My first high altitude trek

Hi friends,

Here I am writing my first blog ever, about my successful attempt at Stok Kangri(20086ft). It was my first High Altitude Trek. I learned many things from that, just trying to share it with you guys. I know the blog is too lengthy but can't help it as each and every moment was important and memorable, but still, I tried to write it down in short. Hope you guys like it.

                         
Decision 

                      After doing treks for almost 4 years in the Sahyadri region in Maharashtra, I was thinking to try some Himalayan (high altitude) treks and one day I saw one of my friend Dhananjay Sharma's status update "planning to go for STOK KANGRI anyone interested?". Till now to be very frank I was not aware of Stok Kangri at all, so I just googled it and was very excited after reading information about it. I came to know that Stok Kangri is one of the highest trekable summit at 20086 ft which can be done without any technical skill, so I thought it's possible for me to go for it and replied to Dhananjay's status update that I'll be interested for it. All this happened somewhere around month of March Or April, and somehow after few days I completely forgot about it. And around 1st week of June Turkish Airline came with an offer for Travel Agents, offer was we'll get ticket to travel Istanbul for apx 15K or rest of Turkey for 20K which was way cheaper than normal fare.(forgot to mention that I am Travel Consultant by profession and we frequently get these kind of offers from Airlines, previously I took advantage of it and  traveled Thailand with Pravin[my colleague] and Singapore with my parents on such offer). So this time again along with Pravin, I was planning for a Istanbul visit.Our trip was costing us 50k and after lot of consideration I decided to go for it. However Pravin was still not convinced for going to Istanbul. With the Turkish offer coming to a close in few days time I again shifted my focus to Stok Kangri .

                   I messaged Dhananjay to ask any updates about SK(Stok Kangri) . We exchanged some messages and by that I came to know that for this expedition total cost will be apx 40-45K for me and he suggested me that we'll go with INDIAHIKES as he have done 2 treks with them earlier and was satisfied with their arrangements. So I read all information on their website about Stok Kangri and after reading it I was mentally prepared and thrilled for the same. But within few days I came to know that for Stok Kangri at least one High Altitude trek experience is required, after knowing this I was worried that eventhough I have been trekking in Maharashtra since 4 years they wont consider my experience as those treks were not as high and had no comparison with this much altitude. Maharashtra's highest peak is KALSUBAI which has altitude of 5400 ft (1646m) and Stok Kangri was almost 4 times higher than that. So Dhananjay suggested that he'll write a mail to Indihikes and ask them to consider me for this trek and did the same very next day. We waited for 2 days but no one replied to mail, I was little upset that I would have to give up my dream of conquering Stok Kangri. Meanwhile Pravin again came back saying he may join for the Istanbul trip but need at least 1 week to finalized. Now I was confused between scaling new heights or Visiting another country. Indiahikes didn't reply to Dhananjay's mail alternatively we planned to fill online form to apply for the trek (for batch 04 Aug - 13 Aug) and did the same. Indiahikes replied asking for the previous experience of trek, walking on snow etc. I replied but again no reply even after waiting for 2 days, in between Dhananjay got approval for the same. Dhananjay suggested me other trek options but now my mind was dying for Stok Kangri so I decided to try for last time and wrote very long convincing email to Ms Shabreen (Indiahike's ground coordinator) and this time I was successful, finally she approved my entry to the Stok Kangri on 18th June. I had 3 days to transfer trek fee or else my slot would be given to other person in Queue. I informed Dhananjay and we both started planing for the trek. We decided to reach  LEH from Srinagar by road as flight from Mumbai to LEH was pretty expensive and Dhananjay had previous experience of going by road to Leh so I was not worried about that at all. But next day Dhananjay told me that his parents were not allowing him to go to trek as they were worried after watching news on TV about Uttarakhand floods. I asked him to convince them saying that we are going in August, which was still 2 months away and we will be going to different(Northern) part of the country, but he wasn't able to convince his parents till 20th June. So now my dream of climbing Stok kangri was again in jeopardy as I did not have a partner who would accompany me. Same day I was chating on WhatsApp with Santosh (my childhood friend from same building where I stay since last 20 years). After having very long chat with him while coming from office I took decision to go alone for trek as I don't wanted to loose opportunity. So next day I asked Dhananjay again to take a final call on it but it was still negative, so at afternoon I online transferred trek fee amount to Indiahikes and registered myself for the trek .

Preparation

Before I begin some basic information of Stok Kangri

Stok range

Altitude : Stok Kangri summit, 20,085 feet (6,120 mts).
Level : Difficult
Temperature
Day: 15° to 30°C. Night: 10° to 15°C. Temp at highest camp
Stok Kangri base: Day 15°C to 25°C. Night: 7° to -2°C.

Trek Itinerary

• Day 1: Arrive at Leh and rest that day.
• Day 2: Drive to Shang 12,000 ft. Acclimatization treks.
• Day 3: Trek from Shang 12,000 ft to Shang Phu 14,250 ft (5 - 6 hours, 11kms) Grade: easy
• Day 4: Shang Phu 14,250 ft to Matho Doksa 14,500 ft , via Shang Phu La 16,750 ft (6 hours, 9kms )Grade: medium - difficult
• Day 5: Matho Doksa 14,500 ft to  Gangpoche 14,550 ft via Matho La.14,850ft (3 hours, 4.6kms) Grade: easy
• Day 6: Gangpoche 14,550 ft to Stok Kangri Base Camp (16,300 ft) (7-8 hours, 11kms)Grade: medium difficult
• Day 7: Rest day at Stok Kangri Base (16,300ft) 
• Day 8: Climb Stok Kangri Summit 20,080 ft and back to Stok Kangri Base camp (16,300ft) (14 - 16 hours, 8kms) Grade: Difficult
•  Day 9: Stok Kangri Base (16,300ft) to Stok village (11,800ft) and drive back to Leh. (6 hours, 12kms) Grade: medium - easy

Attempting SK requires immense fitness & endurance. Below is a link that will give you some insight into the Fitness that is required for SK as recommended by IH.

Fitness Required

By reading above link you must be aware of level of fitness and also must be aware of word AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) which I'll be using frequently in future. 

               Now it was time to start physical preparation for the trek, I almost had 45 days to prepare myself for the trek. First thing I did that went to my gym instructor and discussed my plan with him. He advised me to some good workout to make my back and thigh muscle strong and allowed me to run 30 Mins on cardio alternate days. So my workout plan was alternate days cardio and other basic workout for back, thigh etc and other days my regular weight training for other body parts.

