The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi – Book Review

This review of the second part of the Shiva trilogy follows my earlier blog where I have reviewed the first part 'The Immortals of Meluha'.

The second part 'The Secret of the Nagas' picked up where the author had left off with a skillful Naga targeting Shiva’s consort Sati after the attack of Mount Mandar and killing his friend Brahaspati. Shiva vows to hunt down the Nagas to avenge Brahaspati.  Along this quest, he searches for answers to understand what evil is and if the Nagas can lead him to this secret.  As promised by the very attractive book cover and the blurbs from other reviewers published on the book, this second part of the trilogy is action packed.  Perhaps a little too action packed.  Shiva battles the Nagas, the Nagas battle with others. There are also fights with the Brangas who support the Nagas. A mission to combat ‘bandit’ Parsuram is led by Shiva while Sati duels with tigers. A second love story apart from that of Shiva and Sati is also thrown in. Kartik is born to Shiva and Sati and long lost siblings are re-united in this second book. With so much happening, I honestly felt like I was watching a hindi television serial that had twists and turns and ample ‘dramebaazi’ on every page of the book. However, what irked me the most was the revelation of the secret of the Nagas, their identity and their delineation. The pleasure I had felt in reading familiar names in a fresh light evaporated when justice was not done to these very revered and familiar names. 

 For those who like racy books, possibly this book might be a treat. I have to admit, I was hooked to the book, but it gave me the impression, that the author had almost thrown away the opportunity of writing a classic thriller by merely being crisp in his writing.  I was hoping, the author would lend a little more color to Shiva’s character apart from his blue throat in this volume, but alas!, Shiva remained very one dimensional, almost to the point where, he became just a figure head for the legend that He was out to destroy Evil in the world.

On the positive side, this book is certainly very vivid in its descriptions and would make an eminently watchable movie.   The intense action in every battle and the internal turmoil that Shiva was undergoing has been expressed well. I could almost hear the drums in the war and see the blood shed. Shiva’s discovery of the deep underlying message that Evil is a matter of perspective was well narrated, and I could almost see him in the ancient temples and hear his conversations with the Vasudev Pandits who helped him in this discovery.

I would give this book a three star rating out of five for its racy plot and innovative story.  A crisper story, a different choice of words to replace commonly used Indian phrases such as ‘what rubbish’, better characterization and good editing will probably elevate this book to a much higher level. I do hope that while the author tones down what is not necessary, the high energy levels that are in the first two books continue in the third and final book of the trilogy, 'The Oath of the Vayuputras’. I look forwad to reading the final version and hope for a spectacular finish!

Read more on the triology on http://shivatrilogy.com/index3.html

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi - Book Review

I was excited about reading the first book of the Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi and was thrilled when Blogadda gifted me a set of the first two books in exchange for just an impartial review for readers and the author.  It certainly was a win-win situation!

‘The Immortals of Meluha’, the first in a series of three is a fresh perspective of what Hindus and Indians believe in or know as mythology.  The author in his book has personified what Hindus have deified.  Shiva as we know him, has been portrayed as a mere mortal, albeit a great mortal and warrior. Reading this book with familiar landscapes and characters but a new story was an odd but interesting blend of knowing and not knowing what would come next. Familiar characters of Sati, Daksha, Nandi, Veerbhadra, Brihaspati have been personified in roles, as we know in mythology and I could easily conjure up images from the Amar Chitra Kathas that I had read in the past. I loved the canvas that had been painted for the entire storyline using various ancient civilizations of the Indus Valley of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa as well as from ancient Hindu cities of Ayodhya, Takshashila etc.  

The plot revolves around Shiva aka the Neelkanth, Mahadev or Natraj, who is a young warrior and leader of a tribe in Mount Kailash. He moves with his clan in a search for peace, to Meluha, a land famed for its ideal civilization more popularly called Ram Rajya. However all is not well in Meluha, this land of the Suryavanshis.  The Chandravanshis, their foes who reside in Swadeep seem to have allied with the evil Naga race and engage in terrorist attacks causing havoc in Meluha.  The story chronicles Shiva’s journey of love, thirst for revenge, and his quest to find evil to root it out.  Aided by the dependable Parvateshwar, with the fearless Sati on his side and the Vasudev Pandits guiding him in his spiritual quest, Shiva leads fearsome battles against his foes and leaves the readers asking for more.

