Chadar Trek 2019 — Part 1
This is an honest review of the first high-altitude (and the only real) trek that I have ever done in my life. This is part one of a two-part series, which covers reaching Leh and the first 2 days of the trek.
Introduction
Chadar trek (pronounced as चादर ट्रेक) is a 60 kms long trek/hike across the frozen Zanskar river, in the Ladakh region of India. Chadar in hindi means ‘sheet’, so the Chadar trek translates to a trek on the sheet of ice. It can be done for a duration of about two months (January and February), as the frozen river starts melting after this.
Typically, it is a 5 day trek, which (if weather permits) takes you to the marvellous frozen waterfall at Nerak. This region is one of the most remote and inaccessible regions’ across India, and has extremely harsh weather conditions. Temperature during the day ranges from -5 to -15 °C, and at night, can fall up to -30 °C! Snow leopards, mountain goats (called Ibex), Yaks and a few birds are the only animals that manage to survive in these conditions.
It is said that due to the increasing effects of global warming (Yes Donald, that shit is real), the river does not freeze like it used to a few years ago, and thus the local government may have to shut this trek down in the next few years. (Riskier conditions for trek and damage to the unique ecosystem that survives in this weather)
This and a burning (😛) desire to see the famous waterfall at Nerak were the motivations for me to go for this trek. I asked my childhood friend to join me on this journey, and he readily agreed, without doing a lot of research :P (Mistake #1)
The tour
We booked Thrillophilia’s Chadar trek package (Dates: 1st-9th February 2019), which consists of:
- 3 days of acclimatisation in Leh. (We learnt this is mandatory since 2019, which is a step in the right direction)
- 5 days of trekking across Chadar.
- Checking out of Leh on the 9th morning.
(Airfare to and from Leh is not included, and Thrillophilia doesn’t supply any trekking gear. They do give a list of items that you need to buy, which is handy.)
We left from Pune for Leh on the night of 31st January, with a layover in Delhi. The flight from Delhi to Leh is a short, ~90 minute journey, but it is filled with breathtaking views of the Himalayas! (Pro tip: Pick seats in the left section during this journey, this will give you the best view of the mountains and the landing at Leh airport 😉)
We had been advised by our tour operator that you should be wearing at least 3 layers of clothing before getting down at Leh and this advice was vindicated the moment we landed: For someone who lives in the relatively warm part of the country, getting out of the flight in -11 °C felt quite an achievement in itself! Though the picturesque surroundings left us with no time to think about the cold.
We met the other members of our group at the airport, had a short introduction and reached our hotel by noon.
Acclimatisation
Getting acclimatised at such high altitudes is the most crucial part of the trek. Oxygen levels are low as we move higher and our bodies are not used to it. As a result, you may suffer from acute mountain sickness (AMS). A simple way of avoiding AMS is drinking lots and lots of water, and not exerting too much for the first 24–36 hours of your trip. I ended up drinking 4–5 litres of warm water every day for the first 3 days! (You end up using washrooms a lot, and it is annoying when you’re wearing so many layers of clothing)
After 3 days of acclimatisation, a medical test (which our entire group passed), eating bad food in our hotel, and drinking gallons of water, we were all ready to leave for Chadar 😍! We unloaded whatever baggage felt unnecessary (which was taken to the hotel where we were going to return after the trek) to lighten our rucksacks’. After a short briefing/pep talk by the on ground Thrillophilia staff, we left our hotel at Leh. The starting point of our trek was a 3-hour drive, which passed through the magnetic hill, and a majestic gurudwara (Pathar Sahib), which is 25 kms from Leh and the confluence of Zanskar and Indus river. The road to Chilling (aptly named, from where the trek starts) overlooks breathtaking views of the valley and Zanskar river.
After a rather gruelling bus journey, we reached the starting point of our trek!!🎉🎉 Many of us already felt a sense of accomplishment, of finally being on the very place where we had dreamt to be since the last couple of months! Seeing the river flowing in all its might, with thick layers of ice surrounding it, which would be our path for the next 5 days, and the huge mountains on both sides of the river, we felt our blood rushing through the veins, in anticipation of what was to come.
