Dhauj village and its crags

Another trip from Delhi on another hot afternoon.

For a mere 1,000 Indian Rupees a gallant taxi driver took me on a 80km round trip into Haryana state, in search of the biggest recorded crags near Delhi. Through the unsightly neighbourhood of Faridabad we drove, weaving past camels, wayward speeding lorries and braving some short patches of cobbled road.

Token camel photo

The journey there was not without it's uncertainties. For one thing the 2001 guidebook said that the crag area was in danger of quarrying. The whole purpose of the trip might have been nullified by India's incessant need for construction hardcore. In addition my taxi driver began to lose his resolve at one stretch of broken tarmac.. 'no good road!' and 'very bad fuel!' mutterings drifted from the front of the cab like a bad smell. But by this point I had waited several weeks to summon up the energy to call a cab to check out the only large rock climbing crag near Delhi. I promised to pay whatever extra fuel costs. With a bottle of cold coke and a digital photo thrown in as baksheesh, my driver stopped complaining and actually joined me around the crags after we arrived. (Possibly to ensure that his day's wages didn't come to any harm via snakebite or me falling down a cliff.)

Looking at 'The Prow' from a gully to the west

Thankfully it appears that, although there was a lot of stone crushing going on in the general area, most of the crags have been unharmed. With this uplifting revelation, I gave the area an hour-long inspection under the baking sun.

As with Old Rocks at Lado Sarai, it appears that climbing activity has been scant in recent years; slab and crag marks had virtually disappeared and most routes had abundant vegetation growth. This aside, there were dozens of routes still to be enjoyed. Although most were modestly protected, there was a good range of climbing grades according to the book and there is potential to top rope some harder routes.

Many of the Dhauj routes are heavily vegetated

The centrepiece of this charmingly windy area is Dhauj lake, nearly dry at the time of writing, with its bundh (bund or dam wall). About a mile distant one could see a large, verdant oasis of lush vegetation. Rimming the lake was a vast wall of rock- some quarried, some untouched. Many birds cried in the wind as the more artificial sounds of lorries plying their rocks drove to and fro along the lakeside dirt track.

Intrepid driver and I return to the taxi, parked near a rock crushing station

Two Escapes From Delhi

A bit too cold for me, squire

Just as the charms of New Delhi taxis began to wear off, and the airconditioning necessitated by 46 degree centigrade heat became somewhat irritating, I managed to get out of the city for two trips. On Sunday last week Helaena and I belatedly got to do our first bit of rock climbing in Delhi, at Lado Sarai. All I can say is that it was frikkin' hot. Then on Tuesday I made a bid to escape to the hills for a couple of nights (albeit one night in a bus- which was frikkin' cold).

The frikkin hot trip

Lado Sarai- like I said, the heat were a tad uncomfortable

I already spoke about this place called Lado Sarai in an earlier post. Helaena and I headed out to this small rocky outcrop after having collected our cat, Puli, or Pumpkin for Sri Lankan customs purposes ('Puli' means 'Tiger' in Tamil- which would have caused distress to Sinhalese customs chaps), from the international cargo terminal at 5 in the morning. Thanks to our 'cat expeditor' being late and some standard 'wait-around-a-bit-now-there's-a-'problem'-with-the-paperwork-please-pay-this-fee-to-have-your-cat-back', we arrived at the mini-crag as the sun rose. I quickly chose what I thought was the easiest looking pitch and led all 35 feet of it, making sure to use/ scratch the paintwork of my brand new Omega link cams along the way. The pitch was harder than it seemed. There was an acute dihedral that required some funky chimney-style wedging moves.

Our climb of the day was rated 5 - 6 and unimaginatively named 'Z1'

By the time I set up an anchor, three old dudes had turned up to give Helaena some unwanted moral support on her way up. They said something up to us in Hindi about taking pictures and then proceeded to sit and watch Helaena ('s backside). With the sun beating down and no bag to wedge against in the corner, and at a height disadvantage of four inches to me, she worked an impressive improvised route to the right of mine. She then came to an inconvenient thorn bush above the crux move. We should have brought some secateurs along to lop them off. Helaena climbed through the offending plant and we maintained our eco-dignity climbing karma.

Helaena on top of the tower at Lado Sarai 'Old Rocks'

When she reached the top we were both exhausted and hot. Our three litres of ice cold water went down a treat as we took in the view, sitting next to the small tower atop the rocks. To our West, beyond the sea of green of the park, was the towering minaret of Qutb Minar. The building of this monument of Mughal victory was commenced in the 12th century. Next to it was the Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid mosque. (spellings courtesy of Lonely Planet.) After 20 minutes on the top we found an easy way down into the refreshing shade. A baby owl hooted at us as we made our way around the crag on the way out. It probably wasn't too chuffed to see climbers at its home so we made a note to avoid it's nesting hollow in our next visit.

We counted the climbing as our daily exercise and had an afternoon snooze. We also vowed to return to do more climbing around Delhi but at cooler times!

