The Financial Express December 11, 2011 5

RIGHT NOW, I’m on a flightandtryingtofigureoutwhattime is it in my office in

Bangkok, my destination inFrance, and at our upcoming hotelin India. I look at my watch but re-alise it is set for the city in EuropeI’ve just left. What’s a traveller todo? I pull out my iPhone (in air-planemode)andbringuptheworldclock. All is clear and I’ll be on timeformynextmeeting. Isetmywatchfor Paris and a reminder in myiPhone to add a multi-time zonewatchtomycollection.

So while we business travellers

canjustaseasilylookatahyper-ac-curate digital watch, an iPhone, orour laptop, most of us still prefer amechanical timepiece. There are afew remarkable watches for theglobaltraveller.

My two favourite watchmakersare Patek Philippe and Breguet.PatekPhilippepopularisedthemod-ernwristwatchalongwithmanyfea-tures or “complications” that arenowmorecommon,suchasperpetu-alcalendars.Purveyorof watchestoroyalty for hundreds of years, thesewatches are known as a significantinvestmentforfansof hautehorolo-

gy. For a multi-time zonewatch, consider theirworld time, whichfeaturestworowsof12 cities, one refer-ence for each timezone. For a watchthat can simulta-neously displaythetimein24globalcities, this beautystill maintains PatekPhillipe’s elegant butunderstated aesthetic.

Contrast that withBreguet’s bolder offeringsBreguet was founded in1775 and has been thechoice of notable figuresfrom Napolean to Winston

Churchill and beyond. A Breguetwas one of my first “real” watchesand I appreciate the daring design,especially the exposed tourbillon.It also produces an amazing multi-

time zone watch. TheClassique 5717 HoraMundi is a master-piece of both watch-making prowess andluxurydesign.

If you’re after asimpler look anddon’t always need to

knowthetimeinCara-casorHongKong,consid-

er a Rolex. The Rolex GMTMasterlackstheamazingcom-

plications of the Patek PhilippeorBreguetbutif youwantaclassic

watchtoviewtwoorthreetimezonesandyou’rewillingtosetthebezelbe-fore take-off, this might be the time-lesstimepieceforyou.

None of the mentioned featuresthemselves are worth the priceyou’ll pay for these watches. Youcan gather all of that informationand more from your phone or lap-top.Butif youtravelveryfrequent-lyandappreciatetheartof complexmovement, a multi-time zone luxu-ry watch can be a great addition.Andif youpreferasingletime-zonewatch,justremembertosetitwhenyou land. You can get the local timefromyouriPhone.

DeepakOhriisCEOof lebuaHotels&Resorts.Hecanbereachedat

deepak@lebua.com

DEEPAK OHRI

In defence of the watch

A multi-time zoneluxury watch can be agreat addition to atraveller’s wardrobe

F O O T L O O S E

DEELUXÉ

SubhashNarayan

AN INVITATION for atrekking trip to theHimalayas is not thebest offer that anyonecan make to journal-

ists. Used to a sleep deprivedlifestyle where the day starts wellpast afternoon and evenings oftenend in the wee hours, getting into adisciplined regime, even for a fewdays,canneverbewelcome.Butthebait for this particular trip couldnot have been better—a chance totrekwithtwomountaineers,oneofwhom is already a legend and theotheronwaytothesameleague.

The challenge was to scale aheight of over 12,000 feet to Dayaratop in Uttarakhand, trekking wellover 10 km of rocky tracks passingthrough villages, forest and mead-ows. And to keep our feet movingweretwostalwarts—BachendriPal,the first Indian woman to climb MtEverest,andPremlataAgrawal, thefirstpersonfromJharkhandtoscalethe world’s highest peak this year.

Thefirstlegof thejourney(withall comforts) started from Delhiand ended at Raithal village (7,100feet), located at a distance of 40 kmfromUttarkashitownonthewaytoGangotri.Thevillage,weweretold,wasourbasecampwherewewouldrest and get acclimatised for thegruellingjourneyahead.

