Trekking in the Alps - Courmayeur to Les Chapieux

Last fall, we went for a 2 day trekking trip to the Alps during which we covered a part of the 'Tour du Mont Blanc' trail. Mont Blanc is the highest peak in the Alps and located between Italy and France. It is very popular among trekkers and the 'Tour du Mont Blanc' is a multi-day trek around the Mont Blanc mountain.

We however, covered only a part of this trek - starting at the Italian town of Courmayeur which is on the south of the Mont Blanc tunnel, doing a day trek till Les Capieux in France and then coming back to Courmayeur the next day. It was a very beautiful and strenuous trail but I must say it also made me realise that I seriously need to do something about my fitness and stamina levels!!

Getting there

We flew in to Geneva, took the French exit, drove through Geneva city center (to avoid the Swiss tolls!), drove through France (touching the town of Chamonix) and then drove through the Mont Blanc tunnel to reach the village of Courmayeur in Italy. It was also my first time through the Mont Blanc tunnel, and I was amazzed! A 10 kilometer tunnel under the mountain is definitely impressive.

It took us about 2+ hours to reach Courmayeur and we missed the whole beauty of the area as we were driving at night. The town of Courmayeur seemed like a cosy little ski town with small wooden houses and mountains all around, though we did not get a chance to spend much time there.

The trek

Our first day of trekking covered approx 17 kms (it was 21 km but we got a lift the last 4 kms of walking on the road to reach the refuse) and we walked up 1250 mts and then came down approx the same. We started the trek from Val Veny, walked for some time next to a stream, and then took a detour up Mount Fortin.

View of green coloured stream

The mountain face that we climbed was full of loose stones and quite a steep hike. The trek up just to reach the Mount was by itself about 1000 mts of going up. It was the toughest part of the trek, which tested our strength and resolve the maximum. And of course it did not help, that the weather was wet and windy and cold!

Once on top of the Mount, we came across a structure built of stones laid out in the form of rooms but completely broken down. You can get a 360 degrees view of the scenery all around - stark hills and icy glaciers with some green vegetation but mostly covered with small rocks.

On top of Mount Fortin

After crossing the Mount, the trek down was also a bit challenging. The face on the other side consisted of walking on loose stones mixed with slate and clayey soil. There was a tinge of blue on the stones too, which might be due to some mineral common in this area.

Down Mount Fortin

The trail then goes over some hills and then into the valley. It passes by a lake, and you also see many streams and waterfalls on the way. We also crossed some refuse huts on the way but all were closed by this time of the year. On the way, we also caught some views of Mont Blanc in between but the weather was rainy and so visibility was limited. We also saw loads of wild flowers, and a red mushroom (!) on the trek. The landscape though green did look a lot like what I had seen in Iceland - a bit bare.

Down Mount Fortin

Once we reached Co De La Seigne (which is on the border of France and Italy), a meeting point of multiple trails, the trail got easier. After that point, there was about 5-6 kms on the trail going down into the Les Chapieux valley.

Right across the mountain we were climbing down, was a grazing ground for cows. There must have been a couple of hundreds of those cows wearing the bells (made famous in DDLJ) and grazing away to glory. The sound that was made by so many bells was very very loud in the valley, and irritating after a point.

View from Co De La Seigne

By the time we were down in the valley, I was almost dead. We had walked for 10 hours straight in wind and rain and over steep mountains. But the views during the trek were worth the effort.

Towards Les Chapieux

We were however able to avoid walking the last 1 hour on the road to our refuse, Auberge De La Nova as the very helpful owners of the refuse gave us a lift for the last 4 kms. Once at the hostel, we had a tasty dinner, and then crashed completely with thoughts of how we would complete the same trail the next day to go back to Courmayeur!

The next day, half of the trek was the same as the previous day but the weather was even worse. We covered about 17 kms in less than 7 hours, trekking from 1800 mts to 2500 mts and then down back to 1700 mts.

From Les Chapieux, we walked up to Co De La Seigne, but did not go up Mount Fortin (thankfully!) but walked directly back into the valley. The weather of course did not help - it was rainy and foggy and very very cold. But the views here were magnificent - of the mountains on either side, with moving glaciers and waterfalls. Here are some photos of the trek back.

Mountain views from valley

Waterfall views from valley

End of trek

Once back from the trek, we drove back to Chamonix, had a quick Mexican dinner at PocoLoco and then were back to take off from Geneva. It turned out to be a very very hectic weekend, but a good introduction to trekking in the Alps. A definite option for future vacations:)

Accommodation

At Courmayeur, we stayed at Camping Green Park, which was basically a camping ground plus with options to stay in a chalet. I wasn’t impressed with the chalet though, it wasn't good value for money. But the view just when you wake up and look out is breathtaking! Its also a good place to camp if you are into camping.

