11. Leh Ladakh Part 2: Solo trek in the Himalayas

Markha Valley trek

I had done short, 1-day treks or hikes in Scotland and Italy, but this was something else. I mean, it's the Himalayas. Yet you can't help but see all the trek planning shops in town to know this is a big part of the Ladakh experience. Plus, several people I'd met at Moustache back in Delhi had raved about trekking in Ladakh. So Nick, Donovan and I were keen. But then I decided to stay in Leh for the festival and couldn't join the two of them on a guided trek. A Finn I'd met had done the same trek solo and said it was pretty straightforward - you just follow the valley. Then, as I was trying unsuccessfully to find another group I could split the cost with, one of the outfitters encouraged me to do it alone. His guide even walked me through it - what the terrain was like, where the homestays were, where to watch for forks in the trail, where there aren't bridges and you have to cross the river up to your knees (or waist, if it's rained). They would drive me to the start point, and I could hitch a ride back to Leh when I got to Shang Sumdo, or worst case I could have someone phone him and he would send a jeep. The final piece that did it for me was discovering my offline Maps With Me app actually had the trail marked, including villages, homestays and even "tea tents"! So my phone's GPS would help prevent me from getting lost. Open Street Maps - the wikapedia of maps used by Maps With Me - rules. I decided to do the trek alone.

Since the homestays include all bedding and food and water refills, I packed my day-pack with clothing layers and booked a ride on the adventure company shared bus to Chilling.

Leaving all the river-rafters at Chilling. On my own: how long until I see another soul??

Heading out from Chilling at noon it was 29° and perfect weather. My hip felt pretty good, I put on SPF lotion and my cap for the piercing sunlight, I had water, a few chapatis (flatbreads) and half a bag of almonds as snacks. My firm but worn-in hiking boots were very comfortable and I had several clothing layers to adapt as the temperature changed throughout the day. I felt prepared. I felt enthralled. I was appreciating every moment.

After crossing a bridge that is under construction, I climbed hills huffing and puffing for a couple of hours until the path evened out. The bridge incidentally will replace a swinging cable cart that until now has been the only way to cross the river to the Markha Valley. This will enable vehicles to enter the valley, facilitating getting supplies up to the villagers of course, but inevitably accelerating changes that will threaten their traditions.

The bridge being builtbuilt near Chilling to cross the Zasnskar River into the Markha Valley.

I stopped at a home that was selling wonderful little animal puppets hand-made out of the hair of yak, cow and goat. I bought a local "friend" for the stuffed dog of my Mum's I had brought as a memento to accompany me from Canada. Every couple of hours I pass a farmer or guide escorting supply donkeys back to Chilling, and occasionally I cross a group also heading up the valley. "Tea tents" offering chai & snacks or homestays appear once in a while to reassure me I'm never far from help.

Ladakhi woman selling animal puppets hand-made from the fit from their yak, cows and goats.

Along the way I was impressed by the variety of rock you see. Here are rocks of deep green, purple and orange all next to each other.

I was happy walking until 6:30 PM to reach my target, Sara, which is farther than the standard guided trek goes on the first day. Here I found my first homestay. A very gentle man, Simje, greeted me, showed me the very comfortable room I would sleep in, and gave me a hot cup of milk tea in an ornamental cup and saucer. I felt like I had arrived in Victoria.

My first "homestay"! What a welcome sight.

Quiet, gentle Simje and his friendly wife outside of their home. There a small vegetable garden to the bottom left.

Clean water pump and parabolic sun cooker, health and environmental improvements distributed through donations from local government and NGOs like Exodus and SECMOL.

Simje began to prepare the thukpa dinner. He used lettuce, turnips and garlic from their garden. After dark, his wife came home from the fields laden with firewood, accompanied by her mother who lived with them. She apologized in broken English that I hadn't come the day before when several other trekkers had stayed and who I could have talked to. I told her I was more happy to stay and listen and learn from them. She made fresh noodles from the grains they grow in the fields. Simje and his wife have two boys, but they are over 11 years old and are in Leh for school. In the background the radio played Ladhaki music, which to my ear, sounded more Chinese than Indian.

As they were preparing dinner, her cousin arrived from up the valley. He was a teacher at a small school that served several of the villages. Previously he had been a monastery guide and also a nature guide, so he spoke pretty good English. I learned a lot from him about the local customs, fauna and traditions as we all sat around the cooking stove sipping the local butter tea, they laughing and chatting in Ladakhi, me happily observing. Butter tea is tea with lots of butter and salt. Nutritious for them as the cold weather comes maybe, but I can't say I preferred it to chai! In the morning, I'm served chai and chapatis with jam. They pack up a lunch for me, refill my water bottles with filtered water (although they have the mountain river next to them, there are villages upriver, plus cattle, sheep and donkeys that all graze nearby), and I head off.

