Ten Country Highpoints I didn't Climb

UN lists 193 countries as official member states. Of these I have been to 191, the two exceptions being Pakistan (where they won’t let me go) and North Korea (where I don’t want to go). Then there is Vatican City and State of Palestine, which are not UN members but have the status of a country nevertheless in the form of non-member observer state. I have been to both. That leaves Kosovo, which has a funny fluid state in terms of a sovereign state. Around 100 countries recognize it as an independent country, but others don’t. Geographically it is still a part of Serbia but has its own international borders that are recognized by most EU states. I have been to Kosovo too, twice, since it is a beautiful place, whether it’s a country or not.

 

Now as you all know, one of the primary reasons for me to visit any new country is to get to the top of it and in most of the cases I have succeeded in this endeavor. As far as memory serves there might be around two dozen countries whose summit I didn’t reach. Either through design or destiny. Some of them were far too inaccessible, some ridiculously accessible and some I simply didn’t or couldn’t muster the interest as they were so boring.

 

Today I am going to mention ten such country highpoints. The reasons for my glorifying failures would be told within the narrative.

 

UAE (Jebel Jais): I have transited through UAE (Dubai & Abu Dhabi) countless times, but have actually stepped inside the country only once. I had a reason to; else a desert land literally flat from tip to toe doesn’t hold any charm for me. I was told, as I am always told whenever I land in a country for the first time, UAE does boast of a fine mountain range and its highest peak lay around 150km NE of Dubai and soaring at 1934m it was one hell of a climb. Jebel Jais, as the name revealed, didn’t seem exciting enough to pull myself out of my luxurious quarters and charming company into the scorching 50C heat as I was there in the middle of July. I spent the four days in UAE largely indoors, savoring delicacies, wondering why on earth did people come here and exited with a firm conviction that never again would I step inside the country. Alas Jebel Jais remains out of my climbing portfolio. Would I ever return to UAE to tick it off, you may ask. Not for a penny less than a million Euros. But for those wanting to ride the world’s longest zipline, Jebel Jais is a must.

 

Saudi Arabia (Mt Ferwa): almost identical reasons as for UAE, I have been to Saudi Arabia only once and for less than 72hrs. Had no inclination to go climbing to the highest peak or any other peak for that matter. I am very certain I am never going to return to Saudi hence Ferwa at just around 3000m shall remain unclimbed.

 

Bangladesh: as you can see I haven’t really listed the name of the highest Bangladeshi peak and the reason is that there isn’t one that is officially verifiable and established as this country’s highest peak. This might seem surprising in today’s world but if you knew the internal state of the country you wouldn’t be surprised. At various times by various agencies, both private and government have claimed different mountains at different locations as the highest peak. There’s no single undisputed consensus yet, so I will leave it to that. Moreover my only foray into this natural-calamity ravaged jute producing country was by a ship over sea. Hence I had no opportunity of traveling to any mountains, highest or otherwise. This is another country where I would never go again.

 

Gambia: Officially Africa has 54 countries and in terms of highest peaks ranking, starting with Tanzania (Kilimanjaro) at no 1, Gambia ranks 54. Which in effect means that of all the high points in all the African nations, Gambia’s highest point is the lowest. Are you confused, I bet you are since I am too. What the hell does that mean? Does Gambia have a high point or what? My geologist friends tell me that unless a country is flat and featureless like a two dimensional disc (which is impossible) it got to have a high and therefore a low point as well. Believe it or not while in Gambia, to every citizen, civilian and official alike, I had asked the location of that elusive highest point and each had accepted total ignorance. It is such an unheard or unimagined quest in Gambia that they have never even thought that there could be a quest to find Gambia’s highest point. I mean, what was the point! Gambians had far better things to do. So I returned from Gambia without climbing or crawling to the highest point, which I am sure, is there somewhere. Now honestly, how many of you can actually tell me anything at all about Gambia.

