MAHAKUMBH MELA 2013

I thought I would put writing about Rao's Manasa Sarovar yatra on hold for now. We have begun planning for our 2013 yatra now. The tickets to India and the train tickets to Varanasi are ready. I know it is not an easy trip this time. But I want to do it. Hope and pray that our health cooperates. The contact in Varanasi had agreed to help us with a vehicle and a guide. We have not discussed the cost yet.
All I know is it would be much less than the fancy (but comfortable) tents that are available near the Ghats. We are concerned about the road trip from Varanasi to Allahabad. The crowd would be extremely heavy and many will be traveling like us. We received lot of advice from many well wishers. But we decided to stay in Varanasi and explore the surrounding areas also.
This time, we are four people. Myself, Rao, Nirmala and Umamaheswaran. Uma is making the domestic train arrangements from Chennai. This is the first time for Uma to Varanasi area.

In December, we are visiting Temples between Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. Nirmala is in charge of those arrangements. In spite of her not so good health, she has been very prompt and thorough. That is a 12 day trip. We are visiting family and friends between the yatras. That includes Machilipatnam, Nellore, Kavali and Hyderabad and Chennai. We haven't decided on the exact dates yet.

This time it is a winter break from Cleveland for us. Last year, the winter was very mild. I expect it be normal or severe this time.

Manasa sarovar yatra continued...................

Aug 6, 2006 was a rest day for the group. The water was freezing - so not a real bath was taken. After breakfast, went for a walk.Lunch was good with rice, sambaar, eggplant (brinjal) and paappad. After the bhojan, they had a bhajan !!!! After Tea, read Srimad Bhagavadgita.

Rao was not a fan of Tea in those days. Looks like he switched to Bournvita. The meals appear to be great. For dinner they had pulav, curd chutney, roti and stuffed green pepper. Manohar, who roomed with Rao helped with the cooking. The other person that shared the room was Mahatma (his real name !!!), a lineage of Sri Paramahamsa Yogananda.

Aug 7th, 2006:

Woke up at 4 a.m. after upma and bournvita, started for Saga around 6:30 a.m. It was a caravan of four Toyotas, 4WD. Each driver drove at his own pace. Reached one peak - Lalung-La pass around 16665 altitude. Some other peaks were Gowrishankar, Shishapangma and Langtang. Because of the clouds, they were not visible. The Shishapangma region was water control and watch region. There was a Chinese check post again. The notice board there claimed that it was the 4th highest region, with 8000 meters and 8012 meters being the highest.

Four in the group started vomiting - could be the altitude or the driving.

Rested in a Hotel in Sa ge (Sa ga) at 14080 ft altitude by paying 500 Rs. extra.

On the way, there was a breach on the road (deep cut for the Jeeps). Checked around and made a small way up the stream. The area of Himalayas is full of water, melted snow/rain. The roads could be hard to keep. The Chinese govt. wasn't doing much in spite of the increase in the number of pilgrims.
By God's grace, felt confident. They heard that some previous groups could not do the Parikrama due to bad weather. Now it is for this group yet to see.