The flow of the story was smooth and the narration gripping, although somewhere I felt the author drifted off at times losing focus of the main storyline and the characters.  Although the characters were strong in themselves, there was plenty of scope of adding more depth to their personalities through their actions- especially Shiva’s.  What I particularly did not like, was the use of modern day Indian parlance consisting of phrases such as ‘what the hell is happening’, ‘Dammit’, ‘what nonsense’ etc. a tad too many times taking away that old world charm in which the story was set. The landscape Amish has chosen to paint his story in, is marvelous, and I do think there is still plenty of more room to use this multi-region, multi-cultural background to his advantage to create a masterpiece.

All in all, The Immortals of Meluha was a gripping story that would probably make a riveting movie. I enjoyed reading it and I look forward to getting to Secret of the Nagas – the second volume of this trilogy! 

Read more on the triology on http://shivatrilogy.com/index3.html

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Royal Rajasthan - Part 1 - Udaipur

Rajasthan – a state that was truly royal.  A trip to Udaipur and Jaipur left me feeling proud of the heritage we have and increased my wanderlust in exploring more of India.

Udaipur  - a charming city with shimmering lakes, ancient architecture, grand mansions and plenty of folklore.  We got off the airport and were able to promptly avail taxi services at the airport.  Our taxi driver and guide Rais Khan started our trip with taking us to the famous Nath Dwara mandir which is a temple of Krishna and more popularly Srinathji in those parts.  We had around two hours to kill before the gates were opened to the hordes of devotees.  The area was like any other religious area really.  Rows of shops with artifacts to be used for worshipping, plenty of silverware, idols, marble besides the paraphernalia of the photos of Srinathji ofcourse, along with religious dvds etc.  We had the most wonderful chai that we have ever had at a little chai tapri there.  The chai vendor’s secret ingredient was Mint leaves!  I tried it back home immediately, and I highly recommend it! Well, we waited and waited, with the throng of devotees, right upto 15 minutes before the gates opened.. and then, much to Sandeep’s chagrin, I freaked out from the charging crowd, and I actually backed out! Oh well, I tried My Lord!  I hope we still have his blessings!

Near Nathdwara temple 

Near Nathdwara temple

Battle of Haldighati site

Udaipur and Jaipur, we found were cities replete with plenty of stories.  We were told stories of grandeur of the existing royalty of the family owning whole huge palaces, dozens of vintage cars, private jets, and even private airports! We heard stories of how Kokilaben built an entire town around a new temple she built adjacent to the Srinathji building, stories of the many filmstars weddings that now favor the grand Udaipur palaces for venues.  Particularly interesting was the tale of the two royal princes of Udaipur in which we were told that the elder heir to throne had been thwarted in ascending the ‘throne’ and hardly received anything from his ancestor whereas the younger brother got all the wealth and title of King.  Our driver told us how the people of Udaipur still stood by the wronged elder brother and respected him as King even though he had not received all that his brother had.  In Jaipur, the story was of that of the young teenage King whose princess mother had married a driver or commoner, and hence, her King dad, passed on everything not to her and her husband, but to the little prince.  These stories were all set in the modern day.  Besides these were the stories behind each building, each mansion, and each structure in the forts around these cities.  Where Rana Pratap and his loyal horse Chetak, were the subject of stories, memorials, and statues in Udaipur, it was Sawai Mansingh and Jaisingh who left their legacy at Jaipur.

Rana Pratap Memorial at Haldighati

City Palace

Palace near Lake Picchola

Dudh Talai near Lake Picchola

We boated on Lake Picchola and marveled at the gorgeous landscape with grand palaces, mostly now heritage hotels, in all directions. Particularly spectacular was the lighted up Taj hotel in the shimmering waters of Lake Picchola.  Being monsoon, the lakes were full, and it was surprising to note that the desert state of India was probably more verdant than Kerela!  

Taj Lake Palace

Bagori ki Haveli dance

We proceeded the next day to visit the City Palace, still owned by the Maharaja of Udaipur.  After a tour of the mansion, we banked for a bit on the shores of lake Fatehsaagar which was close to our hotel, had more chai, and then went to Bagori ki haveil to see some folk dances.  As a pointer to future tourists, the show is from 7 pm to 8 pm and is certainly worth a visit!  Our last stop at Udaipur was the lofty fort of Chittorgarh which I shall keep for a separate blog.  In very few words though, Chittorgarh was one of the most impressive forts I have ever seen. On the downside, it was disconcerting to see the number of cows  on most of roads left stray by their owners to fend for themselves in order that they did not have to waste precious space on them.  Apparently if the cows got rounded off, the owners were happier since the expensive cattle feed got taken care of at the shelter.  Thus, sadly the government stopped catching the cows, and the owners had their own way.  It is little wonder that foreigners have this pathetic image of India with cows sitting all major road junctions without batting an eyelid! On visiting Udaipur, I finally see why!