The homestays are great. Not only do they provide a view into traditional Ladakhi life, they are dotted conveniently along the route, and they are all-inclusive for a fixed price (~$15). Besides a cozy room, they include home-cooked dinner, breakfast and packed lunch. This lunch included water refill, chapatis with jam, hard-boiled egg, potato (with salt pack), processed cheese slice (!), juice box and chocolate bar! An unfortunate amount of packaging, but enough for a meal and an afternoon snack :)

Friendly man I met along the way. The locals are accustomed to hiking several hours between villages.

On day 2, it's 22° and sunny, but becomes overcast in the afternoon again. I'm happy about that because the sun can burn easily, and I wasn't too worried about rain because the cousin from last night had told me that the valley itself only gets 10 cm a year because it is sheltered by the mountains on each side. So I realized just how incredible it is they can cultivate up here; their river irrigation techniques are highly developed.

Set of stupas near Markha (village).

Stupas and meditation caves.

Sign at ladies tea tent on day 2. This ecological and sustainability message was pretty common in the valley and in Ladakh. Their fragile ecosystem is facing severe environmental issues, but they recognize this and are working to overcome.

Eerie devotional yak and goat horns. Animism mixed with Buddhism from Tibet.

One of the bridges to cross the river. There were a few instances where there was no bridge and you had to remove your boots, roll up your pants and wade across. I was lucky - it was dry and early in the day the only time I had to cross, so it was only to below my knees. My walking pole helped though because of the uneven rocks and rushing current.

I made it to Hangkar before dinnertime. I found a homestay at far end of the village with a family with 3 small kids. The eldest was a 9 year-old girl called Tsomo who absolutely charmed me. She was tremendously caring and playful with her 1 year-old sister, Jigmat, including changing her pants and feeding her. Her 7 year-old brother came home after school. I didn't catch his name, and although he was playful, he was hyper and a bit aggressive - boys will be boys? We played ball games, and I showed them how to juggle. Through broken English, Tsomo and I played "what's your favorite?" ...colour, food, animal, and music, to which I replied "Finn". So I showed them pictures and played some of the few of Finn's songs I had on my tablet. It felt so strange, his music playing on this little box in this Himalayan home, and these 3 kids from a totally different culture trying to make heads or tails of it! They liked 'Crawl Out', Finn :)

Upper Hangkar. This is from the roof of my second homestay house. Note the peaks in the background, and the fields in the valley growing bountifully at around 4,000 m (13,000 ft)!

My homestay bedroom, with a tall pile of blankets out of view - very comfy! Note the traditional, carved window frames.

Kids with friends, and my Victorian teacup.

The kitchen in my Hangkar homestay. Tsomo's Mum is standing by the stove.

Tsomo (9), Jigmat (8 months) and their brother (7, missed his name).

Day 3 and it's only 12° now. I have two of my three long-sleeved shirts on. After 2 fairly flat days, climbing begins in earnest. I get to 4,500 m (over 16,000 feet), breathing hard with every step, and I notice my hands kind of tingle. But I make the final campsite, Nimaling, by 12:30 PM. Nimaling isn't a real village. It's only seasonal, and consists of a big, circular food tent manned by a cook and several climbing guides, and a set of 2- and 4-person sleeping tents. Nearby is a small house where a farmer has brought his herd to feed for the summer. There are a half-dozen other trekkers sipping tea when I arrive.

All the way up the valley to Nimaling, as with elsewhere in Ladakh, you pass these cairns with stones engraved with "on mani pad me om", the Buddhist chant. I was amazed to find these laborious constructions in a place I was having a hard time even breathing! You should always pass on the left / clockwise for good luck, so the path goes around both sides of them, like a roundabout.

For this photo, I was struck by the varied colors in the lichen on this huge rock, so I posed myself on the rock with the mountains on the other side of the valley. 

The second highest animal I saw. There were lots of these rabbit-y groundhog things on the plateau approaching Nimaling. When still, they are hard to distinguish from rocks. Their network of burrows was evident all around me.

The approach to Nimaling, the final tent campsite. Nimaling is the white speck right-centre below the V.  Kangmaru La is the pass over the left. Kang Yatse and its base camp are up to the right. Pretty barren, desolate, but incredibly majestic when you are surrounded by this vast landscape.

