Activity Week 2013: Changsheel Pass, Day 1

It's 7:45. We are late, and I am irritated.

I know that I shouldn't be, because, after all, it's India, but we were definitely supposed to get going at 7 this morning. The dining hall, however, didn't get the memo and thought they were good to go opening at 7 AM (they were supposed to open at 6). So, we're late for an 8 hour bus ride, a 45 minute jeep ride, and a campsite setup. Needless to say, I want to get going.

On the bright side, the kids are excited (until they take their motion sickness medication, that is), and the air has a palpable feel of anticipation. We're going on a trek! It's my first. I've gone camping, but never like this. Many of the students, 10th graders, haven't gone trekking before either, and the one student who has experience-- a two-day trek earlier in the semester-- is much too eager to share his expertise for my taste. "When I was on my trek", "We did it this way, you should do it this way", are phrases I'm hearing too often this early on the trek. I'm going to need to find a way to diffuse and distract this kid, or I'm going to go crazy.

I've opted not to take a motion sickness medication. Avomine can work wonders for some people, totally knocking them out until they get to their destination, but it leaves me feeling nauseous and out of my body for hours after I wake up. Plus, I want to see the views! I'm not one to get carsick anyway, and we're driving through some gorgeous territory on the way to the national park where we'll trek. We are on a bus with comfy seats and an obnoxious "TOURIST" sign on the top of the windshield in a bubble font. As we drive the switchbacks between Woodstock and the national park, the scenery shifts from misty pine forest to rocky outcrops to lush green valleys and sunny small villages. Something that struck me about the trip, and about India in general, is the intensity of colors. Green fields are speckled with women and men wearing vibrant hues of aquamarine, fuschia, and vermillion. It's a beautiful sight. Here are some of the photos I took on the way over:

Another thing that dominated our trip was the presence of sketchy construction sites and traffic issues.

The construction sites that we drove through would make a construction worker in the US break a sweat: no orange cones, no detours (how could there be, on a mountain road?), piles of stones, gravel, cement mix, etc. lining the narrow way. It certainly made me nervous, but our driver knew what he was doing.

A bridge was being reinforced, and the road was being widened at this point, I believe.
It was also the "National Highway Project", so this was the official stuff.

When you're on a bus, traveling on roads about the width of your vehicle, traffic maneuvers become considerably more tricky. Of course, if you're just dealing with a scooter, it's easy, because they can pull over really easily or just go around you because they're so small. When you come upon another tourist bus, however: 

Keep in mind that our bus is on the outside of the road, the side of the road jutting over the river valley.

All hazards and difficulties aside, we made it to our destination, Govind National Park. We transferred our bags and gear from the bus to two jeeps and continued into the park on bumpy, rain-gutted roads. Quite the trip on my tailbone and my sitz bones. Our campsite was located on the side of the Rupin River and was clear and beautiful. The campsite itself was full of mule poop (something that became the norm at the rest of our campsites), but it was comfortable and flat (something that was not necessarily the norm at the rest of our campsites).

We settled down for the rest of the night, after having dinner prepared for us by our guides, and prepared for a huge day of hiking tomorrow! Happy Activity Week!