Raysal is a small village with ahundred-odd houses scatteredalong the ridges of Garhwal Hi-malayas. The beauty of the place isthatthesnow-cappedmountainsofthe greater Himalayas make a 180-degree arc around the village andthe sunrise brings with it a stun-ning visual of orange-and-goldhuedmountainsslowlyturningin-to blue and grey as the sun rises.The ranges engulf the village in away, givinganillusionthatonecan

run onto them. But a reality checkcame from veteran Bachendri Pal,whotoldusitwouldtakeafewdaysto reach anywhere close to thosepeaks. “But our trek will take us alotcloser,”shesaid.

Day one of the real trip startedfrom the base camp a little early.The November chill early in themorningwasuncomfortableforuscity dwellers. Besides, it was an ef-fort to wake up at five in the morn-ing and get ready for a long trek toGuin (9,500 feet), a beautiful littlemeadow surrounded by denseforests from where Neelkanth andBandarPoonchrangesrise.Again,Bachendri Pal was a big inspira-tion, as even at 57 years of age, shewas the first one to get ready andforceotherstofallinline.

The trek started with a gentleclimb on a makeshift cement trackthatpassedthroughvillagehouses.Gentle as it may be, the climb soonstarted testing our stamina andeach step slowly became an effortwith frequent breaks a routine.“You should see this as a challenge.If people twice your age could do itwith ease, nothing should stop you.It’s all in your mind,” said Bachen-dri Pal, trying to encourage us.What kept us going was the beauti-fullandscapeallaroundus.Attimeswe were in the middle of the jungle,strugglingtostealalittlewarmthofthe sun, and at times we were sud-denly in the open, exposed to the mighty Himalayas that seemed

closer with each step. After nearlyfour and a half hours we were atcampone,midwaytothefinaldesti-nation,Dayaratop.

Guin gives a spectacular view ofthe Garhwal Himalayas. We had tocamphereforthenighttobeginoursecond leg of the trek the next day.Campinginthemeadowsinfrontofthebeautifulrangesandsurround-ed by forests was an unimaginableexperience and we weren’t fore-

warned for the night. Immediatelyafter sundown, the temperaturestarted dropping and we were allshivering at minus two degreescentigrade. But even the chill didnot deter us from moving out to seethe millions of stars dotting thesky,aviewnotpossibleinDelhi.

The next morning brought an-other surprise—a white blanketaround our tents. The dew hadfrozen, covering the grass and con-verting the meadow into white. It

was a sight I am not likely to forget!Soon we were on with our sec-

ond leg of the trek, which we weretold was less arduous. But climb-ing up starting from 9,500 feet is it-self a task and the steep climbslowed our movement to just a fewmetresinaminute.

But the sight that waited for us atour final destination, the Dayarameadows (11,500 feet), was wortheveryeffort.Themeadowsgiveafeelof greensanddunesoraperfectlyde-

signed golf course atop the Hi-malayas. The place resembles Gul-marg in Kashmir, barring thepopulation and any infrastructure.Ourfirstthoughtwaswhythisplacehadnotbeendevelopedfortourism.Buttheimmediatenextonewasthatthevirginbeautyof theplacewasitsUSP and any ‘development’ wouldjust ruin it. Dayara meadows pro-videa360degreeviewof thegreaterHimalayas and provide several oth-erroutesfortrekenthusiasts.Fromhereyoucangetaclearviewof of thesnow-covered peaks such as Drau-padikaDanda(19,000feet),Gangotri1(20,000feet),BandarPoonch(20,500feet), Shrikanth (21,000 feet) andKalaNag(21,000feet).

As night fell, the moonlightturned the meadow into a silverydesert, a sight we drank on, un-mindful of the minus five degrees.The next morning we prepared toclimb down, but no one seemedwilling to leave the place. All of uswere converts by now, willing totakeupthechallengeof thenextbigtrekkingtrip.

Himalayan revelationA trekking trip to Dayara top inUttarakhand in the company ofBachendri Pal and Premlata Agrawalconverts a bunch of bound-to-deskscribes into adventure lovers

THE CHALLENGEWAS TO SCALE AHEIGHT OF OVER12,000 FEET, TREKKINGWELL OVER 10 KM OFROCKY TRACKS ANDBRAVING MINUS FIVEDEGREES OF CHILL

(Fromtoptobottom)ShrikanthpeakoftheGarhwalHimalayas,theGuinmeadowsandthecampsiteatDayarameadows