Our trip out of leh was pretty easy. Took us about 2 hours to get to our camp for night one. We pulled off the Manali-Leh highway into a parking lot if a small Indian army compound where we met our team of Ladakhis, Tibetans, Nepalis, and some other local ethnicities who were waiting there with all the horses and all the gear (tents, food, etc). Immediately we started setting up camp alongside a small creek in the valley behind the military barracks while about 50 Indian officers watched us intently. A few cane down to check out what we were up to, adn made us relocate toilet tent across the creek, which meant whenever we wanted to take a dump it would require a leap over a creek before you could do so. Useful for loosening you up!
Immediately we had lunch and I realized how spoiled we are going to be on this trek. I've never camped beyond slices of bread, fruit, and trail mix. Here we are loaded with every kind of snack and tea or coffee or hot chocolate at any hour. Filtered water 24/7. Breakfast is oatmeal followed by eggs cooked to order (yes omelets), lunch is some really good sandwiches and pasta and rice, which we either have in camp or stop for a break while trekking , and dinner starts with soup, followed by a main course of like 5 veggie dishes, and then fruit for dessert.
Now while this seems like we are all pussies, I have to say that with our itinerary, this kind of full service is necessary. We've revamped our plan to try and mount 5 6000 meter peaks in 21 days. Our elevation changes are quite dramatic versus other treks which just follow trails or do short 5 day summits of one 6000 meter peak.
Today (Day 3) was a rest day (our second night camping at 4600meters) but we all decided to climb this random mountain near camp which ended up being an incredibly demanding 5600meter summit which was far more dangerous and took way longer than we had thought. This on our "off day". So yea, the nice meals make the 21 day adventure possible otherwise we'd be completely spent after 5-6 days max. I'm totally cool with that style of trekking obviously, but it's nice to experience the 5-star version as well.
I slept horribly the first night. Many issues a play. First of all, I had eaten and drank way too much so I was constantly up to pee in the freezing cold night, plus bloated and farting like crazy because I really didn't want to use the toilet across the creek in the middle of the night. Second, I'm getting used to my mummy style sleeping bag which severely limits my leg positions, so they were getting very cramped. Third, I was sleeping on a slight slant and needed to adjust all the time. Fourth, it was a very dewy creek and misty night and somehow some water was seeping into my tent and that made things uncomfortable. Fifth, there was some damn dog barking all night.
Night 2 I eliminated most of these issues (still needed to pee and fart) and got used to my sleeping bag and had a much better sleep. Tonight is night 3 and I'm optimistic it will be good.
I've got up vey early each moving with the sunrise and put in about 45-60 minutes of yoga. I think the breathing exercises are really helping me perform in this environment. Today I skipped the yoga in lieu of a solo hike to watch the sunrise over the valley. When we did our 5500meter peak later on, I came back with a pretty rough headache, so I did about an hour of yoga (breathing for 30 minutes, relaxing for 20, then headstand for 10) and it practically eradicated my headache without any pills. I was super happy this worked.
Every day at camp we've been setting up a cricket pitch with the staff and it's super fun. I'm a very accurate bowler but can't get the ball passed anyone. Batting, I usually swing for the fences and get out by tipping it to the wicket keeper. Its kind of ridiculous because the field is set up in the middle of camp so half the time the ball is going into a river or nearly taking someones head off as they do their laundry or cook.
I've been reading a lot during our spare time and before bed. I've gotten halfway through gandhis autobiography. It's a very interesting book, and it's perfect that I've spent time in Bombay, South Africa, and studied Hinduism at the ashram because the book is far more understandable to me due to having all those experiences. I'm looking forward to finishing it and starting shanturam.
Conversation around camp has been fun. As usual, I'm talking too much. But everyone else has good things to discuss and I don't think they mind me just yet. We'll see in a couple days.
I earlier mentioned being bloated and farting all night. Let me say that the craps I've taken the following mornings have been spectacular. Our crapper tent is basically a hole in the ground that we dig, surrounded by a tall skinny square tent. I swear I have nearly filled the entire hole up each time. It's really tough to hold the squat for such an extended period of time. My legs are falling asleep, so wiping and standing up are incredibly difficult.
Showering also is quite primitive and involves freezing yourself to death in the glacial streams. But hey why not. Laundry same, but it's not bad because we've got a really bright and hot sun during the days so far. Hoping this weather holds (but honestly the heat and lack of any form of shade outside of our tents is tough as well). When a cloud comes in front of the sun, the temperature immediately drops like 20 degrees. It's nuts. Sunscreen is essential, though I've picked up some minor burning on the back of my legs. I should be quite tan by the time it's over.
Tomorrow and the next day are major moving days, and we'll be camping at 5000 meters, which should be fun. I doubt I'll be able to upload this blog anytime soon but just wanted to journal the experience while it's fresh.
1 comment:
Glad you're safe and you'll be back soon.
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