Biwilderness at 20,000 feet
Mountains make you feel so puny. All that ego and attitude we carry in our daily lives is broken into pieces the minute you stand in front of them.
I have at least found peace in them.About conquering a mountain? i think the mountain will decide. I am saying this not because I couldn't make it to summit but out of self realization I achieve every time I scale a mountain. I will come back next year more prepared to reach the summit.
"All of us have to at some of time have to give in to mother nature".
Day 1:
Started my journey from Bangalore to Leh after changing my flight schedule 3 times(due to under booking). Bangalore flight to Delhi was delayed by an hour and reached Delhi around 12.15am. My next flight was at 5.15am to Leh, spent the night roaming around the waiting lobby and sleeping on the benches. Got a call from the my trekking leader early morning about the trek program and people cancelling their plans. Looks like only 3-4 people would be attempting the trek. Excited about Leh and my trek. Hope everything will be fine and mother nature will bless us with good weather.
Day 2 :
Reached Ladakh early in the morning 6.30am. An amazing view of Himalayas from the plane.
The Pilot was explaining the names of the peaks we were passing over. As the plane was not fully booked, all of us in the plane were moving around looking for a good shot. Leh airport is a Airforce base and photography is strictly prohibited. Its a small airport compared to Bangalore or Delhi airport. We could hear regular announcements about how to get acclimatized and what precautions to take while we stay in Leh at high altitude.
Took a taxi and reached the Guest House. I settled down in the guest house and met our trek coordinator Badri. We had break fast and he proceeded towards Manali in his royal enfield bike. He is taking a group of 16 bikers with him and we had a good long chat before he proceeded with his ride.We spoke about almost everything from riding enfield bike to philosophy to relationships in life and how they change [He misses his mother and remembers the day she passed away].
My fellow trekker Srikanth landed by around 11.45am and reached the guest house. Once he freshened up we went for a long walk into Leh Market.Co-incidently met a shop keeper from Karnataka. One more thing to notice about the place is there are more Israeli tourists than any other country in Leh.
Rashid our trek co-oridnator called to his office and briefed us about our plan for trek and gave his expert advice on how to acclimatize in Leh. We went to a restaurant near-by had good lunch, came back and slept well till evening.
Evening went to the restaurant closeby "Cafe de Leh" and had Aloo parata's. Must say the chef is an expert in making aloo paratas. Took a short walk after dinner and had a good night's sleep.
Day 3 : Our trek started early in the morning. We were picked up by Rashid's team and enroute to our drop point we picked up Mark and Jad the remaining memebers of our group. Mark a seasoned trekker was from Swtizerland and Jad from France. We spoke our way to the drop point and on reaching the place our luggage were mounted on to Mules and we started our trek towards 1st campsite with a small backpack with water and packed lunch.
Mark was the fastest of us all and he was really quick in adopting to the terrain. Jack was not far behind. I was third and Srikanth was following us along with our guide Ram. It was about 4-5 hours trek through the beautiful ridges.
I had read about these ridges in Google and they are said to be 53million years old. They were formed during formation of continents. Nandu (our guide) and our horseman chacha reached first and had kept the tents ready. Kitchen tent was getting ready and as we settled Nandu gave us hot ginger black tea. Never had black tea in life, must say ahaaa it was super.
Mark and me thought of going for a short hike near the campsite. We found a peak across the stream near our campsite. We had to cross a narrow stream and mark jumped his way with ease. I had to explore jumps before I could reach the other side. Our campsite was at an elevation of 4,300 meters and we were trying to reach 4,800 meters.
It started getting steeper and steeper and at a point I could hear my heart beat. Finally reached a top and Mark went further above looking for a different view and not surprised we got another amazing view . Now it was time to go back for our plate of maagi. Mark taught me a technique to slide down like he does in skiing. I was pathetic in it. But I figured out a different way of getting down. As we got down my knees were paining for taking all the load during the descent. We returned to our tents and hot maggi was waiting for us. By then Ram and Srikanth reached the camp. While we settled in our tents the day was over. Had early dinner and slept. I had to get up like 50 times in the night to adjust my pillow, i.e., my rugsack.
Day 4 : Stok Base camp (16000 feet)
We woke up late and lazy around 9am. Packed our tents and mounted them and our rug sacks onto Mules and started towards our base camp. Mark lead our way and Jad and me followed him. Srikanth had developed High Altitude Sickness and was following us slowly with Ram. We reached by afternoon and had our snacks and soup before setting up our tents. Ram and Nandu briefed us about next day's Summit trek.
They taught us how to use crampons and ice axe and how to wear gaiters. By then Srikanth could eat and sleep but he vomitted couple of times. Therefore he was ruled out for next day's Summit trek. After dinner around 8pm I started developing High Altitude Sickness. While discussing with our guides I realised it was due to not enough of Acclimatization in Leh. I was asked to rest and see how I feel after sometime. By 12am Nandu and Ram came to wake us and I couldn't even lift my head up due to sever headace. So ruled out for the Summmit trek. Summit treks always start by mid night so that trekkers can return back to base camps by early morning. This is done to avoid getting into avalanche as snow starts melting as the day progresses due to sunlight. Mark, Jack, Ram and Nandu proceeded towards the summit by 1 am. And I felt helpless and sad as I was not able to join them. But had to take a quick decision of yes or no and I decided not to proceed knowing the effects of High Altitude Sickness and put myself and my team into trouble.