                I was already running 15 mins every alternate day so I just wanted to add other 15 mins to that, so 1st week I directly started with 20 mins running and after 3 weeks I was able to run non stop 30 mins by covering almost 6 Km. While doing workout other members was amazed to see me running for so long as they were not aware of my aim behind it. Within same period Farhan Akhtar's movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag released so some of my friends from gym started thinking that I might be inspired by him and may be preparing for next Standard Charted Mumbai Marathon and started teasing me on the same, I decided to keep quiet as I don't wanted to tell anyone what was my plan.

              With physical preparation I also needed to do shopping for the things which were mandatory for the trek.SK being my first High Altitude Trek I had to buy almost all things which were recommended by Indiahikes on their website under  Things To Get. 

              For comfortable trek you must get a good pair of shoes and comfortable bag pack. So on priority, I started my research for good shoes as I wanted that shoes should be well broken before trek. After a week I ended up by buying  HEAD 711 High TR shoes. And started wearing on every weekend for my local Treks which I was doing with my group (Vrangers). After buying shoes next thing that I wanted was a good rucksack and after doing research for 2 weeks I shortlisted some brands like Deuter, Wildcraft and Quechua, but was not sure which one to get as Deuter was little expensive than my budget. In between I was taking reviews from my fellow trek mates for the same. And one day while chating, Dipendra suggested me to visit DECATHLON in Thane which is nearby from my house. I went next Sunday there and came back with Quechua Symbium 70+10 and other things which were mandatory for the trek. And remaining products I ordered online from HERE.

            In between this Indiahikes shared information about my other team members those who were in same batch by sending common e-mail to all. By exchanging some e-mail I came to know that another guy name Naresh Kumar also will be reaching LEH by 3rd so we decided to meet at LEH and share Hotel room to reduce our expenses. And after our e-mail exchange one more person from Sydeny name Signe Bech also joined our discussion and decided to meet for dinner on 3rd.

                By the end of July I was ready for the trek with all things and fitness require for the trek. For testing myself, I participated in one event in Pune, it was Trek Race name Enduro3  in which we have to cover 14 hills apx 20 KM under the Mansoon rain. I successfully completed with my other 2 team mates, so now I was confident about my endurance now. As per plan I was ready to fly on 2nd Aug to Srinagar and from Srinagar to Leh by road. 

                 On 1st Aug night I was just checking my mails for last time before going and I logged on Facebook same time. After 5 mins Dhananjay sent me a message on FB which had link, when I clicked on the same it opened Facebook Indian Army page and there it was written " Srinagar-Leh highway blocked due to cloudburst in Kargil". After reading this I was tensed but at the same time I thought is it reliable source? So I expressed my doubts to Dhananjay and he sent me another link of some local news page which confirmed the same. Now again I was in the moment of uncertainity whether I should go to Srinagar or directly to Leh.

             But Mumbai Leh flight was too expensive for my budget, but while I did some workout about my via Srinagar journey I realized that my chances of reaching Leh from Srinagar via Road were dim with roads being closed. So after discussion with my parents I booked my flight from Mumbai to Leh via Delhi and cancelled my Mumbai-Srinagar flight. Now my new flight time was on 2nd Night so now I had extra time to do last minute packing so after going through so much stress I went to bed. When I got up at morning my Mom was little tensed about my return journey, she didn't want me to take a risk by allowing me to travel from Srinagar to Mumbai so she forced me to book Leh to Mumbai flight , after some arguments I booked my flight from Leh to Mumbai which was again via Delhi and cancelled my Srinagar-Mumbai flight. When I did calculations I ended up paying 14K extra than my budget for the travel but I had no choice as reaching Leh on time was more important than 14K. 

                  And finally after all this I was ready to travel tension free to Leh as now I was going directly to Leh. And I got one more advantage of it that Naresh was also taking same plane from Delhi to Leh, so we decided to meet at Delhi Airport only.At evening I did my final packing took blessing from my parents and left for the Airport. After reaching airport I realized that when I'll reach Delhi, I need to wait almost 10 Hrs for my Delhi to Leh flight as all flights for Leh were at morning and as I have done last minute booking, I had no choice to take flight which will have less connecting time. I went to a Go-Air counter for check-in, my rucksack weighed 11 Kg  I was thinking about Indihike's advice as they said on their website that rucksack shouldn't be more than 8 Kg if you want to carry yourself along the trek. I took boarding pass and proceed further, as I got same carrier for both Mumbai-Delhi and Delhi-Leh, my baggage would directly go to LEH, so less worry for me about baggage while I'll be at Delhi Airport. Flight departed 20 mins late, I reached Delhi by 12, and my Leh flight was at 8.55 AM. So I went to a information center at Airport there I came to know that as I already had a boarding pass for Delhi-Leh flight I can go directly at departures and rest more comfortably there. So I did the same, but after going in I came to know that security check gates were closed as there was no flights departing at night, so I had to wait until that gates get open. I came back at the main gate, there I saw some French (may be) guys were sleeping on floor for rest, I went there and found nearby place for me to rest , I switched on alarm of 6 AM on mobile and lie down on floor and after some time fell asleep.
                   
                    At somewhere around 5 AM I woke up as my mobile vibrated, I checked it was message from Naresh "Am at the security check at 1D". I grabbed by daypack and went to a security check. After clearing security check, I called up Naresh and we met at the shop near to the security gates. We had enough time to introduce our self to each other and discuss other things. After some discussion I came to know that Naresh previously did 2-3 treks in Himalayan range and plus he did Everest Base Camp(EBC) too, which is my next target if I do this successfully, So took basic information from him about EBC and shared my thoughts about this trek with him, as this was my first high altitude trek I was little worried about getting AMS. As per my previous plan I was going from Sringar to Leh in 2 days so there was much time for me to acclimatization  but now I was going almost 0 ft to 12000 ft height within 1 hour so no time for acclimatization and chances of getting AMS were higher. And I haven't started my Diamox dosage yet as I wanted to see that how my body reacts in high Altitude. After some discussion we went to snacks corner for breakfast and after breakfast for our flight. Flight was on time and finally we landed around 10 AM at Leh Airport. We were waiting for our baggage at Arrivals, my bag arrived 3rd in a row I collected it and told Naresh that I'll wait outside for him. While waiting for Naresh, one blonde haired-blue eyed girl came to me slowly and asked me "Are you with Indiahikes and came for Stok Kangri?" Very Surprisingly (little shocked) I replied yes to her, she introduced herself as "Signe Bech" from Sydney then I realized that this is the same girl who also exchanged mails with us about reaching LEH. She went to collect her baggage and I was thinking how did she recognized me as we haven't been in touch expect that one email which she replied to us. After few minutes Naresh came with his bag and I told him about Signe, so we both waited for her and after few minutes she came with her bags then we went outside of the Airport and took taxi to Hotel Asia where Indiahikes asked us to meet. 

