Day 4 – the Himalaya

A practical question for today. Often, people ask me, knowing that I have traveled a bit through the subcontinent, “Where should I go on my first trip to India?”

This is such a complex question that I usually stare back as though I didn’t hear them, lost in the analysis of an almost impossible question. I weigh the feelings and emotions I felt in different milieus and finally make eye contact and open my mouth with a gasp, an unintelligible breath of air that says nothing.

So before I try and tackle the bigger question, let’s look at a slightly easier question that I have found myself posing to myself. If I were to go to the Himalaya now, (or for the first time for that matter), where would I go?

The first place on most people’s lips is Nepal. Reflexively, it’s what we think about when we think Everest and the Himalaya in general. It is a country that is subsumed by the Himalaya. It has its share of wackiness and travellers' myths and is a must-see on many an Asian backpacker’s short list. But is it the best choice, right now? The Ananpurna circuit may be too crowded. The reality of Everest is that it’s become more of an accomplishment than the majestic mountain it really is. Plus, the antics of the Nepalese royal family raise an eyebrow or two about safety, volatility, strife, let alone infrastructure, extreme poverty, and disrepair. I’d love to go to Nepal. Love to. But it would be under specific circumstances in a quiet valley with a real local flavour and host.


Mount Everest's signature plume of snow as captured by photographer Jodi Cobb

The number two answer on Family Feud might be Tibet. Oh, Tibet! The Tibet of Richard Gere and the Dalai Lama. But wait, the Dalai Lama lives in Himachal Pradesh, India. And Richard Gere is more often spotted in Bhutan. And Tibet is occupied and Chinese. It isn’t the same place it used to be and yet it is the same place it has always been. To see Tibet is to see it come back alive, a rebirth one day as its native cultural emblems return and flourish is the Tibet I’d like to see. A Potala filled with hope and optimism is worth chanting for.

My pet favourite country is Bhutan, a destination I’ve spoken of in an earlier post and at more cocktail parties than I’d like to mention. “It’s my favourite trip ever!” But indeed, it is more like Tibet than Tibet, undiluted, pure, essential and instructive. It’s everything a Himalayan kingdom should be and it deserves the cliché Shangri-La more than anywhere else. But it isn’t the top choice for so many because it is hard to get in (US$230 a night) and hard to navigate. Plus, the sequoia Himalaya are right at its border and only a handful of 8000m peaks are within its borders. It is an unbelievable find but I’d rather it stay lost.

The inevitable answer for me and for most others is India. Whether it be Kulu-Manali with its kitsch hippie vibe, the exiled splendour of Himachal Pradesh whose various Rimpoche and gurus who still live on its hillsides, Ladakh, the windswept province on the Tibetan plateau, or the marvelous Sikkim with its tea and unique culture and neither-here-nor-there mishmash. (Honourable mention to Kashmir, if they sort themselves out on both sides of the border.) So why India? India is affordable and India is India. It’s got much, much more to offer than its shapely mountains. So where will you see me next? You may find Ee-Ching and me on the streets of Gangtok.