@Aut - gearing up

It was made very clear that early morning nap for us is going to be the rarest commodity on planet earth for next week. Today is the orientation and acclimatization day. After morning tea, we picked up our backpacks, stuffed a blanket and a bottle of water in it and started climbing a hill as a part of our training. The group was quite diverse. Other than the regular IT crowd, we had two Commerce students, a banker, a PRO entrepreneur, a law graduate and a gold merchant. Climbing up and down the hill was a cakewalk but rather enjoyable. We passed through a village, wheat fields, houses, village school on our way. Fortunately our trek time almost clashed with the morning bell time of the village school. Hence I encountered a lot of kids running to school. A few of them stuck with me all the way through to their school. Once at the school premises (almost), a deluge of kids fell over me. Everybody wanted his/her photos to be taken. They were a handful - running from everywhere to everywhere, laughing, playing in the dirt, pulling each others hair - the place was just brimming with energy and activity. And I had a gala time out there with the kids. Rest of the day was spent inspecting our bikes, gear and going on a trial 20km ride near the base camp. The cooks at the base camp deserve a special mention here. Both the days we were treated with simple, homely yet delicious and nutritious food.

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