I had to struggle till 2 or 3 am to sleep and eventually got some sleep. The deep sleep for about 5-6 hours helped me and I was feeling normal in the morning. By then our friends returned victorious. Ram and me were discussing about attempting Summit tonight as I was feeling good. But we couldn't take away additional day of our fellow trekkers. By the time we packed our tents and bags to start our descent it started getting cloudy and Ram ruled out our Summit attempt tonight as it may rain. I had to bid good bye to Stok summit from the base camp itself and we started back to camp 1. We reached camp 1 by 4pm and put up our tents next to the stream. Took a few strolls around our campsite and we all went to sleep early hopping every thing goes well today and we trek back to Leh tomorrow without any hassles.
Day 5 :
We all woke up early than our schedule and after tea decided to descend back. Packed our bags and tents while Nandu and Ram were making poories. We had breakfast packed our lunch and started our trek back. Mark wanted to explore another trail on the way back to Stok. He left early and much ahead of us. Jack, me and Srikanth started our descent back to Stok village. Weather looked a little tricky but it was getting clearer as we walked back. Jad and me were leading and we were exploring alternate paths to go down.
Jad preferred taking elevated route through ridges but I was following the stream. Finally after about 3-4 hours of non-stop walk we reached Stok village. The same place were we started our trek 5 days back. We were so tired and hungry that we went on a walk to find a departmental store. We found one after a long walk and bought cake and cool drinks.
Mark, Ram and Srikanth were back after a while, so did our transport vehicles. We mounted our bags on top of the cars and started back towards our stay.
Rashid had arranged for a new place, a home stay for me and Srikant. It was an amazing place with an amazing host. The host welcomed us by giving us a white cloth (like a small shawl) which had pictures of good luck on it. That evening all of us met in "Cafe De Leh" for our team farewell dinner.
Thats Mark,me, Srikanth and Jad from left to right.
We spoke about Mark's expeditions in numerous countries and how he was so passionate about mountains. Jad was planning to continue his trip (world tour) and was reaching Tibet in about couple of days. He left his job in Merger and Acquisition team as he wanted to do world tour. We exchanged our numbers as I created a watsup group to share our photos and to keep in touch. Srikanth was also working in IT industry and had quit his job to pursue his higher studies. He was flying to Canada in about a week's time. We bid adeu and went back to our hotels. Srikanth was planning to reach Manali by road and spend couple of days in Himachal Pradesh. I spent next couple of days going around Leh city and did some shopping.
During our visit to the local market for shopping we were suggested to try Chutiga+vegetable a Ladakhi veg disk. Ordered one and it was very nicely made.
I will go back next year to complete my trek and I also have a lot of beautiful places around Leh to cover on bike or car.
The Pilot was explaining the names of the peaks we were passing over. As the plane was not fully booked, all of us in the plane were moving around looking for a good shot. Leh airport is a Airforce base and photography is strictly prohibited. Its a small airport compared to Bangalore or Delhi airport. We could hear regular announcements about how to get acclimatized and what precautions to take while we stay in Leh at high altitude.
Took a taxi and reached the Guest House. I settled down in the guest house and met our trek coordinator Badri. We had break fast and he proceeded towards Manali in his royal enfield bike. He is taking a group of 16 bikers with him and we had a good long chat before he proceeded with his ride.We spoke about almost everything from riding enfield bike to philosophy to relationships in life and how they change [He misses his mother and remembers the day she passed away].
My fellow trekker Srikanth landed by around 11.45am and reached the guest house. Once he freshened up we went for a long walk into Leh Market.Co-incidently met a shop keeper from Karnataka. One more thing to notice about the place is there are more Israeli tourists than any other country in Leh.
Rashid our trek co-oridnator called to his office and briefed us about our plan for trek and gave his expert advice on how to acclimatize in Leh. We went to a restaurant near-by had good lunch, came back and slept well till evening.
Evening went to the restaurant closeby "Cafe de Leh" and had Aloo parata's. Must say the chef is an expert in making aloo paratas. Took a short walk after dinner and had a good night's sleep.
Day 3 : Our trek started early in the morning. We were picked up by Rashid's team and enroute to our drop point we picked up Mark and Jad the remaining memebers of our group. Mark a seasoned trekker was from Swtizerland and Jad from France. We spoke our way to the drop point and on reaching the place our luggage were mounted on to Mules and we started our trek towards 1st campsite with a small backpack with water and packed lunch.
Mark was the fastest of us all and he was really quick in adopting to the terrain. Jack was not far behind. I was third and Srikanth was following us along with our guide Ram. It was about 4-5 hours trek through the beautiful ridges.
