shortwing, Malabar squirrel and a black bulbul, and I was pretty satisfied.

Then suddenly there was a big movement of a branch, and i assumed it was a monkey jumping from tree to tree, but then I saw a yellow casque!  Try as we may, that is all we saw for about ten minutes. The bird was right in the middle of the tree, we did not want to disturb it, and so we waited, keeping an eye on that  unmoving casque.

Murugan in a low tone said it was a juvenile and probably the parents were around.  Sure enough there was a harsh call, so loud it must have been heard in the next estate, and with a whoosh that would put Batman to shame, the Parents appeared on the scene!  What a sight it was, as they moved from tree to tree, eating fruits, showing themselves, and the majesty of their wingspan.

Our first sighting of these magnificent hornbills.  (Buceros bicornis)

When we returned, we were told that they do visit the trees of the Bungalow, but only when very quiet..... I thought we were quiet enough!

We had a run of the whole house for our entire stay, and sprawled ourselves across the library with book choices from Pamuk and Amitav Ghosh to Bhagat and Collins.  It was quite a luxury I admit and a bonus of travelling off season.

And so we  spent that last week of July, walking, birding, reading, eating and sleeping.

It was time to leave, but not before we had a last look at the Grass Hills.  It was a clear, sunny day, and the hills were revealed.  The Shola grasslands could be seen in the distance.  Meenu mentioned that the grasses were a good 6 ft tall, and I was reminded of Bahminidadar at Kanha.

The Grass Hills, in the background, from the garden of the Manager's bungalow.

 

Birds of Pangot and Sattal

My bird list - Valley of Flowers trip

With the exception of the first five, I saw all these birds for the first time.

Species	Scientific Name	Date	Location	Comments
Rock Pigeon	Columba livia	21/07/12	Haridwar
Red-vented Bulbul	Pycnonotus cafer	21/07/12	Haridwar
House Sparrow	Passer domesticus	21/07/12	Haridwar
Black Drongo	Dicrurus macrocercus	21/07/12	Haridwar
House Crow	Corvus splendens	21/07/12	Haridwar
Himalayan Bulbul	Pycnonotus leucogenys	22/07/12	Devprayag	A pair up on the telephone wire!
Eurasian Blackbird	Turdus merula	22/07/12	Rudraprayag	Also seen all over Ghangria
Yellow Wagtail	Motacilla flava	24/07/12	Govindghat	During the trek to Ghangria, next to the Pushpavati river.
Yellow-billed Blue Magpie	Urocissa flavirostris	24/07/12	Govindghat	During the trek to Ghangria, next to the Pushpavati river.
Red-billed Blue Magpie	Urocissa erythrorhyncha	24/07/12	Govindghat	During the trek to Ghangria, next to the Pushpavati river.
White-browed Shortwing	Brachypteryx montana	24/07/12	Govindghat	During the trek to Ghangria, sunning itself on the rock, next to the Pushpavati river.
White-capped Water Redstart	Chaimarrornis leucocephalus	24/07/12	Govindghat	During the trek to Ghangria, sunning itself on the rock, next to the Pushpavati river.
Variegated Laughingthrush	Garrulax variegatus	25/07/12	Valley of flowers	Seen and heard in Ghangria, as well as in the wooded bits and rhododendron bushes in the valley.  Lovely bird!
Common Rosefinch	Carpodacus erythrinus	25/07/12	Ganghria	Commonly seen through valley of flowers, Ganghria town.  Both male and female.
Rusty-flanked Treecreeper	Certhia nipalensis	25/07/12	Valley of flowers	creeping up a tree!
Oriental Turtle Dove	Streptopelia orientalis	26/07/12	Ghangria	Seen and heard in Ghangria, two pairs in the conifers.  Swift flight, and beautiful wing pattern.
Whiskered Yuhina	Yuhina flavicollis	26/07/12	Ghangria
Streaked Laughingthrush	Garrulax lineatus	26/07/12	Ghangria
White-collared Blackbird	Turdus albocinctus	26/07/12	Ghangria	Sweet song.  Picking on jamun fruits

Ghangaria - the camp and my day of solitude

The Amazing Valley described here

July 26th 2012.  Day 6

This was the day for Hemkund.  Abhimanyu strongly discouraged us from walking (very wise after the fact) up, and I did not want to go any other way.

