Kashmir

Kashmir - Been there, done that and want to do more. Kashmir is a feeling that will stay with me for a long time to come.  My Kashmir trip was from 11-19 Aug which primary included the IndiaHikes organized trek - Great Lakes of Kashmir from 12-18 Aug. This post is a detailed account of my time there.

The first thing we (Pankaj, Sachin and me) noticed when we landed in Srinagar is the presence of military on the streets of Kashmir. It is normal for Kashmiris. But for us, constant patrolling force was a shock. The second shock was the cab prices. The prepaid counter charged us 450Rs from airport to hotel which would not have been more than 10Kms. That is about 45Rs per km,  it is even more expensive than Bangalore.

Day -1: Dal lake and the Shikara
We arrived a day early under the pretense of acclimatization to see Srinagar.  Dal lake on a 3-4 hr Shikara ride gives a feeling of calm, peace and the slow pace of life as it should be. Just imagining sitting on one of the houseboats, sipping coffee and lazily overlooking  the lake gives contentment. The level of entrepreneurship is also amazing. We saw a shikara with a lot of suitcases just standing there. As we went closer, it came next to us and the suitcases were revealed to be boxes holding  collection of jewellery sets. There are mobile Chai shops, Photo studios, freshly roasted Butta (corn) being sold on Shikaras. There is also a whole floating market and now a floating Indian Post Office as well!  But we could see signs of a lot of commercialization of the lake.

Day 0: Shankaracharya temple and to reach basecamp.
The Shankaracharya temple on the hill is decent. It gives a good view of the city and we realizes that (a) Srinagar is quite densely populated and (b) Dal lake is huge :) The drive to base camp at Sonamarg was very beautiful. The road goes next to the Sind river for about 2 hrs and the scenery is beautiful. Sparsely populated, small hills, green vegetation and good roads just lightens the heart. The basecamp at Sonamarg was right next to Sind river on a lush green grass at the foothills. Perfectos!  The local guide said that this is just the start, as the trek progresses, it is going to get better. I had no reason to doubt him but i was completely satisfied here as well.

 The   trek route/itinerary can be read from this page - http://www.indiahikes.in/himalayan-treks/kashmir-great-lakes-trek/ 
I will not repeat that. Rather, i want to talk about things that i observed and cool incidents that will be remembered -

~ Drinking water straight out of river. No purification, no RO, no cleaning, no boiling. I do not remember when was the last time i drank like this.  It just makes you wonder that if water is so pure at the source, why it is so contaminated by the time we get it.
~ The magic of water - We were asked to drink about 5-6 litres of water everyday. Pretty much drinking water and peeing was the order of the day.  But water is magical. There were couple of points in the trek when we were at high altitudes (13.5K feet+) and i felt dizzy, the pukey feeling and both the times, i just drank water. It helps in acclimatization, keeps the body hydrated and everything else feels normal.
~ No bath. The water was cold. Sometimes freezing cold. That meant no bath for me and many others for 6 days. There were a few who took a dip in the Hanmukh lake on day 5 but i am not that brave (stupid :)
~Oh shit! This was the first time i used a shovel to dig a cathole to take a dump. I had heard that people do it in long treks, but doing it was a first experience.
~Pampered - Treks in India pamper us. We didn't had to carry our tents,  nor our sleeping bags. There were even mules available on pay basis to carry our bag packs. There were cooks with us to cook food for us, horses were carrying the food and other raw materials. helpers for everything. I atleast carried my bag pack on my own for the entire trek.
~ No people. For the most part, it was a people free trek. It is so important to be feel the wilderness, to get that feeling that you are all alone against the nature. In many treks in India, one finds Dhaba/villages for a long way, there are highways crossing the trails etc etc. But on this one, except on the last day, we were pretty much on our own. We did cross two army camps and met local sherpas but was interesting in itself.
~ Army camps - Army people were happy to see us. There were happy to see people in general. Else, they are all alone between the mountains.  At the Satsar camp, we were offered water and cadbury chocolates which was awesome. But one thing that became evident was their distrust towards Kashmiris. They openly called them liars and looked down on them. That was quite sad! 
~Daily we were given 3-4 toffees, a cholocate bar and a biscuit pack for the trek. I used to eat the toffees along the way but the chocolate and biscuit pack was left till the end as a celebration of accomplishment. It was amazing.
~ Slept under the Sun on day 4 and 5 and got sun burnt. I love the feeling of sun burnt even though it is itchy. The peeling skin becomes proof of an experience!

