THE FROZEN WEEK
It was a week before my birthday, dad had just come home from work and was talking to my mom about a trek. Dad discovered his love for the mountains, especially Himalayas at the age of 35 and he has been trekking since then. He took me to my first Himalayan trek after my 10th exams. So that day when he was talking about a trek I thought he was planning to go for it. But after a while, he called me and asked if I would like to do the chaddar trek. I jumped in excitement. Doing the chaddar trek is on the list of all Himalayan trekkers. Yes! I wanted to do the chaddar trek. A week later dad told me all the bookings were done and said I should start preparing myself physically and mentally. December passed in the blink of an eye. And soon it was January. I leave in 18 days.
All the trek gear was on my room floor for the next two weeks to come. I was going to go from 27 to -27 degrees in some days and when you are packing your bag for such a survival trip you have to keep in mind a lot of things, I couldn’t carry a normal bottle, had to carry a thermos because water would surely freeze. Medikits, knives, woolens, torches. It was a long list. Two days before the trip all of it finally went in my bag. I was finally ready.
On my flight from Delhi to Leh, I fell asleep due to the lack of it, thanks to late night flights when a lady woke me up and said “you have a window seat, let this view sink in. you can catch up on sleep later”. I saw a major change in topography, It started with barren mountains and after a while, all my eyes could see were snow-capped peaks.
I land in Leh, the captain announces that the temperature outside is -18 degrees and a chill ran down my spine. I got outside the aircraft and the crisp cold Leh air welcomed me. I was already shivering and I wondered if coming here was the best decision. I had to survive in an even colder climate. I get outside, and Leh airport is even smaller than the Big Bazar here in Vasai. I collect my bag, I knew where I had to go, but I didn’t know how. I get outside and I see cabs waiting, I asked one of them if he could take me to the guest house where I would meet the rest of my trek group. And I took the first cab that agreed to come. The people of my group had arrived, apparently, they were on the same flight as I was. Some were yet to come. I soon understood that I was the youngest of all of them. Chaddar is a valley trek, hence it does not take a toll on your legs. But the conditions and the climate are so harsh that it is life-threatening. The government made it compulsory for every trekker to do a medical check and to stay in Leh for a minimum of two days so that the body was acclimatized to the temperature and the altitude.
We made sure we walked at least 5 kms on those two days that we were in Leh, our rooms didn’t have heaters, our beds and blankets were ice cold. Many experienced headaches. Imagine brushing your teeth with ice cold water!
We were set to leave on the third day in Leh. we left at 10 am. The sun was mild but made its presence felt. The chaddar trek base camp was an hour away. All of our gears were loaded in the van and we were set. The only time this trek is open is during jan and feb. this is a river called the Zanskar river, and the temperatures drop so much that there is a thick layer of ice, maybe 5 feet of ice that is formed on the river. This layer or blanket is caller the “Chaddar”, hence the Chaddar trek. So we are actually walking on the Zanskar river. Sometimes the ice layer is firm, but sometimes it is thin and brittle. And if you are not careful enough you could go straight into the river that is flowing below. This thought scared me. I could not imagine myself wet at that temperature. If anything got wet, it was sure that it wouldn't dry for the next six days. Every group had to have a local guide with them who are experts at navigating where the ice was firm and safe. Thankfully, no one from our group fell into the river. This was our first day, I felt like I was learning to walk all over again on the Chaddar. We started to walk at around 12 pm and kept walking for the next six hours and reached the first camp. On my walk there, I walked over slippery ice, chipped ice and all forms of ice. There was a time when I heard the ice below me crack and I felt as if the ice would break and I would go into the river, thankfully, I didn’t. I felt like I was learning to walk all over again on the Chaddar.
Day two started with us walking for 8 hours. This was the day when legs were sore and our bodies were hurting. The temperature at night had dropped to -24 degrees and we slept in tents over cold ice. 4 members of our team decided to go back because they had heartaches and weren’t able to breathe. Eating dinner and breakfast was a tough task because we had to remove our gloves to eat. We were actually counting days when we would be back home. We somehow managed to reach the second camp. This walk was the toughest of all. We were in beds by 8:30 pm but couldn’t sleep because of the severe temperature. On The third day, it was easy to get out of our sleeping bags, we would reach our last camp where the main attraction was a frozen waterfall. We started our walk but soon our guide realised that the Chaddar was not formed. That meant that the group who went before us was stuck, there was no way they could come back, they had to wait for the Chaddar to form. We decided to turn and head back. We could not go ahead! “This is the beauty of Chaddar, it will change in front of our eyes,” our guide said.
The journey back was easy, we got a hang on how to walk on the Chaddar, our pace was good. That is when I had the thought of dipping my face into the river, so I asked the guide if I could. He said that the Chaddar here was not so well formed and that we would get good firm ice ahead. That day, I dipped my face and one hand into the ice-cold river when it was -20 degrees. I drank water like an animal and that was the tastiest water I had ever had.
But then, my lips went blue. I could not feel my fingertips. I could not speak. I started panicking. That's when our guide helped me, he told me to keep moving my fingers, I couldn’t. He then took me to a tent where food was being cooked and there I felt a little better because of the heat.