So I decided that rather than subject a mule to lugging me up those slopes, I would stay at Ghangaria, walk around and do some desultory birding.

The fittest fab four of our group attempted to walk, while the rest went on mules/horses.  Vayysala stayed behind as she was quite unwell by this time, having breathing issues and a headache.

By 10 am, I set out for a leisurely stroll.

Just below our campsite were these beautiful meadows filled with flowers, and the odd village path.  It was hearteningly clear of
plastic, and I meandered along with the path, enjoying the clean air, birdsong, and the distant tingling mule bells.

The helipad(!!!) in the distance

There were rose finches all over the place.  But they were busy little birds, harldy sitting still.  Here is the female.....

...and the male.

Looking back up at the tents and the Valley.  i was so tempted to go back in, but decided it was not wise to do it alone.

Eurasian blackbirds were as common as our crows, and very bold too.

Then, in the distance, echoing back from the hills was the unmistakable sound of the 'copter!  It was the first clear day in a while, and the copter was busy ferrying people back and forth.

As I birded and watched, it made about five trips back and forth, before the clouds descended.  By noon, visibility was poor and the copter ferry stopped.  The helipad then became a cricket field cum grrazing ground!

There is an army guest house here, and this is the view they enjoy!!

These Euphorbia sikkimesis bushes were in abundance.  Those large petal-like things are actually leaves, and the flower is only the central part.

These too...but I still have not identified them.

Another look at the mountains...

Through the fields of morinia longifolia..

...a close-up, The mist and clouds blew in and blew out.

wild jamun

Looking down on the campsite.  This was where I saw so many birds....whiskered yuhina, streaked laughing thrush...

...and the variegated laughing thrush.  What a beautiful call it had, as it sat on this rhododendron bush.  Another beauty was the white-collared blackbird, which sat eating the jamuns, but flew before I could take a picture.

The rain started up soon that afternoon.

I came down at around 1pm, and the Sarovar camp cook served me some khichidi and mushroom and peas curry.  Along with some roasted papads it was a rather yummy lunch!

The Hemkund lot soon returned, with wonderful accounts of the langar, the brahmakamal, their horses with names and the beautiful lake!

Hot bajjis!  (Picture taken by Damayantu)

The inside of the tents

It was definitely a good thing I did not try to walk - only two of the walkers managed it all they way.  You are basically adding something like 1,000 m in what 6 kms.  The path was treacherous from all accounts..but the Sikh pilgrims young and old climb, driven by faith. 

It was wonderful that Sonya climbed, had a great darshan and climbed down again.  She was both physically and emotionally drained by the day, and it was an emotional dinner we had that evening, by candlelight in our tent.

Sarovar camp is a great place to stay, and with minimal fuss, we were served our meals, which were amazingly varied, given that we were 3,000m up, and cut off from a road system.

And I would rather stay in this tent anyday than go into Ghangria town and stay in a poky lodge room!  But I guess we were not on a shoestring budget.

The Sarovar tents are the white ones.  the blue tents were part of another agency, and were more basic, but even those seemed preferable to the town.  All the tents are removed at the end of the season and the camping site is closed.

We had cots if you please, (so we stayed in luxury), along with blankets and a hot water bottle!!

The bathroom at the rear of the tent.  No flush system.

Of course the weird thing was that the ground beneath the bed sloped, so we all had this constant feeling that we were rolling off our beds.  We had heard that one of the tell-tale signs of altitude sickeness was that the floor would not appear even, and so the first day I anxiously asked Gapi whether she was also having this issue!!  We were most releived to hear that everyone was having this prob;em of tilting beds and tilting floors.

I had carried all the warm clothes that were in our house in Madras - belonging to various members of the family.

So the evenings would be spent in thermals, jacket, gloves, woolen socks and a woolen cap!!  Ofcourse each part of my attire did not match with anything else, but I was warm!!

And I did not have to hide under the sheets in the late evenings, and I could enjoy the views, the starry night sky, while others had to go and huddle inside to stay warm!

So ended our sojourn at Ghangria, and we packed up our mule and sweat smelly clothes, for our walk back the next morning.

My complete bird list here

Returning back to the chaos