Auberge De La Nova

At Les Chapieux, we stayed at Auberge De La Nova, the last available refuse which was still open in September!! It is located in a green valley, with a beautiful view of the mountains around. The dorms are comfortable, though as expected quite basic. And they have an in-house restaurant which serves very tasty fare (or at least it tastes amazing after a 10 hour walk up and down the mountains!).

The owners are also quite friendly and helpful - they picked us up from the end of the trek and dropped us there the next morning, so that we could save time (and our energy) for the rest of the trek. It charges €50 per person which covers the dinner, breakfast and the dorm bed - very good value for money.

Refuge Mottets and Elisabetta are also located on the trail, in case someone is interested in trekking a smaller part of the trail, but as luck would have it, they had all closed down in September!

Map



(Google maps only shows the driving option from Courmayeur to Les Chapieux. What we did was walk right across the mountains in between:) )

Tips

Don’t rent a car from Europcar in France - we had a very very bad experience with them. Our flight landed at 1040 and we were at their booth by 11:10. The attendant had left the Europcar booth at 11 without waiting for passengers (us) who were on the last flight. And so we had to get a last minute expensive rental from the neighbouring booth at Avis.

However, the shocking part of the story is when we reached back and talked to the manager, she refused to accept that her attendant had left at 11!! She stuck to her guns that she had left only at 11:30 after waiting for us (even though we had a booking at their neighbouring Avis booth at 11:20!!). And on top of that, the manager also blamed us for not having called to confirm that we were on the flight and will be picking up the car we had booked!!

I am still very shocked with this whole experience, that in today’s day of great customer service, Europcar can get away with something like this. And I am guessing the relaxed labour laws in France surely have something to do with it... 




Impressions of home, as an outsider

I have for a long time felt very connected to India even if I have stayed abroad. I did not want to put myself into the ‘NRI’ category, surely I was as Indian as it gets? But things do change.. I spent a month in Delhi (Gurgaon to be specific) recently. And ended up looking at a lot of things as an outsider. Being surprised sometimes, sometimes frustrated and plain amused at other times. Just putting down some of my experiences which made me feel far away from my own country..



I applied for an Aadhar card when in India, and wanted to give my parents’ address as my permanent address. Apparently if you are a married woman, you cannot give your parents’ address as yours. It is possible only if you are staying there on rent but you cannot be just staying at your parentss place. I did not check but my guess would be, no such rule exists for men. Married men can stay with their parents, but not married women!

I was at the Gurgaon railway station, and saw many people sitting on the tracks, patiently (rather than on the platform). Only to learn later, that they were waiting for the passenger train; given the crowds on the platform, its easier to get onto them from the other side! Safety can go to hell! I can’t explain how shocked I was to see this..



I had to get my address changed in 2 banks - a private and a public one. The private one happened in 5 minutes after I gave all the address proofs. For SBI, the process was so complicated that I have given up! Also, address proofs are such a big thing in India, I have till date never had a sound-proof address proof as we kept changing our addresses every couple of years. Now that finally in my life I have a permanent address proof, I cannot even begin to explain how big a sense of satisfaction I get when I dont feel fear when someone mentions  - ‘we need an address proof’! (In my years of living in London and NY, it has never even been an issue, but in my own country, its always been tough to prove I stay where I stay!!)

MTNL shop in Gurgaon

My father got a new iPhone and we needed a nanosim. Since his phone was an MTNL one (unlike an Airtel or Vodafone one which takes 5 mins to get one), we spent 6 hours one evening trying to get a nanosim from MTNL (to clarify it is a government controlled telecom entity). I really need to explain the experience. After trips to two other offices, we finally stumbled on the right shop to go to (there is only one in the whole of Gurgaon where you can get the nanosim). This shop is in a terrible location, away from the main road and in an area full of car repair shops!

We enter the shop and there are three aunties (aged about 50 or more) sitting around a table and chatting. They are pretty surprised that someone even made it to their shop! We ask them for the nanosim, they show us a normal and a microsim saying thats all they have. When I mention that we would need a nanosim for the iPhone, they say we should go and check with a phone shop if the microsim can be converted to a nanosim or not.

The MTNL shop

We leave the shop, try looking for a phone shop, but come back after 15 mins to take what they have anyways and figure out later what to do. By that time all the aunties have opened their tiffin boxes and are eating their lunches. After 30 mins, they finish and give us the microsim, with one aunty casually mentioned that she does have a cutter with her which was given to her to convert the microsim to a nanosim. Though she never uses it and will not take any responsibility. She takes out the cutter, takes 15 seconds to cut the sim and it works!

