Crossing a water stream
More than a month after the trek, it occurred to me that I didn’t blog about the experience. Bharani is working on the travelogue; so let me list a quick, top 10 noteworthy points (in random order) from the trek – The Reality Check.
- Ease of the trek: Many sources we checked with indicated that this is a very easy trek. This list includes a few websites [of the companies] that organize treks, few people who have been on treks before, etc. Either we were too excited to listen to, or may be we were never told so, but the truth is: it’s not an easy trek. Well, easiest of all the treks in The Himalayas, but not an easy one in general.
There were more than few instances when we were thankful that the initially planned 12+ group didn’t make it. For the three of us who could make it, our ego was our strength (Shiva- Well said!). If you have to do it, what other options do you have, other than doing it?? Unless you have that passion for adventure, there are fair chances that you will get pissed off and be mad at everything and everyone around!
If somebody is keeping score: You need prior experience to enjoy this trek. It’s not a cake walk. It’s rock walk!
- Trek essentials (What to carry?): I was a fool and I took more stuff than necessary; I thought that’s one way to boost my self-confidence and feel that nothing can go wrong. However, the principle here is – the lighter the better. We were told that the backpack should be around 7 kgs (or less). Mine was more than 10 kgs and it was on my shoulders for 5 days through plains, rocks, boulders, steep ascents, slippery descents, water streams etc.
Clothes- 2 full sleeve T-shirts, 2 tracks (at least 1 synthetic), 1 winter jacket (cold) and 1 wind-cheater (rain), and few pairs of inner-wear is enough. Not mandatory, but if this will be your first time in low temperatures, grab a pair of thermal inners, like I did.
Accessories – Trekking shoes (Woodland worked awesome for me), 2 pairs of socks, sun glasses with 100% UV protection, a sun cap, a woollen cap (or a skull cap/ bandana), 2 bottles for water and an LED torch (preferably with a head band to keep your hands free).
Toiletries – Tooth paste, tooth brush, sun screen, wet wipes/ tissue papers, toilet paper, ear buds, mouth wash, etc. Get as small packets as possible to reduce weight. If they can last for 1 week, you have more than enough.
Medical kit – Your regular medicines should be fine (Crocin, brufen, gauge/ bandage cloth, band-aids, Dettol/ Savlon, cotton, etc). I just needed 2-3 combiflam tablets all throughout. Teams that organize the trips typically carry the AMS specific medication.
Finally, a supportive rucksack/ backpack (60 ltrs.) to hold all this stuff, and a poncho (rain cover) for it.
- Temperature: This was my first time below 9 °C (or whatever was minimum in Hyderabad in the last 10 or so years). I guess the least we had on the trek was at night, at the campsite after Day 4 trek. It was 4°C. Just to be safe and more comfortable, I wore the thermal inners just that night, but my buddies were all normal. So, depending on how much cold temperatures you’ve survived before, this could be a big deal, or nothing to you.
Days were usually hot. So, just a T-shirt and tracks will work fine. However, sun glasses and cap are mandatory. Sun screen also is recommended (we used it too).
- Sleeping bag: This was my first time experience with many things. Camping was the major one, and sleeping bag was the next biggest. After Day 1, I was very uncomfortable that night in the bag and was tossing and turning (at least, trying to toss and turn) until morning. Damn, you can’t even fold your legs properly! Anyways, the adrenaline kept us going the next day even with less sleep. Also, the trekking company we hired, Trek The Himalayas provided us the tents and sleeping bags.
By day 4, I mastered the art of sleeping in the bag and was a pro! Full sound sleep.
- Nature calls:This was one of the most uncomfortable aspects on our mind. Been out in the open hundreds of times and it’s inevitable when you travel a lot, or take long road trips. But we always carry water and that’s good. However, we were told we need to use toilet paper on the trek and water would not be available. I’ve used toilet paper a few times in the past and I was not happy about it.
The truth is- our trek was along the water stream all through. Now it makes sense, and it didn’t occur before the trek to us, but we do need water to drink, to cook and to wash the dishes/ plates etc. Carrying that much water is practically insane. So, all our camping sites will of course be near a stream. I can’t express how comfortable it made me feel when we realized we had water!
Our trekking company pitched ‘toilet tents’ at every camp site. So, in plain terms, a small tent for privacy, inside which, a deep hole is dug. Every time anyone uses the ‘toilet’, you ‘flush’ it (or cover it up) with the loose mud available from digging the hole and it’s ready for the next one.
We preferred out in the open. It might mean, sometime or the other, exposing your ass to a big patch of ice
, but the comfort of having water and not having to use the toilet paper takes higher precedence. Of the two bottles I recommended, 1 is for drinking water and 2 is for this. We also always promptly filled the bottles after use and carried it in the back pack.
- Water: As we are appreciating the availability of water, let’s talk a little more. True that water is available and it made us very happy; but the fact is, it’s terribly cold. The worst I felt all through the trek was when I had to wash the plates! Be it breakfast or dinner, food consumption was quick as it’s served hot. But the moment we touch water to wash the plates/ glasses, we lost our hands. We have to look at the utensils and clean them as feeling will be gone in 2 secs. Afternoons were little better. Sometimes, it was even packed lunch; so a quick bite, throw packing in garbage and quick hand dip in water was not bad.
We did ask our trek leaders why we were asked to wash plates when we even had assistance. We did have a couple of them to take care of all the cooking, tent materials, horses and stuff. They told us calmly on the last day: “This is one of the things which you will remember for a long time about this trek.” Yeah, I will!
