Camp Purple

Me (Sumeet) and my wife Curie (q) had a great time in Mukteshwar in March. We stayed at one of the camp sites called 'Camp Purple'. People at Camp Purple exceeded our expectations at every front. Right from the person in Delhi who booked the trip on phone; to the driver who picked us from Kathgodam; to every staff member (Sonu, Bablu, Ravi, the chef etc.) at the camp.We had an unforgettable time because of their world class 'product' (the camp infrastructure, food, activities) and 'service' (non pushy, subject matter experts, giving options, customising the day as per our interests). They truly live by putting customer on top of their minds. And they 'love' what they do. Guests enjoy the most when the hosts are enjoying themselves.

Day 1: Kumaon mountains scenery started impressing us soon after the taxi left Kathgodam. Driver (Khemraj) drove the wagonR neatly, making us familiar with the surroundings and stopping at every need of ours. We reached Camp Purple at around 11 am. Situated on one of the green mountains with apple orchards all around - it was as serene as one can hope for. Most importantly, the toilet facilities looked solid. Sonu showed us our tent. The tent was of very good quality - spacious and double layered with proper beddings. And then there were common areas to relax - the "huts". Sonu asked our preferences on how we want to spend our time pre/post lunch and gave us options. We chose nature walk as the first thing.

Visited a small quaint village handicraft shop on the way - neat, great variety and good quality products. It was an NGO and all sale proceeds were to go to village people. On the products, there were small stickers with names of people who created them. Bought 1300/- worth of stuff, including a torch that later turned to be THE most important asset we had :)

After satisfying our retail hunger, we continued our journey towards a small pagdandi (narrow path) - away from road. Soon it took us away from civilisation. Cool breeze flowing through beautiful trees, dark red flowers whose leaves were lying on the ground as if someone created a welcome path for us.

Later we came to know that red flower is called Rhododendron- it is the 'state flower' and it's juice is good for people with heart problems. The environment was so refreshing, we soon forgot the world we came from. That walk alone made the trip feel worth it!

Lunch was ready when we came back. Fresh green vegetable bhindi, dal, dahi, salad and garam phulke. It was better than most things we have had outside home.

Filled with excitement and the food, we headed towards Mukteshwar for the adventure activities - a 4 km walk on-and-off the road, led by Sonu. It was a long walk for a Delhite or an IT professional - we are both! Reached the destination after 3 breaks - one of them at Bisht tea stall. When i asked for the bill, i came to know Sonu had paid already! It was strange but appreciable. Amount may be very less, the thought was big. He made us feel we are his guests even outside the camp. We came to his Uttarakhand, not just 'his camp'. I guess that is when i first realised - THEY ARE THE PERFECT HOSTS.

Mukteshwar rock was next to Lord Shiva temple. We met Ravi and Bablu who, after having serviced a "big group" in the 1st half of the day, waited for us for hours with all the rappelling / rock-climbing gear. They waited further as we took our '4th break': stretching legs, looking at other people doing some simple activities with ropes tied to trees; clicking photos on dangerous looking tilted rocks.

We almost didn't believe when Ravi pointed towards two most dangerous looking rocks, as our rappelling point. No one else was doing anything on those rocks except clicking pictures of them, with them.We chose the smaller rock (35 ft) instead of the 80 ft one. We stood at a distance when Bablu did a 'demo'. Ravi explained the rules, detailing why Bablu is doing what he is doing and what will happen if he doesn't do what he is supposed to! That is when i first realised - THESE GUYS ARE 'PRO'. When they say rock climbing - they mean it.

Real Fear # 1

q tied up the 'gear' as Ravi, Sonu and Bablu tried to convince her how easy and safe rappelling is.

First step was undoubtedly the most difficult one. q tried to take the first step many times but fear hit her hard every single time.

Despite the strong equipment and the most promising words by everyone around, she decided to back off.

It was my turn.

A chill ran down my spine as the crew moved towards me with the gear. Still, 'being the man' - i could not back-off. After all, this is what we were here for. We paid for it. You can not come to Mukteshwar and not do this.

