A Fortnight to Remember

 

A FORTNIGHT TO REMEMBER

Ajit Chaudhuri

 

Some fashionable things are worth doing!

I was not keen on the Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek for a long time – stories in the trekking community suggested that it was fancy (rest-houses at every location, internet mostly available), crowded (as indicated by that iconic photograph of the traffic jam on Mt. Everest) and expensive, and that one’s precious time and money would be better expended along other routes on which phones didn’t work. The feeling changed in a conversation with Kathmandu-based friends, who said that Nepal had three treks seriously worth doing; the Manaslu area in Upper Gorkha because it was beautiful, the Makalu area between Everest and Kanchenjunga because it was untouched, and the EBC because ‘some things just have to be done’.

I got an opportunity to ‘do what has to be done’ this year – I had just returned from a trek whose co-leader mentioned that his next one was to EBC. The thought of doing this with someone who had earlier led a successful summit of Mt. Everest was too tempting to resist and, notwithstanding my advanced age and lack of preparation (other than the afore-mentioned trek), time and money, I promptly signed on.

There is a plethora of information on the EBC trek! This note is about what is not mentioned in the brochures and internet writeups, which I discovered the hard way.

One, the trek is long – you will be walking for 11 continuous days, away from basic comforts, with just high mountains around you, with the same people for company.

Two, it is high, with four distinct sections – below 3,000 m; between 3 and 4,000 m, when altitude starts becoming a factor; between 4 and 4,900 m, where the greenery disappears; and 5,000 m plus, where a good night’s sleep is difficult; and therefore, how the group acclimatizes is important. We took it easy going up, taking our time along the lower sections, spending a day at the same place once we crossed 4,000 m (and using that day to climb to 5,000 m – see the itinerary appended below), reaching places and then, no matter how tired we were, climbing another 2-300 m before coming down to our night spot. And we zipped on the return – three long and tiring days that extended into nights, a time that my knees still remember.

And three, it is hard, with steep up-hills and down-hills, and long stretches of moraine on the route into (and out of) Gorakshep along the Khumbu glacier.

Offsetting these factors were, one, the group that I went with; a mix of adventurous youngsters, middle-aged professionals, and (last but not least) nice-looking women, and led by an experienced Everester – 10 of us (I was the official buddhow – so everyone laughed at my jokes, appreciated my singing, put up with my crap and generally helped me along) and supported by a guide, an assistant guide, and a yak-wallah and his helpers – all of whom knew the terrain inside-out and for whom this was the equivalent of just another day at the office.

Two, the sheer beauty of the trek! This took me by surprise (trek brochures are like ads on Tinder in that everything is described as beautiful and each one is, I guess, in its own way) – each section was seriously beautiful, in completely different ways from the other sections. I just had to look up for fatigue to disappear, anywhere along the trek. The Doodhkoshi River that flows from the Everest region actually looks like frothy milk making its way southwards to the Ganga (we went up on its western side and returned along its east), and views of Mt. Amadablam and others were with us most of the time. The only thing we did not see was Mt. Everest in all its majesty, even from the base camp, we had to climb up Mt. Kalapathar the next day for that (begin at 0330 hours, climb to 5,600 m, come down and continue walking until 2200 hours on the day, I was so screwed – but I am spared having to say ‘Yes, I went to EBC, but I did not really see Mt. Everest’ while showing off at cocktail parties).

And three, the fun! This too was a surprise – treks are, for me, a test of endurance and I do them for many reasons but having fun is not among them. We chanced upon a restaurant in Namche Bazaar (Sherpa Bar and Steakhouse) whose owner was a music enthusiast, and we got him to sing Sherpa songs on a traditional instrument. We also commandeered the restaurant’s guitar and took over the space, both on the way up and down – and some of the group turned out to be serious singers. We celebrated a birthday in Dengbouche’s 4410 Café in similar riotous fashion, organizing a guitar and filling the place with music and laughter.

