For the last month I have been leading a trip for World Challenge to the Indian Himalaya. The trip has a few focus areas, including a project within a local community/school etc, a trekking phase and finally some RnR! Our trip to the Indian Himalaya was heavily focused towards the trekking – perfect for me!
Trekking in the Indian Himalaya
We flew in to Delhi after a lovely flight with Virgin, and arrived early in the morning ready for a long slog up to Manali, in the foothills of the Indian Himalaya. After the flight, an airport shuttle, a train, a tuk-tuk, a bus and some walking, we arrived with a couple of days to gather out bearings and explore this great town. We did some day walks and spent a while in a school, helping renovate areas and even got involved with some teaching (or crowd control if you were with the youngest ones!) before finally leving for our trek.
First big summit for the team in the Indian Himalaya
We were to combine a few different stages, taking us right through the Indian Himalaya over 140km and up towards Kashmir and Pakistan. We started through lush forest with monkeys and ginormous and loud insects, before heading higher up to the Hampta Pass, at 4300m. The highest many of the team had been, we took it slow and everyone got over fine, to be greeted with views to the bigger Himalayan peaks. A small amount of snow provided some interest on the pass but everyone was in high spirits as we descended the other side into the rainshadow of the mountains to a dry and arid environment.
Putting the hard yards in above 5000m in the Indian Himalaya
Here we took our first rest day after 6 days of walking, but not one to waste a day in the hills, I had other ideas… After buying a goat of a local shepherd we dispatched it and the cook team helped prepare it for tea, whilst they were doing this I took a few of the lads up a nearby mountain. In the absence of detailed and accurate mapping it was very much exploratory mountaineering – the best sort! The hill ended up being 4850m and with a decent bit of scrambling to the summit. The team that came with me pushed themselves hard but the views were compensation enough for the toil! Back to a tasty goat curry too – a top day!
At 5300m in the Indian Himalaya
The next phase of our trek in the Indian Himalaya took us along an impressive glacial valley and up towards the large lake of Chandra Tal, a turquoise paradise nestled in amongst the high peaks. This section took us 4 days to walk but we were accompanied by truly breathtaking views along the way… A dog had attached himself to us at this point too, nothing unusual about this in India, but he was a very affable chap and he seemed to like spending time with us, so we fed him and he became our follower for the next 7 days! He was a fussy eater though, and had to have lots of sauce on his rice!
A class sunset in the Indian Himalaya – surreally clear starry night about to ensue…
Another rest day once we were camped by the lake, and another chance for some extra mountaineering! A few lads accompanied me as we quested off again into the unknown… After a long day, we had bagged an unnamed summit at 5300m, with some decent scrambling towards the top. We were accompanied the whole way by the dog too, apart from the final scramble! Top dog! An amazing sunset and surreal star-scape topped off a memorable day…
Camped by the river in the Indian Himalaya, ready for a 4am departure…
The last 4 days of our trek in the Indian Himalaya took us deeper into the hills, over the 5000m pass of Baralacha La. The days were not too arduous, but some very early starts were necessary to avoid the deep and fast flowing glacial torrents that rose rapidly throughout the day. It was one of these rivers, at 4am, that ended the dogs walk, as it was just too deep and powerful for him to cross. The lads needed a safety rope and even the horses were struggling, so the poor dog didn’t stand a chance. Fortunately he knew this and we left him tail wagging by the side of the river…
After a couple of memorable campsites and more shooting stars than we could count, we finally made it to the trail head on the Manali to Leh highway. Now for the mammoth journey back south to Delhi, 40 hours on jeeps, busses, trains and taxis, over the Rotang Pass, along bum twitchy high mountain roads, and with a few millitary checkpoints thrown in for good measure – oh and a collapsed suspension that was fixed in the middle of no-where with a log hammered into place and tied with some cord. Good old India…
Our last campsite, spectacular views as per the norm in the Indian Himalaya.