Morning face wash was real quick too! Brushing wasn’t an issue but if you want to spill water on your face, you better be ready with a towel in the other hand. When we delayed the towel-wipe for more than 3-4 seconds, we needed more than couple of minutes to reclaim our face skin sense. Not very pleasant I say! Also, one of the questions we had before we started the trek was about taking shower. After we touched the water the first time, hell with shower, we didn’t even want to eat; because that again means washing hands/ plates/ glasses!
- Alcohol and smoking: Strictly not advisable. We had a few in our group who had a good time every night, but that’s a very risky business at high altitudes! Am glad that none in our group had any AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) or similar complications on our trek, but we did hear from our leaders, very fatal stories of incidents that took place on their previous treks.
According to their flashback, some were carried back to the previous day’s altitude, and one person died apparently of AMS. As you know, freakin’ AMS has no medical way of knowing beforehand if anyone can possibly suffer from the condition. And there is nothing that can be done after it happens, other than getting back to previous day’s altitude and waiting there for things to get normal. And, alcohol/ smoking reduces the oxygen processing capacity of the body and can lead to AMS. Very very risky business where emergency means, people carrying you on their shoulders for a day or two to get to the nearest clinic/ medical center!
- Keep walking: Saying no to alcohol and thinking of Johnny Walker doesn’t seem right? Well, that’s what is most of the trek; keep walkin’! Terrain was different for sure; plains, small rocks, boulders (toughest), water streams (coldest), loose mud at the descent time (scary!), etc. However, best way to get going is just to keep walking.
We kinda learnt a few tips along the way. Drinking water is of course the first. Keep sipping water every now and then. Target was to have 3-5 liters of water everyday. It was cold and I barely touched water during the night, so was taking bigger sips during the day to keep up with the requirement.
Maintaining steady pace was another trick. Find a buddy or two with your pace and just keep walking. Trek leaders would take care of the rest of the herd, and it was mostly us ahead; Bharani, Shiva and I together. We found that slow pace, but steady pace was better than the fast run-and-take-rest pace. Syncing breathing with foot steps was pretty helpful too; left right left right with in out in out/ out in out in.
- Photography: As Chase Jarvis says, “The Best Camera is the One That’s With You“. For me, the primary camera for the trek was my iPhone 4. It worked great and am pretty happy with pictures. However, as there wasn’t any recharging provision (or phone signal, for that matter), the battery was dead at the end of Day 3. Then came out an SLR, my secondary camera.
SLR might any day be a better camera than the one in-built in a phone, if you know how to put it to good use. However, with a decent piece like an iPhone, I won’t miss SLR much. Images are clean, sharp and colors are good. If I had an option to recharge the iPhone battery, I would have not carried an SLR. I learnt just a day before we started that there are solar chargers for iPhone. Not the 7 day warranty ones on eBay but real authentic branded ones on Amazon. Have to shop for one for future use. That could have saved SLR’s weight on my back!
But again, there were moments when we had a beautiful sight in front of us and a quick photograph is not going to communicate the feel to others who were not present there. Those are the moments and places that should be experienced and not looked at as part of a slide show. Sometimes, we just had to put the camera off and savor the beauty and serenity of nature. We were trekkers more and photographers less sometimes!
- Acclimatization: All my life so far, I was told to cover my ears and keep the feet warm if it’s terribly cold weather. On this trek, for the purpose of getting accustomed to the higher altitudes, I learned otherwise about covering ears. Our trek leader insisted that we cover our head (with skull cap/ sun cap/ bandana) but keep the ears open, as that helps us in getting acclimatize. Nothing specific about feet (shoes/ just socks/ open sandals/ flip flops, all were accepted).
Also, no afternoon naps. We stopped around 3pm or so on Day 2 because terrain was tough that day; a mix of steep ascents, boulders, crossing a water stream of freezing temperature, etc. We were obviously tired and the idea of getting into the tent and lying down was simply irresistible. However, that was against the acclimatization. So, he kept us occupied with snacks, tea, card games and stuff but did not allow to doze off even for a minute.
I had a mild headache two days in a row because of altitude change. Trek leader said that’s perfectly normal and advised to walk it off, but I preferred a normal headache pill to be active and move around. A nap works fine for mild headache but as that was in the not-to-do list, I had to swallow some mild medication.
- (Bonus) Clouds:There’s this strange feeling about clouds; sometimes we were right inside the cloud and some other times, even above the clouds! And, this not in an airplane but on normal ground at high altitudes. It feels so good and so different. We did touch, pass through and experience clouds more than few times.
Ignorantly of course, we hoped the sky would be clear at night so that we can take a ‘long exposure’ shot of beautiful sky with stars. Where else, if not in The Himalayas, would we find such a pollution free climate? But then, on Day 2, when our wish was granted, our ignorance was gone. Without the clouds in the sky, the heat on the ground escaped so fast, that we were shivering inside the tent. Temperature was not very low but little breeze made it worse. Forget about the ‘long exposure’ composition, at 7.30 pm, we had a serious discussion in the tent about what to tell everyone as a reason to skip dinner! We thought, no stepping out whatsoever!
Damn, we had to step out for dinner that night anyway, struggling hard to hold the plate steady with shivering hands. Chewing was easy though – our jaws were chattering anyway!
And on top of that, we washed the plates too!
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