“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
― Oprah Winfrey
I am sitting in the warm confines of my home in Mumbai as I write this. My fingers are numb, my grip on the pen not as strong as it was before. My toes are tingling at the tip. But I am unperturbed. I am in fact enjoying it. It seems like the sweet fruit of a hard labor. I have just returned from my long awaited trek on the Chadar. For the uninitiated, the Chadar is what the frozen Zanskar river in the cold mountainous desert region of Ladakh is called in winter. The high altitude and the sub-zero temperatures of the region combine to freeze in motion the fast flowing waters of this river as flows down the Zanskar gorge to meet the Indus at a place called Nimmo which is about 30km from Leh.
The Chadar is a walking route, over the frozen river, used by the locals from Zanskar to reach Leh in winter when the roads passing through the high passes are blocked by snow. This ancient route is now an exotic trek for the enthusiasts. A week back, I was one of them trudging, sliding and falling as I made my way on the frozen river surface to reach the destination at Niraak. From a trekkers perspective, this walk is not about steep inclines or declines. It is about getting acclimatised to the altitude of 11000 + ft at Leh as one flies in from Mean Sea Level and then surviving in the freezing sub-zero temperatures.
“Colder by the hour, more dead with every breath.” ― John Green
The six layers of clothing on my upper body, 4 layers on my legs, the Balaclava, neck gaiter, the woollen cap over the Balaclava, the waterproof Gloves on top of the woollen Gloves, 2 to 3 layers of thick socks made sure that I survived but did not ensure comfort. Comfort was the last thing on my mind as I slid in the double sleeping bag with all my clothing layers intact including the thick outer jacket. Even an attempt to remove any one layer was unimaginable. I had nightmares of being trapped in a giant freezer. I was worried about getting up in the middle of the night to pee, I was worried about answering nature's call in the morning. Removing the hand gloves at any time in the morning or late afternoon onwards was painful to the fingers. Many times they went so numb with cold that the sensation was beyond pain. The water in the bottles turned to ice within hours. Hot flasks were the only option to keep the water liquid. The wet socks froze stiff rendering it unusable for the next day's trek. And I cursed myself for getting only 6 pairs of socks!
“When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure.”
― Alice Hoffman
As I write this I wonder, considering so much of discomfort, was it worth taking all the trouble? Was it worth risking my limb (I attended to a trekker who had a fall and could not straighten his elbow, probably had a fracture. I heard of someone else fracturing his rib, another one slipped into the icy cold water but was pulled out) and life for this adventurous trek? But, as I recollect the vista of the 7 days over the gorge, I feel every moment was worth the pain. One can never be certain about the weather in the mountains. This unpredictability, right from whether our flight will reach Leh or not, to whether we would start and complete the trek added to the adventure. The formation of Chadar is very much temperature dependent. A minor variation leads to its breaking down and creates a situation where proceeding ahead becomes difficult. Some trekkers finish, some turn back midway and some just cannot start. I felt many times that the river decides who will walk on her icy surface.
The Chadar keeps forming and breaking. The changes due to the melting and freezing of the water takes place in a day, sometimes even over hours. As the Zanskar roared past, turbulent over the rocks, at places it seemed frozen as if time had stood still. Occasionally the Chadar was so transparent that the river bed could be seen clearly as I walked above it. The cracks extended deep down and gave an ominous feel. At places, where the sun rays lighted the river the color manifested itself giving the turquoise waters a greenish glow. The frozen sheet of ice formed interesting patterns on the river and no two patterns were the same. The week I trekked, was the waxing phase of the moon. And moonlight made the mountains glow and the frozen river glisten rendering it a sight to die for. At places where the Chadar was not formed, we had 2 options, both providing heart-stopping moments. Either wade through the water or choose to climb the mountains and forge a new trail over the jagged rocks and steep incline. It was like choosing between the devil and the deep sea. Although at the end of a successful wade through the river or an ascent there was a sense of achievement.
Billed as one of the top 5 exotic treks in the world, Chadar trek had been on my bucket list since long. And, at last, it was completed though we could not reach our final destination of Niraak which houses a huge frozen waterfall. As I walked on the icy surface, I felt as if I was transported back in time to the Ice Age. Images of the movie 'Ice Age' kept flashing in my mind and I half expected to see Ellie - the woolly mammoth and Scrat - the squirrel just round the bend. I kept asking myself many times as I walked, "Will I repeat this trek?" And, not surprisingly the answer was "No". In spite of its breathtaking beauty, magnificent mountain ranges, the deep gorges, the crystal clear waters, the freezing cold is a big deterrent. Some things in life have to be experienced, but only once and 'The Chadar' is one of them.