Rolls Royce at the Vintage Car Museum

For pointers on where to eat, our driver unfortunately did not take us to the kind of places we would have liked, but the one place I would recommend is the lunch with a vintage touch at the vintage car museum.  The Rajasthani thali was delicious and the vintage car collection incredible!  We also had an animated guide who quizzed us on Vintage car trivia and made our experience fun! All in all, a wonderful trip, and we left for Jaipur in the convenient night train with memories of the shimmering palaces around the tranquil lake Picchola.

Creepy Horrors

I am in shock and in deep pain.  Lizards.  Disgusting creepy lizards.  Again.  I was just confronted by a lizard in my dusting cloth in what I thought was a lizard free home. I remember some terrorizing times at my grandma’s place. Those disgusting, squiggly brown colored things have made me quake in bed in terror spending sleepless nights for fear they may be near me. I have opened cabinet doors fearfully expecting those beasts to jump out or jump away for me and for me to jump back if I see them.  I have entered rooms armed with a broom in my hand (which usually has usually fallen down since I have never not panicked and fled when confronted by those things).  I seriously don’t get it.  How can those tiny creatures incite such feelings of hate, repulsion and fear in any one! 

For those who belong to the lizard hating club whose numbers are quite large especially among females, I believe, can understand my agony when, I fled to a floor below to my MIL's as I await hubby dear to come home, find that awful creature and chase it away before I can cautiously go back.  The other thing about lizards and I think mice too, unfortunately is, once they come inside the house, there is no easy way to chase them out. One can chase a lizard around and around a room with all windows and doors and all possible openings open, but they manage to skip all of them and find that one immovable painting or cabinet above the most comfortable seat in the house behind which is security for them and insecurity for me if I dare to sit on that seat! Ruthless killing is not an option since these creatures have tails that live on and are more eerie than even the whole thing!  I remember a friend even bought this ultrasonic sound producing device that was supposed to shock lizards and drive them away.  Didn’t work.  Cockroaches and lizards have withstood the test of time and have I reckon, been through every possible calamity to be driven away by mere sound waves! The only thing that has worked is being armed with a nagging broom to chase them away so frequently that they give up and go to a neighbor’s house!

What I don’t understand, but am thankful for is the fact that guys and a few girls too never do find these things repulsive (atleast someone can chase them away!). In fact, I knew of a guy who had pet lizards and frogs.  Someone from that club, help me either overcome my repulsion or drive out that thing from my house!

Mumbai Times

I am back to Mumbai! Well, for my loyal readers, apologies for being away for so long, but moving gave me a convenient excuse to stay away and do fun things like sitting on rollercoasters in Six Flags instead of writing a gooey and grumpy blog on how sad it is moving and what a pain packing is!  Well, I also didn’t want to write a blog on returning back and my first impressions, but well, that’s all I can do today.

First impressions – Well, Kareena is SRKs Chammak Challo and protected by the still dashing Salman as Bodyguard.  Also, Katrina is Imran Khan’ brother’s dulhan and seems to also be dancing in every other trailor.  The number of TV channels has happily gone up and I now am happy to continuously flip through a higher number.  The songs are happily as nonsensical and annoying as ever and we still have the potbellied Sanjay Dutt and other old old actors jumping around with actresses half their age. Oh Boy, we really do need a new crop of actors and actresses.  To think half the people in Mumbai came to be actors!  We still have the same boring people who should start doing papaji and mummyji roles now. Anurag Kashyap still seems to be hell bent on producing apparently esoteric movies (say the reviews) that most people are not supposed to understand as he tries to paint the town yellow. I totally love the ads if they don’t have a Priyanka Chopra in each of them.  From the realllly dumb ads in the US to the zingy ‘Har ek friend jaroori hota hain’ was a nice change.  The khabars are still sansani and Maya is seems to be in her element as she proclaims wikileaks owner as mad and needs to go to the Agra asylum.