                       While going to the Hotel in Taxi I asked Signe, that how she recognized me she replied she have Hot-mail which shows picture of person who replies to her and when I replied my FB profile pic (which was auto-linked) was displayed at her mailbox. I wasn't aware of this technology. After 20 mins of drive we reached Hotel Asia and went to the reception. On the reception we came to know that there are no rooms available for that day but manager Mr. S.P.Singh arranged our stay in other hotel nearby, Hotel Panaroma. So taxi

View from Hotel Room_Stok mountain range far behind

driver took our bags and dropped us at Hotel Panaroma. This Hotel was at little higher level than Hotel Asia so had a nice view from our room. Right side we can see Shanti Stupa, Far Left Leh Palace and front ahead our purpose for this visit STOK mountains range. I looked around, kept my bag beside bed and went to take a shower, In between Naresh went to a Signe's room and informed her our room no. so she can get in touch with us if she wants. I was having very little headache and my ears were blocked too, this was the preliminary effects of high altitude on my body, Naresh asked me to drink more water as much I can, I took one Disprin and went for a sleep. Both of us were so tired after long wait at Airport without proper sleep so felt asleep quickly. After 2-3 hours I heard knock on the door, I woke up and opened door and saw Signe, she asked me whether we would like to join her as she was going to take a lunch somewhere nearby. But both of us were too tired so I told her we'll go after sometime, right now we need to rest more than food. I came back to bed and slept again. 

                    Somewhere around 4-5 PM we woke up and decided to take a walk around market to eat. Now I was feeling OK, So we went out of room finally, downstairs we saw Signe was seating on a chair in hotel garden and reading a book. We went to the market to hunt some good place to eat and we found one Punjabi Dhaba (hotel name), we went in and ate till our stomach got full. We had to do one more thing after this. Indiahikes asked us to get Medical certificate signed from Doctor which declares we are physically fit for the trek and without this we won't be allowed for trek. I already took it from my family doctor but Naresh didn't have it so we were looking for a doctor nearby to get it done. After few minutes walk I saw doctor's sign board at 1st floor at nearby building so we went there, we climbed few steps to reach there and after reaching there we found our self breathing very heavily in such small climb, we realized here effect of high altitude again. Within an half an hour we were done with the certificate, while returning we took some snack from bakery to eat at night if we feel hungry. As it was already 7 PM we decided to skip our dinner as we had our lunch around 5 PM. We came to the hotel and tried to sleep again. As we already slept enough for the day we were not able sleep so soon, so we ended up watching SHREK 2 and TAKEN 2 movie on TV back to back (eating snacks in between) and after sometime we managed to sleep.

Day 1 : 04th August

                          We woke up around 10 AM, and were ready by 11 AM. Today we were supposed to meet all other members at Hotel Asia in the evening, so we decided that first we'll go to Shanti Stupa, for warm up trek and while coming back we'll go to Hotel Asia and ask manager that whether we can come there and chek-in for the day. So I went to the Signe's room and told her about our plan, she happily joined us and we left around 11.30 from hotel. After 15 mins of walk we were at the base of Shanti Stupa, saw few steps going upward to the Stupa and headed towards the top. After few steps all of us found our self

Shanti Stupa

breathing heavily, Naresh was struggling much compare to us so laid down on steps. He asked us to go ahead and said will join us after some time. So I kept my water bottle with him and Signe and  I moved ahead. After 15-20 mins of climb (2-3 stops in between) we managed to reach at the top, we saw Naresh was resting at the same place where we stopped for the first time. I checked altitude in my watch we just climbed 400-600 ft only, thought came in my mind that we are going to climb 20 times more than that in next 7 days. We took a look around Shanti Stupa and clicked some snaps of Stupa and surroundings. While waiting for Naresh to joined us, I asked Signe about her name as I was confused how to pronounce it, she told pronunciation of Signe is (C- NA ) she added, I know its different but it's like that only. After that we had small discussion on meaning of name and I explained her how we have meaning behind every name. After few minutes Naresh joined us, he also took quick visit to Stupa and clicked some snaps and we moved back. In 15-20 mins we were at base. After that we went to Hotel Asia as per our plan and asked at the reception for availability of rooms. S.P. Singh said there are rooms available today, and asked us to wait so that he can introduce another girl with whom Signe will be sharing the room. After few minutes one girl came at the reception and introduced herself to us as "Audrey Brisseau" from France. Then we introduced our self each other and went back to Hotel Panaroma to collect our luggage. We came back after 20-30 Mins with our bags and went to have Lunch nearby together. While having lunch we were discussing about our previous trek experience, by that we came to know that Audrey have done Mount Kilimanjaro. After knowing that Naresh was excited as his next plan is to visit the Mount Kilimanjaro next year. He exchanged some information with her and after lunch we came back to hotel. There we met another member name Sundeep from Andhra Pradesh. From him we came to know that we need to get Lunch Box to carry packed lunch every day. All others except me didn't bought it so we went to a Market to buy it. While leaving from hotel we met members from previous bach who just came back from the trek. From them we came to know that 9 people from their batch have made it to the summit. Finally I got some relief after hearing that news as I was tensed because this year's First 2 batches were came back without attempting summit due to bad weather. This was 3rd batch and ours was 4th. We congratulated them and moved ahead. We had to walk end of the market to buy it. 

Leh Palace

While returning Naresh and I planned to go to Leh Palace which was nearby, only thing was again we had to climb fewsteps to get there, but still we decided to go there to check any improvement in our breathing. We asked girls about joining us but they refused as they had some other things to do. So we went another way to Leh Palace. This time we went to the top with less struggle. View from Leh Palace was awesome, we clicked some snaps there and visited exhibition hall where photos of different places of Ladakh were displayed and came back at the hotel. 
We were informed that our first briefing is scheduled at 6 PM at hotel garden. At 6 PM I just peeped from our window, I saw some members already started gathering for briefing, so without any delay we rushed to a garden and sat on a chair which were already arranged for us. Our trek leader Akhil introduced himself to all of us and welcomed us on behalf of Indiahikes. After that he called out names from his list to check all are present or not, then he briefed us about all necessary information about trek. After that he asked all of us about previous experiences about trek and same time he asked who came for the first time for trek. I raised my hand (as this was my first High Altitude Trek) and looked around, I was the only one with raised hand. I explained him that I have been trekking since 4 years in Maharashtra but this will be my first High Altitude Trek. After that we had quick session of questions and answers in which Akhil cleared most of the doubts which we had. At the same time Akhil gave us the good news that we will be the lucky ones who will be using new tents and sleeping bags for the trek. Everybody delighted after hearing that news. At the end Akhil informed that we will be leaving at 9 AM from here to our first camp and ended his briefing. We were total 18 members for the trek, I'll give you quick introduction of all of them.