The crew motivated me a lot using all sorts of phrases including 'Darr ke aage jeet hai' (Beyond fear there is victory). My whole body was shivering. I experienced real fear. I asked a lot of stupid questions: what if i forget all the rules and do all the wrong things? what if i bump into the rock breaking my knee or elbow? Or be unconscious with fear right in the middle? Why do i have to do this? The crew answered with patience. Now i realise, i never questioned their skills or their equipment.

Not sure whether it was my trust in their equipment / abilities or my own zeal to overcome fears, after a point, i just did it! Yes, i went to the other side of the cliff. I took the first step.

And things were supposed to become easier here on - but that was the theory.

Ravi, Sonu and Bablu watching my every move and almost hanging along with.

I found myself dangling in mid-air, tightly hugging the 35 ft rock face that was now parallel to my body. Ravi was asking me to make my body perpendicular to the rock face i.e., to stand on the rock face! I had no choice but to follow every word.

The rope was holding me well so i could manoeuvre. Soon, i felt relatively better, standing on the rock face, moving backwards one small step at a time. The key was to not look down.

I continued for some time hoping to touch the 'landing ground'. I actually started enjoying the activity. Just when i thought i am there, Sonu asked me to jump. That is i had to bend my knees and push myself against the rock, in the air. My body weight was to let me reach the landing ground in an instant. There was no option as the landing ground was at an angle and not straight down. I jumped - by then i had enough trust in everything! It was not the most gracious jump and my body banged against a rock, but i suffered no injury or pain and i touched ground. I took big sighs of relief and so did the crew. Sonu jumped to bring water for me as my throat went too dry to speak.

As i was gulping the water and feeling proud on my achievement, i felt someone is pulling my rope. 'sir, climb shuru karen (shall we start the climb)?'  Sonu said with a brief smile.

Whatever familiarity with rock climbing that i claimed to have was of little help here. This rock was straight 90* and quite slippery. I was told to use the tiniest of crack to my advantage. I did that and started to crawl towards the top - hands and feet shivering, mouth dry again.

Most of the time, i was in a very uncomfortable position with 2 toes and one hand slipping in little cracks and the other hand not able to find a new crack to move up. They say you find opportunity when you look for it as if your life depends on it. I must have found the cracks as i found myself back to the top after a while. I made it.

Though with the smaller rock, i did the whole rappelling and climbing routine. It felt as if i was on top of the world. What an achievement. I could overcome my fear! It was great fun overall. We went to the temple to celebrate and watch the sunset. The rock looked scarier from that distance.

 

We got a car drive back to the camp. The "big group" also came back to the camp. It got dark.

We were served snacks (freshly made pakodas + chai). Camp purple staff started a bonfire under one of the big "huts" and we began to feel that the day is not over yet. We sat near the bonfire to beat the cold.

It is rare when you meet people with whom you can talk and laugh whole heartedly - without knowing or caring about what they do, how much they earn etc. We met 11 such wonderful people right there in the camp, around the bonfire. Some of them were related to each other, some just met a day before. Overall, we were one group that laughed and laughed for 5-6 hours straight.

You can buy a lot of things these days. Company of strangers with whom you can talk and laugh your heart out, is not one of them. That is what I call invaluable. We lived a lot in those 5-6 hours. I cannot thank these people enough for that time. I hope we could meet again and have similar times.

Dinner was wonderful with non-veg as well as freshly prepared hot jalebi! We went to sleep at around 2 am in the comfortable tent. The torch proved out to be really useful.

Day 2

We woke up late but with fresh mountain breeze. After waiving the big group goodbye, we had lovely paranthas in breakfast. Taking bath with cold water was "cold but refreshing" :).

Sonu and Bablu helped design our day again. We started with Archery. Bablu showed how it gets done with his first aim hitting the bull's eye. It was the first time me and q were doing this. We realised it is quite difficult to pull the bow to it's full and aim at the correct place. After failing miserably with the bigger bow, Bablu gave us the smaller one meant for kids. It was easier and we could aim a little bit. We concluded making a lousy remark"Arjun ka dhanush to bahut bhari hota hoga". The "pros" did not bother to answer.



