Our treks | Expeditions | Contact us | About us | Old photos & Diaries |
|
The Chadar: Zanskar winter**In June 2010 Joel died while leading
The Great Himalayan Bike Adventure. See Our treks for current treks Zanskar and Ladakh in the winter is challenge enough as the frost smoke wreathes the Indus. The Chadar (Chadar means 'veil' for the snow that covers the river in winter) is one of the great adventures of the world. To penetrate the Zanskar gorges in winter is a serious undertaking, and Zanskaris you meet en route inevitably look at you askance, and say, 'Chadar?' with an unbelieving nod of the head; and then salute you as they go, Zanskari fashion. Meeting the Zanskaris as they travel this ancient route is just one of many high points for those who join this adventure. The abundant wildlife, and incredible scenery are more highlights - as you look up from the bottom of the Zanskar gorge and realize, yes, that is the frozen river beneath. Fish scatter from your shadow under the ice, and snow leopard tracks pattern the snow. For this trek you need to be patient, resourceful, and mentally flexible. Outline Itinerary
The routeAlong the frozen and semi frozen river surface, this changes from hour to hour. It climbs high at times above broken ice, and at times you have no choice, you have to get wet feet. But we avoid this if possible! At times it seems impossible and you will not believe what the human body can do, or how thin a ledge of ice will support you. You will watch the porters do the impossible. And then you follow them. This trek takes the main Chadar route, then, once in Zanskar, has a number of extra days built in to visit either remoter valleys or sacred sites and palaces of the once Kingdom of Zangla. Gear and the coldIt does get very cold on the Chadar, but does not seem to be. Why? Because it is hard work, with very few moments to relax; you really do have to keep moving. Also, the complete absence of any wind to chill you, and the excellent gear you are wearing keeps you well insulated. Day temperatures average minus 13C and at night it drops to minus 30C. The only time you really feel it is packing up in the morning. Discussing gear is definitely part of the preparation, and your gear needs to be good. See the special Chadar gear list on the side bar. Your guides and crewYou have three guides on the trip. Joel, who has done the Chadar route five times before, and has been trekking and leading treks in India for twenty years. He now spends up to 200 days a year leading treks for Project-Himalaya, is known in villages from Kanchenjunga to the Karakoram, and with Lobsang and Stanzin, is a master of the sort of logistics and flexibility needed on an expedition like this. Lobsang, from a Tibetan Family but living in India, speaks every Tibetan dialect under the sun, and has trekked and adventured with Joel the length of the Himalaya. He is the mainstay of the India trekking operations, and has led and co-led the Chadar six times. He is an excellent cook with incredible skills on the ice, apart from his outstanding strength. It is a measure of the difficulty of the Chadar that he admitted to being 'tired' after our 2005 Chadar expeditions, and turned down the chance of leading a Chadar trek with another outfit. Stanzin is a Zanskari from Zangla village, and has done many Chadars' since he first walked the ice as a ten year old, and has both worked as a porter (as he was with us in 2002) and a guide many times on this route. He is a tireless, hard worker with an intelligent appreciation of the ice and a vast store of local knowledge. As a local, he is also the man to give us a real assessment of conditions, not one based on hearsay. Apart from these three who make the important decisions on the trip, there will be our kitchen boy and general factotum Norbu. Formerly a monk at Karsha Monastery, he fell in love with a local girl, who he now has a family with, and tried his luck in the trek business. He sets up our lunch place, and helps scout ice conditions and camp sites. We will also have a team of up to 18 porters, who we kit out in good, warm gear. They will be constant companions on the ice, and their say so on the route choices is a vital part of our expedition. 'Take a picture of me doing this and show it to my wife
so she understands what I do for our kids...for Gods sake, I am over 50!' Arrival in IndiaNote that most flights into Delhi arrive late at night or very early in the morning. Plan your arrival time and date carefully, and do ask if you are not sure about meeting points. Detailed itineraryNote that the trekking itinerary and campsites may vary slightly depending on trail and weather conditions and the various trekkers' acclimatization rate. Early ArrivalMany people arrive in Delhi a day earlier to explore the city or recover after a long flight. We can make hotel and airport pick-up arrangement for you IF we know your flight details. Day 1 - Arrive DelhiDay 2 - Fly to Leh 3500mWe leave at 4am to join our morning flight to Leh, which in winter is rarely delayed. After an hour long spectacular flight over the Himalayas, we land in the past, Tashi Namgyal's 15th century capital, Leh. The cold air will catch at your throat and you will definitely feel the altitude. We stay at the comfortable Lasermo hotel near the main bazaar, which has heated rooms. After a late breakfast, Joel will take you on a slow stroll around Leh, a little piece of central Asian history, with its palace dominating the old bazaar and a backdrop of snowy peaks. Day 3 - Leh 3500mWe have two days to explore the bazaars and alleyways of historic Leh, and the striking Indus valley with