AFVOA Newsletters of Year 2012

Page 78 of 80 question unless you plan a dip in the icy cold waters of Manasrovar The township is new as are all wayside towns throughout the journey. There are hardly any old buildings. Looks like the Chinese want a spruced up image. Most shops are owned by Chinese and they show their predominance everywhere by having Chinese names in large and bold letters and the Tibetan in smaller letters. At the end of the street, before one gets back on the onward journey are the military and police check posts. There are frequent stops to check permits and sometimes it takes hours. Incidentally there is difference of two and a half hours between CST and IST. They are ahead of us though Delhi and Kailash are only separated by 5 degrees longitude. Apparently they follow Beijing time which is far to the East. Of course being at much higher latitude of 31 degrees (Mt. Kailash), the days tend to be much longer and it gets dark only around 9 pm. The organisers take care of all your needs from morning tea till dinner including soup. All served on time. The langar (kitchen) as in fauj travels along with you. Your luggage is taken care of and reaches your room wherever you are. Only once dinner got delayed till midnight but even then the sherpas who travel with you will wake you up to give food. What surprised me the most is that all food requirements are carted all the way from Nepal including drinking water. It is pretty cold at Nylam and you require your entire winter outfit. You are also asked to keep your ears covered to avoid headache if there is a chill wind blowing. Most of the group wears similar jackets provided by the organisers. Also helps to identify with your own group when there are others around. Of course one has to arrange for other winter clothing which we use in high altitude and extreme weather. You can buy your own oxygen cylinder at Nylam though the organisers say they carry one in each vehicle. You can also pick up a pair of trekking shoes covering the ankles in case you haven't brought one. The prices are much cheaper than at home. But it is always better to wear shoes that have already been broken in, to avoid blisters etc. A noteworthy point which I observed that throughout Nepal and most of Tibet is that there are hardly any conventional bulbs used anywhere and only CFL bulbs are used. (To be concluded) LETTERS FROM OUR MEMBERS Dear Gen Chari, At the outset, I must congratulate you and your highly motivated and dedicated team of office bearers for making sincere and determined efforts to develop our Association to function at optimum levels and trying your best to ensure greater participation of the members in the various activities of the organization. At the last meeting, the presentation made by the team from the Senior Care India