• Akhil : Trek Leader (Indiahikes) from Himachal.
• Shivaraman & Rajesh : from Chennai, done few treks before.
• Sundeep : from Andhra done 2-3 treks in Himalayan range, loves to go river rafting at different places (done 8 river raftings at different places)
• Varun: from Hyderabad, currently in Delhi.done few treks like Sar Pass and others. Loves to click photographs. 
• Karan, Arth, Neel, Neerav(Kenya Group) : from Kenya, summited Mount Kilimanjaro and Kenya. and all of them are of same age and the youngest(Age 18) in our team.
• Matthieu and Ellen : Couple from Netherlands, done many solo treks in Asia and other European countries.
• Rakesh, Virender, Deepak(Haryana Group): from Haryana, done few treks before. These guys have lots of endurance. Virender done few courses of mountaineering and will attempt Everest in 2014.
• Anil : from Srinagar. Done many treks in Himalayan range. Most senior (Age 40+) and experienced person in our team.
• Audrey : from France, done few treks like Mt. Killimanjaro etc.
• Signe :  from Denmark, currently living in Sydney.
• Naresh : working in Bangalore, currently in Mumbai. Done few treks before like EBC (Everest base camp), Sar pass etc and my Room/Tent mate.

I'll be using "Haryana group" for referring  Rakesh, Virender, Deepak and "Kenya group" for Karan, Arth, Nil, Neerav as most of the times they were together. And it'll be easy for me to write also. I hope they won't mind it. 

                          After briefing I went to Akhil and asked his advice about taking Diamox, he said to be on safer side I should start my dosage as this was my first trek and he gave important information about the dosage that, you should end your Diamox dosage at the same height where you started which will help you next time and you need to take your dosage after every 12 Hrs. I also asked about necessity to buy thermal inner. He told me that till the base camp you won't need but on summit day you'll definitely need it. That's the only thing I haven't purchased so now again we need to go market for my thermal inner and extra dosage of Diamox. So after providing all necessary documents and photo to Akhil for registration we again went to a market to buy thermal inner for me. We finished my purchase within half an hour and almost came back to hotel and I realized that we forgot to buy our extra dosage of Diamox. Now we were too tired to walk again to the market but no options left, so again went back to a market looking for the Medical shops, but unable to find it nearby so went to the same Doctor again where Naresh took his medical certificate. This time we went to the first floor without any struggle. We were happy to see our improvement in breathing. There we purchased our extra dosage and came back to hotel. At hotel we checked menu for the dinner, they were serving chicken curry for the dinner, so we decided to take dinner at hotel only as this will be our last non-veg meal for next 7 days as within trek we'll be getting only Veg meal. We took dinner and went back to our room, took my first tablet of Diamox and felt asleep.

Day 2 : 05th August

                         I woke up around 7-7.30 AM and was ready till 8 AM. Then went to a hotel cafeteria for breakfast. We met few other members there, all of us were ready by 8.45 AM for our departure. All of us walked few steps from Hotel to get into our bus which will transfer us to our first camp Shang Village (12000Ft). All of us were ready to move by 9, but after few minutes we came to know that few members were missing. They went to market for last minute shopping like trekking poles etc. Shiva, Rajesh and Anil came back with trekking pole after 10 mins, still 3 members from Haryana(Rakesh, Virendar & Deepak) missing. All of us waited for them 45 mins but no sign of them and didn't have any no. to contact them. After few minutes Akhil announced that we'll be moving without them to Shang village as they were unable to report on time which was advised by Akhil yesterday. All of us were little shocked after hearing that, we asked Akhil to wait for another few minutes but he said I can't wait more than that, and don't want to get other team member suffer because of them. I was thinking that "are we under one of the strict leader? who wants his team to be punctual or he just wants to set example to educate others about punctuality". But within a minute our bus actually started moving, Akhil said to us if they want to join they will come by taxi to Village Shang. Our bus took few turns and after that I saw some familiar faces from window, (yes they were same guys going opposite direction who were missing but was not sure as I just saw them for few minutes earlier evening and no conversation happened between us so it was hard for me to remember their face). I quickly alarmed Akhil as he was sitting just front of my seat. He asked driver to stop the bus and went for them. Few minutes after Akhil returned with news that they are coming with us, they were completely not aware of the timing so they were having their breakfast and doing other things. After 10 mins they came back with their bags. They apologized to all of us for delay and went for their seat. Finally our whole team moved towards our first camp happily. 

Our tents at Shang

Today we met our 3 other Local guides who will be with us for the next trek. First Nawang from Leh itself (expedition leader), Second Gajendra(Gajji) from Himachal and third Mahavir from Uttarakhand. On the way to Shang , we visited Shey Palace and Thiksey Monastery for our acclimatization treks which were already scheduled in our itinerary. At around 1.30 we reached our first camp Shang Village (12000 Ft). Our new tents were already set up by the portes who already arrived before us. There were total 7 tents for 18 of us.
 As per Indiahikes one tent should be share by 3 people. Kenya group decided to stay in one tent so some of us got benefited and tents were shared as per below.
First tent : Matthieu & Allen, Second : Audrey & Signe , Third : Anil, Rajesh & Shiva; Fourth: Varun & Sundeep, Fifth: Rakesh, Virender & Deepak, Sixth : Naresh & Myself and  Seventh: Karan, Arth , Neel , Neerav.

Our camp at night_Clicked by Varun

We asked Kenya group to keep their luggage in our tent as 4 of them sharing one tent, but they already kept their some luggage in Varun & Sundeep's tent. We had a very delicious lunch around 2 PM. This was our first lunch within a trek. I did not expect such a delicious meal (Rasgullas in sweet dish etc) on a trek. I ate till my stomach got full and went to a tent. There I saw our new sleeping bags were kept already, I quickly opened it, sleeping bags were also of same brand and material of our tents, I got into my sleeping bag and I heard that some members were planning to go for a visit nearby monastery which we saw while coming to our camp. I was too tired to go after eating so much and Naresh also decided to stay as he was avoiding stress on his knee which was troubling him before the trek. So except both of us, all went for it. All of them came back after apx 1 hour, after that we had our tea with delicious onion pakoda's. We spent rest of the time introducing our self to other members. Today we spent whole day in adapting our self in new world for next few days. At night after dinner Varun clicked some snaps of stars and our tents.