I love the rains at Mumbai. I think Americans were rather cute to call similar little puddles that form after a few minutes of a lashing, as flooding!  The traffic outside my house has increased as have the honks. I also woke up suddenly from my cosy afternoon nap (of 4 hours) to rush out because of an earthquake that turned out to be beats from some loudspeaker from a nearby Ganesh Pandal.  After exulting about getting a cook and getting meals which I DID NOT HAVE TO COOK, I ended up doing all the dishes from the last two days since the maid who did the washing did not turn up. 

I still need to venture out and then come back and bitch here more about the traffic and pollution and honking and public spitting all the time and the filth and poverty etc and annoy all my Indian friends.  Forgive me, but I am really trying hard to play the role of that foren returned NRI here although my past 48 hours of mostly lolling on the sofa and only watching tv while being served chai and lunch by my wonderful cook J makes me forget I ever did all those chores in US!  (Okay, this second part is to make all my foren friends who are still slogging away with cooking and cleaning envious!). It is little wonder that I came back! All in all, I am loving it as of now and looking forward to eating Damodar ke mashoor samose, jalebis, Sardar’s buttery pav bhaji and  paneer tikka masala that leaves orange color on my hands. More on Mumbai hereforth!

Passing Words

Independence Day is around the corner now, and no, this is not another blog on patriotism, which some of my blogger friends have covered very nicely indeed. Right now I wish I could be completely dependent on someone dependable to just memorize some stuff for me.

It was way back in 2000, that I opened my first Yahoo account.  That was my first ever account in anything and I loved it.  I coined a simple id and a really easy password quickly and used it happily for two years.  And then, I also got a bank account with an ATM card, my second ever account.  Well, these were the only two accounts for I ever had to remember anything and this happy state of affairs continued right through my college and then I landed my first job and boom!

I had a new bank account opened- a new password for debit card, net banking had three passwords, the demat account had one more password, gmail caught up with me, my office assigned a new email to me and a separate login account for its intranet, I opened a demat account, my dad sent me his internet banking account credentials to manage, I got a couple of credit cards from different companies with separate login credentials! I don’t want to even start on the other string of my online accounts on facebook, twitter, Netflix, iphone, apple, itunes, indiblogger, various  random sites such as shutterfly, retail stores –Macy’s, Target, Kohl’s where I had accounts and so on and so forth.  Each account that I opened told me that I should not write down my password anywhere lest it fall into wrong hands.  I tried memorizing and using those password remembering devices that locked with another password. I really tried.

But well, security is all important of course. One has to keep updating those dastardly things at different frequencies of a month, quarter or in a year.  The brainwave of writing them down and stowing them into a locker with a real key which I don’t have to remember (unless it’s a combination lock!) didn’t work for me since I forgot to update that hallowed sheet!  Still, security is what is key for various accounts of different levels of importance and hence the different requirements – no caps, no small caps, mandatory special symbols, spaces, my name should not be in the id or password, date of birth is not allowed either in either, no consecutive letters, no consecutive numbers, it cannot be simple, it has gotta be a jumble of preferably some indecipherable non word which is atleast 10 characters long!  To remember passwords using the blessed link ‘Forgot Password?’ one has to remember answers to weird questions.  I was given the idea of putting the same answer for all, sadly the same answers were not accepted either! And the buck didn’t stop there. Now it’s the ids that make  me miserable  with new accounts demanding new jumbles of my name as my id since there was no availability of even a pathetic mix backwards and forwards of my first, middle, last name and date of birth  (maybe I made that id and forgot the id and password!).

At this point in time, I am pretty much living on my credit card which I had fortunately linked to my bank account to be debited automatically. Since I have pretty much forgotten all my debit card pin numbers, and the banks have already reissued me new cards thrice, I am too sheepish to ask for more and for fear that they will freeze my account due to suspicious activity! My bank account online has locked on me after entering the incorrect password 5 times and I cannot reactivate it as it requires my atm pin which I have forgotten and reactivating the atm card with a new pin requires atleast the phone ‘TIN’ whatever that is!  I am in trouble! I hope now, the sabziwallahs in Mumbai accept credit cards soon or I will have to turn to my friends and family for cash (I know that’s a good excuse, right?) or sell jewellery for cash! Now I can only pray that my credit card bill has been paid for and my salary continues to drop into my account. God help me!

It's raining Discounts!

SALE!, Discounts, Deals, Going out of Business, All Things Must GO!, 50-80% off, Clearance, Special Offer!  These are indeed magic words. Magic for the retailers and magic for the buyers.  They mean only one thing…’SPEND!’ 

