Chadar Trek...A walk to remember

The cool breeze was brushing across my face. The river made its serpentine pass through the gorge. Most of the river was frozen to form a white sheet of ice above it and the part that wasn’t, was flowing ferociously between the mountains. The first rays of the sun were caressing the majestic mountain swathed in snow. The turquoise tents laid across the mountain base sparkled like a jade necklace. The smoke from the burning wood on which our morning tea was being prepared, added the earthy flavor to this pristine landscape. The cool breeze, the flowing river, the fluttering of tents formed a beautiful symphony orchestrated by Nature. 

As said by George Santayana – ‘The earth has its music for those who will listen’; and here I was completely drenched in this music. It couldn’t have been more picturesque than this. Mind was still, heart overwhelmed; it was oneness of body and soul.

This was the view from my tent at Nerak on the fourth day of my Chadar trek. A trek that got its name because of the frozen sheet of ice that looked like a blanket or chadar as called in the local language. 

We reached here a night before, walking 10-15 km each day on this white sheet of ice on the frozen Zanskar river. It is a tributary of the Indus river that flows through the Zanskar valley connecting Ladakh and Zanskar. This is the same river that flows with such mighty rapids in summers that there are rafting expeditions over it while as the winter sets in, the river freezes and trekkers from all over the world walk over it to reach the frozen waterfall at Nerak.

Nerak Frozen Waterfall

I left Mumbai for Leh taking a wee hour connecting flight via Delhi. As soon as I got out of the aircraft at Rimpoche airport in Leh it was -2 degrees outside. It was a harbinger of the cold weather I was about to experience in the 6 days of Chadar Trek. I had trekked in the Sahyadris regularly during the monsoon but had never trekked in the Himalayas. My first rendezvous with the Himalayas was to be the Chadar Trek. 

Chadar Trek is one of the most sought-after, adrenaline rushing, challenging treks in the country. Situated in Ladakh at an altitude of 11000 feet It requires both mental and physical fitness, grit and above all passion for trekking and love for the mountains. How else would you survive at sub-zero temperature plummeting to -40 degrees? The route that was discovered by the local zanskaris to reach Leh during the harsh and extreme winters for their livelihood is now amongst the most popular trek in the world. 

I took a cab to reach my hotel from the airport where I met my co-trekkers. The greatest concern for the trek is getting acclimatized to the sub-zero temperature and the low level of oxygen at such high altitudes that leads to a mountain health hazard called AMS or Acute Mountain Sickness. You need to give yourself atleast a day of acclimatization before you start the trek. The standing instruction is to report immediately if you have symptoms of AMS like a headache, dizziness, difficulty in breathing, coughing or loss of appetite. There is medication available that helps in acclimatization. I preferred letting my body get naturally adapt to the harsh weather. 

On reaching the hotel, we had a briefing session by the trek manager. There were still few trek essentials that needed to be bought and I headed to the local market along with few co-trekkers. The day was spent in the bylanes of Leh and thus getting acclimatized in the process. If I had to mention the sacrosanct things that one needs for the trek it would be a trekking stick, flask to carry hot water, woolen socks, balaclava to cover your face, Gumboots (that can be picked up at the local market), toilet paper roll apart from the 4-5 layer of clothes.

Next day morning, we left our hotel all decked up in our paraphernalia in a bus to reach Chilling, the last motorable road. This is where we stepped on the Chadar for the very first time. In the first few minutes it was clear that it was not going to be an easy walk. We were literally sliding on the ice, dragging one foot at a time. A technique called as Penguin walk. We walked 6 km that took us 3 hours to reach lower Shingra. While we were struggling to even stand properly, the porters were running on the ice with their sledge carrying our trek essentials and tents. Every single day of the trek, before we reached our camp, the tents were already set and a cup of hot tea or soup was made ready for our welcome. 

The nights were equally beautiful. The average outside temperature was -30 to -35 degrees during the time of our trek. Inside the tents, the sleeping bags helped us survive. The sleeping bag had two layers. They were similar to the ones used by Indian army at the Siachen glacier. It was a task to get inside the sleeping bag so that you cover yourself from head to toe, leaving that little space to pop your nose out to breathe. Each morning of the trek, I used to wake up with some snow accumulated on the sleeping bags and occasionally during the night I had to clear the area around my nose where my breath had condensed to form a frost. 

Photo Credit: Pradyumna Kulkarni

Every night before retiring to our tents we huddled around a bonfire. It became a sort of ritual to sing some Bollywood numbers around the bonfire. The starry sky and the blazing bonfire made a perfect stage. It was amazing to sing under the open sky in the chilly weather where our voice echoed between the mountains.

