THE 'RUM RUN' SORTIE AND THE CHINESE WINE

THE 'RUM RUN' SORTIE AND THE CHINESE WINE

That pic of the Spitfire (posted some time back), carrying  kegs  of beer for the troops at Normandy, reminded me of the 'Rum Run Sortie' which was not uncommon in the Eastern sector in the olden days. I remembered that somewhere in the basement dungeon of my house I had a small jerrican of the famous 'ATF' which used to be procured by air crew.

Any one remember?? Must be about 30 years old now---- and still sealed. A friend who was flying in the East had got it for me.

But there is another story here. This about that fine bottle of Houng´ jioˇ(Mandrain for Red wine) which a Chinese driver gave to me. Actually, in those good old days, not much long ago, the trade at Nathula was basically  confined to areas within Sikkim border with only some100 Sikkim-based traders given licence to export  about 29 items, while China would export 15. That was the official part. You could see all those Chinese trucks comming with goods and marshalling at a place along  the Sherathang-Nathula-Kupup road. All official and nothing restricted about it. Open trade, ofcourse with a little smuggling, which the exise/custom officials on both sides winked at , as long as it was harmless. So, one cold, overcast, dreary day as I was driving along the highway to Kupup , bypassing Nathula, I saw this Chinese driver beside his shiny new (Chinese made truck ) with his hazard lights on (engine trouble). The Chinese driver and his co-driver were a little wary of a military vehicle stopping along. It had started to snow, it was getting dark, low black clouds and the cold was biting. Out of curiousity I stopped alongside and said the only few words of Chinese I knew-- ' Ni Hao'. I was surprised that he could converse in 'pidgin' Hindi. He managed to convey that the others would soon be returning from the marshalling area and he was waiting  for a tow/mechanic. The (usual fixture) steel flask in my Gypsy was brought out and I and my driver shared a hot cup of tea with our Chinese traders. As we prepared to carry on, the Chinese driver told me that if I wanted, I could buy a bottle of 'good' Chinese wine. And that is how I am one of the few people in India posessing a bottle of 'Chinese wine'.

The bottle is marked Bingtui Putaojui and my reserach revealed that it is bottled in Jilin Province of the PRC. I was not even aware that there was Chinese wine in existence! Jilin (吉林) is a wine growing province of China which borders North Korea and Russia  to the east, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west. The name "Jilin" translates to 'Auspicious' Forest, a Manchu phrase meaning "along the river".

Jilin wine industry now has a production of more than 250 million litres.

                       Have a sip!!

A MONKI BAAT : OF MONKS AND BELLES

Many moons ago I was on a sortie with a pilot popularly known as Mad Mike in aviation circles. But before that a disclaimer. Any resemblance with any aircrew  you may have known is incidental and purely coincidental.To further distance any illusion as to any resemblance with any other Mad Mike, our Mike in question had a penchant for whistling tunelessely on long flights, preferred to fly by the seat of his pants and was one of the few old timer aviators who owned two motorbikes-- one for formal occasions and one for normal day to day functioning. 

To give a brief preamble, 240 kms from Srinagar and about 40 km from Kargil along the Wakha river valley and adjacent to the Kargil- Leh highway is located the Shargol Monastery. As the crow flies, it is 10 km from Mulbekh, a small village in Kargil District (now a part of the Union Territory of Ladakh). The monastery, neatly white-washed and closely stacked, is dug into the sheer face of a vertical cliff that rises high above the valley. 

SHARGOL MONASTERY
PIC TAKEN BY ME

So one fine day as we refueled at Kargil enroute to Leh, we decided to bend our flight plan a little and brush past Shargol village (Lat 34.4000 Long 76.3000). One of the reasons I suspect was that Mad Mike had been told by reliable sources that there also existed a small village beside this monastery, we may just spot a few belles (no pun intended). Also, having heard so much about a place which resembled the lunar landscape (general area 'moon rocks'), this slight deviation from the approved route was given no second thought.  

CLOSE UP NOT VERY CLEAR
TURBULENCE AND VIBRATIONS

The cave monastery is to be seen to be believed. And as we hovered near it, the structure  was visible like a white speck against a vertically rising hill. It did look like a 'colony of beehives hanging from the  Cliff side', amazingly suspended at the centre of a mountain. And only the front facade of the monastery is visible. The monastery belongs to the Gelukpa order and as per local lore, the monastery shelters only two Buddhist monks. 

And yes, there is a tiny Buddhist nunnery below the main structure. 

This part of the operation done (no monks no bells ), we headed for the shimmering 'moon rocks' (all pics taken by me) , the beauty of this desolate landscape is to be seen to be believed. And Chandrayan was many years later. 

THE 'MOON ROCKS'

The Soldier And A 220 Million Year Old Story

THE SOLDIER AND A 220 MILLION YEAR OLD STORY

In the rugged mountains of Ladakh, roughly North East of Kargil and North West of Turtok, bordering the LOC with Pakistan, is  a place unknown to most Indians.

It is generally known as the  the Batalik-Yaldor-Chorbatla Sector. Desolate, windy, strewn with boulders and rocks, snow covered most of the time and home to Indian Army soldiers who guard these heights 24×7, rain, snow, shine. Also located here is the Chorbat La pass, the traditional border between Baltistan (Pak occupied) and Ladakh (India).

Chorbat La (La=pass), as such, is  located at an elevation of 5,064 meters (16600 feet) above sea level. Its coordinates are 34°45'0" N and 76°34'60" E.

The general area has strategic implications and any incursions from here can turn the flanks of the Siachin area. Infact certain peaks here were captured as far back as 1971 and many years later Col Sonam Wanchuk had got his MVC in this very general area in 1999.

But this story is not about the exploits of brave men who remain awake guarding us, while we sleep peacefully.

This story begins 220 million years back. What we now know as India was an island floating off the coast of Australia. Around that time , this land mass started to move Northwards. It travelled some 6,000 kilometres before it finally collided with Eurasia round 40 to 50 million years ago. 

Then, part of the Indian landmass began to go beneath the  Eurasian one, moving the Eurasian  landmass up, which resulted in the rise of the Himalayas. Fossils of sea and coastal creatures can still be found in the Himalayas, as it was once two coast lines that merged together. These fossils not only provide evidence that the Himalayas once existed on a coastline, but also information about climate change and plate movement.

Some 45 million years later after the Himalyas had been formed, I was tasked to proceed from Kargil to Chorbatla. We had been told to extricate a  young soldier, probably from Ladakh Scouts (memory; time has taken its toll). He was to be dropped at Leh, some domestic emergency, and the powers that be had found it worthwhile to divert us enroute, pick him up and do the needful. Anyway, it was a first for me to this place we call Chorbatla. We landed, rotors running - the soldier hopped on and off we went.

CLOSE UP OF THE FOSSIL

After alighting on reaching our destination (Leh), he came to me and handed me a small piece of slate like rock. ''Sir , this is for you. It is a 'fern fossil' from our post''. 

Yes, the proof that this area which is now the barren high altitude Ladakh region in the mighty Himalya's, was once forested and not much above sea level, is in the fossilised remains of plants, ferns and sea creatures which are found there.

These fossils found in the Ladakh region belong to the middle-late Eocene period, anywhere between 45-33 million years ago, as confirmed by scientists at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun.

 My prized posession, thanx to a young Indian soldier

NOTICE THE TINY VIENS AND SHAPES OF THE FERN LEAVES