My question is this - in this age of 3G and 4G and iPhones, how can MTNL hope to run a business when their only shop in Gurgaon has employees who do not say - ‘here is the micro sim, we will cut it into nanosim and give to you’, but make you spend 2 hours running all around, finally doing the same for you, showing no interest in the one customer who has come your way and have no notions at all of customer service! My answer would be, MTNL does not care either way whether its business runs or stops. And that’s sad!



Its so cold in Delhi! I complained for 2 weeks how cold it was, woke up late because of the cold, got into the blanket at 6, refused to get out after 6pm, and was terribly lazy. I had forgotten how pampered we are in the western world with central heating. And that's what I loved most about coming back to London - its central heating!!! It actually felt that London is less cold than Delhi, for only that reason!



Why do highways in India have flyovers? Isn’t it logical to have the roads crossing the highways to have flyovers. It has many benefits that way - less cost of building a small flyover for the small criss-crossing road - less fuel usage as the highway traffic does not need to go up and down the flyover - less repairs required as the criss-cross smaller roads will have less traffic and will require less repairs - repairing would be easier as it wouldn’t need the highway to be closed down. I can’t see any reason why it should be the other way around - all the trips that our leaders and IAS officers make abroad on taxpayers' money, do they not learn this one basic thing? Highways don’t need these flyovers. (Or maybe bigger the project, more the commision and it doesn’t matter!)



Traffic - I cannot even begin to explain how I feel about it. There are no rules, you have a road and you just drive wherever you see space. There is no respect for first right, no lanes exist, its just chaos. I think patience is the first thing that people driving on the roads need to learn.



Getting anything done in India requires you to take a day off, go through mindless traffic, give multiple documents, shout at people to get them to move, and come back to realise that what they did was wrong, and you will need to make another trip! It is an exaggeration, but not too much!

Trip down memory lane - Bombay

Memories from Dec 2019

I visited Bombay again last year, for a few days in December, and spent most of my time catching up with old friends and reliving old memories. I stayed in Bandra and met friends in the nothern suburbs. And I saw a side of Bombay I hadn't experienced much when I had lived there for 2 years. It was interesting, rediscovering a side of the city I thought I knew. Am penning down a few scattered thoughts from those days

Bandra villages

I stayed in Bandra with my friends over the 5 days and explored it like I have never done before, on foot 😊. Bandra feels like a small island in the sea called Bombay. It has always been different and has still retained its uniqueness and charm till now. With its catholic history and population, small villages and large churches in between the modern markets, the old bungalows and lack of high rises, lot of narrow winding roads and the slow pace of life it somehow has still managed to retain. Bandra also has a huge Christian population which was all too visible in December with the Christmas decorations and shopping going on all around.Its very difficult to explain how it is different from the rest of the city, only a Bandra-ite can feel it.

Jesus statues on corners

When meeting friends within Bandra, I generally walked to those places and enjoyed the views all around while walking. I once went through a village around Chapel Road which still felt like a village. With its narrow single lane roads and the old bungalows with English names, in need of repair but still standing as proud remnants from a different age. Those bungalows are so pretty, with their huge glass windows, green surroundings and an old colonial feel. I was also surprised to see that each turn of the road had a statue of Jesus Christ, wearing a flower 'mala'. Clearly, Jesus had been indianised here 😊. I also saw a lot of bungalows while walking from Carter road to Band stand, on the side and easily missed. Their beauty never fails to surprise me.

Bandra bungalows

Bandra also has awesome restaurants. With specialty dessert shops and international cuisines. And I loved spending time at Carter Road and Band Stand as usual. The houses on these roads have grown in height now, with the rich building up and up all the time. These sea side roads were quite popular haunts of mine during my time there. And walking there in the sea breeze is something I will always remember Bombay for. And this time I relived that feeling again, for old times sake 😊.

And on this walk, I saw the reality of Bombay again. As I walked back, I saw handicapped people on the streets at night, begging. And the clash between the rich and the poor of Bombay is something I never got used to when there. And till today, I can't deal with it. So I took an auto and came home rather than see this on the streets and feel helpless.

I made the one obligatory trip to Sobo one day, how can I leave Bombay without going to Nariman Point 😊? We went from Bandra to Sobo late at night so the traffic was bearable. And I loved the charm of old Bombay at night, driving in speed on the sea link, watching the newly developed skyline of Worli and Lower Parel and the beautiful new bungalows on Worli sea face, the old money of Pedder Road and of course, the cool breeze while speeding on Marine Drive. How many times have I driven here, with the windows open and friends around. The feeling I get when being here is of a simpler and younger time, when the world felt within reach. And it still feels the same!