Nerak was our summit. We had reached here covering about 40 odd km overall from Shingra to Tibb and then to Nerak. Chadar trek depends a lot on the thickness of the ice sheet. So if the weather is kind, you walk on the sheet else you have to take the mountain route to bypass the patch where the chadar is not formed well. A fall in the freezing river can be fatal because the river beneath the chadar is still flowing rapidly and it may drag you beneath the sheet and there is also the risk of hypothermia. 

It’s not that chadar doesn’t have any causalities. Every year there are trekkers who get injured during the trek and there are a few unfortunate instances where trekkers have lost their life. During our trek, we met one trekker who fractured his hand while another one slipped and dislocated his jaw. On the second day of the trek, we got news of a 21-year old trekker who lost his life to Mountain Sickness. 

We were lucky enough to have Chadar formed well and the only couple of times we had to take the mountain route. There were times when we could feel the layer of ice crack and the water touching our feet. On one occasion a few of us had moved ahead of the group and while we were covering a patch we realized that the layer of ice was getting thinner. We immediately waited till we saw a porter and followed him to cross the patch safely. It was scary.

Amidst the crackling sound of the ice beneath the feet and the rumbling of the river, we marched forward exchanging ‘Julley’, a local word for Hi or Namaste, with the porters and the trekkers we met along the way. Even today, the mention of the word brings back happy memories and a bright smile.

There was a huge frozen waterfall at Nerak but since the chadar had not formed well here, we had to across a mountain that took us about an hour of a climb and descend. At Nerak waterfall it was surreal to wave our National flag. 

By now, we were getting used to walking on the ice and doing our daily chores at those sub-zero temperatures. All through the trek, we were covered from head to toe. We hardly removed gloves from our hands. The hands were swollen and had literally lost sensation. But it is really astonishing how our body adapts itself to the surroundings. 

That night at Nerak, my mind was going through different emotions. I was sitting in my tent and wondering that I had reached the summit and now it was the return journey. I would be covering the same places taking the same route and perhaps there was nothing new to be explored. I was now missing my home. The pursuit seemed to be more fascinating than the accomplishment. 

Next day we started our journey back to base. Though technically it is the same route but the chadar is so dynamic that it keeps on forming- deforming every single day at the behest of the weather condition. No two days are same at Chadar. There was a point on our return where the chadar was not formed well and we had to cross a steep mountain face. We could manage this only because of our adept trek guide, Namgyal. People of Ladakh are friendly, jovial and very simple. They are more than happy to talk to you and give you a bright smile when you click their photographs. Namgyal was no different.

It was 26th Jan, Republic day, when we were at Shingra, our last camp of Chadar trek. Like all mornings of the trek, we got up at 6.30 am to be woken up by the trek crew with a hot cup of black tea. As we packed our bags and got ready for the last leg of the trek, we sang the National Anthem. The majestic mountains echoed the sentiments. We marched forward with a new zeal.

Chadar Trek is not just about physical endurance. It is more of a mental process. It is about discovering you. It is about coming out of your comfort zone and redefining your boundaries. It is annealing of the soul. You realize that like the trek you have to take life one step at a time. Stop worrying about things that are not under our control. Appreciate and live life to the fullest. It teaches you to overcome your limits and truly be unlimited. 

Photo Credit: Aishwarya Sitharam

We covered around 80 km in 6 days of the trek. I took the customary dip in the Zanskar River to complete my pilgrimage. It was ice cold and I dipped in the river seven times. The same river on which we were walking for about 6 days was now chilling the body, satiating the adrenaline rush and taking away all the strain of the trek. It was rejuvenating.

Mind was filled with mixed emotions. I was happy that the trek was completed safely and I would be heading back home but at the same time I would miss the serenity and the grandeur of Chadar.

The moist eyes appeased the soul and the heart was overwhelmed. There was a sense of completeness like never before. A dream was accomplished, a pursuit ended and the Joie de vivre rekindled. This experience would be surely etched in my memory till my last breath.

A beautiful couplet by Javed Akhtar come to my mind as I see this mystical journey unfold;

Dilon mein tum apni betabiyan leke chal rahe ho.
Toh zinda ho tum!
Nazar mein khwaabon ki bijliyan leke chal rahe ho
Toh zinda ho tum!
Hawa ke jhonkon ke jaise aazad rehna seekho
Tum ek dariya ke jaise, leharon mein behna seekho
Jo apni aankhon mein hairaniyan leke chal rahe ho
Toh zinda ho tum!

Till the time we meet again Chadar…Julley!