The route was very well planned. Everyday started with an ascent for about 2-2.5 hrs followed by a slow descent to get to the camp. Just the way i like it - ascent followed by descent. Day 1 was quite strenuous as it was the first day and we also rose up by 3000 feet in altitude to get to the camp.  Reaching at the highest point was always a sense of satisfaction - the worst has been done, now it is just a matter of walking to the base camp. Everyday was about 12Km in distance, about 6 hrs time-wise. The camps were always next to water with many rocks nearby so that natural calls can be done in private.

Day 3 will be remembered by me and by everyone. People had claimed that it will the most strenuous one but no-one imagined it to be this bad. We left the Vishasnsar campground in morning at around 8:30. Pretty soon there was rain and as a result, the whole soil became slushy.  As i was climbing up, suddenly i found that it was difficult for my shoes to get a grip on the trail and it was sliding down. In a matter of 5 mins, i was lying flat on the ground unable to stand up because of slippage. There was a feeling of helplessness. I needed help and i was cursing myself of this very reason - why do i need help? I should be able to take care of things as they come. Twice i tried to get up and twice i slipped down, i actually went 3-4 feet down. Then i was rescued by Altaf, our local trek guide, who just took my luggage away, pulled me up so that i could stand and then told me to walk on stones as they dont slide away. I did that and finally managed to reach the top. It rained the entire way to campsite, it was a long day as well, about 15 kms. Because it was raining, i couldn't take any pics. We passed the Gladsar lake and it was the most beautiful lake i have ever seen.  It was not only me but there were many others who slipped or required help to climb that day. From the top to the camp, the trail seemed like it would never end. It was just walk, walk and walk and faith that there would be a camp in the end. It was a hard day, very tiring but it gave a lot of confidence - Girne ke baad khade hone mein alag hi mazaa hai!

The day 3 camp was just after Gadsar army camp. The campsite was just 12km away from LOC (line of control). This is the closest that i had been to LOC, so yay! Even though it was just 12K, it was actually behind three big mountains :)

Day 4 was the most beautiful day of all days. The sun was shining just right and we walking on a green carpet for as long as we can see. The sky was of sky blue color, just as it should be. A spot (cloud) less blue color with green mountains on both the sides. Very very beautiful!

Day 6, the final day, had the worst descent. We came down about 3500 feet in about 2 hrs (4-5km) at Naranag. It took a big toll on the knees. We could see the road down but we kept on reducing altitude  yet it took forever to reach there. The slopes were very very steep and it was painful to get down. But as this was the last day, we kept on going to finish the trek.

A big shout out should be given to the trek guides especially to Altaf and Amit. Altaf is literally a superman, spiderman. He went up and down multiple times to help others, especially on day 3. He carried three bags at one time because others couldn't even carry one. Both Amit and Altaf were tired at the end of the trek yet they were there to help others or to arrange wood for bon fire or anything. Big salute to them. And very special thanks to the cooks and helpers. Even though it was not their job, they were always ready to help us. in any way. They were very soft spoken too. Most of them will not eat until all of us had food. And we would just ask for food the moment we came down from the trek. Their spirit is very inspiring. May good things happen to them!

 The time in evenings was very eventful. We played Antaskshari, dumb charades, Mafia, cards :), chit chat, star gazing, sun bathing, and just lazily sleep down. On the day 5, we took upon us to prepare food for the entire crew and give rest to our cooks. The food was decent. Preparing food for 30 people is not an easy task.  At night, all the Kashmiris helpers got together and sang local folk songs for us. One of the guys, Riyaz, even danced. Local folk songs are always a treat to listen. That was very special!

 Lastly, it gave plenty of time for reflection. When you are sitting alone, staring at the big mountains in front of you, clean river flowing by your side, natural beauty all around you,  and you are tired to move, all you have are your thoughts and you can clearly see what is important in life and what is not.

ab humein bhi maloom hain, Kashmir ko jannat kyun kehte hain.

Kashmir Great lakes trek