I needed that ultra colorful now ugly winter scarf I bought after winter which I wore only the day I bought it.  Groupon is so cool too.  I really did need to indulge myself on a New York cruise for $50 on a cold biting day.  Well, no, I didn’t need it, but it was cheap!  I also spent more getting to a salon across town since I bought the ‘deal’ on Living Social. 

I need to buy a new wallet now.  I am waiting for the season end sale to start.  My old purse does not fit in my all my discount cards from Macys, JC Penny, Kohls, Target, Shoprite, Airlines, Hotels and also need to have space for all the mailer coupons they keep sending.  Hopefully, I will buy something at Macy’s season end sale (spring/fall/summer/winter), there is also a Macy’s sale during Christmas, Thanksgiving, July 4, Labor day, Black Friday, New Year or the Biggest two day sales all year. Well, no dearth of sales.  I am sure I can get a deal!  Jewelry anyone?  These wonderful sales include diamonds.  We got 70% off on one I bought.  70%! Really. They do have excellent margins and do make money by selling high value fine jewelry at throwaway prices.  I should probably check and see if I can buy gold for half the high price these days back home.  I don’t need to invest in the stock market then maybe.  The returns if I sell the discounted gold will be phenomenal no?

Drat these discounts!  I am running out of space in my cabinets with all these coupons, mailers, cards, tired of deleting and clearing my bombarded email accounts and wasting my time on searching for these deals. Are they really kidding me by selling everything for half the prices and still staying afloat! I have to be on constant alert to not default on the payment of bills in those million accounts. If I do miss out, which I do sometimes, I end up paying more than what I would save which is sad.  And I absolutely do not revel in standing in harrowing queues at fitting rooms which are usually inundated during a blowout sale. There is also plenty of chaos and everything is dumped higgledy-piggledy on hangers, floors, dumpsters.  What happened to the fun of shopping in peace?

How I wish, there were no more sales, coupons, rebates etc.  That everything was fairly priced for all and I wouldn’t have to waste my time finding these wonderful deals.  I hate Groupon and Living Social! They make my life more difficult.   

 Money saved is indeed money earned, but if I don’t spend on worthless things at all, perhaps that will be more money earned and more space around me to keep what I do need! 

The Non-Returning Indians

'I am going back to India', I said.  'Why?' said one Indian.  ''Are you kidding?' said another Indian.  'Really?' said a third Indian. 'Oh!,is there a problem?' said a fourth Indian sympathetically, 'Didn't you like it here?' said a fifth with amazement in his/her voice...oh well, you get the hang.   

Celebrating Independence - The tri-color on Empire State Bld New York 

Every time I hear this question, I feel a sense of shame mingled by plenty of sadness.  I understand people migrate for various reasons – better job opportunities, more luxury, more money, better lifestyles, peer pressure, family pressures, better infrastructure, to see the world, travel more and a myriad other reasons.  Some of them do return back while many of them make the new country their new home. Based on my interactions with the various NRIs  (Non Returning Indians -for the rest of this blog) in the West and the Middle east, I would cast them in the three categories below:

1.  The one's who believe that India is a great country with wonderful traditions and culture and they will teach all about it to their kids – but from a distance.  This variety watches cricket matches with great fervor, celebrate all festivals more devoutly, listen to Desi Radio, watch  as many Hindi movies as possible, in their frequent 'potluck' parties and do try genuinely remain connected to their memories and culture of 'Des'. They also participate in the India independence day parades, attend bhangra classes and try to explain Diwali and cricket to their non Indian colleagues. Their homes are usually decorated with Indian artifacts and despite all the cuisines they try, they have to have Indian food regularly. A large part of this group also claims, they will return to Des in a few years if given a suitable opportunity.  Of course, they say this every year for a good many years till their citizenship gets processed, and sometimes even after that. This group also ardently discusses politics in India and how everything is still in shambles and tut-tut the system and the government not wondering once if they are doing a thing about it. Most of my lovely friends here belong to this category and I do not really blame them for not wanting to return or not being motivated enough to return from the cosy lifestyles which most of the developed world leads.