After a quick lunch of steaming Maggi, we had a small session by our trek leader (Mr. Lotos) about how to walk on ice. The gist of his talk was:
- While walking with your gum boots, do not lift the leg too much. Ice is slippery and as the terrain is completely alien to you, you might easily fall and get fractured arms/legs. Try to drag your feet on ice as much as possible.
- You’re surely gonna fall in the trek. The correct way of falling is on your back, as you have rucksack protecting you from most of the damage. (He asked us to do the signature SRK pose while falling, to absorb the impact of falling).
- While walking, put your weight on the toes; while falling, put your weight on your heels.
With these instructions in mind, we began our trek. Day one was supposed to be a short, 2–3 hour trek, wherein we’d cover about 5 kms of our journey. The campsite was going to be setup at a place called Shingra Koma. Off we went! Everyone began cautiously, as no one wanted to be the first one to fall :D.
Walking on ice turned out to be as tough as it looked. It was slippery, and as we weren’t used to such terrains, our walking speed wasn’t too fast. But the sights around us were unique. Mountains on two sides, and different types of ice beneath our feet.. it felt surreal.
We managed to reach our campsite in 2 hours, which meant we had got a fairly good grasp of walking on ice 😎. There were a few falls, and a lot of close calls, but the entire group managed to reach the campsite without much damage.
Most of us weren’t too tired after the relatively short walk, so we ended up climbing a small hillock right next to the campsite. Came down around sunset, had some soup and maggi for dinner. As the mercury dipped in the evening, almost everyone went inside their tents. But a few of us went to one tent, and learnt how to takeoff a commercial airline :P, courtesy an awesome commercial pilot who was a part of our group.
Finally, after a lot of chit-chat, we retired for the night. A good start!
Day 2 was when the real trekking was supposed to begin. According to the itinerary, we were supposed to walk for 16 kms, to reach the next campsite, at Tibb cave. We began the morning with a steaming cup of black tea (Bed tea in -whatever degrees in the morning is the best tea you can ever have), followed by some breakfast. And off we marched, at 8AM.
The Chadar progressively became tougher to walk on. It became slippery, there were a few slopes, and it was broken at few places. Wherever the Chadar is broken, you have to half climb/half walk on the rocky terrain that surrounds the river. The problem with climbing: gum boots. They aren’t meant to walk on such surfaces! It is really uncomfortable, and with a lot of weight on your back (~10–15kg), it gets quite painful as the trek progresses.
Also, on this fateful day, the strap of my friend’s bag broke. Our trek leader had some shoelaces, using which we tied the strap. We shifted some weight from his bag to my bag. (which thankfully had free space) As my friend is heavier than me, naturally he picked up the heavier bag (which was mine). I picked up the lighter bag, (secretly happy thinking the load will be lighter 😈), but the broken strap put a lot of weight on the shoulders and the back. To top it up, the weight was unevenly distributed on both shoulders. (To avoid such situations, please ensure that you carry good quality bags, and pack as light as possible. Unless you fall in water, you aren’t gonna change your clothes for 5 days, so pack wisely.)
I had my first (and only) fall, before lunch on day 2. And I fell in a way that was exactly opposite to the way were supposed to fall!🤯 There was a small incline of very, very slippery ice, and by dragging my feet across the ice, I wasn’t able to generate enough traction to cross it. So I tried to lift my leg and before I could plant it across the other side, I was flat on the ice, face first. Had a small swelling on my forehead and a bruise on the shin, but thankfully, not much damage done!
Some glimpses of our trek:
One member of our group felt breathless during the trek. We stopped, gave her some warm water, and chocolates for instant energy. One other member had got eucalyptus oil soaked napkins, and some camphor. On inhaling this, she felt better, and we continued our walk. Apart from such minor hiccups, the walk to Tibb went smoothly, and we reached Tibb by 4PM, taking millions of pictures along the way 🙂.
I experienced the first ever snowfall of my life at Tibb, and it was beautiful! Despite the snowfall, we managed to light a bonfire, courtesy Jackson (the bonfire specialist), who had travelled all the way from New Zealand. Some of us dried our socks around it, showing him our excellent ‘jugaad’ skills :P. Post dinner, we went to sleep, with light snowfall going on throughout the night. All of us had our fingers crossed, as snowfall meant unpredictable weather for the next and most important day of the trek: the day we were going to Nerak.
This concludes part one of my Chadar trek experience. Any feedback is appreciated! Part two coming out soon! 😀