I endeavored on a trek to the Himalayas in early May this year. It was the Chandrakheni Pass trek which started from Manali and ended at Rumsu village near Naggar. We visited 5 higher camps
- Sola Tanki (7930FT)
- Mountinag (9187FT)
- Ubla Thach (9793FT)
- Dohra Nala (10692FT)
- Naya Tapru (9970FT)
From Dohra Nala to Naya Tapru we crossed Chandrakheni pass at around 12190ft
This post is more around my observations during the trek.
I was reading Man and His Symbols during the trek, so the mountains combined with the concepts of archetypes and 'collective unconscious' created an aura which inspired a deep appreciation of nature and our humble role in grand scheme of things. Looking at the mountains just makes you wonder how long these mountains have been standing there, snow clad - without any concern for the million thoughts and desires which billions of people have every day.
While taking strolls in the early morning along side our camps, it became very apparent to me that the world is just a playground or a 'maya' and how much is it of value / real is difficult to ascertain. It is just a play which getting performed with different actors getting introduced, playing their parts and fading away. The mountains on the other hand just stand there being a testimony to everything - and may be they also take birth and die, but on a much larger time scale. Himalayas after all are just result of some tectonic plate shifts around 50mn years ago.
We were a group of around 60 folks, and there was an increased tendency to take photographs of everything. Part of this was because of advent of mobile and availability of Internet even in high mountains (which was really a surprise to me!) This inevitably made me think about the documentation vs enjoying beauty in the present question. For me at least, I preferred enjoying the beauty at the moment rather than trying to capture it for viewing at some later time. But why is taking photographs so popular? Is it to share with your friends about the great places you have been? Or to keep memories for your future? Beats me.
As Naval was telling in a podcast, being at the present rather than being in your monkey head is important. Present is what we really have. Past and futures are just illusions of our memories and construct of our brain.
Next time, I intend to go in a much smaller group - so that there is less noise and more tranquility to absorb the beauty and reflect. Lets see how that materializes.