21st – 23rd – Arrival

Flying from Mendoza was quite uneventful. Madrid is a huge airport where you can keep walking straight ahead without seemingly getting anywhere. And Iberia isn’t too happy with installing seats in their planes with decent legroom. I guess it would be easier to have one’s legs operated shorter… The layover in Santiago, despite the short time we had, went surprisingly well. The flight to Mendoza was basically nothing but a half-an-hour jump over the mountains before landing again just on the other side.

Arriving in Mendoza we were greeted by Juan Carlos, our guide/contact and Pablo, a second guide. We were brought to our hotel followed by a walk in the immediate area where we had lunch and an afternoon by ourselves. The hotel is only a few minutes’ walk from the center, so we are close to plenty of restaurants and shops.

For dinner we met and went out to a steak restaurant, where I, obviously, had a steak (first of many). Being in Argentina I felt that choosing anything else would be heresy. To be honest it didn’t quite live up to my, admittedly high, expectations; great size and taste, but it wasn’t very tender and it was filled with tendons.

The trip's first steak.

The next day we went out to get our climbing permits. It felt a little weird, or at least bureaucratic, having to go to pay for the permit at a Western Union and taking receipt with us to show at the tourist center. Apparently the tourist center doesn’t have the money and security to handle the large sums that goes through the system for the numerous permits during climbing season.

The rest of the day was free, so a bit of walking around, lunch, buying stuff we needed (not much though) but other than that staying back at the hotel relaxing. Dinner was at a new place, and after the semi-failed steak last night I decided I wanted to try another one in an attempt to straighten up my impression of Argentinian steaks. Size and taste was just as good, amazingly tender and no tendons. Success! Yesterday’s steak was luckily just a random fluke. On top of that, the side orders where skewers with small pieces of bell pepper and onion, in-between chunks of meat. No complaints from me.

Tomorrow we will leave the hotel at around 1300 to drive to Vallecitos where we will be staying at a hut for two nights to start our acclimatization. It’s at 2700m, app. 2000 meters above Mendoza, so it will likely be felt. Until we reach Aconcagua the days we carry our own bags with all equipment from camp to camp will be relatively short, likely less than 4 hours, so that’ll be nice.

When getting picked up at the airport Juan Carlos mentioned that the temps that day where up at 32°C, and the following day they reached 36°C. The second and last evening in Mendoza we were told that the following day it would reach even higher temps. I am quite glad that we are going towards higher ground, effectively avoiding the high temperatures.

Light thingie at Plaza Independencia

Surprise Easter trip!

Due to quite a bit of overtime at work last year I have been allowed to take a little bit extra off this year. This has resulted in me deciding to take some extra time off before Easter which gives me 2 weeks + change off in a row. I have decided that the two weeks is to be spent on staying home and doing nothing, not going anywhere for once.

Pfff. Yeah, right.

This turn I am going back to Kenya and Tanzania, an 11 day camping safari going through all the big fun parts containing wildlife. After the trip to Argentina it’ll be nice to just relax on the savannah, lazily looking at the wildlife.

23^rd – 24^th of March

Flight to Nairobi via Amsterdam.

25^th – 26^th of March

We will leave the hotel in the early morning to go to Masai Mara. According to plan we will arrive in the afternoon where we will set up camp which we will be using as base for when we are there. Despite the slightly late arrival we will still be able to have a late afternoon drive.

27^th of March

We have time for the regular morning drive before having to return to Nairobi in the late afternoon.

28^th of March

Today we will leave Kenya and cross the border to Tanzania and go to the town Arusha where we will arrive in the afternoon.

29^th of March

Visit Lake Manyara. Apart from looking at wildlife we will be visiting a local village and seeing the Rift Valley.

30^th – 31^st of March

Crossing through the Rift Valley we go towards the Serengeti NP. This area is pretty self-explanatory. Spending time on driving around and looking at animals. What’s not to like?