Day 3 : 06th August

Ready with apx 12-13 kg
on back

                    We started our first trek to our next camp " Shang Phu" after breakfast, with packed lunch in our bag. Some rucksacks were loaded on back of Horses/Mules who did not wanted to carry the load on their back.I asked Naresh to click my snap with bag as I wanted it for my record. I decided that at least I'll try for first 2 days to carry my rucksack, after that I'll take decision about it. At start Akhil advised us to walk in Queue but almost everybody refused to do it as everyone wanted to walk at their own pace and don't wanted to be like kid who came for a school picnic. We started our trek after Varun clicked our first group photo. Nawang was leading the trek. Today we were supposed to trek for 5-6 Hrs as per plan with lunch in between.But all of us were too fast than expected and we reached our lunch spot almost 1-2 hr before, even porters with their mules didn't crossed us.

Nawang helping members
to cross stream

So we waited for a while apx 1Hr and started again. We reached our next camp Shang Phu( Phu means Valley) after 4 Hr trek total crossing small streams in between.

Between us Shiva had tough time while reaching, I heard from someone that he vomited in between. At camp Akhil gave us tent to pitch it up our self on our request. All of us were excited to do it. Naresh and I pitched our tent with the help of Gajji's instructions after considering view and all.

View from our tent @ Camp2

After some time we had a company of Spanish group beside our camp who were also going to summit Stok. Then sleeping bags were also distributed  according to no. which were marked at previous camp. We ate our packed lunch in our tent and rested for a while. Shiva still having tough time even after taking medicine which Akhil advised him, So Akhil asked him to go for acclimatization trek nearby. I was also having slight headache so I also joined him and after me some others also joined. So Akhil decided to come with us. We trekked for a while, and after crossing a small hill Shiva, Sundeep, Rajesh and Naresh decided to stop as they were exhausted. So with Akhil, Varun and Anil, I went ahead. At top I checked altitude in my watch, we came apx 1000 ft above our camp. (At first camp itself, my watch started giving different altitude readings than which was recorded earlier by locals/experts, so I was using it to measure altitude difference only).

Camp 2 @ Shang phu Spanish group tents beside

We spent 15 mins at top and returned back to our camp. After some time I walked up to a mess tent for a tea, there I saw some members were playing cards, they asked me to join but I decided to watch them only as I was not fully aware of the game rules (Bluff) which they were playing. After that we had a soup followed by dinner and went for a sleep. Tomorrow we are supposed to trek apx 9Hrs as Akhil had already informed us previously that he'll be changing plan slightly as earlier he found that groups were reaching very easily on day 5, so he combined our day 4 and day 5 together. So now we'll be going Shang phu to Gangpoche (apx 14 Kms, 9Hrs) in one day. So all of us were mentally prepared for the tough day ahead. 

Day 4 : 07th August

                   Today I woke up after one of the porter came to our tent for serving tea. Had my first bed(sleeping bag)-tea on trek. While breakfast we came to know that Shiva is turning back as he was still not feeling well and don't wanted to continue. I had very heavy breakfast of Rajma-Puri as I knew that today will be very long day and previous day I experienced that packed lunch is not enough for me. Shiva left with Gajji after wishing us best luck and we

Reaching Shang phu la 16750ft

started our trek after breakfast. We trekked apx for 2-3Hrs and reached highest pass "Shang phu la" 16750ft (la means pass). I was exhausted till I reached there, so I took some electrode water and rested till others joined us. Sundeep and Rajesh were struggling a bit due to dehydration and Naresh was purposely moving to avoid knee pain. Akhil went ahead to block space for our next camp as Spanish group already overtook us in between. Now we have to take very long descend, and I always go slow while descending so left early while some members were still resting. I had tough time while getting down, as I got strain on my thighs. I stopped for a while and started moving again. After 1 hr we reached our Lunch point "Matho Doksa" which was earlier supposed to be our next camp. We ate our packed lunch there and rested a while. Varun and I filled water bottles from nearby flowing stream but Mahavir and Nawang advised us not to drink unless you really need it as it was not boiled and its hard to digest for our body. (We were using boiled water for drinking within a trek provided by the kitchen staff). We rested almost for an hour and started again.After crossing some hills we reached "Matho la"(14850ft) from where our next camp was visible downwards.

But we saw Spanish grp already occupied the space so Nawang informed us that we'll be camping little ahead, so we have to walk apx 45mins extra now. While we reached Matho la, it started drizzling. I took out my poncho and also covered my bag with rain cover, but within few minutes it stopped and we saw rainbow in sky. Some of us clicked snaps and continued our descend. After 2 hrs we about to reach at "Gangpoche" (14550ft) and and we saw Akhil coming towards us. After almost 7-8 hrs we saw him, he confirmed that we'll be camping 45 mins ahead from this camp as space is already occupied and water was also not so clean. So again we started walking, that last walk tested our patience. Everybody was too tired to walk as we already been walking since last 8-9 Hrs. As theory of Relativity came into play, this extra hour I felt like a day to me, but finally reached at our camp. Porters also reached just before us, so they were busy in pitching kitchen and mess tent. As soon as we reached it started drizzling again, so everybody was in hurry to pitch the tent as dont wanted to get wet. Naresh had not yet arrived so Mahavir helped me for the pitching the tent just before it started raining.  After some time Naresh, Sundeep, Rajesh arrived with Akhil. Sundeep and Rajesh was down due to dehydration or may be due to AMS. We rested a while in tent due to enormous walking we were so tired and my legs were also paining. So I spent more time in tent till dinner. After dinner all were seating in mess tent as it was cold outside, discussing and singing songs randomly. Then  Varun suggested that everybody will sing at least one song in any language. We enjoyed that session as most of us were shy to sing or not able to remember full song. After everybody's turn Nawang sang one Ladakhi song. None of us understood a single word but it was soothing to hear that. After him Mahavir sang few lines in his local language which were funny, while laughing we explained meaning to those who didn't understood the same. After that we sang for dew minutes and went back to our tent.

                      At the end I can say "This was the day when I understood the importance of Trekking pole and Water bladder in trekking". I thanked who discovered these and went in my sleeping bag and felt asleep quickly.

Day 5: 08th August

                      Compare to yesterday it was relief for us as today we were suppose to trek only for 3 Hrs maximum. Our next camp was at Mankarmo as per our new itinerary. It took 3.5 Hrs to reach our next camp after crossing Mathola in between. We experienced hailstorm in between. I liked our next camp, It was very close to to the water source and also view was excellent. There was tent "Mitra cafe" in which they were selling Lays, cold-drinks and other eatables at almost double-triple rates.

