Did I say I love Manali? Didn’t think it was possible but I love Ladakh even more.
The bus ride from Manali to Leh (a city in Ladakh) took 20 hours. Narrow roads and crazy fast speed AND a driver who was stoned smoking hash the whole time meant I couldn’t sleep as I wanted to see exactly how I died. In between death defying turns we crossed beautiful mountain terrain that changed every hour. It’s the himalayas! Absolutely beautiful and I enjoyed it even if I was so sure I was going to die.
So. We didn’t die and decided to go on the popular Markha Valley Trek starting from Chiling and ending in Shang Sumdo. We took 4 days.
Happy on the first day. What lovely weather what easy walking. I could do this all day.
Dead at the pass on the last day. Boy was it hard!
Celebratory yoga pose.
So glad we made it! But it’s never over till you get back down to civilization.
It kind of rained tiny bits of ice at the top.
Day 1: Chiling to Nakding (30 min before Sara campsite) took about 5.5 hours in total.
Nakding room, dinner, breakfast, packed lunch for 650 rupees each.
Day 2: Nakding to Hangkar, walked from 9am till 6pm.
Hangkar room, dinner, breakfast, pathetic packed lunch for 800 rupees each.
Day 3: Hangkar to Nymaling, walked steadily uphill, panting, cursing and swearing from 8.30am till 2.20pm.
Nymaling tent big enough for 3 with a mattress, dinner, breakfast, also pathetic packed lunch for 1000 rupees each.
Day 4: Nymaling to Shang Sumdo: 9am till 11am steady uphill very very slowly as lungs wrestled with the thin air, finally reached pass at 5286m! 11am-6pm all the way downhill and across raging rivers and more beautiful mountains till legs run on jelly auto pilot to Shang flipping Sumdo.
IT WAS SO SO SO BEAUTIFUL.
There are so many things I don’t even know where to start.
It was definitely the magnificent mountains. Who knew mountains could be so colourful? I used to think of snowy white capped black, dark mountains. These mountains were so varied. I saw light sandy mountains, mountains the colour of red raw beef, mountains the colour of cow poo (I gauge a lot of things by cow poo nowadays)
mountains with alternating stripes of brown and white, mountains with silvery rock and mountains that had turquoise blue rock. Turquoise blue! I kid you not! It might have been the combination of the minerals in the rock and the sunshine but my camera could not capture that brilliant blue/green. So annoying!
Walking and admiring mountains is The Best Way to walk. (Beats shopping in Italy) (and boy did I enjoy shopping in Italy) Looking at mountains is something like staring at clouds – they could be anything. Sometimes they looked like giant’s toes, cramped together in massive chunks. Sometimes they looked like lost cities, giant columns rising midway of some mountains. Sometimes they looked like mushrooms, or a man pulling a long face, or a dog smiling… Anything.
We passed little villages with the cutest houses, loveliest people and the cutest Ladhaki children.
ISN’T SHE CUTE?!
My stay at Nakding has to be my favourite so far. Our host, Kalzung spoke little English but made us feel so at home, so welcome and so very well taken care of. She went about hosting us with a heart. Most places we met along the way were alright, but commercial. She climbed up a ladder balancing a cup of chai just so I could have my morning chai as I admired the view from the roof. She invited us into her kitchen so it was warmer than where we were waiting. She kept feeding us fresh peas she picked from her garden as we waited for her to finish cooking. The food was incredibly fresh. No need for over powering sauces and spices. Everything was freshly picked from the garden. She even gave us her room and slept in the kitchen with her little girl, Jimet, whom we played peekaboo with and got her into a crazy fit of giggles. SO CUTE AHHHH.
Peaking at us at first. Shy as she wasn’t sure. I mean. How dare we invade her lite cosy home.
Oh there was also plenty of animals. Yaks!
The yak didn’t want to be Chris’ friend.
Goats. A whole herd!
Ponies and donkeys. They use them a lot to ferry goods. Hence the ‘donkey poo trek’. When in doubt just follow the trail of donkey poo.
Conversation: hey, does your life suck? Coz mine sucks. It sucks bad.
Other horse hangs head in agreement: yeah, mine sucks too. It sucks so bad.
I gawped every night at a blanket of stars in the icy night sky, drank from the mountain stream (water purification pills worked. No diarrhoea!), and marvelled at nature. I can’t tell you how worth it it was. Because it was hard! The first 2 days were quite flat, so sweet, so easy. The 3rd day was a steady uphill, plenty of gasping of air and learning how to be patient with taking baby steps. 4th day was the hardest as the route up gave us the thinnest air yet, and coming down was difficult (and fun to be honest), steep and involved debates on which way to go.
Cross the river or go up the path? Up AGAIN? And where on earth is that donkey poo? Wow these donkeys sure can poo.
It was difficult when your legs get so tired and your heart is beating so hard to get oxygen into your body. There is also that heavy bag you’re carrying with things you wish you had left behind.
So worth it. Camel safari and Markha Valley Trek, highlights of my 8 weeks in India so far.
Qiu’s tips:
We grabbed the bus to Chiling from the bus stand in Leh. It was hard to find as it was in a bus a car park away from the government bus stands. 90 rupees each. Bus leaves 9am on Sundays and Wednesdays only. 2.5 hours. If the bus is rare and it leaves at 9am, get there by 8am if you want to secure a seat. Guard your seat! Don’t leave without making sure someone is guarding it for you!
Most people shared a private jeep – 6 in a jeep, 500 rupees each.
Others hitch hike. Somehow. I haven’t down it. Yet. You still have to pay of course.
Try to leave early each day to make sure you reach the next village in time before it fills up.
We squeezed the trek into 4 days but you can easily do it in 5-8 days.
You can do without a sleeping bag but it will come in handy at Nymaling.
Sometimes it fills up and there aren’t blankets for all. The blankets are gross anyway. Never know how cold it might get up in higher altitude. We had no blankets. I had 3 layers on top and bottom, beanie, socks and folded the mattress in half to use as a blanket. Chris is way longer so he couldn’t sleep as his legs and toes were freezing.
Don’t bother about having a shower. Most people jumped into the super cold river at the hottest part of the day in the middle of their trek. Bring swimmers! It is nice once you get over the ahhhh cold cold brrrrrr.
I wore the same outfit to trek in every day, and one set of sleeping clothes to change into. At least I slept clean!
Don’t bother bringing an umbrella.
And…
Do the trek do the trek do the trek! 🙂
Cherry Red Shoes 