So, the day has come. A day to start trekking.
But hey, we won’t start walking right away. First we have to visit a few monasteries… cool 🙂
Basically, we are now going up river, on the road towards Manali. Well… then the driver says, we have to go off road… reason? he hasn’t got an offical tourist licence as a taxi driver, so he has to hide. There is actually a control just a few kilometres away from Leh. So, off road… and that was actually interesting, as we first went towards Spiti and then across some unbeaten tracks, off the tourist road 🙂
The first monastery of the day was Thikse. When we came, we heard horns… So, immediately we followed the sound of hours (it would be a bit tacky if i said sound of music hehe) so we managed to stumble upon the roof of the gompa, from which we got our best view of the Indus valley. And two guys blowing into their horns. They were calling to the prayer, somebody said 5 days prayer… So,… i just had to see it… and it was… incredible… enchanting… and monks from 5 to 50 years old singing, playing instruments… (just have a look at the video). There was also a statue of huge buddha – called Maitreya, the future Boddhisattva, not just the one from the past…
Anyway… after we that we went on… towards Hemis monastery. This is one of the biggest and most popular monasteries near Leh. There is an interesting theory in scrolls supposedly hidden somewhere in Hemis monastery. In those scrolls Jesus Christs lost years were described and he may have gone to India as a young man to learn and teach Buddhism. And to some followers this is very controversial… OK, nevertheless… we didn’t stop at the Hemis monastery, but went past up the hill towards the Gotsang monastery. This is not a well knows monastery, but in my opinion well worth a visit… Its about 45m of walking and you just touch 4000m above sea level. Why this monastery is interesting? It should be only for monks par-excellence. All in all, for the best who practice special practices – when such monk comes, he goes for 3 years, 3 monks, 3 days and in 3 hours in a solitary cell. With their joga knowledge some monks are able to dry the sheets with their naked bodies – OK, i can understand where that could be useful 🙂
… and after that sightseeing it was time to go to the start of the trekking… to the small village called Sah Sumdo, the start of our trekking at 3700m above sea level… so, no turning back… :)))
….
Finally… its finished… 11 days in a tent, 11 days of walking, around 100 kilometers on foot, the highest point of the trek Gongmaru La 5250m, temperature changes from 30C during the sunny days and 3C during the night, lots of sun, some rain and a few storms… thats a short resume of a trek…
Trekking is finished. It was more difficult that i expected. Basically, that was because as I wasn’t prepared. Nor physically, nor mentally. Before the trekking i didn’t even think about what i’m going to do…
Yep, it was physically difficult. Altitude was one of the factors. Especially third night and fourth day on the trekking were difficult. I barely was able to climb upon Gongmaru La, but that wasn’t the end. I had to go towards the next camp, and that was quite a few km away… But after that I really felt acclimatised. I felt better and better day after day. I could have walked even more days, as this was mainly just a beginning 😉 Yep, I could have if… well, trekking was also mentally strenuous. From day to day the same routine that was killing me. I agree, days were interesting and landscape was astonishingly beautiful, but… I didn’t get a right motivation, as days went: 7:00 – wake up, 8:00 – breakfast and packing, 9:00 – start of walking, 15-17:00 end of walk, 19:00 dinner, 21:00 sleep… For me, the motivation wasn’t beer and at the most inappropriate and far away places (comparing to some people in my group).
Also, Ladakh is land of extremes. Over the day it was very hot and sun was just burning us. In Ladakh and Zanskar mountains there are no trees (almost none) where you could hide in a shade. And during the night the cold came, and sometimes the temperatures plummeted to 3C so I was cold in my relatively warm sleeping bag (i would really recommend having a middle temperature of the sleeping bag around -5C when going on similar trekking in Ladakh). There were also many weather changes… one moment it was sunny and scorching hot and it the other moment there was rain, wind and cold. So, it was quite unpleasant to walk soaked towards the camp. Yep, it wasn’t always easy. But hey, if everything would be easy, why would you even challenge yourself? :)))
On the other hand… landscape was phenomenal. Colors incredible, sky dark blue as never before, stars were shining bright during the night while 6000+ peaks were just glowing when covered with snow. It was a pleasure to walk from valley to valley (over a few high passes) and observe how the scenery changes. From typical Ladakhi bare scenery towards tibetan plains. Incredible. There are also some animals, albeit very shy. We were able to observe large herd of blue sheeps aka bharal (don’t have a clue why they are called blue), shy wild doneky, eagles, rock pigeons and very inquisitive marmots… Interesting.
