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2003-06-13 - Katrain - Rohtang Pass - Katrain (Day 59)

8:00am finds me in the back of the chase jeep surrounded by six commandos with submachine guns on their laps and pointed out the back following an armored minivan with the cabinet minister's family and another lead jeep with another squad of commandos. The sirens are blaring and we race along the 20km to Manali with all traffic pulling out of our way as we pass through at 70km/hr. Now this is traveling! While I have seen several VIP motorcades like this pass in Washington, D.C. this is the first time I have been in one and it is a bit of a thrilling experience. Especially when I am realizing that we are near the Pakistan border and the anti-terrorist minister is a good target if one wanted to make a political statement.

My conversation with the Black Cat Vermer two nights before had turned into this invitation to accompany the group to the top of Rohtang Pass, which is the gateway to the high Himalayan plains. The pass has only been cleared of snow for less then a week and the road to Leh has just opened up. The commandos are based in Delhi, which has been having 47 degree Celsius heat for the last few weeks, and are excited about getting into snow. I am also very interested in seeing just how the road is, as I still have not decided if I want to try to make the 500km journey to Leh.

We make it close to the top and come upon what is reputed to be the world's highest traffic jam as tourists pack the area to come and play in the snow. I would suspect that this is the first time many of them have seen and touched snow and there are literally a couple of thousand Indian tourists and their families up on the melting glaciers. The ride up has me braced for freezing cold as we passed a couple of hundred shops renting thick woolen coats, gloves and rubber boots for the cold. The top however is very mild, sunny and we can see the peaks of several of the 13,000+ ft. mountains, which surround us on three sides. Over the top of Rohtang Pass we can see the main Himalayan range, whose white capped mountains stretch as far as the eye can see.

Parking the jeeps, the VIP's family and the commandos all get out and join in the tourists playing on one slightly sloped gray glacier. The amount of traffic and the melting snow have turned it a gray-brown with dirt but the tourists are still having such a great time you would think this was Aspen, Colorado. There is a "ski school" where tourists are placed on skis and pushed around the flat glacier or down the 100meter or so slope that is so gentle it would not even qualify as a kid's bunny slope. The poles have a bit of a different use here, where the person pushing the skier tucks the tips behind the bindings and pushes the person around over the glacier. There are wooden sleds also being pushed around with three guys running on the snow behind the sled pushing it along and Indian families often with the women in their bright saris sticking through the rented woolen overcoats screaming as the sled glides down the snow.

We stop at a little shop for chai on the trip and again I am amused by the incongruity of sitting in outside cafes, with most of the company having submachine guns resting in their lap as they soak up the sun. One of the local police comes over and starts talking about the trip and how I am finding India. I tell him a little about where I have been and what happens and he asks if I'm traveling alone to all these places - I say yes, but hook my thumb at the two tables of commandos behind me, "but I feel pretty safe..."

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