Hi My name is Hemendra Kateja, I live in Jaipur, Rajasthan. My Chadar Trek was one of the unimaginable and most memorable trek. I went with my friend Nikhlesh for this incredible trekking adventure in February 2020.
We both were very excited for this trek as we already mesmerised with chadar trek footage that we saw in several vlogs on youtube.
We invested a lot of money in trekking gears and in other stuff because we were very keen to see the Chadar. I have heard a lot about the beauty of the Zanskar River but when I reached there it was much more amazing and I fell in love with the mesmerizing views of Zanskar Valley.
We leave from Jaipur to Delhi on 31st Jan 2020, and reached delhi around 3:30 AM on 1st Feb 2020,
Our flight was at 6:20 AM from IGI Airport Delhi. We both already pre booked our window seats to experience the aerial view of Magnificent Himalaya Peaks.
After experiencing aerial view of Magnificent Himalaya Peaks we landed on the land of LAMA.
Pilot announced that the current temperature of leh is -16, and we were eager to experience that kind of cold temperature, so we put out a woolen cap and gloves before getting out of the plane.
From 10 degrees (Delhi) to -16 degrees (Leh) was teeth chattering cold. Reaching on a Leh Airport we took our luggage and moved towards the exit.
Our tour operators were waiting outside with placards and welcoming gestures. We met Mr. Dorjay. He drove us to the guest house which was situated in STOK which was 15-20 Km away from Leh. We met Rovit Singla. He also came here for the Chadar trek and he was part of our Trekkers group.
We reached our Guest House “Skitsal Guest Houseâ€. Staff gave us a warm welcome as we were first to arrive from the group. There was a Dog “Shadowâ€, he also came to us and started sniffing, so now we were now officially roam around out of fear. Arrangements were very good which were made for us by the team.
We met Mr. Tenzing and other staff too. After a couple of hours we met with 3 other trekkers of the group (Bittu, Shishank & Shubham) at Skitsal Guest House
After an hour Abdul & Vikash also joined the group as a trekker. The Trip coordinators “Kavish Rathore†and “The Bearded Traveller†Visited to the Guest house and started the introduction session and also briefed us about chadar trek and do’s and dont’s during the trekk.
They told us not to exert ourselves on the first day as we were already feeling heavy while breathing because we were still not acclimatized to the leh environment.
Second Day, Tenzing took us for a small trek around the village and Buddha Stupa which was around 3 km from the Guest House. We enjoyed Kids dance Performances also which was happening in school nearby. Then we went to have authentic Laddakhi local food. We had Kahwa, Butter Tea, Ladakhi Bread, Fried Momo & steamed momo with Pasta. We also tried a local Wine called “Chaangâ€.
After an exciting visit to a village four people have decided to visit Ice Stupa & Shanti Stupa, So we asked Tanzing to arrange a Taxi for four of us so we can visit these places.
We Visited visit Ice Stupa & Shanti Stupa and came back around 8PM. We had Dinner and and slept early as tomorrow was our Health checkup and Chadar trek Registration. Tonight we asked to sleep in the camps rather than rooms.
Next Day we left for the Health checkup and Chadar Trek Registration and all of the group members passed the health test and we got a green flag to go on chadar trek.
From Leh Market we brought Gumboots & Trekking Pole. Some of our group members also brought some hot jackets and gloves. Tonight again we asked to sleep in the camps rather than rooms. From tomorrow our trek was going to start in the actual manner.
Trek Day 1: On the first day of trek, we started with a thrilling ride to Shingra koma (Starting point of Chadar trek) via Tilad Do, Chilling and Nimmu. Passing through the high mountains was a bit scary but we had a wonderful driver with us.
We met our 2 guides Hanif and Tundup, they taught us how to walk on different types of ice.The day got colder as we reached Shingra Koma. Our Helpers cooked soupy maggi for us followed by the tea and cookies. It was our first-day of trekking in Zanskar. We had to cover around 5 km today. Be careful while you walk on the ice as it will be very slippery at times. At first, I was a bit nervous to walk on the ice but as we continued I was able to walk but steadily. I fell on ice in the very first hour of chadar trek. Nikhlesh leg slipped twice in cold water on the very first day and the whole shoe got frozen within 5 - 10 minutes. Today almost every one slipped and fell on ice multiple times.
We reached our First campsite at Gylapo by evening and porters and cooks were already there and they served us hot tea and snacks followed by Dinner. The campsite was very beautiful and we could see the mountains on all sides. Temperature dropped significantly at night while we were in sleeping bags. Hanif told us that there is a possibility that we might not get permission to move to tibb cave because chadar has been broken before Tibb cave and there are 2 groups stuck at tibb cave and army guys are trying to get them out safely.
Trek Day 2: On the second day of trek, we had our morning tea and delicious breakfast, and we were waiting for the update of the trekking association that we can proceed to tibb cave or not. We noticed that many groups decided to move to tibb cave without a backpack because they thought that they have to come back eventually. But our guides Hanif & Tundup decided that we have to take risk and take our backpacks and then go to tibb cave, so if there is any possibility to reach tibb cave we will attempt that and it will save our whole day too.
We started our trekking from Gylapo to Tibb Cave. Today was a big day for us as we had to cover around 15 km. We started trekking through the deep ravines of Zanskar, and the day was a bit colder as there was no sunlight at all. We noticed the place where 2 groups got rescued, because there was a rope tide to make a path for trekkers. Chadar breaks and forms very quickly in these cold conditions , so we were very lucky to get a chance to walk on solid ice. We saw many caves and frozen waterfalls. We reached Tibb cave at our camp site. We explored the tibb cave where porters were preparing for the bonfire. We also enjoyed the warmth of the bonfire. We had a wonderful dinner with some roti and a sabji.
Before going to bed we noticed that there were very few people reached here for camping, because in morning they decided to stay in the camps in Gyalpo.We were in confusion that could we move to Nerak Village tomorrow or not, But Hanif came to us and gave us a good news that because tomorrow and day after tomorrow there is Chadar Festival at Nerak village , so officials gave permission to open trekk to nerak.
Hanif told us that Chadar condition is very bad so we need to leave early in the morning so we don’t experience broken chadar. We took some night mode shots on our camera and went to those suffocating tents and sleeping bags.
Trek Day 3: On the third day of trek, Today we had to trek from Tibb cave to Nerak Village. Morning started a bit early for us. The first time on the journey we woke up around 6 and had wakeup tea, and had our breakfast and we left for Nerak Village around 7:30AM.
As we started trekking we came across many Junipers and prayer flags tied on a twig. It was such a beautiful sight. Within an hour we faced a broken chadar and our guides helped us and guided us to cross the broken chadar where water was at knee level. We changed our wet socks very fast.
We also came across a huge broken waterfall on our way to the camp. We had to walk slowly as few of the paths were a bit slippery.Hanif and Tundup decided to setup camp 5 km before nerak village so we can save our whole day while going back to leh.
Just before reaching the camp site I had a great fall on a chadar when I slipped very badly and I hit my shoulder and head on rock solid chadar. I must say i was very lucky that head gears came out as a saviour and they saved my head, but unfortunately i hit my shoulder and now it was very painful to walk with that heavy rucksack backpack.
We reached our campsite and had tea and snacks, I applied a fast pain relieving spray on the shoulder and put our bags in the camps and moved towards nerak village.At that particular moment for fraction of second i thought i can’t do that and i need rest, but that what i learned in this trip is to push your limit and challenge your body.
I started again with that painful shoulder. Now I reduced my speed of walk because somewhere in my mind there was fear of falling again on the chadar. That thought was not going and I tried many times. Beautiful landscapes distracted my mind and I forgot my pain. We saw a hot water spring on the journey of the trek. We took a rest for lunch and from this point we could also see the Narek village and some stupas. Our trek leader Hanif & tundup was really helpful throughout the journey.
After having lunch we moved to Nerak Village and we saw the grand canyon of Nerak and the mighty Nerak frozen waterfall. We clicked pictures on the frozen waterfall and then we moved to nerak village where the Chadar festival was happening.
We saw the local people wearing their traditional woollen Gonchas. It was such a wonderful view to see how these people have adjusted to the biting cold here
Chadar village people welcomed us very warmly, they started traditional dance with traditional songs of nerak, Drums were so in sync with songs and the echo of music in the valley was an epic experience. After Half hour of enjoyment we took our leave and started moving towards our camp. We came across many pug marks of foxes.
After reaching our camp, the pain in my shoulder started irritating me and I was not able to do normal work. Today clouds covered the sky and it was too windy, so because of that we were feeling so cold and our hands and palm were getting numb. Here Hot water bag saved us in this horrible situation.
Trek Day 4: On the third day of trek, Today we had to trek from Narek camp to Gylapo via Tibb Cave which was basically our return journey. And today we have to go more than 15 km I guess. IN the morning we woke up many times because of the windy weather and stage noise on our tents. After we woke up we found out that it was snowing, and everywhere there was a layer of snow. We had Tea and breakfast and moved towards Gyalpo. After we started our trek within 10 mins snow started falling again and this was the cherry on the cake of the journey, that we experienced trek in snow fall too. The morning was very cold when we started. We reached Tibb cave very fast and then we pushed our speed to reach Gyalpo camp. Everyone was very tired that they wanted to reach leh asap. But we need to spend one more night in the tents.
We reached so early to Gylapo that we had enough time to explore nearby places, we took rest in sunshine and then we saw local blue sheeps, did some photography and then moved to the dining area.
As this was our stay of trekk, so all the group of trekkers started playing dumb share arts and time flew by, we had great fun , laughs. We became good friends during the course of our journey. Then a hot dinner was served by the helpers and then we were surprised that all the crew members prepared a delicious and beautiful cake. Hanif and Tundup and all our crew came together and shared their experience of the trek, ever one were very emotional and happy at the same moment that they have achieved a milestone.
We had a bonfire and sang songs and we danced together. Today’s temperature was not that harsh.That night was the best night of the whole trek. We went to our sleeping bags and tent for the last time.
Trek Day 5 : We were almost coming to an end of our trek. Today we had to trek from Gylapo to Shingra Koma. We started the trek for the last time, and as we know that our group is very fast so everyone expected that in 2 hours we will reach Shingra Koma. But as i previously said that Chadar is unpredictable. Last night it was not that cold, so because of that after 15 mins of trek we saw that there is no chadar present anymore and there is water everywhere, and the mountains were very steep that we cannot walk through.
We were in huge confusion as our travellers were already waiting for us at the pickup point as Shingra Koma. We thought adventure was over for us on the last day but wait now we have to climb the 30 Feet mountain and then cross the valley from the mountains. How interesting and it was very dangerous too.
Nikhlesh, Abdul and Ashish already climbed and reached on the top of the hill, I started to climb and slowly and steadily everyone climbed that hill. This was so much thrill and fun. We threw rope and the remaining group climbed the hill very soon.
Thanks to Hanif Bhai and Tundup for making our trek such an awesome one. We were the first group who reached nerak from thrillophilia this season. We reached our pickup point and took a sigh of relief.
We Stopped at Gurudwara Shri Pathar Sahib Ji and thanked god for the success of the Chadar trek and then we had langar prasad and moved towards leh city.
We checked in our guesthouse Palam Hills Guest House. We took a bath after a week and then we went to leh market, and brought souvenirs for my friends and family. We enjoyed a bonfire with drinks and then we had dinner together and started packing our bags as we all have early morning flights.
Today was our last day at Leh, we were ready for our return journey. We took our flight back home. We had the best time doing this incredible trek, a must do trek for all the adventure seekers, you will just love everything about this trek. Just remember to wear thermals and wear gumboots during the trek. You can buy them at Leh on your first day itself. We click a lot of pictures to cherish these memories. Huge thanks to team Thrillophilia and Kavish and The bearded Traveller. Thanks to all crew members and especially Hanif & Tundup, Keep rocking guys.
Special thanks to my Team Nikhlesh, Abdul, Ashish, Bittu, Viskash, Rovit, Shubham and Shishank."