May 2022, Markha Valley Trek

Today was probably the longest stretch of walk which we did during the course of the entire trek. It seemed that we were just walking and walking without seeing any destination at the end of the mountains! Tea at 6 AM, breakfast at 7 AM, left the camp site and started walking at 730 AM. It seems, before leaving for Nimaling the earlier night, Wangtok had handed over charge jointly to Mayank & a kitchen staff. Mayank had handed over charge to Akhil Munjampalli for the first part of the trek, i.e. the ascent till Kongmaru la, the summit of our trek, at a height of 17100 feet. Effectively we were to ascend another 1300 feet to reach the summit. For the first time since we started the trek about 6 days ago, I decided to have my full sized down jacket on, atleast till we reached the summit, which I was told would be very windy and cold. Dr Swamy & myself formed a sort of buddy system for the last day. For a major portion of the ascent we were together, encouraging each other to keep...

   Wangtok had already mentioned in his conversation with us that Friday's walk from Hangkar to Nimaling would be a long one & the altitude gain too would be from 13400 to 15800. Also we will be starting our walk earlier as compared to other days i.e 730 AM instead of 830 AM. The graph by TTH website showed distance to be covered 7 km in approx 4-5 hours. Assuming we start walking at 730 AM we should be reaching our destination Nimaling by 1 PM max. Wangtok was mentioning that by the time we reach Nimaling it would be 4 PM. Jaldi nikalneka, aaj bahut chalneka hai, pahunchne mein time lagega. In fact we were given packed tiffin in lieu of lunch. Something was amiss. We had our Tea at 6 AM, Breakfast at 7 AM & started our walk by 735 AM. As usual approximately after an hour's walk Wangtok would give a break, in which we use to hydrate ourselves. In one stretch we found a goat's skull with the horns intact. Almost every one had some light snacks which was handy during...

Camping and home stay site at Hangkar At the time of going through the organiser TTH's website to gather information regarding the trek, I came across a term AMS - Acute Mountain Sickness. On googling about this I understood that when one travels to high altitudes he/she is likely to experience a form of altitude sickness. The symptoms are mild and generally improve when one descends to a lower level. If one has AMS at its mildest form he/she may have a headache, feel tired, feel sick or vomit, lose one's appetite, feel dizzy, have difficulty sleeping or combination of one or more of these symptoms. If the symptoms get worse, the best way is to descend to a lower altitude as quickly as possible. I remember reading about two other severe forms of altitude sickness namely HAPE High-altitude pulmonary oedema and HACE high-altitude cerebral oedema. These occur at "very high altitudes". The googling which I did assured me that the current trek which we have undertaken will...

Markha Valley Trek, May 2022 My name is Srinivasan, based in Mumbai, 55 years of age, a qualified accountant by profession and a writer, musician, runner, financial advisor, personal wealth coach, by passion!   I have tried to capture my views and feelings about our recent trip (May 2022) to Jammu - Kashmir - Ladakh in the following chapters.   The blog is in 2 parts, the first part comprising chapters (i) to (v) about the short vacation we had before we actually started trek and the second part - chapter (vi) onwards, about the actual Markha Valley Trek we undertook.   As this is my first Himalayan trek, one may find a lot of excitement and enthusiasm in the language I have used.   I have tried to cover several aspects of the trek in this blog. To a veteran trekker this may seem very basic . To a fellow trekker who was part of this trekking team, he/she may be able to identify with the several incidents I have quoted. To someone who has not made a Himalayan trek so...

Yesterday evening the trek lead Mayank had given us the timings for today as 630/800/830. Sunrise happened around 5AM. We got out of our sleeping bags and reported for tea at 630 AM. After a steaming cup of black tea, we folded the sleeping bags and kept them in its cover. The next step was removing the additional layers of clothing which we had added on to tackle the Himalayan nights. The next stage was disassembling the tents and keeping it back in its cover with the rods, pegs, etc. We were given specific instructions at the beginning of the trek that hot drinking water would be supplied at the catering tent at 630 AM & 630 PM everyday. I gave my thermos at the catering tent for filling it with hot drinking water. The bags were packed and we were ready for break fast by 8 AM. Each day the cook would come up with some new item in the breakfast. During the course of the 6 days when we had break fast in the tents we tasted porridge, bread and butter, parathas, noodles and momos. Re...

Personally, with lot of excitement I got up today morning with the anticipation of having to begin the trek. At 850 AM sharp (after duly completing the breakfast) as required by TTH all the 9 trekkers were ready with our luggage split into 3 parts. Part 1 to be left behind at the hotel (consisting of what will not be required during the trek period), Part 2 to be transported by mule, part 3 to be carried by each trekker as back pack on his / her body. 4 out of 9 trekkers (which included me) had opted to transport a major part of their luggage by mule. Leaving behind Part 1, the other luggage was loaded to the mini bus which was to take us upto Chilling, the starting point. At this point a local trek leader, Wangtok, joined the team. In the course of talks with him later, we came to know that Wangtok has guided Indian Armed Forces in the Siachen glacier, so we knew that an expert was with us. On the way we crossed Gurudwara Pathar Sahib (a gurudwara dedicated to Guru Nanakji) and Magnet...

    Having left Mumbai on 18 May 2022, we spent the next couple of days enjoying a lazy vacation, visiting Dal lake, Shivji's temple, Kargil war memorial and some other places of tourist attraction across Srinagar & Kargil. We spent quite some time on the road traveling from one place to another, proceeding towards Leh, where we had to report for our trek. The email from the trek organisers Trek The Himalayas, TTH, required us to report at Hotel Palaceview near Leh polo ground on 21st May. Effectively what we were doing was - slowly gaining altitude, allowing our body to get used to a colder climate, higher altitude and lower oxygen levels in the atmosphere. As per TTH's schedule we were to report in the hotel on 21 May, attend a team meeting / orientation at 7 PM, overnight stay on 21 May, acclimatisation and sight seeing on 22 May, overnight stay on 22 May and start the trek on 23 May. Accordingly on 21 May we had break fast at Poplar Eco Resort. We met Dr Swamy & hi...