Next, we were to go to the "waterfall". They asked if we plan to swim and whether they should keep tents for changing. We declined the offer as none of us is a swimmer. Moreover, we were quite "done" with the 'adventure' part for this trip. I still saw them keeping life jackets in the boot of the car. I asked  but did not get anything other than 'just in case'.

After a 10 minutes car drive, we were climbing down a mountain covered with pine trees. It was wonderful walking through the pine forest and finally reached the bottom of the mountain having the waterfall.

Water was flowing down from a ~25 ft rock forming a beautiful pool underneath. It was quite amazing to see a natural pool that was so perfectly round in shape and decent in depth. Sonu told it will just come upto 'my nose'.


After few minutes of photography, Bablu said to me "Sir, rock ke upar se, pani ke sath fisal kar ana hai" (glide on the rock using the water).

We laughed at him thinking he can't be serious. The rock looked quite bumpy and sharp at edges and the water was too cold. I touched the water with my hand and said this is the closest I would go to it. Bablu and Sonu were serious.

And, as before, they were ready to give me the "demo"! This time there was one condition: "I have to do it, after the demo".

Real fear # 2

I stopped Bablu saying I do not need no demo. I am not doing this by any means. I don't have changing clothes plus am not in a mood for any adventure today - just want to keep it light! Can't I?

Before I could think or say more, Bablu was on his way saying he would do it anyway as he enjoys it. He sat on top of the rock, slipped down very fast and went inside the pool. He came out because of his life jacket but did not look very comfortable. His face was fearful as he struggled to come towards us - the shore. Sonu jumped inside the pool and got him.

I am definitely not doing this. If one of the pros is not able to do it comfortably, I am sure to cock-up. Bablu explained! His reasoning was that he wanted Sonu to get wet! I am not buying that stupid reasoning. Sole purpose of his demo was to make me comfortable and he failed!

Both of them continued to convince me that this is very safe: kids do this, no body got hurt ever, the rock is smooth due to continuous water flow, life jacket will not let me sink, he will stand in the pool near where I would land so no risk, clothes will get dry by the time we walk back, there is no chance of deflection as I will come down very fast. Some of the points were convincing, some were scaring me further.

Then Sonu said something which I could not ignore - "asli maja isime hai, yahan aa kar ye nahi kiya, to kuch nahi kiya" (this is the real deal - if you don't do this, you haven't come here). He claimed this is going to be much more fun than yesterday's. I got up. Something in me said I can do this.

q was ready with the camera once more! As I walked towards the top, I remembered the water in the bathroom this morning - my mind got numb with the first mug. Here it is colder. It was too late now. I wore Bablu's life jacket and his slippers. Sonu went ahead of me, slipping down very quickly and stood there in cold water, waiting for me.

Bablu asked me to get seated on the rock where the water was flowing. I had to pee first. Bablu was generous enough to allow me.

 I sat on the rock. Water was touching me now. I had to push myself slightly - the water flow was to take care of the rest. This was similar to the "first step" of yesterday's rappelling. I experienced real fear. As before, I asked a lot of questions. One of them was genuine so I repeated it: what if I get deflected, bump into the side rock with full speed!? Bablu did not answer and said this after a long pause "apko kya lagta hai (what do you think)?" I looked down, am going to flow into this dungeon of cold water. I looked at my life jacket, I looked at Sonu standing near to where I was suppose to fall.

There are times in life when you have to take the leap. You have to take the first step. You have to go to the other side. With all those positive thoughts, I pushed myself slightly.

I slipped down with water and landed into the pool within seconds. My mind went numb as in the morning. I could not think much except moving my hands and legs in various directions. I felt Sonu getting hold of me. I regained consciousness. The water did not feel that cold after few seconds.

I started swimming (with whatever little swimming I know) towards our base. I could actually swim and it felt amazing. I reached the base, came out of the water and sat on the rock near q. Sonu and Bablu came jumping around me. The feeling cannot be described in words but it was a very proud moment. It would not have been possible
without Sonu and Bablu's motivation and support. They believed in me. I believed in them. It was teamwork.