2.  The second variety is the one's who detest the fact that they are Indians, and would rather be passed off as Mexicans/South Americans (who have the same skin and hair color) and distance themselves from everything desi as far as possible. This variety usually comes to meet family for special occasions such as their own weddings or their siblings weddings. They usually strut around as if the NRI tag were pinned to their backs and expect respect because of that even if they maybe really nobodies in the other country! They typically turn up their noses at Indian rituals, festivals and beliefs, Bollywood, Indian clothes and everything that’s not American. They will also follow baseball and American football passionately and will try to be utterly indifferent to a World cup win in cricket. If there is some positive development they see in India such as a small mall in a sleepy town, they say, India tries badly to ape the west 'where they are from.' This variety feels that a dollar is a lot of money in India and flinch when to pay for anything remembering the prices of the last time they were there. They also try to develop an accent however fake it might be, and listen to only western music and pretend they never heard of the movie DDLJ. This variety, if single, also tries to seek out non Indian girlfriends/boyfriends/ spouses to further distance themselves or prove to themselves that they are indeed global citizens.

3.  The third variety is the ones who long to go back desperately and would do so if they indeed had the means to do so but cannot for lack of any kind of job back home.  This variety is mostly found in the middle-eastern countries where thousands flock to earn a basic living leaving home, heart and their families behind. This variety usually spends most of their lives lost in the memories and dreams of returning one day to their families with enough money to not have to work away from their home towns.

The India Independence Day Parade New York

The NRI's who do return do so for the following reasons

1. Visa issues or work permit issues where the host country refuses to allow them to live or work
2. A spouse wants to return because of visa issues around seeking jobs
3. Family back home
4. Health problems
5. Do not get a job or get kicked out of the existing job
6. Need to raise kids and get scared when they see teenage culture in America
7. Are crazy (To the propounders of the NRI faith, I belong to this category who does not have any real reason to go back and I don’t see why a reason is necessary to go back!)

 In the crazy category, there can be several variants,  

1. They go back for the sake of being in India and closer to their roots and believe they don’t need a reason to go back to their own country
2. They belong to the SRK Swades category who wants to go back and make a difference. I have only read about such people but I certainly wish more existed.
3. Those who believe that there are more conveniences in India. I can identify with this variety.  I probably missed my Shobha Bai, the cook more than I probably missed all my family! Ah!, the luxury of being served and not having to do everything on your own!
4. Those who think there are more opportunities to grow professionally.

I have ceased to think about the wrong and right of this whole matter of moving out or moving back.  Everyone has a right to a better living and if India cannot provide the standard they seek, migrating is a good option. Brain drain is a real issue for India and the insufficient infrastructure and lack of opportunities is making talented people India so needs to move forward, move further away from their homeland and not wanting to return to a land replete with bureaucracy, corruption, pollution, traffic jams and lopsided development.

The good news is the fact that India is making tremendous development and its sheer population is attracting large investments by foreign companies leading to an abundance in opportunities and development of talent. This is actually attracting a glut of long gone NRI's to return and allowing several others who would have otherwise left for greener pastures, to stay on. However, again, there is still much that needs to be done in the areas of infrastructure and better living standards in every city and town.  Being one of those hopeless optimists about India, I am indeed returning (not next year but in a few more days!)  and exhorting others to join me as I look forward to the day when the decision to migrate becomes not a must, but a choice.  

Inca Land Explorations - Part 3: The Classic Inca Trail Trek

Now for the final part of my blog on the Inca adventure and the highlight of our trip, I chronicle the much looked forward to or dreaded trek which was called the Classic 4 day Inca trail or Pilgrimage that we had booked way back in February.

Map of trail: courtsey traveltocusco.com

Off we go!

The first day, we were still happy and had smiley faces in our photographs, as we started out from Ollantaytambo on the Inca trail. Here are some pictures from the first day of our trekking. It is certainly amazing what nature presents when out in the open outside of the din of the city. These photographs are certainly barely representative of the sights we did see there. Mountains, rivers, Inca ruins, Clouds and forests live in a 360 degree view is really quite difficult to capture on a lens. But well, this is what we have to do with once we get back to the city! We tasted Chef Caramello's food for the first time starting with lunch which was an elaborate affair starting with an avocado starter, going onto a soup and entree of Pasta, Creamy Potatoes and Rice followed by some chocolate pudding for dessert. We certainly didn't want to hike after that sensory meal! We fortunately did get a few moments of rest though after that before we started off again rejuvenated.