Our tent @ Mankarmo
(sleeping bag on tent to dry)

 But it was good to have some chips and other We ate our packed lunch in our tent with Anil, Varun and Sundeep. After some time we heard some noise of screaming, I went out of tent I saw Haryana grp were taking a bath in flowing stream nearby, and were screaming as water was too cold coming directly from the glacier. After watching them I also wanted to join them but couldn't dare to go as water was too cold and to be on safer side, I don't wanted to get sick before summit day. So I dropped the plan. Sundeep was down due to dehydration and he decided to quit as he was not enjoing his trek at all, some of us tried to cheer him up but he made his decision and was firm on it. Around 4-5 I came to know from Varun that Haryana grp, and Akhil is going for a climb to hill nearby. So I asked them to wait for them as I also wanted to join them. I quickly grabbed my daypack, kept water bottle and torch in that and rushed to them. Till then they went little ahead, so Varun and I went behind them on same track. Mahavir also joined us and went ahead. After few steps I saw rock patch which Akhil was climbing, I was to tempted to climb it as after so many days I saw this kind of patch.( In Maharashtra we frequently get this kind of rock patch on mountains as climb is always stiff , but here we were trailing more than climbing). When I reached there, Akhil asked me "Have you done rock climbing before"? I replied yes, but asked him are there any loose rocks as I knew here most of the places we get to see loose rocks which makes climbing difficult. He said "can't assure you that, the same rock will hold your weight or not on which I came up", then I carefully took a look around rocks, I found it unsafe, so again on safer side and don't wanted to get injured before summit day I took other way. Varun joined me from behind. We struggled there little but managed to go up where others were waiting for us. After taking break for 5 mins we moved further and reached at top after 30 mins. View from here was awesome but unfortunately none of us brought camera as we didn't expected. We could see Leh city, Gulab Kangri and Karakoram range. We enjoyed view for 15-20 minutes and started descending as it was too windy and Sun is about to set off. And we wanted to get down before it gets dark. Akhil told us that he already saw different route which is easier to descend so we followed him. 

                        This route was actually a slope with loads of dust without any rocks to grip on. I was struggling a bit to catch up with others speed, as I was descending by keeping my legs little cross which I always do, but no rock to grip so I was unable to balance myself and my speed decreased. Akhil advised me new technique but I was unable to catch up and was loosing my confidence to grip on. Finally Akhil asked me to hold his hand and asked me to hold Varun's hand as Varun was behind me. And he started descending literally sliding on sand and both of us did the same. After few minutes I was comfortable with this technique and started enjoying my descend. We reached within 15 mins at base with a memory of beautiful view which we saw at top and off course my memorable descend. After reaching camp I thanked Akhil for such a nice experience and rushed to the mess tent as others were already there for dinner. While having dinner we shared our experience with others and after dinner quickly went to a tent as it was cold outside.

Day 6: 9th August

Base camp top view

                        Today we will be moving towards last camp i.e base camp, So everyone was excited. But another member from our team was leaving due to health issues. Rajesh was also not feeling well but he decided that at least he'll come to the base camp and take his call. After breakfast we moved towards base camp, Sundeep went down to Stok village with porter arranged by Akhil. Today purposely Akhil kept Rajesh in front and asked  everyone to walk in a queue. So everyone was moving at Rajesh's pace so this time no one was left behind. And we reached our base camp apx 2-3 hrs very comfortably. As soon as we reached, base camp welcomed us with rain. We pitched our tent while it drizzled for few minutes. I got wet while pitching our tent so got little cold. After some time we had our lunch at mess tent. Akhil advised us to go for a warm up trek nearby at evening and also warned us not to to tomorrow morning for any long trek as we  are supposed to take rest for our final climb at night. So around 3-4pm we went for a trek on nearby hill which was our first stop while summit climb as informed by Akhil. We reached at top in apx 30 mins, while going we met one Indian girl who was coming from her summit attempt. We asked her about attempt  and congratulated her for her success and continued. We realized that people are actually taking 12-15 Hrs for attempt as mentioned in our itinerary. At top others went further while with Varun and Deepak, I decided to wait there for some time for acclimatization. Leh city was visible from that point. We clicked few snaps of our camp from there and returned back as it was too windy there. We came back in 10-15 mins at base camp and had our soup/tea served at mess tent. We spent rest time discussing our plan for next day. I was suffering through running nose since afternoon when we reached base camp, So I took one tablet of Paracetamol with my regular dosage of Diamox and went back to sleep. 

Day 7 & 8 : 10th & 11th August


                          Whole night I had tough time due to runny nose, at morning while washing my face I was cleaning my nose. I saw some amount of blood through my nose but was not sure as It got washed away quickly by water while washing my face. I was little tensed after that, but decided not to tell anyone as I knew that for my safety they might not allow me to go for summit climb. I know I was taking big risk, but was not sure that it was blood or not so kept quiet. 

                      At breakfast Akhil and Nawang, distributed Crampons and Helmets for summit climb and explained how and when to use it. Akhil also asked us the time to start for summit climb, because as per the itinerary it was long day taking apx 12-15 hrs of trek, So after some discussion we decided to start at 11 PM as some of us were interested to catch sunrise at top. Our plan was to start at 11, reach top by 5-6 AM(depending upon individuals speed) and start our descend and reach base camp by 10AM-12PM. Akhil also told us that at start we'll be walking together as team till we cross glacier and after that they will make 3 groups depending upon pace. 

                         At breakfast with Varun and Naresh, I decided to go to hill nearby where we will get mobile network after a week, so that we can call and inform our status to dear ones. After breakfast Rajesh left with the other group to Stok village as decided. We tried to convince him for attempt but he said "I came so far to the base camp, this is big achievement for me and I dont want to push myself further". So waived him good-bye and he wished us best luck for the attempt and left. After breakfast we went to that place, after a week we got mobile network. I called my mother and informed her that I am safe here and might go for summit attempt tonight and promised her to call again when I reach Leh city. After Varun and Naresh called up their home we decided to go further for a trek. Naresh asked us to go ahead as he wanted to call some others. So with Varun, I moved further. After 15-20 mins we reached at the location where we decided to go, but there Varun wanted to go up to see view from there. I decided to turn back as I don't wanted to stress myself. Today our lunch time was early as decided by Akhil already, so ate our lunch and we were advised to take rest. All of us were little worried about our summit attempt as it was windy at the afternoon. I came back to tent and force myself for a sleep.After 1-2hr Naresh woke me up saying  "dude, just open your eyes and see". I opened my eyes and saw our tent was shaking heavily due to extreme windy weather. Naresh added, he is been watching since past half an hour but no improvement. I just peeped out of tent, it was too cloudy and cold outside. I was again tensed about our attempt as first two batches were not able to attempt due to bad weather even after using buffer day. I again went into my sleeping bag and went back to sleep. Around 6.30pm we were called for the dinner, I woke up and went to mess tent. Everybody was discussing about weather conditions and our summit attempt. While having our dinner, it started drizzling again. I felt that we might have to use our buffer day if weather condition remains same, then I saw Nawang passing by so I asked him that if this situation remains same will we attempt it or not, he peacefully said " सर अभी 3 -4 घन्टा है, चिंता मत करो हो जायेगा ठीक, (Sir, we still have 2-3 hrs,dont worry weather will improve). I muttered myself that how it's possible and came back to tent, packed my daypack to carry for the summit attempt and again forced myself into sleeping bag for rest. At around 10.30 PM, I woke up and quickly peeped out of tent, It was miracle, Sky was clear and some stars were visible, what Nawang said it actually happened. Some members were already ready with their belongings for summit attempt. I came back to 

