8 Nahar>Babal

A 7-day Trek to Milam Glacier from Chillamdhar-Munsiary in Uttarakhand.

[via the new High-level route, created after 2013 floods]

The Story of the Methodical Muleteer:

While we were relaxing in Babaldhar Teahouse towards evening ... a group of 4-5 Khachhar (Mule) drivers came in to stay there. Each of them was driving 3 Mules. One owner particularly (who, I was watching carefully) was a short stature man with mongoloid face features, parked his bags across the aisle from my bed. He was very methodical and did a sequence of unpacking his personal stuff, his mules saddles and harnesses and then washing & cleaning-up himself up, applying face-cream (!) and finally feeding his mules ... in such precise steps that I was amazed!! I guessed he had made his entire 'arrival routine' so perfect from sheer 'daily' habit.

Later, while resting on his bed the Methodical Muleteer chatted with me cheerfully.

I gathered from him this was his 11th Mule trip of this season (from 23rd Aug till date) from Chillamdhar to Milam-ITBP. Another 5-6 trips more to do till by end-November. He and his mates were on an ITBP contract to carry a variety of stuff up; but mainly Jerry cans of kerosene to stock up for winter-heating in the Milam ITBP camp. They get paid Rs 3500 per uphill load-trip. BTW: These Muleteers walk and drive the mules from 3:00AM each day till evening ... covering more than twice the distance ('padavs') that normal trekkers walk in a day.

Each mule can carry a load of 70Kgs he said. One big jerry-can on each side of the Mule's saddle. Each jerry-can weighed 31Kg when filled with Kerosene. Rest of weight (8Kgs) is for the saddle accessories & personal stuff of the Muleteer etc.

He had precise information about everything! He was not, I guessed, a typical ordinary Muleteer! He spoke well and in full Hindi sentences (apart from Kumauni with his fellow Muleteer) and quite respectfully to us. He has travelled and lived in Delhi and Lucknow too for some time. He felt tourists/trekkers were important for people of the area to earning a living. A very nice and decent man on the whole! .... I decided.

But things changed after the group opened up bottles of Rum and started drinking before dinner. As expected of any group of drinking men they become a bit loud in their talks after a few drinks. Still they seemed cheerful and content (it seemed from their banter) with their lives even though it must be a tough one; doing 15-16 trips in 3 months, walking up and down this mountainous terrain.

While dinner was being served by the teahouse owner (a young man, strangely called Mama (his nickname?) by the Khachhar owners) ... an argument erupted between Mama and the Khachhar-owners gang. Don't know the exact reason ... It may have been because Mama said "No Roti today ... only Rice-Dal-Sabji" to them.

While everybody was generally restrained, the Methodical Muleteer became volubly abusive and using foul language at Mama, the teahouse owner. I was very surprised by his sudden transformation from a respectful & decent guy to a drunkard who couldn't stop babbling all the time and haranguing Mama.

Even after they were finally served the Roti, that they had wanted, the Methodical Muleteer was not to be silenced. He went on and on. He was now just an ordinary drunken man! It took great effort from his Khachhar-mates to make him quiet and go to bed. Once he fell asleep, Quiet reigned in the teahouse!

In the morning the entire bunch got up at 3AM packed and left towards Munsiary on their Return trip. The 3AM departure is a regular routine its seems. That time is chosen for these Return trip Mules in order to cross past a dangerous section of the trail, on a narrow ledge, without meeting and clashing with the loaded Mules coming from Munsiary side! This group of khacchar-wallas will come back down this way with laden Mules after 2 days. All this information gathered from the Methodical Muleteer before he was drunk.

(oops! ... I forgot to take pictures of the Khacchar-walas or the Methodical Muleteer)