I loved all the buildings of old and the vibe of Bombay, even at midnight. We then went to Gateway of India and walked around that lane. The Taj was twinkling and the road was lined with small old hotels from an old era. At the end was the fisherman village and their boats flapping in the sea. I think visiting Sobo is a must do for me always, for nostalgia sake. And it never fails to deliver. Being here, next to the sea always makes me feel alive and fresh.

On this trip, I also visited areas like Powai and Kanjurmarg where I had never been before. These places don't feel the same as Worli or South Bombay or Bandra, areas I spent all my time in and around. The two Bombays feel a world apart, as if they are from two different planets. One is from the old times, with grand buildings, the sea, lot of space and greenery and a poshness to it. The other is modern, filled with high rises, no space, lot of people and a hurriedness to it. Though Powai felt different. The drive was on Eastern Highway which was quite green. And Powai was also very green, with its modern high rises and green spaces.

Each of these suburban areas have become self-sufficient now with lots of restaurants and other activities, to keep people busy, so that they don't feel the need to step out (given how bad traffic still is). And restaurants have become a big part of people's lives. Even BKC has become a happening place now, with tons of eating places. I remember when I had once gone to BKC in the 2010s, we had to walk around a lot to ultimately only find a cafe to sit in. Restaurants have really bloomed now. There are awesome places everywhere, each chain has a restaurant in every area now it seems. I ate at a lot of restaurants and loved the ambiance there. My north Indian palate missed the north indian tinge to the food though!

View from Madh

One of the days, I wanted to get out of the city and we all managed to go to Madh Island. It is kindoff within Bombay but feels a long way off given all the driving you have to do to get there. But once there, you feel you have left the chaos of the city behind. We spent a full day in a hotel on the beach and it was lovely. Quiet, relaxed and not a lot of people around. The beach had yellow sand, some waves and lot of palm trees, to give it a real holiday feel. I would recommend anyone in Bombay to go to Madh when looking for a quick break. Its not out of the world, but definitely a convenient oasis within chaos.

And just like that, my trip was over. When I left, I had the same bitter sweet feeling I get every time I visit the city 😊. I don't like it but I still love so many things about it. The vibe of the city, its people and its sea. Its safety. It has so many layers, its sometimes difficult to understand how it all stays together. There is a positivity and earnestness all around. And perseverance and enterpreneurship, which is tough to find at a lot of other places. But the infrastructure and inequality always puts me off. And that feeling hasn't changed over the years. With the rich and the poor living in contrast together. Its tough to live with all this. And nothing is changing. In fact it may be getting worse.

But I do look at the city fondly now, always reliving the amazing memories it gave me over the awesome two years I spent there...


Memories from Dec 2014

I don't like Bombay!

Its a truth that I have said out loud many times before, but in some corner of my heart I always wanted to re-confirm my views. And they are confirmed again..

I visited Bombay this winter for a couple of days - a place I spent an amazing two years of my life, filled with friends and parties and restaurants and horse races and and rains and the lights at night and the sea faces and late night drives and mountain drives and ghats and the sea and the beaches and travels and so on... Every time I remember those two years of my life, I remember the great moments.. But all of them are not enough to pull me back!

The city

As my flight landed, and I spent the next three days in the city, I realised that nothing has changed at all, for the better or worse! The highrises were going higher and higher, still co-existing with the slums, the well to-do were still living their lives oblivious to the poverty around, Mumbaikars are still as helpful as before, the city still as safe to walk around, the buildings still look as dirty as before, its still hot in winters 😊, people still are running for their daily lives, women still walk around without worrying about their safety, slums havent reduced and the traffic remains as frustrating!!!!

As I said, nothing has changed at all. I don't know why I was expecting it to change either as its just been 4 years but I was...

The city

It did feel nice to be back, remembering the names of places we used to hangout at, the sea face, Phoenix Mills, Atria mall, CCD at Carter Road, Marine Drive, Bachelors, Lower Parel.. Trying to remember again the best ways to beat the traffic.. Getting frustrated with the traffic and going to Mahalaxmi Race Course for a lunch at Gallops - still makes you feel you are in a different world, away from Bombay, away from the madness.. Bandra with its beautiful bungalows and tree-lined roads from a colonial era... Looking at Colaba and Marine Drive, wondering what a pretty city it must have been at some time..

The good parts of Bombay remain, you just come to the city and then you feel as if you always belonged here. Nobody questions where you are from.. Nobody cares.. All these good things are still there.. But then there is the infrastructure which just kills it all for me. You waste more time in traffic than anything else. Its just these things which make me feel happy to not be back. Someday when that changes, I may want to go back to Bombay, but for now, I don't...