Ready to move with Helmets and Headlamp on

tent after filling my water bottle and wore 5 layers of clothing (1st Thermal inner  on that 3 t-shirts, then fleece jacket and finally over that thick windproof/waterproof jacket, then two layer of socks[woolen/cotton]) and was ready to face the cold weather over 20000 ft within 15mins. I went to a mess tent where everyone was standing. Within next 15-20 minutes all members gathered  Everyone put their helmets with headlights on that and were ready to move. Akhil introduced us to our other two guides, Tenzing and Dawa, so now total 5 guides with us. Nawang, Akhil , Mahavir, Tenzing and Dawa. When we started there were 18 of us, and now for summit attempt 15 of us after exit of Shiva, Sundeep and Rajesh. I was glad that, being my first trek I made it till here and now little worried(after moring incedence while washing my face) and much excited for final push.

Summit Attempt

                       At exact 11.15 PM , Akhil took final count and we started our trek in a queue. After walking for 30 mins we reached our first stop where we had trekked the previous day. Naresh came to me and said "dude I am exhausted, I don't think I can continue". I was shocked to hear that but quickly suggested him to inform Akhil. Akhil took him in front behind Signe. Till reaching base camp,now Akhil aware of the every body's pace. Haryana & Kenya group, Matthieu,Ellen, Varun and I was in quicker group. Signe, Audrey and Anil were medium pacers and Naresh was little slow between us. So Akhil already advised us to get behind and took Signe in front so that no one lefts behind and everybody moves together.Varun was walking ahead of me, he didn't have head torch so was using

my head-torch light. After some time Matthieu told Akhil that he is not feeling well and don't know exactly what's happening to him but don't want to continue further. All of us little shocked to hear that, but he made his decision already So Akhil asked Dawa to accompany him till base camp and he left. After this incident I was tensed again about my health as due to cold I was suffering through runny nose. We continued our walk for next 2 hrs through rocky path then we reached at the glacier. We have been advised to walk on exactly same path which Nawang was going. After crossing glacier we stopped for a break. I tried to sip water from my water bladder, but it was ice cold, So I took only one sip from it. I felt my toes are too cold, so I checked my shoes as I thought some water must have entered in my shoes through bottom, but it was ok, So I asked told Akhil about it. He said when you'll walk it  will be ok. Then Signe announced that, she don't want to be in front as she found it very stressful. So now Akhil asked Naresh to come in front and all of us started again. Naresh was walking slow, Haryana group already went ahead with Nawang when we stopped for second time. I started feeling cold as now we were walking little slow, so after few minutes I asked Akhil that my body is getting cold due to slow walk, can I go ahead, Akhil said yes now you can go as we crossed glacier. So I moved ahead of Naresh, Kenya group also joined me. So now Haryana group was in front with Nawang and Tenzing, after that Varun, then me and after me Kenya group. We quickly covered much distance now group ahead of us was visible to us. Varun stopped in between to sip water, I told him that I'll continue slowly as I don't wanted get my body cold again.

So I continued further by following head torch lights. After few minutes I was closer to the group which was ahead. Then I heard Varun's voice calling for Nawang, so I looked back and tried to figure out from where voice was coming. I saw Varun was way behind with Anil. And they were unable to find the trail to come up. Varun asked Nawang about the route, but in dark it was impossible to guide them, So Nawang asked them to wait till Akhil comes from behind with other group and we continued our journey. My toes were still cold and started paining slightly, but I ignored it and continued my walk with wiping my nose every minute due to cold. At around 5 AM it was dawn, so I switched off my head torch. Till now we manage to reach near final checkpoint from where actually stiff climb was about to start. Now Ellen also joined us, Nawang asked me to get her in front as he thought she might need help for stiff climb. We continued for few minutes and after that Nawang asked us to wear Crampons. I struggled a bit while wearing it but managed to do it. While wearing it, I saw something fail (white colour) on my jacket, when I took closely look at it I realize that it was actually a snowflake. Till that time, I saw snowflakes only in cartoons on TV, but this was the first time I was watching it live and feeling it. It continued for few minutes, till I crossed one cliff.

Sunrise from 20000 ft above

He was few feet down. I yelled at him and told him about it and I quickly removed my gloves to click photo. Within a minute, my hand was almost frozen due to cold temperature(may be -5) outside, so I clicked only one photograph and wore my gloves again and continued. Now all of us were moving very slowly as due to thin air (oxygen 40% less than normal) we were unable to walk at one stretch. I was taking rest (while standing not more than a minute as advised by Akhil earlier) after every 25 steps. After continuing with same technique I reached at last patch, now I was resting after every 15 steps. Within few minutes I reached at last turn from where I actually saw payer flags at the top. Haryana group and Ellen were already at the top, Tenzing called me and said "Sir, few steps more, come on don't stop now", but I was still not able to continue without resting  so rested for while and moved further. Now there was little snowfall at the top. I took apx 15 mins to cover few feet at this height.

@ Prayer Flags

                          And at around 6.15 AM I was at the top (20086ft) with the full of satisfaction, joy and excitement  that finally I made it, after hardworking for almost 2 months on physical preparation I could achieve this without any problem. I really don't have words to explain this feeling, it can only be experienced not to be explained. At top Haryana group were busy with clicking pictures with Indian Flag in thier hand, there was one couple also clicking pictures so I waited for a while to get space to click my photo which I wanted at any cost. While waiting, Nawang was continuously prompting me to get down, saying "सर जल्दी निचे जाओ , ऐसे मौसम में ज्यादा देर रुकोगे तो बीमार हो जाओगे" (Sir, get down as early as possible, due to weather(snow fall) you'll get sick). I ignored him, and asked Rakesh to click my photo at prayer flags, till then others finished clicking their pictures at place where I wanted to click, I quickly rushed there and somehow convinced Nawang to click my photo as everyone else was busy with clicking their's. Nawang clicked one photo, after having a look at it he honestly said to me that my face is not visible and clicked second with closer look. He again advised me to get down, but I wanted to stay for more as I wanted to enjoy my success. Now Kenya group joined us, they were busy with clicking their pictures with Kenya flag. I went further, took a look around, view from there was amazing, saw many mountain ranges around and I was standing one of the top mountain in that range, felt like I am top of the world.