1^st of April

After the last morning drive in Serengeti NP we leave and drive to the Ngorongoro conversation area and driving around the rim of the crater to reach our next camp site.

2^nd of April

With an early departure from the camp we travel into the crater where we spend most of the day driving around taking in the sights (i.e. more wildlife!). In the afternoon we will take our leave and go back to Arusha.

3^rd of April

Flight out from Kilimanjaro Airport via Dar Es Salaam and Amsterdam.

Reaching once again for the sky

Here we are again, planning another trip in the near future. This is going to be another climb – feeling confident after the trip to Stok Kangri and realizing that I am getting in gradually better and better shape with my regular workouts and runs, I wanted to try and push things a little. Deep down I think I have been wanting to go for quite some time, but after realizing the departure was filling up (and it is only once a year) and went to a presentation by the travel company, there was really no other alternative. It will without a doubt be an amazing trip and I am just hoping that it won’t be involving regrets on the way up. Because, let’s face it; this is going to be a massive undertaking for me.

On to the part you came here for.

21^st – 22^nd of January

Flight to Mendoza in Argentina via Spain (Madrid) and Chile (Santiago). Finally I have found a trip where you don’t have to show up at the airport until afternoon. No showing up at inhuman 0400 in the morning. Nope – check in at 1330. Starting off easy.

23^rd – 25^th of January

Spending a day in Mendoza to get permits and the like before transferring to a hut at 2800m in Vallecitos. From here we will acclimatize up to 3664m on Loma Blanca.

26^th – 28^th of January

Trek to the Vega Superior camp at 3448m. It’s a short trek so there will be time for relaxing. From this camp we will acclimatize on Cerro Adolfo Calle which gets us up to 4270m. The following day we will have another walk, this time to El Salto at 4288m.

29^th – 30^th of January

Return to El Salto, this time to set up camp and use as base camp for the climb of Cerro Vallecitos, which is 5461m. The climb will have quite an ascent (app. 1200m from base camp), but it will ensure an effective acclimatization for the following days. From the summit you are able to see Aconcagua, assuming the weather is clear. This summit is almost as high as Elbrus – which was a very hard-earned summit back in 2012. This will be interesting.

31^st of January – 2^nd of February

Transfer from El Salto and spending 3 days reaching Plaza de Mulas at 4230m, Aconcagua base camp. On the way there we will pass by Puenta del Inca on the first night and Confluencia camp the second. Apparently we have mules these days so we will be able to walk with a smaller load than usual. That will likely be a relief at this point.

3^rd of February

In base camp – rest day!

From here on everything depends on the weather, but the following is what they will be trying to get us through.

4^th – 6^th of February

Trek from Camp I to Camp III, located at 4910m, 5380m and 5979m, respectively. They are named Canadian Place, Nido de Condores and Camp Colera (charming…). The days are relatively short, and with the climbs before arriving here we will have plenty of acclimatization done making it easier – but reaching Camp Colera (…) it will be obvious to all that we are up high and breathing is labored. Note, the highest camp is just below the summit of Stok Kangri.

7^th – 9^th of February

3 days are reserved for summit attempts. Everything depends on the weather. We might be stranded in the tents for two days before we are able to make a push (or even all three days and having to return back down), or we might be able to go the first night. Only time (and the weather Gods) will tell. In any case this will be a very hard day, but reaching the top it will be very rewarding. Reaching the summit will bring us up to an altitude of 6959m, the tallest point outside Himalaya.

10^th – 11^th of February

Descend from Camp Colera all the way down to base camp, and the next day all the way down and back to Mendoza. Some very long days, but at least we are only descending at this point.

12^th – 13^th of February

The flight home is the same way as when we arrived.

Again, just as I have concluded several other trip descriptions that involved climbing, I’ll state that this will by far be the hardest trip I have been on yet. It’ll be fun. And hard. And mentally and physically tiring. Yeah, some people do this voluntarily. No, I don’t know why, either. People are weird.