Cooler climes

Who lives in a house like this? Not the bloke who drove up in this taxi

(it's the Ananda Spa near Rishikesh)

Having waited for nearly two hours next to Malai Mandir temple on the Outer Ring Road of Delhi, my Tuesday night bus to Rishikesh finally turned up. To my glee it was cool inside and only about a third full. To my horror they kept the aircon on full whack all the way. I was practically hypothermic by the time we got to Rishikesh 6 hours later. Also the spaciousness in the bus was a white Indian elephant. After about an hour of driving out of Delhi, the bus stopped and filled up with flotsam and jetsam. And I can't whinge about the bus without mentioning the tea stops every half an hour. The 12 year old bus dictator-cum-conductor took pride in waking up all the passengers with announcements of 'Chai, chai, CHAII, CHAAAAIII!'. This was all too much for one traveller at the back of the bus who snarled 'don't TOUCH me, DON'T TOUCH ME!' at the bus conductor. I later shared a vikram (a taxi/ rickshaw hybrid) with him. It transpired that he was travelling in India for yoga. And indeed, Rishikesh is one of Yoga's homes, so he had come to the right place.

Cows doing yoga

Now I am a lout and am not in touch with my inner consciousness. The attractions of staying at an ashram, or meditating with a load of hippies seeking enlightenment from the West, escape my comprehension. If you are expecting a review of a spiritual self discovery, or if you want to hear about how this former army officer found inner peace in the sanctity of the Himalaya, stop here. For me, Downward Facing Dog means that you need to let it go outside to take a crap. I thought Yoga was a character from Star Wars until Helaena educated me.

A view accross the Ganges to Rishikesh Temple

But each to their own and Rishikesh is a pretty big player on the world stage of spirituality and alternative lifestyle tourism for westerners. There were plenty of travellers there. No doubt some were only popping in for a short while, perhaps to sample the purely physical pleasures of white water rafting such as I; but people aplenty stay there for months on end. So if you are one of those hippy types, and you can afford the air fare to Delhi, go to Rishikesh, you will like it.

Some little dude trying to feed an ungrateful monkey

My attraction to the town was more physical than spiritual- to find somewhere to climb (blank!) and to try white water rafting. I took a 25km trip with Red Chilli Adventures- surprisingly cheap at around $15 for two hours - along the river Ganges. It was a truly awesome experience and the scenery was something out of The Lord of the Rings. The early morning river mist endured, shrouding the view of the banks and 100m to the front. We could only hear the rapids before we were amongst them. We even saw a peacock. I only thought they lived in captivity and in films, like dragons and hobbits, but now I know they are real.

(no photo available due to poor camera battery admin)

The previous night I attended the aarti at Har-Ki-Pauri in Haridwar. In plain speak, that means that several thousand Hindu devotees converge on the point where the Ganges joins the plains of India from the Himalaya. Haridwar town is of utmost spiritual importance and the buzz around the place was unmissable, even by a cultural dotard like me. I'd recommend the Har-Ki-Pauri aarti at dusk as a real highlight of any visit to India. With burning offerings floating down the sacred Ganges at night, spectacular, firey pujas framing a sense of restrained communal religious fervour and lots of people getting wet as they immerse themselves in the Ganges and brave the strong currents to cross it, it's a must-see. It is only a day trip from Delhi on the excellent Shatabdi trains. Plus some of the street vendor food was delicious.

Mid-June represents the school holidays in India; Haridwar's Har-Ki-Pauri was packed

A sea of colour awaits the aarti at dusk

Offerings float down the Ganga as the faithful chant and celebrate. Not too dissimilar to a good family day out at a festival in the U.K!

Anyway that's that. Tomorrow Helaena and I are off bird watching and we're finally going to check out that Dhauj village for rock climbing.

Delhi- climbing, our new dog

Well, if there is anyone there who can help out, I'm looking for some cragging. Armed only with a taxi and a sense of humour, I have tried to find the sites listed in the excellent (but 6 years old) guide written by Mohit Oberoi. Out of three sites seen, one looked like it had been quarried (New Rocks- below, with a small makeshift shrine about where the belay anchor used to be), one was inaccessible due to sleeping/ absent gate key guard (Ramjas) and one is described below.

The 'Old Rocks' near Lado Sarai has about two dozen routes on a remarkable rock feature with some kind of tower on top. It's in the middle of a nice wooded park to the East of the famous Qutub Minar. The routes are very short- ranging between 15 and 30 feet- and the grade range starts from about 5 - 4. Helaena and I are hoping to go climb the easier routes this weekend.

On a more domestic note Helaena and I have a girl puppy, a white Lab, named 'Lhotse'. (her previous owners called her 'Kennel' but this was quickly undone.) Lhotse is quickly learning not to pee in the house and today she even sat when I told her to, with herring as a reward.

As for the mountaineering, it seems India is not geared for casual climbing of its Himalayas. Any peak to be tackled requires a considerable amount of planning. Peak fees, mountaineering visas, environmental levys and liaison officer charges are new to me, having only climbined in the Peruvian Andes and the Alps. Unfortunately the whole process does not really cater for someone just bringing along their kit and hoping to hit the hills with a local guide or some mates. To cement these rules, a 5 year jail sentence for anyone climbing without a permit. I guess that in this way India is protecting its borders and also protecting its environment- which is to be commended.

The good news is that there is some fantastic trekking to be had in the Himalaya. I am hoping to get a trip in to Manali or Uttarkashi before long.