“The cold cut like a many-bladed knife”
― Israel Zangwill
― Oprah Winfrey
I am sitting in the warm confines of my home in Mumbai as I write this. My fingers are numb, my grip on the pen not as strong as it was before. My toes are tingling at the tip. But I am unperturbed. I am in fact enjoying it. It seems like the sweet fruit of a hard labor. I have just returned from my long awaited trek on the Chadar. For the uninitiated, the Chadar is what the frozen Zanskar river in the cold mountainous desert region of Ladakh is called in winter. The high altitude and the sub-zero temperatures of the region combine to freeze in motion the fast flowing waters of this river as flows down the Zanskar gorge to meet the Indus at a place called Nimmo which is about 30km from Leh.
The Chadar is a walking route, over the frozen river, used by the locals from Zanskar to reach Leh in winter when the roads passing through the high passes are blocked by snow. This ancient route is now an exotic trek for the enthusiasts. A week back, I was one of them trudging, sliding and falling as I made my way on the frozen river surface to reach the destination at Niraak. From a trekkers perspective, this walk is not about steep inclines or declines. It is about getting acclimatised to the altitude of 11000 + ft at Leh as one flies in from Mean Sea Level and then surviving in the freezing sub-zero temperatures.
“Colder by the hour, more dead with every breath.” ― John Green
The six layers of clothing on my upper body, 4 layers on my legs, the Balaclava, neck gaiter, the woollen cap over the Balaclava, the waterproof Gloves on top of the woollen Gloves, 2 to 3 layers of thick socks made sure that I survived but did not ensure comfort. Comfort was the last thing on my mind as I slid in the double sleeping bag with all my clothing layers intact including the thick outer jacket. Even an attempt to remove any one layer was unimaginable. I had nightmares of being trapped in a giant freezer. I was worried about getting up in the middle of the night to pee, I was worried about answering nature's call in the morning. Removing the hand gloves at any time in the morning or late afternoon onwards was painful to the fingers. Many times they went so numb with cold that the sensation was beyond pain. The water in the bottles turned to ice within hours. Hot flasks were the only option to keep the water liquid. The wet socks froze stiff rendering it unusable for the next day's trek. And I cursed myself for getting only 6 pairs of socks!
“When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure.”
― Alice Hoffman
As I write this I wonder, considering so much of discomfort, was it worth taking all the trouble? Was it worth risking my limb (I attended to a trekker who had a fall and could not straighten his elbow, probably had a fracture. I heard of someone else fracturing his rib, another one slipped into the icy cold water but was pulled out) and life for this adventurous trek? But, as I recollect the vista of the 7 days over the gorge, I feel every moment was worth the pain. One can never be certain about the weather in the mountains. This unpredictability, right from whether our flight will reach Leh or not, to whether we would start and complete the trek added to the adventure. The formation of Chadar is very much temperature dependent. A minor variation leads to its breaking down and creates a situation where proceeding ahead becomes difficult. Some trekkers finish, some turn back midway and some just cannot start. I felt many times that the river decides who will walk on her icy surface.
The Chadar keeps forming and breaking. The changes due to the melting and freezing of the water takes place in a day, sometimes even over hours. As the Zanskar roared past, turbulent over the rocks, at places it seemed frozen as if time had stood still. Occasionally the Chadar was so transparent that the river bed could be seen clearly as I walked above it. The cracks extended deep down and gave an ominous feel. At places, where the sun rays lighted the river the color manifested itself giving the turquoise waters a greenish glow. The frozen sheet of ice formed interesting patterns on the river and no two patterns were the same. The week I trekked, was the waxing phase of the moon. And moonlight made the mountains glow and the frozen river glisten rendering it a sight to die for. At places where the Chadar was not formed, we had 2 options, both providing heart-stopping moments. Either wade through the water or choose to climb the mountains and forge a new trail over the jagged rocks and steep incline. It was like choosing between the devil and the deep sea. Although at the end of a successful wade through the river or an ascent there was a sense of achievement.
Billed as one of the top 5 exotic treks in the world, Chadar trek had been on my bucket list since long. And, at last, it was completed though we could not reach our final destination of Niraak which houses a huge frozen waterfall. As I walked on the icy surface, I felt as if I was transported back in time to the Ice Age. Images of the movie 'Ice Age' kept flashing in my mind and I half expected to see Ellie - the woolly mammoth and Scrat - the squirrel just round the bend. I kept asking myself many times as I walked, "Will I repeat this trek?" And, not surprisingly the answer was "No". In spite of its breathtaking beauty, magnificent mountain ranges, the deep gorges, the crystal clear waters, the freezing cold is a big deterrent. Some things in life have to be experienced, but only once and 'The Chadar' is one of them.
“The cold cut like a many-bladed knife”
― Israel Zangwill