24th – New Delhi Airport, aka I Don’t Give A Shit Airport

Arriving at the airport in the early morning you need to get past the guards at the entrance; showing your passport and tickets are enough. One in the group got a bit ahead of us and went through without any problems. When the rest of us showed up the guard looked at us and began waving us away – apparently he wanted us to go to one of the other doors to get checked there instead. On the way over there looking back you could see him letting single passengers in at a time, apparently a large group (of 9) was too much work. His colleague at the other door also seemed perplexed why he hadn’t let us in.

We checked in as a group but had to show documents individually. I asked nicely (despite it being early and only after 2 hours of sleep I can be nice) if it was possible to move/upgrade me to a seat at an emergency exit. She looked up and looked at me as if I had asked her to give me upgrades to 1^st class for all future flights, scoffed loudly and went back to work completely ignoring me from then on. Nice.

We were given name tags for our carry-on luggage, apparently as to confirm that the check-in counter had approved them as carry-ons. The security check went without a hitch, being early there weren’t too many people around. I found my bag lying ready for me after I came through the detector and they confirmed I could take it. We wandered the airport and basically just tried to kill time while waiting for boarding to start.

Entering the plane the security guy flipped when he saw me. Apparently the security check should have given me a stamp of some kind on that luggage tag, but because they seemed to have missed it I must have been smuggling everything from drugs to the entire Taj Mahal and half their nuclear arsenal with me on board the plane. He took me aside, let others on, and asked me to show him the contents. He was a very unhappy Indian guard, but he let me go at last. I had barely gotten on board the plane together with one of the others from the group before they started closing the doors. I hurried to my spot, found it in the middle of everything, but being the last one to enter I just grabbed to two seats at the window next to it instead – the plane had plenty of free seats so you were able to move around and claim different – better – seats if you were fast.

The rest of the trip home was fine. Well, almost. I met a very large hairy Indian guy on the plane. And completely unrelated; a very large hairy Indian guy learned he had to remember to lock the lavatory door when doing his business on the plane. We had a couple of hours in Istanbul airport which were spent on sitting in a café and getting something to drink and eat, and the flight from there was very uneventful. The moment we left India things went much more smoothly. And coming back to Copenhagen everyone got their bags. Success!

Once again big thanks to Susanne, Bo (again), Per (again, and have a great trip around India and Nepal!), Steffen, Christina, Mads, Thomas, Lars, Tina and Annika for being such an outstanding group on this trip. You guys are amazing – and after my recent realization that means a lot to me. I hope we will meet again sometime, that would be awesome!

23rd – The gravestone

Today was a full day free of plans according to schedule, so we were free to do what we wanted. Most of us decided it would be a good idea to spend the day in Agra to see the Taj Mahal, including me, despite it meant that we had to get up early (again).

We were picked up at the hotel and walked to the local train station a couple of minutes away. At 0600 the train departed on schedule and two hours later we arrived in Agra where we were greeted and brought to a small café where we met up with our guide for the day.

After a short coffee break we drove the few km out to Taj Mahal. Tickets were bought and we entered what I realized was a huge complex where the Taj Mahal (which is “only” a mausoleum built by the mogul emperor Shah Jahan for his third wife who died giving birth to their 14^th (!) child) is the center of attention. The area is riddled with huge gates in all four directions where one of them leads to the Taj Mahal, guest houses (“houses” is used liberally, “small palaces” would be more accurate), mosques and other various buildings.

While the Taj Mahal looks amazing on photos I don’t think they measure up to reality. This is a beautiful building with a lot of details you won’t see until you get up close. It’s a huge marble building with lots of carvings, engravings and an impressive amount of inlays. The inlays deserve special mention; the skill required to carve the marble and mount the many small different pieces of gemstones so they fit perfectly, while the end result looks fluid and organic, must be insanely high. It’s an impressive – albeit a quite narrow – skill to possess, and the result is stunning.