Day 1

Llactapata ruins

During the course of our trip, we got to know our fellow trekkers who were fortunately a wonderful bunch of people including Americans, Australians and other Indians! For 12 of us trekkers, there were 17 porters, one chef and two tour guides. I must say they all did a wonderful job despite how difficult it really must be. In fact, things like food which are a luxury during camping, actually became a highlight as we received full elaborately prepared three course lunches and dinners as well as breakfast and snacks. All we had to do was really, just climb, as all our food was cooked for us, stuff carried up for us! Even that was not easy I must say. Especially, since I conveniently missed the step of training in the gym forever before that! It was quite incredible, that while we climbed up, the porters cleaned up our lunch, washed up, scurried up with the tents and all those other hundred things, set the tents all up, cooked our dinner and we arrived only much later.

Porters scurrying up

Lunch!

The second day was the toughest part of the trek having to climb to a high elevation of 4.200M to the Dead Woman's pass as it is called. Was that the high point otherwise for me? Well, honestly, it was the most difficult thing I must have ever done physically! I had to break after every 10 steps when I was some 100 steps away from it! The air being pretty thin at this altitude affected many of us in the group attacking us with migraines, nausea, sickness and the like. But well, we still grinned when the photo was clicked! :)

Dead woman's pass

What goes up has to come down, and the next phase of the trekking was just down down and more down till lunch! Even that was tiring! And to think, while climbing up all we wanted was to go down! Going up is more work, but coming down is scary and makes all those muscles really ache! I had almost given up hope of ever making it through the day after which we not only made it to the camp for lunch but revived by Chef Caramello's food, we hiked up the mountain for another 3 hours before we finally could celebrate the end of the toughest part of the trek with coca tea, popcorn and crackers!

Ruins at Phuyupatamarca - Don't I love the names!

The third day of the Inca trail was personally my favorite, since there was less climbing up, and less steep steps although there was a lot of climbing down. We went through a lot of verdant jungles and took in breathtaking vistas every few steps. But then, it started raining. And rain it did, ...it rained right till the moment and possibly beyond the day I took my taxi to the Cusco airport to depart Peru! The positive side of the rain however was the fact that everything looked far more mystical and magical with the floating clouds as we traversed through the hills and vales. We almost felt in the middle of an Avatar movie or an Indiana Jones movie amidst all that beauty. We reached the campsite early in the day and in time to visit a beautiful Inca site known as Winaywayna. Our chef made a special farewell cake for dinner as it was the third dinner together. Well, he certainly kept his high standards of food right till the last meal at the camp!

Runkurakay ruins

Mystic clouds

Waling in the rain

Flowers on the way

Winaywayna Inca site

Happy travels to Machu Picchu!

On the last day, we had a short trek to our final destination Machu Picchu. Unfortunately it was still raining, and there was little hope of really seeing sunrise. But we all started off at 4:30 am to beat other hikers at the gate that opened at 530 am. Wasn't an easy hike again as was expected. Plenty of climbing, and a lot more urgency to make it to the lost city soon. We crossed the Sun Gate, and there it was... Machu Picchu, in all its glory. The clouds that enveloped it, made it all the more ethereal, and we were enchanted.

Machu Picchu

Morning Haze

The lost city - Machu Picchu

The lost city nestled in clouds

Machu Picchu was indeed much bigger and far more different than the other Inca sites. It looked royal and awe-inspiring. There was an ancient aura about the place and amidst all the clamor of the tourists and the photo snapping din, it felt peaceful. Machu Picchu was surrounded by 

mountains on all sides, and watching the clouds play hide and seek with it took our breath away.

Thus ended the highlight of our trip there, and we left with exalted minds thinking about all those who lived and fled there wondering how it must have been back then. I wonder, would it have been any different had the Spanish not forced them to flee? If they could create all these wonders in just a century, I wish I could imagine, the marvels the great Incas would have created had they ruled for longer. On a closing note, here are some beautiful words from a poem by Pablo Neruda that I read somewhere in Cuzco -

“Then on the ladder of the earth I climbed through the

lost jungle's tortured thicket upto you, Machu Picchu.

High city of laddered stones,

at last the dwelling of what earth

never covered in vestments of sleep

Mother of stone, spume of condors

High reef of the human dawn

Spade lost in primal sand

This was the dwelling

this was the place

here the broad grains of maize rose up

and fell again like red hail

Here gold threads came off the vicuna

to clothe the lovers, the mothers

the king, the prayers the warriors.”

To read more about the Incas and Cusco, their capital city, do have a look at my previous two blogs.

To read more about Machu Picchu, here is a wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu