Touching Upon The Himalaya

172 Pages·2004·21.576 MB·English

by  Bill Aitken

JOUCHtNQ
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Himalaya
Excursions and Enquiries
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2014
in
http://archive.org/details/touchinguponhimaOOaitk
Touching Upon the Himal
Excursions and Enquiries-
About the Author
Bill Aitken was born in Scotland in 1934, studied comparative
religion at Leeds and hitch-hiked overland to India in 1959. In 1972
he became a naturalized Indian; he joined the Himalayan Club in
1981 and served as hon. librarian. After twelve years spent in the
Kumaun hills he now lives in Garhwal. His books on the Himalaya
include: Seven Sacred Rivers, The Nanda Devi Affair, Riding the
Ranges, Footloosein the Himalaya, Mountain Delight, Zanskar, 1000
Himalaya Quiz. Other works include Exploring Indian Railways,
Branch Line to Eternity, Literary Trails, Divining the Deccan, Sri
Sathya Sai Baba.
TOUCHING
UPON THE
*
g
Himalaya
Excursions and Enquiries
Bill Aitken
Sketches by
Geeta Kapadia
Published for
THE HIMALAYAN CLUB
By
INDUS PUBLISHING COMPANY
Published by
INDUS PUBLISHING COMPANY
FS-5, Tagore Garden, New Delhi-110027
Tel.: [phone]
[email protected]
www.indusbooks.com
Copyright © 2004 Bill Aitken
The right of BillAitken to be identified as the author ofthis
work has been asserted in accordancewith the Copyright laws
Line drawings by Geeta Kapadia
ISBN 81-7387-169-8
All rights reserved. No part of this bookmaybe reproduced or transmitted
in anyform or by anymeans, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or using any information storage and
retrieval system, withoutwritten permission from the publisher
Printed andbound in India at
B.B.N. Printers, Najafgarh Road Indl. Area, New Delhi
To
Natha Singh Butola of Lata
without whose greathearted companionship
the most revealing darshan of
Nanda Devi would not have been possible

Contents
Foreword 9
Preface 11
EXCURSIONS
1. More of the Lesser 17
2. Kumaun/s Lesser Majesty 22
3. A Modest Trek with Great Returns 27
4. Trek to Tarag Tal 32
5. The Shepherds of Nanda Devi Sanctuary 36
6. Nanda Devi Sanctuary Revisited, 1982 44
7. Nandakini in the Rains 52
8. The Rupkund Mystery 58
9. Monsoon Madness and Seven Lakes 63
10. The Shining Mountain 67
1 1. From Sangla to Netwar Over the Rupin 70
12. Zanskar via the Sarichen la 75
13. Gorging in Zanskar 80
14. A Ride Around Spiti 85
15. Across Arunachal on a Motorbike 91
7
8 Touching Upon the Himalaya
ENQUIRIES
16. A Ramble Through the Himalayan Club Library 97
17. The 1922 Everest Diary of Dr. T.G. Longstaff 105
18. Who Measured Mt. Everest? Ill
19. An Enquiry into the Real Name of Mt. Everest 115
20. The Yeti Within 125
21. A Lateral Approach to the Himalaya 129
22. A Lighter Look at Dark Meanings 138
23. "Seen But Not Approved" 145
24. Pahari Topi: "Where Did You Get That Hat?" 152
25. Himalayan Railways 158
26. The Other Side of the Mountain 161