Chadar – The trek that set me free

January 2016

Trip’s never done before moment: Walking on a frozen river and enjoying freaking cold weather 🙂

I never knew I would be visiting Leh for the third time in my life (and twice in a 6 month period). The link to my previous blog on Leh: And the love affair continues… My date with the mountains of Leh !!. This trip was about raw nature, extreme cold, stretching my limits both physically and mentally and above all doing what I always wanted to do: surviving temperatures upto 30`C on the wrong side of zero. Making great friends was a pleasant surprise as I often travel alone and take time in forging bonds of friendship.

As if -30 could stop us from posing 🙂

A familiar face, a trekker worth her salt 🙂

There was no let down on the CRAZY quotient…

This piece is not meant to make you want to do the trek. Chadar is much more than a vacation or a getaway to blow off steam. I will let the article flow much like the trek unfolded for me: full of uncertainty, colors, ups and downs and straight from heart (to be fair it felt like nature let me inside her heart).

I was expecting snow all around me, more like landing on a sheet of snow. But on final approach while landing, I remembered that Leh is a cold desert. It rarely rains or snows in Leh. The terrain underneath was mostly brown except for hill tops which were snow clad.

A leisurely sunset 🙂

The experience starts with the cabin announcement – “The temperature outside is minus 10`C”. The airport greets you with blankets instead of curtains on doors and windows. I saw rucksacks more than suitcases, youngsters more than elderly people, sport jackets instead of formal suits, sunblocks instead of makeup (no offence ladies :)) and much to my heart’s content, mountains instead of malls, and all of this meant one thing and one thing alone – The trek was ON :). Most airlines stop flying to Leh in winters. Only GoAir and AI have some flights to cater to trek enthusiasts (or maniacs) like us.

To trek on the frozen Zanskar river had been my dream for many years now. And I consider myself quite lucky to have been able to experience it in person. A lot of effort and preparation went into the trip. But I always knew it is going to be worth it. And boy it was :).

At the onset… Our group 🙂

It is very easy to book the trek through any agency. There are many options online. I did it through GIO Adventures and they surely knew what they were doing. The details and logistics of the trek are not very difficult to figure out and your agency will definitely help you out with most things. I will not touch upon that much (please get in touch with me if you need pointers in preparing for the trek in terms of logistics, preparation and/or arrangements) and go back to the aspect where it touches your very soul – at least it touched mine in a way I never thought anyone ever could.

Chadar, to me, was also about capturing the amazing Leh night sky in my camera. Not being able to capture the Northern Lights in Iceland (In search of the Northern Lights: Iceland – The land of Fire and Ice) still haunts me and this time I was sure as hell to turn the tables :). Waking up at 5AM to freezing temperatures just made it that much more fun (and freezing). The chill, ice and the narrow passage between the mountains enhanced my senses and increased the charm multifold. Thankfully my friends were there to help me often as using a DSLR and tripod in such conditions becomes a tad bit easier with some help. I loved the sky there and I loved my camera for clicking what I could not see with my eyes in pitch dark conditions (with the exception of the bright and the beautiful moon).

My first good-ish high exposure night click with a lot of help 🙂

The orange glow atop mountains is the moon-light 🙂

Walking on a frozen river was a first for me. From the moment I set foot on the icy surface and started walking the winding curves deep into the mountains with sun playing hide and seek, I knew that a part of me is going to stay here forever. And I am going to come back someday looking for the same :).

Walking towards the unknown…

Such an inspiration, lone patch of green amid hostile conditions… Felt so lucky to even have spotted it 🙂

Every place I go gives me something unique that no other place before that has given, be it a memory, a sight, a friend or an experience. At the same time, it keeps a part of me in exchange. I guess that’s how the world works :). It’s amazing how close such places are to us yet how far away from everything material we feel when we actually reach there. Being away from mobile, laptop, wify and whatsapp can be one hell of a detox.

Just when we thought Chadar is easy peasy 🙂

Visual of the trek for me: Breaking the dominance of ice around with such panache…

Chadar gave me a sense of freedom, of breaking free. The feeling of never letting myself being trapped in self-constructed enclosures again. And I will never forget that. That’s my promise to the icy river, the snow clad mountains and the curvy passes in return for the peace and tranquil they gave me. I started my trek in a happy frame of mind. I came back ecstatic. And I could not have asked for more.

Some brave souls took multiple dips in super freezing water. Hats off :). The expression on their faces was priceless. I chickened out and just put my head under water instead of a full dip. Next time for sure :).

Before the dip expression. Post dip only Kavita knows, wanna elaborate? 😛

Pagalpanti bhi zaruri hai 😉

That was food for soul. But that doesn’t mean I did not have a blast in the traditional sense of course. In fact, WE had a blast in nature’s lap. I leave you with pictures that speak for themselves 🙂