Another highlight was the flights to and from Luk La. A small plane takes one through some stunning mountain landscape before reaching the world’s most dangerous airport, where the runway is a short slope that ends with a deep drop into a valley located far below (where one’s plane would also end up if it did not lift off in time), and where flights cannot operate in bad weather, clouds, and a variety of other reasons. We were lucky – flights were cancelled for four days before our return, and then operated for a day (our day) before closing for an extended period once again.

We were lucky in our timing in another way – Nepal, a tourism dependent country, is in deep shit because of the pandemic and this otherwise extremely crowded route was near empty. Other than three Italians, the only other foreigners on the route with us, occupying the rest-houses, eating the food and employing the guides, porters and yaks, were Indians. Things will change, the mountain is not going to disappear, and I hope they do soon, but it was also nice to experience the EBC trek at this time of less rush and of local appreciation for the noisy but unafraid-of-COVID Indian.

I am glad I did it, and wish I had done it many years ago, when my legs would have laughed off the ups and downs, and my lungs the altitude. Better late than never, I guess! And, in case you are considering it yourself (if an obese 58-year-old can do it, so can you), my advice is – one, it is not a walk in the park, so prepare adequately and scientifically; two, go with a group you trust; and three, go vegetarian on the trek (never thought I’d say something like this) – cut meat (and everything else) is carried up into the Everest area by porters, a disgusting sight that one sees only on the way down, and the meat is therefore usually ancient by the time it reaches one’s plate. Spare yourself!

The group on Mt. Nangarshang (5,077 m), our acclimatization climb, on 2^nd October 2021.

Trek Itinerary
Day	Journey	Altitude
26th Sep	Mumbai – Delhi – Kathmandu. Night in Boudhi Boutique Hotel, Thamel
27th Sep	Kathmandu to Luk La (2,846 m) by air, onwards to Ghat on foot	2,600 m
28th Sep	Ghat to Namche Bazaar	3,440 m
29th Sep	Namche Bazaar to Khumjung	3,790 m
30th Sep	Khumjung to Phortse	3,840 m
1st Oct	Phortse to Dengboche	4,410 m
2nd Oct	Day at Dengboche, acclimatisation climb up Mt. Nangarshang (5,077 m)	4,410 m
3rd Oct	Dengboche to Lobuche through Thuk La Pass	4,940 m
4th Oct	Lobuche to Gorakshep, onward to EBC (5,364 m) and back	5,164 m
5th Oct	Gorakshep to Kalapathar (5,644 m), back, onward via Lobuche to Pheriche	4,371 m
6th Oct	Pheriche to Namche Bazaar via Tenboche Monastery	3,440 m
7th Oct	Namche Bazaar to Luk La	2,846 m
8th Oct	Luk La to Kathmandu by air
9th Oct	Rest day in Kathmandu
10th Oct	Kathmandu – Delhi – Mumbai
Trekking Company: Boots and Crampons – 9000603444 – bootscrampons.com

 

The Jashn e Gurez Experience

 

THE JASHN-E-GUREZ EXPERIENCE

Ajit Chaudhuri – December 2021

“If there is paradise on Earth, it is here; it is here; it is here!”

Ask the question, ‘which is the most beautiful place in India?’, and most people in the know would say ‘Kashmir’ (and probably repeat the lines Emperor Jehangir used to describe the place, which I have quoted above). But ask the question, ‘which is the most beautiful place in Kashmir?’, and the answers are likely to be more varied. The tourist guides would suggest one of Gulmarg, Sonmarg or Pahalgam, the indolent would point to the further reaches of the Dal or Wullar lakes, and the adventurous would go for the Lolab Valley, the Great Lakes trek, or crossing the Sadhana Pass into Teerthwal. Only the seriously knowledgeable, either old-timers familiar with the Kashmir riyasat of yore or military personnel who have served in its far corners, would say that there is nothing like the Gurez Valley. And then they would qualify the statement by adding, but don’t go there, it is too dangerous.