 

Somalia (Mt Shimbiris): Have you been to Somalia or ever met anyone who has been there (willingly)? Honestly I have never met anyone outside of Somalia who has ever been to Somalia. The ones I have met who have been to Somalia, were those who were already inside Somalia and all of them were inside Somalia non-voluntarily, including yours truly. I was once abducted at gunpoint by a group of Somali pirates along with a group of well fed pink faced American tourists. The Somali pirates were a mean lot brandishing huge carving knives and AK47s with safety off. The moment they realized I was a poor Indian citizen, ragged and ruggedly dark as they, penniless at the best, they became friendly. I helped them in negotiating with the American’s in getting a ransom demand befitting their stature. After two days and few hours my pirate friends quietly slipped me across the border into Ethiopia, telling me not to look back and never to return. Thoughtfully they did not rob me of my few dollars and even gave me a food hamper to survive the long walk ahead through the Ethiopian dry lands. I kept my promise and never returned. Now in light of this can you fault me if I couldn’t get to the top of Mt Shimbiris!

 

South Sudan (Mt Kinyeti): the youngest country in the world became one in July 2011 and has just celebrated its decade long existence. Has any of you been there since it became a country? Honestly I haven’t but I have been while it was in its inception stage. In those days it was both a country and not a country like a fetus in a womb that was still something between dead and alive. Mt Kinyeti (kin of Yeti) at 3187m is certainly a challenging climb and was very much in my radar and I did ask around and made efforts but was told that if I truly valued my life then I would be better off by giving it a pass and leaving the region ASAP.  For once I heeded a well meaning advice verbatim.

 

Brazil (Pico da Neblina): if in Brazil why would one go climbing mountains? This was the first question my hostess asked me when I inquired. Brazil is all about carnivals, fun, football, sun and sand, samba, bikinis, girls, surfing, even voodoos but mountain climbing! That’s ridiculous. I trample-traveled through Brazil literally from the North to the South for nearly three months and indulged in every Brazilian pleasure including few hikes and Amazonian adventures yet could never find time to seriously get to Pico da Neblina. Being at the magical altitude of 3000m it was certainly desirable and despite its extremely inhospitable and remote location at the borders of Venezuela I am sure if I had pulled the right strings I would have gotten there. But then Brazilian delicacies in the form of feminine charms came into my way. I got mislaid, misled, bamboozled, coerced, hypnotized, even bewitched to the extent that I forgot my lifelong pursuit of things high and pointy. Blame it on Rio, if you may! And to all those Brazilian bare-backed beauties. Will I go for it on my next trip? You might ponder. But I won’t return to Brazil that’s for sure. Far too many pots were left stirred in my last visit.

 

Eritrea (Mt Soira): First time I heard of this country was from a refugee I met in Europe. It’s an interesting country, peanut sized with adequate geographical diversity to hold my attention. Enormous Red Sea coastline leads into mountains, greens and even arid lands. People are poor, welcoming and largely harmless. Had I been on my own in Eritrea I guess Mt Soira would have been climbed. But I wasn’t and was following someone else’s fixed itinerary that didn’t find this peak in its charter.

 

Myanmar (Hkakabo Razi): off all the country highpoints that I haven’t climbed or attempted, this is the one that I would love to have a shot at. If it ever became possible. It is a highly elusive summit and is believed to have been climbed only once so far by a Japanese in 1996 though it cannot be verified univocally. A serious attempt was made later by a NatGeo sponsored team of elite alpinists that failed to reach the summit. The peak is in an extremely remote and hostile area of Myanmar that is not only infested by gun totting rebels, landslides but plenty of wild animals and all sorts of jungle barriers. I doubt how many people have even reached at its bottom. It’s located in the very north point of Kachin state. I did get into Kachin state but was turned around by the Army at gun point to go any further. It remains one of the most inaccessible peaks in the entire world.

 

Nauru: the only reason why I include the tiny island nation of Nauru in this list is that firstly it has no officially designated or decided high point and that even if I had walked through such a high point I wouldn’t know. It’s barely a speck in the pacific measuring only 21 sqkm. Within that tiny land it houses an airport and around 12000 people. Btw it is the least visited country in the world. I haven’t yet met anyone after my visit who has been to Nauru.

 

If any of you have been to the highpoint of any of these ten countries then do write back to me. I would like to shake your hands. At least then I can claim to have climbed within a shake-hand. With that I would conclude this post and see to which country can I fly out this month from India. See you guys on top.