We had a walk around in the area, taking the obligatory shots and saw the inside of the main chamber where the wife and emperor were buried. She was buried exactly in the center, he next to her. This is the only non-symmetrical part of the entire complex and very intentional. Symmetry is perfection, and as only Allah is perfect they had to add some amount of asymmetry somewhere, and that was how they did it. We also managed a quick look of the nearby mosque and generally just taking in the views in the park. It was overall very pleasant.

I could have spent the entire day out there (as could others in the group) walking around and photographing the beautiful buildings, but unfortunately we were scheduled to leave for lunch. For lunch we visited a restaurant in a rundown part of the town, but the food was absolutely amazing. As the last real meal we have together in India this was not a bad place to finish it off.

After lunch we continued on to Agra Fort, a large fortification where 75% is still closed to the public as it is used by the military. The remaining 25% didn't make it feel small, though, on the contrary. The place was huge! Double moats and walls, large gardens and intricate craftsmanship appearing in all the buildings to name just a few features seen in the few hours we were there. It was also here Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his 3^rd son for ruining the economy by building the Taj Mahal (he even had planned a similar building in black marble). The “cell” he was confined in was a corner of the fort, beautifully decorated like the Taj Mahal itself and with a straight view to it.

Afterwards we had a small walk in the city center, which wasn't really overly inspiring. Back at the coffee shop we said our goodbyes to one of the group members who would continue on his own around in India for the next couple of weeks before going to Nepal. We returned to the train station to grab a train back to Delhi. This time it was a different train and it took us 3 hours to get back. While waiting for the slightly delayed train we were introduced to the various wildlife on the station; baboons, dogs and rats. Fun times were had!

We were back at the hotel a bit past 2200. Because we hadn't had a meal on the train despite it has said so some of us had a small dinner at the hotel’s rooftop café before retiring. To our joyous surprised they were fast at making it, and it was as usual absolutely delicious.

Tomorrow we are flying back home. We will be picked up at hell o’clock as we need to check in at almost-hell o’clock as we are flying out at way-too-early o’clock. The flight departs at 0600 and we need to be there 3 hours before, so, yeah… But it means that we will be back in Denmark already in the evening so that’s not too bad.

And back at the office Friday. Yay….

One of the entrance gates.

Taj Mahal.

The mosque to the left of Taj Mahal.

Another shot of Taj Mahal, this time from the left.

All this is carved from one piece of marble. It isn't pieces glued onto a block - it is one whole block.

The inlays. Lots and lots of this kind all over the place.

The writing is also inlays. Fun detail; the higher the writing, the bigger it is, so that when you look at it from the ground the size looks the same all the way up.

Taj Mahal as seen from Agra Fort.

The holding cell for Shah Jahan.

One of the many gardens at the fort.

Prison in foreground, Taj Mahal in the background.

22nd – Dust and noise

We were picked up at the hotel at 0500 as planned and as opposed to when flying to Leh we had no problems what so ever checking in our luggage and getting through security. This time we checked in as a group instead of separately as before which seems to have had made a difference – presenting the poor attendants with 11 large dusty bags it seemed as if they just wanted to get rid of us as quickly as possible.

Arriving in Delhi our pickup hadn’t arrived yet but after just half an hour’s wait he finally showed up and brought us to the hotel. The traffic was heavy, slow and noisy – we were obviously far away from the serenity of the mountains and back in the big city!

After a short break we took some tuk-tuks to the Red Fort where we had a walk-around before taking a route through the old part of Delhi, dictated by one’s Lonely Planet guide book. The tour was actually quite interesting and we saw parts that we might not otherwise have seen when walking around in the nicer parts of the city. Among other things we came by a Sikh temple where we got a tour for free for almost an hour. It was unexpected and very interesting seeing the temple from the inside during prayers/service. Very beautiful.