In the middle of all this. I was waiting for trekking to end. I was dreaming of a tropical beach, sea. I had enough of sleeping in a tent. Before i wanted to to completely disconnect from outer world, and now my wish was fulfilled. I read two books, and I could have read much more… if i had more in stock 😉 Would I repeat this trek? Yep, i would. But not today, not tomorrow… someday in the future. Maybe in different circumstances and in different company (nevertheless, trek was excellently organized and everything was how it should be – camps on great places, very good food, …). But I didn’t have that “click” so I didn’t enjoy in the way I should have and also because of that everything was mentally difficult. Anyway and in any case – it was excellent and unforgettable experience.
Here is a short overview of a trekking… 🙂
Day 1
Acclimatisation ascent (4000m) above Hemis and than night in Sah Sumdo village (3500m).
Day 2
Short stage. Very colourful valley, and we passed the last houses for a few days. After approx. 3 hours of walk we camp on a beautiful place called “Cuskjurmo” (4200). Acclimatisation ascent to 4500m and here i felt “altitude” for the first time as it was a short and steep ascent.
Day 3
We still follow the valley, which narrows into a canyon with rocks of strange forms and wild colors. At the end of the stage, after 4-5 hours of walking, the valley opens and we see our goal for Day 4 – Gongmaru La pass. Nevertheless, we camp in Larsa (4750m), on plain just below the pass. I really feel my hand and don’t have any real appetite. During the night is very cold and it was also raing.
Day 4
Ascent to Gongmaru La pass (5250). It was a short, but slow and steep ascent. Thin air does not allow rushing, and I was suffering. Everything was paid off by excellent view on the pass. On the north, Karakorum mountain range, and on the south 6500m high Kangyaze. After some descent we get to Nimalinga plain, where locals have their yak herds. And a tea in a makeshift reastaurant for tourist felt really good. After a few more hours we then reached Markha valley and made our camp at Tahungce (4300m). Totalling 7 hours of walking. And we got a visit – from huge heard of blue sheeps.
Day 5
Downward in the Markha valley, in the opposite direction as one of the most popular treks in Ladakhs. Shortly we went off a beaten track to another valley. And that was final seeing of people for a few days. The highlight of a day were several crossing of a small river. Unfortunately it started to rain, and we were completely soaked and cold. After 6h, we stop in Jakrupal, at 4700m.
Day 6
After an hour we leave the Langtang valley, which we were following for the past day and head towards Zalung Karpo La (5100m). This pass is a crossroad and you have several options where you want to go. As i didn’t have enough of ascent to the Zalung Karpo La, I also went o a ridge above the pass – around 5400m high… highest in my life 😉 And i felt fine… After steep ascent we go down towards the Sora river and camp in T>sokra after 6h of walking (4372m).
Day 7
Very colorful day. We passed winter camps of nomads in Kharnak (just below the ruins of the Khar fortress) and went to a gorgeous canyon – it was just like walking in the alps, dolomites… We camped at Cangmacan, in the middle of a forest… its really difficult to find trees here… :))) (4300m)
Day 8
We left Himalaya and crossed into the Tibetan plains. And after the canyon the scenery completely changed. We passed a special temple of the nomads, dedicated to their divinity – Kala Buskjom. After four hours of walking we camp near the village of Dat (which was empty, as it is occupied by nomads only during the winter). That was at 4650m, and we were surrounded by marmots.
Day 9
The area after Dat its called Ramertang and it is a true tibetan plain. In Ramertang one can also observe wild donkeys or kjang. They are not very scared of us, so… interesting. Unfortunately the plain is VERY lang and walking is boring and mentally demanding. Especially during the hot sun. Then at the end, an ascent towards Jar La pass (4950m) – it was short, views are again incredible. After 6h we finally reached our camp Lungomoche.
Day 10
We started a descent towards Zara river. Quite unattractive day, without any bigger ascents or descent. More it was running before the rain, and we reached our camp at Zara after 5h. And got a tea from nearby nepalese workers in a deserted nomad village.
Day 11
First a visit to a nomad village… then towards Tso Kar… Camp Pangunagu… With jeeps around the lake… Thats was also a final night in a tent…
Day 12
… a long drive towards Manali… but that will be in a next post :)))