Getting there so early, and without a local family to learn from, I decide to hike 2 hours before dinner up to the 5,200 m base camp for nearby Kang Yatse, a peak of 6,400 m (yes, higher than any point in North America). Half-way there I take a detour and head off on my own up to the snow line. I pass the last animals I see, a few thick-haired horses that the guides allow to graze on the last tufts of high grass. At this elevation, and with a steep grade, I find myself taking 2 or 3 breaths per step, despite being in the best shape I've been in since high school. I spend a half hour taking in the spectacular surroundings, the full majesty of the Himalayas. It's breathtaking. Oh wait, that's the elevation. I manage to take a short video for family. It took me 2.5 hours to get there, but I return, exhilarated, in 40 minutes and in plenty of time for dinner.

At the snow line, with 6,400 m Kang Yatse shrouded in cloud behind me. I'm at about 5,200 m here, but off any trail so not sure.

In the heavens, 500 m or so above Nimaling.

Waiting for dinner, a dozen of us, from all corners of the earth, sit in a circle sharing travel stories with the sun setting behind the ridge. This includes a rasta-looking Montrealer who had convinced two Aussies he had met to split $140 with him to buy a donkey to carry their trekking gear. Every local they ran into thought this was hilarious, partly because they'd never seen a tourist who owned a donkey, and partly because they could tell the donkey was old and the three of them had basically paid to relieve a local of his problem. Still, the donkey usually did his job without complaining, and they took good care of him and gave him lots of affectionate scrubs behind the ears, which he loved.

Two Aussies with "Canadian" donkey.

Also at camp with us were a group of 4 Russians I'd come upon earlier in the day and who intending to scale Kang Yatse with a guide. And arriving late were 6 young Singapore intending to do the same. Both were equipped with climbing gear - ropes, ice crampons, the requisite guide, etc. After traveling alone for several days, this common campsite felt positively bustling. After dinner, a family of Israelis taught me a Russian game called "Dummy" that's kind of like euchre and hearts together. When I finally won a game to much cheering, I retired to my tent, wrapped myself in long-underwear, 3 long-sleeved shirts, my bandana as a headscarf, and climbed under two covers and worked myself to sleep.

I got up on my last day to find we were surrounded by cloud / mist. It was 2°. After sharing a hot breakfast and several cups of chai I packed up and started off towards Kangmaru La, the 5,400 m high pass between Nimaling and much lower Shang Sumdo, the pick-up point to get back to Leh. I ended up climbing at the same speed as Tom (a young Brit I'd met in both Moustache and Leh) and "J2" (an Indian from Bangalore Tom had partnered with for trekking) and we continued together.

We reach the pass before noon. It's windy and snowy and 1°. Visibility is about 150 m, so unfortunately photo-taking the surrounding peaks at this highest point on our trek is impossible. We suppose that neither climbing party will be able to scale Kang Yatse today. I think to myself how glad I am that I hiked up to the snowline the day before to get a great view, and feel the wonder of the place.

Enjoying the weather at 5,400 m Kangmaru La (pass). I have on a T-shirt, three long-sleeve shirts, my raincoat, long-underwear and pants, and even the gloves I bought for motorbiking. Visibility about 150 m.

At the pass we decide to have lunch. Upon opening the lunches the tent guides have made for us, from supplies carried 3 days to, young Tom remarks "this fried rice is crappy. Food should be for enjoying". I think to myself, once again, expectations make us unhappy. Here is Tom, in the splendour of the Himalayas, healthy, and with a meal provided to sustain him back to civilization (elements of which were all trekked up for 3 days), and he is focused on what he doesn't have. So often, we focus on what we don't have. There is ALWAYS a positive way one can view one's circumstances. Give yourself some perspective. Traveling should do that.

We start the steep climb down the north side of the pass. While the 3-or 4-day climb up to the pass had been pretty straightforward, this descent is steeper, and with more drop-offs. At one point we find the remains of an unfortunate pack-horse who must have slipped and fallen to the rocky river bed hundreds of metres below. I keep thinking of how they got Tsomo's class of 8-year-olds along here safely when they visited Leh last year!

J2 and Tom descending on the far side of Kangmaru La.

Unfortunate casualty from precipitous mountain passage.

Different geology again. This one looks straight out of Mordor.

Looking behind me as I approach Shang Sumdo and the end of the trek. The black dot at the bottom of the black line coming down from to right is one of my party close behind.

At a tea tent half way to Shang Sumdo, out of the inclement weather and in warning temperature, we catch up to two Germans who have been trekking very aggressively for several weeks, one of them admits "TOO fast!" He's exhausted. Were trying to reach the pick-up point before 5 as we hear there's a mini-bus that leaves there today. As my pack is the lightest, and the others feet are stressed crossing the rocky trail in running shoes, I lead off at a quick pace to catch the bus. I make it before 5 to find there is no bus, but I secure a good price for an SUV back to Leh for the 5 of us. We finally relax over chai before climbing into the car exhausted but happy to be going "home".