For dinner we ended up in a mogul restaurant which made some delicious food. While not spicy in Indian terms it did have a lovely zing to it that never was too much. Unfortunately my burnt lips were of another opinion, they are still very sore. My face feels OK, now, but due to all the burnt skin that’s peeling off across my face I look like I would be the perfect extra for a zombie movie.

Back at the hotel we had a small drink on the rooftop bar before going back to our rooms. Tomorrow will also be an early morning as we will be picked up at 0500 to be able to get to the train station in time to have enough time in Agra and Taj Mahal.

Walking inside the Red Fort you realize it is quite large.

Very large!

Seeing a Sikh service.

Serious business!

21st – How I turned into a fried chicken

The rest of the day after returning from the summit was spent on relaxing and sleeping, so when dinner was done people went straight back to their tents. The Topas group would be leaving that same night for the summit, using the same route as us, and the weather had improved so much so that for the first time since Rumbak there was barely a cloud in sight. Everything seemed to indicate that they would be having a visually better – maybe perfect – summit day as opposed to our group. But due to the lack of clouds the night ended up being by far the coldest night on the trip. Looking towards the summit in the morning we realized that it was the clearest we had seen it yet and a bit of jealousy was had as the group would have some great views from the top, including K2. But we consoled ourselves with the fact that our achievement with climbing during a snow storm and whiteout would be the bigger one.

I woke up several times during the night and I soon realized. It was quite annoying as I usually slept though most of the night without problems (except for the night where my travel pillow had a puncture…), but it was soon clear why this was; descending from the summit and having the sun occasionally popping out through the clouds when spending hours on a glacier it is a good idea to apply sunglasses and sunscreen. In this case 1 out of 2 is not good enough – the sunglasses do not cover lips, cheeks, forehead… I woke up due to when turning around my face touched the zipper of the sleeping bag (which was for once completely zipped). I was far from the only one making this mistake – there were even some who hadn’t even been using sunglasses. We looked like a group of inverted raccoons. My face has never been so sore before.

The rest of the morning went without hiccups and we were soon on our way down, descending 1300-ish meters in 5 hours to the town of Stok where we were picked up and driven back to our hotel in Leh. The walk brought us through more parts of the beautiful landscapes (when thinking of India this is definitely NOT what I have in mind!) and even seeing a flock of blue sheep (bharal) which to me mostly look like a mix of mountain goats and impalas. And no – they are not blue. We were lucky enough to stand within 20m of them for what felt like an extended period of time, but I must admit that for just a moment, only having my small compact lens, I was missing my long tele. It is stunningly beautiful here and absolutely not what I had expected to see.

Also arriving at Stok we said our goodbyes to our guides and other personnel. They will be remembered for the high spirits and good humor, and also for their impressive breakfasts and dinners (plenty of food at both meals, dinners were always a mix of salads, pastas, potatos, rice, weird tasty concoctions and the occasional deep pan pizzas, steamed momos and the like). Therefore it was always surprising that while these meals were so impressive the lunches were merely a piece of limp deep fried white break, a juice box, piece of fruit and candy. It was a huge contrast.

Being back at the hotel we had the obligatory showers. Being a creature of habit when drying off the first thing I do is to throw the towel in my face and rub. If anyone was wondering; doing so with a burnt, sore face is NOT a good idea. At all. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent on having our last walk around in Leh, packing bags for the trip back to Delhi tomorrow and generally relaxing and enjoying not having to worry about more climbing mountains in the next couple of days. Breakfast is at 0430 as we are leaving for the airport at 0500 to catch our flight.

Clear weather in the morning. Bad timing!

You can clearly see the summit!

Blue sheep.

We came down from the right and turned down the way straight ahead into the shot. When going towards BC we came up from the left.

Just beautiful. 

If you look carefully you will be able to see that there are ruins from watch towers/a castle on the top of those two cliffs.