its snowy backdrop that surrounds it, visiting some of the most ancient forts and gompas of the Tibetan Buddhist world. A little bit of old Tibet. Joel has been a regular visitor since 1988, and there is lots to explore in this wonderful Central Asian town; the fort and palace, colorful gompas, the mosque, back alleys with steaming Muslim bread and tiny antique shops tucked away, colorful fruit and vegetable bazaars, polo fields ... and of course, the regular 11 am ice hockey match! Day 4 - Drive to Chilling and trek to Tilad Do camp 3100mMornings in Leh in any season are special, with the harsh high Himalayan light softened by the dust in the air. In winter, the call to prayer from the mosque wakes you gently. Breakfast in the Lasermo is a last touch of civilization. By eight we will be on the move, driving through the suburbs of Leh, then along the Indus valley. The road climbs slowly past Spitok Monastery, and bus loads of Ladakhi kids heading for where the Indus has been diverted into shallow pools for skating. We reach about 3700m where we normally stop to stretch our legs and take in the view behind. Leh nestles at the foot of the Ladakh range, its location dictated by the high route to China behind. From here you can really see how geography dictates history. We drive on, descending to the Indus again to its confluence with the Zanskar. A dirt road from here takes us to Chilling (aptly named!), as far as the jeep can go. Here we have a simple lunch, then it is on the ice. It takes an hour or so to get into a comfortable rhythm, and we have found that using crampons tends to be more of a hindrance, as they are not suitable for all ice conditions. As the gear list says, good trekking poles are essential. Again, as on the gear list, you must have boots with good, new soles that 'stick'. Luckily there are rarely any ice puzzles on this first day, except at the camp, where you ascend a frozen stream. The camp is on a sandy plateau to one side of the Zanskar, where on this first day our tents will have been erected for us. We will introduce you to camp routines and our warm and cozy dining tent, followed by dinner, soup and a good, varied vegetarian meal. Evenings in the dining tent, which is big enough to stretch your legs but small enough to be easily warmed, are very comfortable. Before bed, as as part of the daily routine, we fill your bottles with boiling water. Great to toast your toes, and drinkable in the morning. Day 5 - Trek to Gyalpo camp 3170mWaking, a shock? We hope not too much! The morning cold is eased by the hot beverage of your choice that comes to your tent, and hot washing water. Breakfast call is 7.30, but your gear and tent have to be packed by then! Breakfast is as much hot coffee or tea as you can drink, eggs to order (fresh while they last, then powdered) Lobsang's fresh baked bread, jam and honey. Departure time is normally around nine, and the days soon assume a familiar pattern. Lobsang or Stanzin go ahead with the trekkers, followed by our porter team. It is essential always to stay with our guides. This is the only trek in the world where the trail, literally, vanishes, beneath your feet. The first few days are generally problem free, but we can, and will, encounter times when we have to wait while we scout the best route. We prefer to stay on the river, and you will see Zanskaris take real risks to avoid rock climbing. For this reason you must have plenty of warm layers to throw on, and of course, dry socks. The ice conditions are too varied (and beautiful) to list, but there are one or two things to bear in mind. You will find yourself rapidly relaxing as you walk, enjoying the views; watching for wildlife. Look out particularly for snow leopard prints, Ibex on the gorge walls, and the crazy 'Dipper' birds that dive from ice into the river, turning over pebbles looking for edibles. You will develop a sense of the safe and unsafe ice, and learn to catch yourself if you slip. Be sure to use your poles if you want to sound the ice. Your feet are unclean, and although the gods who inhabit the ice will allow you to walk, to stamp with your foot is not acceptable to them (thus of course you never use the ice as a toilet). We lunch on pilaf, or Zanskari Kiu (dumpling stew) bread, cheese, jam, biscuits. Some days we can only have hot tea and an uncooked lunch. The ice conditions change quickly and what takes an hour at noon can take three hours by 3pm. We do not rush; but we do not dawdle! If you hear Zanskaris calling down the valley, particularly at the corners, don't worry; they are screaming to scare away the demons who lurk in the ice. Today we will pass through what the porters call 'Chadar Gate'. A little surprise for the trekkers. By 3-4pm we should be in camp on a plateau above the river. Today we start putting up our own tents. While Joel and Stanzin help you with this, Lobsang gets the dining tent up, the porters gather firewood, and soon the tea is ready. Day 6 - Trek to Dib Cave 3225mThis is a stunningly day as the river starts to curve and you can see the uphill slope of the ice as we ascend the river into Zanskar. We pass incredible waterfalls on our left, normally frozen into aquamarine ice cliffs. The waterfall was said to have come from a river given to local people who visited Tibet centuries ago to plead for water for their barren land. They were given a box which they were told they must open only on their return home. The curious Zanskaris were nearly home when one of them opened it; out jumped a tiny fish, and the river sprung from the ground high above here. Also today we will probably have to climb briefly above the river - on