We began our journey back - towards the top of the mountain, through the pine trees. We had lunch - another one oozing out freshness.

We spent rest of the afternoon climbing a peaceful mountain. There was no one else but us two. We decided to go to the top of the mountain. Sitting on top of the mountain, it felt so serene that we shut our eyes and felt the natural sounds and cool breeze. It was divine.

We came back to the camp before it got dark. Fresh pakodas and chai awaited us. There was a new family there at the camp. There was bonfire again. But, we missed yesterday's group. Never mind, after another delicious dinner with hot freshly prepared gulab jamuns, we had just one more thing left to do. A night trail!

This was q's thing and somehow she was really excited about this 'moon light walk'.

We carried our torch. Two members from the other family (a lady and her father) joined. Sonu put-on a headlight and a rucksack with water bottle in it. Kind of similar to keeping those life jackets earlier in the day but hey, an old man is joining us - this can not be a big deal.

Sonu began to tell us about night trail. We had to walk through the forest. There are many kinds of animals there - Leopard, Panther, Bear, Wild Boar to name a few. He showed us pictures of leopard that he encountered few days back. He gave us instructions. He said he can smell the animal and will stop if there is anything near. When he stops we have to be quiet and switch off our torches. And then wait till the animal goes away. He said an animal never attacks unless it feels fear. Any sound or torch light can make it feel fear. Plus, this theory does not apply on wild boar, which can attack anyway. And I thought the adventure was over!!

Real Fear # 3

We started. Sonu leading, q after Sonu, me after q, two members after that and Bablu at the very back. Soon, we left the road and entered the jungle - a downward climb with difficult steps - very less margin of error. It got very dark as the moon light could not enter this dense forest. Walking in this terrain was difficult as such, that too in the night and with fear.

After some walking, Sonu stopped and indicated. We went quiet and switched off torches. I even slowed down my breathing. That is when I realised how dangerous this place is. I guess before that, I was thinking Sonu and Bablu are just taking extra care. I questioned why the hell we have to be at such a dangerous place! Can we go back from this point instead of continuing in deeper into the dense forest? It was too late.
There was only one way to go - and it was blocked by a leopard.

After about 5 chilling minutes, Sonu started walking. The old man felt very thirsty and the water bottle came handy. q remained surprisingly daring in this. I held her shoulder tight and resumed walking. There was hardly a path. If we slip, we go down the hill, may be straight into a leopard's mouth. Sonu stopped again.

This time, we were quiet anyway and switched off the lights quickly. Sony started moving back and asked
us to move back quickly. We took backward steps. I felt real fear. We stood still in silence, in dark and in fear for about 10 minutes. It felt like an hour. Finally, Sonu indicated we can resume. What if the animal is still there? What if Sonu could not see/smell everything? What if the animal is hidden nearby and will jump as we pass. This is not adventure, this is suicide! All these thoughts were there in my mind as we continued walking. We had to trust these guys.

Thankfully, none of my fears came true. After about an hour long walk through dense forest, we saw moonlight, a house, a better path and then a proper road. We were out of the jungle, unharmed. Civilisation felt good. We came to know it was a bear at the second stoppage. We walked back to the camp very quickly and got inside our cosy quilts and safe tent.

Day 3

We saw beautiful sunrise right outside our tent. Our train was at 8:40 so we got ready quickly. They packed wonderful breakfast for us - bread-butter, aloo-puri, juice, sweet. We thanked every member of Camp Purple staff in the morning. All of them said they enjoyed with us a lot. Bablu said he felt really good that I trusted him and did all those activities.





Khemraj showed us snow-covered Nanda Devi mountain peaks on the way to Kathgodam. We reached the station on time.

As we began our journey back home (Delhi), we realised there was something special about this trip, something special about the people at Camp Purple, something that we are taking back with us - and it was not just the breakfast.

Right then, I decided to share that special feeling with you. Thanks for reading. And hope you feel motivated enough to visit this or similar places. And most importantly, overcome your fears!

You can look at complete set of photographs at this link: https://picasaweb.google.com/writetosumeet/Mukteshwar?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNCY24qFqdv9Gw&feat=directlink