Soliloquy of a Wandering Pilgrim

Apart from the small bottles of French Red wine, the flights were uneventful! kolkata to Dubai and then to Frankfurt. My friends Hilde and Konni were there to pick me up. And then a 2 hour long drive to this small and beautiful village called Jadghaus, Schmallenberg. What a contrast after the heat, dust, smoke, noise, litter, and crowd of my home town! Well, the chaos and stress can now stay behind. Its time for the little globe trotter in me to come out and play!   Now let me share what I found about this place:   Jagdhaus:   Literally meaning the Hunting House or Lodge, the village is about 8 km south of Schmallenberg in 650 m above sea level. In Jagdhaus wohnen 65 Einwohner (Stand: 31. Dezember 2006). Today, here we have almost 75 residents.     http://translate.google.co.in/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdhaus_(Schmallenberg)&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=4&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Djagdhaus,%2B...

1. Dr Rasoumoff Ted (USA), 10/17/1967Mountaing Racing background: Trail races and runs on peaks up to 4,000 meters. Multisport ski/snowshoe/run/bike winter events. Won Silver State Marathon 2000 (altitude/trail factors)Mountaing Climbing background: Several 14,000 ft peaks in USA. Some requiring glacier skills. 2. Mr.Mukherjee Anindya (India), 06/19/1971Mountaing Racing background: noMountaing Climbing background: climbed beyond 7000m in Indian Himalaya, work as mountain guide 3.Mr Klim Yuri (Ukraine), 22.02.1985Mountaing Racing background: noMountaing Climbing background: Elbrus 4. Mr Sergey Surmonin (Russia, Moscow/Tbilisi) 02.03.68 Sergey Surmonin is a skier and marathon runner, who participated in 100 km supermarathons. In 2001 he climbed Khan Tengri (7010 m), in 2002 – the peak of Lenin (7134 m), and a year later he participated in a very interesting ascension to the peak of Khan Tengri, where he took 5th place. In 2005 he climbed the peak of Evgeniya Korzhenevskaya (7105 m) ...

Yesterday, coming out of the Russian Embassy in Kolkata, I realized, it's now getting real. With only one week to leave the country and less then a month for the race, the count down has begun! All the elements, all the last minute work, commitments, organization for the trips and work ahead has to be done now!The Shivling Expedition and Singalila Ridge trek in October, followed by the North Sikkim trek in November with my friend Haukur has got be arranged now. The flights, hotels, helicopters, train tickets for staff, and paper works! Its fun though and amazing to find out that it all works out in the end, with some tense moments of course! Because we live in country that believe in red tapism and paperworks religiousy. And all your plans can abruptly come to an end due to a political strike! As for the race on Elbrus, it's something totally new for me. It's true that I work in high altitude and altitude itself is not a problem for me. Elbrus with it's altitude of 5642...

Observing the growing interest in Panpatia Glacier I have created a blog, a webspace, where I will try to post and publish all the news, views and reviews that is related to this area. Panpatia has a huge potential still for exploration, be it climbing or trekking! There is still a lot to be done on the Vishnu Garh Ridge. The main summit of Parbati Parbat (6257m) still remain unclimbed! And countless 5000m peaks to be scaled! Connecting this Glacier with adjacent Satopanh Glacier or the Gondherpongi Valley also might offer great challenges! So if you have something to share regarding this fantastic area, please email me at: anindya.adventuremania@gmail.com And here is the link to Panpatia: http://panpatia.blogspot.com cheers!

If you have a passion for travel or exploring the hidden Himalaya, this is your forum to share your dreams & plans or experiences. Its brand new and basic and I hope to moderate it whenever I am free and have access to the net. :-) http://www.orkut.co.in/Community.aspx?cmm=53570246 If you are planning a trek or expedition in the Indian Himalaya, and if you have some queries, you can post here.

"It's the most exciting thing I have done. For anyone to climb and unclimbed peak is very good. "Most of the highest peaks in the world are all over 8,000 metres. They would include the likes of Everest and they have all been climbed on numerous occasions. Also, most of the 7,000 metre peaks have been climbed but there are literally thousands of unclimbed peaks between 5,000 and 6,000 metres. They are technically difficult to climb and for anyone to do this is simply fantastic. .." Alan Tees Read the whole story here as the Sunday Journal and other Irish media reported: http://www.sundayjournal.ie/features/Peak-to-Peak.4205167.jp http://www.inishowennews.com/08CuldaffHimalayas.htm Brief Expedition Report: http://www.pete-smith.co.uk/dynamic/log_details.php?i=362 Me and my team of Adventure Mania ( http://www.adventuremania.com/ ) were proud to be able to support this exploration climbing programme.

Speed Climbing to Elbrus, 5642 m will be held on September, 17, 2008 Elbrus, the highest peak of Russia and Europe, is a well-known peak of the Caucasus. Its white-snow double-headed peak is beautiful not only as a geographical object, but also as a symbol of the high achievements, grand size, crystal pureness and triumph of its conquerors. Elbrus is located in 12 km from the Main Caucasus Ridge. A high-quality road enables you to get to the foot of the mountain from Mineralnyje Vody Airport, Pjatogorsk and the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, Nalchik. The regular shape of the volcanic cone and slopes, which are covered with glaciers over 300m high, form a sort of a mountain stadium. The speed climbing path follows the classical route: Azau clearing – Bochki – Pastukhov’s Rocks – Sedlo – Western Elbrus. During the high days of the Soviet climbing school, the alumnae of which still get the world astonished by their high results in climbing, Elbrus speed climbing competitions were held ver...

Sounds unbelievable, but it's true! Even after the categorical concrete death of our nature, here in the suburbs of Kolkata, some wild life survives. I live in Bally, a small town in the district of Howrah. When we were growing up in the 70's this area used to be full of ponds and trees. Unfortunately it's not like that anymore. They have built multi-storied buildings at the cost of filling up all the water bodies and lush green fields. Many of the birds that we used to see when we were young, don't come here any more. But recently, me and Chhotu were thrilled to see Indian Civets in our neighbourhood. Talking to our neighbours, we learnt that they have found a deserted house and made it their den. We just got curious about this animal and wondered how it could survive our rapid and mindless urbanization! here is link to the Common Indian Palm Civet: http://www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?animal=109