Taluka to Seema Trek;(2,600m) May 3

Photo Above (taken by her friend and fellow climber Elisabeth): Yveline at Seema... she and Elisabeth were to become good travel/climbing companions.

Our second day of trekking took us from Taluka to Seema. This part of the route is the main access to Har Ki Doon, a destination popular with both Indian and Western tourists.

We set out at about 8AM, with a pack lunch. This route gains/loses quite a bit of elevation over about 15km. The day was warm and by the arrival at about 1PM I was hot and tired. Seema is not quite as charming as Taluka; but very similar construction... and, of course, the same mountain spirit.

Here we met Yveline and Elisabeth (Y/E), the two French women who were also on a trip to Kalanag with Raja. This was a bit of a surprise to both parties, since we had each booked private expeditions with Raja. It was only near our departure date from the USA that Raja mentioned in an email that there would also be two French women on the mountain. He said he would explain when we arrived. When we did meet and talk about it, he told us that the women would be two days ahead of us for the entire trip, so that we would not actually be together at all. In reality, for logistical convenience, he merged the two teams by having Y/E spend two days trekking to Har Ki Doon and then returning to join us at Seema.

The mountain house at Seema was identical to the one at Taluka. Instead of using their kitchen, our team began using our own cook and facilities. So, we ate our first Mingma prepared meal here, in the tent that we'd use for the trek and basecamp.

We had dinner together with Y/E just socializing and learning a bit about each other. I could see that they were serious climbers and in good shape... This was to prove true. They were also very bright... and spiritual.

During the night both Dr. B. and I got intestinal sicknesses... starting with diarrhea for Chris and then for me. We took Immodium but not any antibiotic. This is not my usual treatment... in Haiti the rule is to trap the bug with Immodium and get rid of it with Cipro. Dr. B. has spent a lot of time in remote places and he was not in favor of taking the Cipro yet... so we waited. It may have been food poisoning from the pack lunch that day as well... Anyhow, we were both feeling a bit dragged out from that. The next day's trek was the hardest... so we needed to get it together or suffer through a long hard day.