It's been ten months since my friend Satish came back from this chadar trek in ladakh region and shared his photos. Since then I've been dreaming of this trek. Last year in October when friends in office went to roop kund trek, I could not join them due to some commitments in office and felt very disappointed. Now, in last December when Srinivas asked if I would be interested in Chadar trek, I readily agreed. All bookings happened within a week. Usually people go through India hikes group but we selected trek the Himalayas group as it was little cheaper. Safety can't be compromised for price, so after reading lot of reviews on TTH we learnt that it is one of the group recommended by US Embassy, and felt little relieved. Srinivas paid 19k per person fees for the trek while I did the flight bookings. From Bangalore to Delhi night Indigo flight and Delhi to Leh morning flight. I booked the tickets well in advance but still they were not cheap.
Trekking in high altitudes is not an easy job. Though I've done many treks in karnataka the terrain in Himalayas is different. Chadar means blanket in Hindi. During winter temperature drops to below freezing point to the order of -25 degree celcius to -30 degree C, and a thick chadar will be formed on the Zhanskar River in the valley. All paths to this valley will be closed and people use this chadar route to commute. I've done many treks in Western ghats but the freezing climatic conditions & challenges of high altitude trek is seriously a matter of concern for me. Back in 2012, I'd done a 25 kms trek near Dalhousie through Youth Hostels Association. That was infact, my first exposure to Himalayas and I'd experienced a very very cold night at a place called "Kalatop" near "Lakhanmandi". That night, I'd told to myself, that I will never come back to Himalayas if I go home safely. But again in October 2013, I planned a family trip to Leh-Ladakh. We hired a Tavera from Delhi, and travelled all the way up to "Sarchu". That night at "Sarchu", was the coldest night of our lifetime. None of my family members will ever forget that night. My father had "Heart by-pass surgery" during the previous Christmas (I'd been to Dalhousie trek after that surgery), and father-in-law also had some health problems & he complained of loss of breath that night. At high altitudes, the air will be thin and contains less oxygen. So one should take slow & deep breath, but the air will be chilling, so you can't take deep breath posing the biggest challenge. If there is no wind you are lucky, otherwise, it will make you feel more colder. But the strong burning desire of doing "Chadar" trek motivated me and I was mentally prepared to take the challenge & face the odds.
Fitness, is something I've given priority in my life ever since I started going for treks. I still remember how I struggled to climb a mountain during my first Bandaje trek. For the sake of trekking, I decided to be fit and joined a nearby Gym. When I'd joined Gym, I was unable to run even 100 meters, but now I'm proud that I can run continuously for 2.5 kilo meters. Now, for "Chadar" trek I started preparing myself, by walking 5 Kms daily (ofcourse on treadmill), and drinking more water (as suggested in some blog). I think most part of the "Chadar" trek is on the frozen river, and there will be no uphill climb required, except at places where river is not frozen.
Cost, is another factor you should seriously think about while doing Himalayan treks. Fees for most of the treks will range from 5k to 20k rupees, but if you are a first timer, you need to buy all the equipments & apparales for high altitude treks. Good pair of shoes, Good warmers, Good jackets (down jacket, fleece jacket), Good goggles, Good rucksack and the list of "Goods.." goes on while you prepare for the trek. Some of the items you can take on rent but not all. I had spent close to 5k rupees on apparels for my first Dalhousie trek, but from my past experience, I knew that it is not sufficient. I bought a new pair of shoes, warmers, down jackets, goggles from "Decathlon". I hope the quality of "Quechua", protects me from biting cold :)
Only 6 days left for my flight to Delhi. I don't know, if I get time before that to update this post. Once I come back from the trip, will update this post with real experience & photos. -- Good night :)
04 Feb: Today, I was about to cancel my trek :(. Suddenly, lot of work has come to the team and everyone in the team has to put in extra effort to do that work. I will loose around 30,000 rupees if I cancel this trek :(, but I'm ready since work is important than passion. Since the cancellation fee is high, my manager & senior manager are saying to carry on with the trek.
06 Feb: Srini called me to give shocking information. The Go Air flight from Delhi to Leh on 08th morning had been cancelled due to some operational issues. No one from GoAir had called me to inform about it, so I called their call centre to confirm that news. The guy on call asked me to reschedule to 12th Feb or get a full refund. I argued with him for some time, and finally he agreed to reschedule to 10th Feb. Now, we had to make arrangements to stay two days & two nights at Delhi.
07 Feb: As planned, I & Srini went to Airport in RR Taxi cab. The traffic near Mekhri circle was horrible, but the new fly over after Hebbal made journey easier and we reached Airport in time. We reached Delhi around 11:30pm and hired a taxi to check in to pre-booked hotel Airpot link at Mahipalpur. Other 3 friends, Guru, Shetty & Shubam had already checked in that hotel. We greeted each other, discussed a plan to visit Agra & Mathura in the next two days & slept.
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