Sunday, August 16, 2009

Once in a Lifetime Journey

I returned home last night after what can be rightly termed as a "once in a life time" journey.

This was a journey that I had planned to undertake many years back but had not taken any step towards undertaking it.

Some time last year I spoke to a friend that I wish to complete this journey next year and for the first time I made my intention clear. My friend is an adventure freak and pat came his reply..."Sure...let us make it happen".


From then on it has been one long story of inexplicable twists, turns and co-incidences or miracles if you will. Unknown people came into the picture and all formalities got taken care of and we were busy packing to get on this "pilgrimage" long awaited.

The journey brought in its wake many challenges, many associated with high altitude acclimatising, poor quality of staying accomodation and poor toilet facilities, poor roads (Yes...Western Tibet still does not have proper metalled all weather roads, though this is changing fast), frequent stops by the Chinese Army to check (though there was no harassment).

At the end of it all there was a complete acceptance of all this and more. It did not seem a challenge anymore and there was a realisation that one could live with so much lesser than what we are used to, that life is so much simpler than what we make of it, that a "feverish"mind had no choice but to be calm, serene and content in this environment

Today, the whole adventure seems a dream, a vivid dream no less. As I re-orient myself to sea level from those rare heights, I hope to give shape to my next post on Kailash and Mansarovar. This is to sign off with good wishes to all from a divine spot.


14 comments:

Vinod_Sharma said...

Welcome back Mavin. Blessed indeed you are. As they say - bulaava ayaa tha tumhaarey liye.

Waiting for more posts on this trip.

BK Chowla, said...

Good to hear from you after a long gap.Hope to read more.

Smitha said...

Welcome back! You do sound like you did have that 'journey of a lifetime'!

Waiting to read more about your journey.

manju said...

Welcome back!

Mavin said...

Thank you everybody.

It has been a great journey and I would like to get into more detail in my next post.

J P Joshi said...

Welcome back from pilgrimage. Waiting to read about your experience.

Solilo said...

Welcome back, Mavin!

Your trip sure sounds bliss!

Bhavana said...

Welcome back Anil Dada!:)
Looks like you had a very interesting trip!:)
Looking forward to your detailed post about the trip!:)

Regards,
Bhavana

Gopinath Mavinkurve said...

Hi Anil, Welcome back and nice to read you enjoyed the trip and completed your heart's wish! Do all your wishes come true! Looking forward to future posts about your experiences there.

Krishnan said...

Wow Anil nice to see you back. I am sure you will be rejuvenated after this arduous trip. Dying to hear more about the trip.

Krishnan said...

Do tell us how to go about, dos and don'ts, what essential things to carry, official procedures, etc.

Krishnan said...

And Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to you and all your family members.

Vikram said...

That sounds like an awesome trip. I hope you also have some nice pictures to show us.

Anonymous said...

The picture of Mt. Kailash is breath-taking and you are right-life is so much simpler and one can live with so much lesser. Getting ready for that.Reading all posts on Kailash again.