Photo's clicked by Nawang at
Summit (20086ft)

I closed my eyes took long breath, but after that I was totally shaken, because when I took a long breath I felt smear of blood in it. And it reminded the incident at base camp when I was cleaning my nose. I was totally afraid at that time, with the fear of my nose will start bleeding at any time, I quickly rushed to get down, and came down almost 100 ft in few minutes and waited for others to come. May be all this was in my mind but don't wanted to take chance as I already reached summit successfully and after doing all this without any problem wanted to get down healthy. After few minutes Nawang and others came there and we started our descend. I don't know why but Nawang was still in a hurry, he started descending very fast with others, as I mentioned earlier I always descend carefully and slowly, So I was finding hard to catch up with their speed. We continued till the cliff were stiff climb actually started while coming, on the way we met all our fellow team mates going up who were  little behind us. After apx 15-20 minutes of descend, I wanted to stop for a while and was hungry too, So Nawang asked us to eat packed meal which we carried, but I guess expect me no one was much hungry, so I quickly ate one Snickers bar and some Dates which I carried in my daypack and asked Nawang to move. After continuing for almost an hour, I realized that my toes were slipping inside shoes and were hitting at front which started paining now. Now I started getting down more slowly, after continuing with same speed for some time I found that, I was way behind the others. At one point I had to stop as I couldn't bear the pain in my toes and till now my knees also started to pain as we are descending continuously since past 2-3 Hrs. I took rest for a while and continued again. Nawang and others were waiting for me at the glacier which we crossed at night. It was hard for me to believe that, while going we climbed this much as in dark nothing was visible in head torch light except few feet from where we were walking. Few minutes after, I came to the glacier

Glacier which we crossed on the way

where others waiting. Nawang started again as soon as I reached there, I needed rest at that point due to pain but I had no option because it was risk to cross glacier alone. So I followed them with same technique which we used while coming up. After crossing glacier, finally Nawang asked us to rest for a while. Now I knew the path is easy with less descend, So I told Nawang that now I'll come at my own speed as there is no risk involved. He said if we continue walks for another one hour we'll reach the base camp, after hearing this everybody was ready to go, as everyone wanted to get down as early as possible and rest peacefully in tent. Everybody started walking again, I was still walking slowly as my knees and toes were still hurting badly.  Again after some time, I found myself way behind others, but now I continued walking at my space only as I knew the path. After strenuous walking for an hour I came to the point where we took our first stop while coming. Now finally our base camp was visible, I was so relived after watching those yellow tents from there. I decided to rest there for a while before that final descend. I saw my other team members who already started their descend. I waited there for 10 mins and started again. Earlier that day when we came here for acclimatization it took 10 minutes to get down from here to base camp, but now I took almost 25 minutes to get down. But finally after almost 11 hours of trek I was back to base camp again. I was walking very slowly towards my tent, on the way I met Matthieu and Ellen at their tent, Matthieu commented "dead man walking?" I said, if I would have continued 30 mins more, I would be definitely dead and laughed, then I asked him about his health, he said it's fine now. He said he was fine as soon as he came down, he added it must be because we were walking slow and his body must have got cold at that pace.

Cake made by cooks after Summit

After talking for a minute, I came to my tent. First thing I did was to get out of my shoes and check the condition of my toes. There was nothing to worry, then I zipped down my tent and removed all my 5 layers of clothing as it was too hot to wear those at base camp. I relaxed for few minutes, changed my clothes and ate my packed lunch and lie down for rest and quickly fell asleep. After almost 2 Hrs, others came back. I came out of my tent, congratulated everyone, everyone was happy that 14 out of 18 made to the Stok Kangri summit.  Akhil said ours is one of the successful batch till date. At evening while having a tea, we celebrated our success by cutting cake made by our cook. Everyone was surprised to see the cake as no one expected this. It was delicious, I liked the top layer more. After that we came out of the mess tent, and called everyone including porters and cooks for our group photograph. 

From left Signe, Neerav, Neel, Arth, Audrey, Hemesh, Naresh,Porter(in red) Ellen(in red front), Anil(in blue), Rakesh, Deepak, Matthieu(in red), Nawang(purple jacket), Virender, Akhil, Varun. And seating from left Karan, Mahavir, Deepak(cook), Dawa, Tenzing, Porter

Day 9: 12th August

Branding our Bags

                 Today we started after breakfast around 9 AM. For the first time everybodywas moving with their own ease as there was not as such target other than getting down to Stok Village. After walking continuously for one and half hour we reached our earlier camp atMankarmo. There we took small break and had lemon tea at Mitra Cafe. For fun. with Audrey,I clicked few photographs here with our bag as both of us carrying same brand bag. Then we continued till we reach our lunch point. We ate our packed lunch there and continued. It took almost 6 hours to reach Stok village. Our bus was already waiting for us, we waited for a while till everybody came and departed to Leh with bunch of wonderful memories which were priceless. We reached hotel by 3 PM. Akhil adviced us to report at 6 PM for certificate distribution and feedback. I took hot shower bath for 30 mins. Felt really refreshed as I took it after 8 days, Then rested for a while and reported for our feedback and certificate distribution. Sundeep also joined us. Akhil distributed certificate as per the list and everyone gave their feedback while taking it. Then again we clicked group photograph with our certificate.

The Summiteers

                   Then we planned for a dinner and asked Akhil also to joined us. Around 8 PM all of us went for a dinner, and I ate till my stomach got full as I was eating non-veg after a week. While having dinner Sundeep told us that next day he is going for river rafting on Zanskar River, earlier our plan was to go Pangong lake but now we have to wait for one more day as we didn't have permit for the same. So instead of wasting our day, Naresh and Me decided to join Sundeep for rafting. After spending some time, we left early from there as we need to get up early next day for rafting. We came back to hotel, I took my last Diamox tablet to complete my course and got into the bed. 

                   After our Trek I went for sight seeing around LEH. Next day with Naresh and Sundeep, I went for Zanskar river rafting. It was thrilling experience. Second day with Kenya group, Naresh and Varun, visited world's famous Pangong Lake via Chang La (World's third highest motorable pass 17800 Ft) and on third day with Varun went for a bike trip to World's Highest motorable pass-Khardung La(18380 Ft). Our bike trip to Khardungla was most memorable and thrilling, I can write another blog on that too. (Will write some other day). And after spending one more extra day in Leh as my flight got cancelled due to bad weather, I came back Mumbai on 18th August.

You can view full set of pics HERE.

After this entire experience, I can only say......

Trekking is an addiction, The higher you go, The more you get addicted to it.

ट्रेकिंग एक नशा है , तुम जितने  ऊंचाई पे जाओ , उतना वो ज्यादा चढता है।