I had read about these ridges in Google and they are said to be 53million years old. They were formed during formation of continents. Nandu (our guide) and our horseman chacha reached first and had kept the tents ready. Kitchen tent was getting ready and as we settled Nandu gave us hot ginger black tea. Never had black tea in life, must say ahaaa it was super.
Mark and me thought of going for a short hike near the campsite. We found a peak across the stream near our campsite. We had to cross a narrow stream and mark jumped his way with ease. I had to explore jumps before I could reach the other side. Our campsite was at an elevation of 4,300 meters and we were trying to reach 4,800 meters.
It started getting steeper and steeper and at a point I could hear my heart beat. Finally reached a top and Mark went further above looking for a different view and not surprised we got another amazing view . Now it was time to go back for our plate of maagi. Mark taught me a technique to slide down like he does in skiing. I was pathetic in it. But I figured out a different way of getting down. As we got down my knees were paining for taking all the load during the descent. We returned to our tents and hot maggi was waiting for us. By then Ram and Srikanth reached the camp. While we settled in our tents the day was over. Had early dinner and slept. I had to get up like 50 times in the night to adjust my pillow, i.e., my rugsack.
Day 4 : Stok Base camp (16000 feet)
We woke up late and lazy around 9am. Packed our tents and mounted them and our rug sacks onto Mules and started towards our base camp. Mark lead our way and Jad and me followed him. Srikanth had developed High Altitude Sickness and was following us slowly with Ram. We reached by afternoon and had our snacks and soup before setting up our tents. Ram and Nandu briefed us about next day's Summit trek.
They taught us how to use crampons and ice axe and how to wear gaiters. By then Srikanth could eat and sleep but he vomitted couple of times. Therefore he was ruled out for next day's Summit trek. After dinner around 8pm I started developing High Altitude Sickness. While discussing with our guides I realised it was due to not enough of Acclimatization in Leh. I was asked to rest and see how I feel after sometime. By 12am Nandu and Ram came to wake us and I couldn't even lift my head up due to sever headace. So ruled out for the Summmit trek. Summit treks always start by mid night so that trekkers can return back to base camps by early morning. This is done to avoid getting into avalanche as snow starts melting as the day progresses due to sunlight. Mark, Jack, Ram and Nandu proceeded towards the summit by 1 am. And I felt helpless and sad as I was not able to join them. But had to take a quick decision of yes or no and I decided not to proceed knowing the effects of High Altitude Sickness and put myself and my team into trouble.
I had to struggle till 2 or 3 am to sleep and eventually got some sleep. The deep sleep for about 5-6 hours helped me and I was feeling normal in the morning. By then our friends returned victorious. Ram and me were discussing about attempting Summit tonight as I was feeling good. But we couldn't take away additional day of our fellow trekkers. By the time we packed our tents and bags to start our descent it started getting cloudy and Ram ruled out our Summit attempt tonight as it may rain. I had to bid good bye to Stok summit from the base camp itself and we started back to camp 1. We reached camp 1 by 4pm and put up our tents next to the stream. Took a few strolls around our campsite and we all went to sleep early hopping every thing goes well today and we trek back to Leh tomorrow without any hassles.
Day 5 :
We all woke up early than our schedule and after tea decided to descend back. Packed our bags and tents while Nandu and Ram were making poories. We had breakfast packed our lunch and started our trek back. Mark wanted to explore another trail on the way back to Stok. He left early and much ahead of us. Jack, me and Srikanth started our descent back to Stok village. Weather looked a little tricky but it was getting clearer as we walked back. Jad and me were leading and we were exploring alternate paths to go down.
Jad preferred taking elevated route through ridges but I was following the stream. Finally after about 3-4 hours of non-stop walk we reached Stok village. The same place were we started our trek 5 days back. We were so tired and hungry that we went on a walk to find a departmental store. We found one after a long walk and bought cake and cool drinks.
Mark, Ram and Srikanth were back after a while, so did our transport vehicles. We mounted our bags on top of the cars and started back towards our stay.
Rashid had arranged for a new place, a home stay for me and Srikant. It was an amazing place with an amazing host. The host welcomed us by giving us a white cloth (like a small shawl) which had pictures of good luck on it. That evening all of us met in "Cafe De Leh" for our team farewell dinner.
Thats Mark,me, Srikanth and Jad from left to right.
We spoke about Mark's expeditions in numerous countries and how he was so passionate about mountains. Jad was planning to continue his trip (world tour) and was reaching Tibet in about couple of days. He left his job in Merger and Acquisition team as he wanted to do world tour. We exchanged our numbers as I created a watsup group to share our photos and to keep in touch. Srikanth was also working in IT industry and had quit his job to pursue his higher studies. He was flying to Canada in about a week's time. We bid adeu and went back to our hotels. Srikanth was planning to reach Manali by road and spend couple of days in Himachal Pradesh. I spent next couple of days going around Leh city and did some shopping.
During our visit to the local market for shopping we were suggested to try Chutiga+vegetable a Ladakhi veg disk. Ordered one and it was very nicely made.
I will go back next year to complete my trek and I also have a lot of beautiful places around Leh to cover on bike or car.