the sharp bends the speed of the current breaks up the ice. Lunch is on a rocky beach by the river, and camp is near one of the many caves that are blackened by centuries of use by the fires of locals. Our porters use these caves to cook and sleep in, and many of them are slowly being turned into small huts by Zanskaris recruited by the Border Roads Organization to shelter the road workers as they come through here. This is a popular campsite and you will notice one of our teams' first jobs is to dig a toilet pit and clean up the rubbish left by groups. If there is no snow here the sand that blows around can contaminate your food. We have stringent hygiene rule's for our kitchen, abundant hot water, and anti bacterial hand wash always available. Use it! Day 7 - Trek to Neraks camp 3390mAnother spectacular day. Crags seem to leap up from the frozen river surface, and ibex can usually be seen defying gravity far above. After lunch we pass the 'incense tree', so called because the locals use its branches to burn in their morning rituals, and the prayer flag draped tree marks the entrance to Zanskar proper. The porters will normally take a few twigs from the tree, then tear a small piece of prayer flag to wrap it in, and present it to you. Welcome to Zanskar! An hour later we turn a corner, and there, high above the river, is the bridge that links Zanskar with Ladakh, and Neraks village with Lingshed Monastery - in summer. Then the valley gorge opens up, and we see the small huts that mark some of the summer grazing of the Neraks villagers. The village is far above. A trail is normally beaten through the snow to these huts, where we camp. And rum is possible! Day 8 - Trek to Lingshed 3870mWe leave the river after an hour today, to follow a narrow gorge to Lingshed village. Around Neraks is probably the most dangerous area on the Chadar, but this is not the only reason we leave earlier then normal. The views as we arrive in the village of Lingshed is another. After up to two hours of trekking we turn off the river, and start following a side stream up a valley which shows so many ibex and blue sheep trails it seems hard to believe. There is a reason for this; traditionally all life was sacred near monasteries, so wild life naturally gravitated to where it was not threatened. Despite the fact that all hunting is banned now, a larger population of wild animals still tend to be found near the gompas. We are going higher today, and you will feel it. Add fresh snow, and it will be harder still. On arrival we are staying with friends in the village; a room will be swept clean for us, and we can spread our mats out on the floor, and enjoy sitting and eating around a stove. Tomorrow is a rest day! Day 9 - Rest day and visit Lingshed Gompa 4000mThe walking is not finished as we climb the steep trail to the famous monastery spectacularly situated below a cliff face studded with old meditation caves. High to the right you can see the Morgon La, at 4100m on the summer trekking route, and as we climb, look back over your shoulder to that huge icy wall - the Hanuma La, familiar to all Zanskar summer trekkers for its brutally steep descent. En route to the Gompa we stop to meet the children of the Solar School, able to stay open all winter as it is virtually a green house, cleverly built to use the sun. We bring toothbrushes and pencils for the children, as part of our 'Kamzang' project. The children here are delightfully bright and unspoilt. Around on the hillside here you will also see what appears to be half finished or abandoned houses, just three walls, and a lower wall, this last facing the sun. Not a sign of, as one trekker insisted, Zanskaris abandoning their homes for the bright lights of the city, but greenhouses. In summer a plastic sheet is draped over it, and tomatoes and vitamin rich vegetables are grown there. On sunny days in winter, families sometimes sit and soak up the sun between the walls. By the time we reach the monastery you will be in need of the tea the monks greet us with. Outside the main Dukang (prayer hall) there is a glassed in area to sit in and there is a thriving monastic school, along with a special area upstairs where the monks create sand mandalas. After being shown around by the monks, many of them old friends, we will probably call in at the monastery shop, in 2005 stocked full of Kakaji aloo waffers, chips to you. Then home! Day 10 - 13 Trek back to Chilling and drive to LehYou have not done the Chadar unless you walk both ways! It is four easy gently downhill days back, if the Gods are happy with us; we have a spare day to play with if not. We use different camps on the way back (usually) and it really is even more beautiful. Weather changes, light comes from different angles, illuminating different colours. And of course, the ice! The last day we have an easy three hour walk, and there are the jeeps waiting for us high above the river. Have we really been walking on water? It is a three hour drive to Leh, then that hot shower. Day 15 - Fly to DelhiGoodbye to this tiny kingdom in the sky as we board our early morning flight to the (comparative) warmth of Delhi and the morning rush hour. Note that the domestic flight can be delayed but a day or two by bad weather and it is useful to either have flights that can be changed, or possibly a little extra time. Do discuss. Day 16 - Journey endWe take you to the airport for your flight home. The Metropolis staff will arrange a taxi to the airport, and you can store your bags in the hotel until you leave for the airport. Farewell to India. For now! jdesign -- all rights reserved -- frozen in time July 2013 |
||
|