We were back at the guest house the next day. I was in the no network zone for five days and the first thing I did when I got service was called mom and said I was fine.
All the trek gear was on my room floor for the next two weeks to come. I was going to go from 27 to -27 degrees in some days and when you are packing your bag for such a survival trip you have to keep in mind a lot of things, I couldn’t carry a normal bottle, had to carry a thermos because water would surely freeze. Medikits, knives, woolens, torches. It was a long list. Two days before the trip all of it finally went in my bag. I was finally ready.
On my flight from Delhi to Leh, I fell asleep due to the lack of it, thanks to late night flights when a lady woke me up and said “you have a window seat, let this view sink in. you can catch up on sleep later”. I saw a major change in topography, It started with barren mountains and after a while, all my eyes could see were snow-capped peaks.
I land in Leh, the captain announces that the temperature outside is -18 degrees and a chill ran down my spine. I got outside the aircraft and the crisp cold Leh air welcomed me. I was already shivering and I wondered if coming here was the best decision. I had to survive in an even colder climate. I get outside, and Leh airport is even smaller than the Big Bazar here in Vasai. I collect my bag, I knew where I had to go, but I didn’t know how. I get outside and I see cabs waiting, I asked one of them if he could take me to the guest house where I would meet the rest of my trek group. And I took the first cab that agreed to come. The people of my group had arrived, apparently, they were on the same flight as I was. Some were yet to come. I soon understood that I was the youngest of all of them. Chaddar is a valley trek, hence it does not take a toll on your legs. But the conditions and the climate are so harsh that it is life-threatening. The government made it compulsory for every trekker to do a medical check and to stay in Leh for a minimum of two days so that the body was acclimatized to the temperature and the altitude.
We made sure we walked at least 5 kms on those two days that we were in Leh, our rooms didn’t have heaters, our beds and blankets were ice cold. Many experienced headaches. Imagine brushing your teeth with ice cold water!
We were set to leave on the third day in Leh. we left at 10 am. The sun was mild but made its presence felt. The chaddar trek base camp was an hour away. All of our gears were loaded in the van and we were set. The only time this trek is open is during jan and feb. this is a river called the Zanskar river, and the temperatures drop so much that there is a thick layer of ice, maybe 5 feet of ice that is formed on the river. This layer or blanket is caller the “Chaddar”, hence the Chaddar trek. So we are actually walking on the Zanskar river. Sometimes the ice layer is firm, but sometimes it is thin and brittle. And if you are not careful enough you could go straight into the river that is flowing below. This thought scared me. I could not imagine myself wet at that temperature. If anything got wet, it was sure that it wouldn't dry for the next six days. Every group had to have a local guide with them who are experts at navigating where the ice was firm and safe. Thankfully, no one from our group fell into the river. This was our first day, I felt like I was learning to walk all over again on the Chaddar. We started to walk at around 12 pm and kept walking for the next six hours and reached the first camp. On my walk there, I walked over slippery ice, chipped ice and all forms of ice. There was a time when I heard the ice below me crack and I felt as if the ice would break and I would go into the river, thankfully, I didn’t. I felt like I was learning to walk all over again on the Chaddar.
Day two started with us walking for 8 hours. This was the day when legs were sore and our bodies were hurting. The temperature at night had dropped to -24 degrees and we slept in tents over cold ice. 4 members of our team decided to go back because they had heartaches and weren’t able to breathe. Eating dinner and breakfast was a tough task because we had to remove our gloves to eat. We were actually counting days when we would be back home. We somehow managed to reach the second camp. This walk was the toughest of all. We were in beds by 8:30 pm but couldn’t sleep because of the severe temperature. On The third day, it was easy to get out of our sleeping bags, we would reach our last camp where the main attraction was a frozen waterfall. We started our walk but soon our guide realised that the Chaddar was not formed. That meant that the group who went before us was stuck, there was no way they could come back, they had to wait for the Chaddar to form. We decided to turn and head back. We could not go ahead! “This is the beauty of Chaddar, it will change in front of our eyes,” our guide said.
The journey back was easy, we got a hang on how to walk on the Chaddar, our pace was good. That is when I had the thought of dipping my face into the river, so I asked the guide if I could. He said that the Chaddar here was not so well formed and that we would get good firm ice ahead. That day, I dipped my face and one hand into the ice-cold river when it was -20 degrees. I drank water like an animal and that was the tastiest water I had ever had.
But then, my lips went blue. I could not feel my fingertips. I could not speak. I started panicking. That's when our guide helped me, he told me to keep moving my fingers, I couldn’t. He then took me to a tent where food was being cooked and there I felt a little better because of the heat.
We were back at the guest house the next day. I was in the no network zone for five days and the first thing I did when I got service was called mom and said I was fine.
In the river, beside the tents, there will be a piece of me on the Chaddar forever. Even though it was extreme, I would happily go again. Mountains offer a sense of humility. However good you are as a trekker, it is not always sure if you would reach the peak, or even if you do, there is no guarantee you will come back. The Himalayas make a very good and strict teacher.
Amazing experience of a lifetime! When the adventurous side of you blends with the linguistic one, it results into a beautiful writeup ! Keep it up, Roze!
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