I visited Gurez this August, about 15 years after first hearing about it – this was for a trek to a high-altitude lake called Patalwan that was organized as part of the Army’s Jashn-e-Gurez festivities in the region celebrating India’s independence.

Gurez is the southwestern part of the old territory of Dardistan, which stretches from Gilgit in the north to Dras (famous as the second-coldest inhabited place on earth) in the east, cutting across two antagonistic countries and multiple geographic zones separated by high mountains but continuing to share culture and language. It lies 130 km from Srinagar along the Gilgit road that heads north out of the city, goes past the eastern edge of the Wullar, the town of Bandipora, and then across the 3,500-meter Razdan Pass where snowfall closes the route for 4 months a year. Continuing on the road past Dawar would take one north across the Line of Control (LOC) and onwards to Gilgit, or else east across the 4,100 m Kaobal Gali Pass and through the Mushkoh Valley into Dras (one of three motorable routes from within India into Ladakh, and open only to military vehicles). All these roads were ancient caravan trails that formed part of the ‘silk route’ connecting India, China and the West.

Administratively, Gurez is a tehseel within Bandipora district in Kashmir. Its defining features are – its inhabitants, who are Dardi (and not Kashmiri), tall, blue-eyed and speaking the Shina language that is still the lingua franca across Dardistan; the Habba Khatoon peak that resembles a pyramid and dominates Dawar town; and the rushing and roaring Kishanganga aka Neelam river that flows through it.

So, first things first, is Gurez beautiful? An unqualified yes, especially so around Dawar where the valley opens out and the river rushes through. We camped on a meadow by the side of the river for two nights, at an altitude of 2,700 meters (see photo 1 below). The trek too was beautiful – the alpine meadows were green (photo 2), undulating and uninhabited except for a few Gujjar families and their herds, there were no other trekking groups in the vicinity and so the campsites did not resemble Dharavi, and the lake that was our destination was large, impressive, and worth all the effort to get there. The trek was also pleasant, except for a day spent traversing rocks brought down by the glaciers along the route (day 4, see the appendix below).

Photo 1: Wife, self and our friend Sumeet – we had done the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in 2014 together –  at Dawar, with the Kishanganga by our side and the Habba Khatoon in the background.

Photo 2: A view of the trek’s path, with our co-leader Lt. Col (Retd) Romil Barthwal in a yellow T-shirt, an Everester himself, looking on. He and Col. Paddy Bhat were the life and soul of the group.

Second – is Gurez dangerous? The locals themselves are pro-India, and military personnel were able to move freely in and around Dawar without fingers on trigger and quick response teams in tow. The area, however, including the route to Patalwan Lake, is proximate to the LOC and a convenient crossing point for unwelcome visitors from across it. The Army sent a patrol along the route while we were there (they did in two days, with weapons and full haversacks, what we did in five) – tough looking guys in beards and phirans who could have passed for terrorists themselves. This was by design, their officer, a young captain from Mumbai who was indistinguishable from his men, told us – enabling a split-second advantage in case of an encounter due to the enemy not knowing that they were army.

The trek was a series of firsts for me – my first in Kashmir (and my first not-work-related visit there), my first with strangers and through a trekking company (I took my wife, child and two friends along to offset this, only to find that the strangers quickly also became friends; and I enjoyed myself so much that I signed on for the same company’s next trek upon our return), my first in which the group leaders were ex-military men (great guys both), and my first with my elder child (it did not result in a lifelong antipathy to the outdoors, or to his parents for dragging him along).

Gurez is opening up, and tourists are welcome. I recommend checking it out!

Day	Description of the Trek	Altitude
1	Srinagar to Dawar, 130 km across the Razdan Pass (3,500 m)	2,800 m at Dawar
2	Dawar to Dawar Heights – a climb up to an alpine meadow	3,500 m
3	Dawar Heights to Patalwan – up and down along alpine meadows	3,500 m
4	Patalwan to Patalwan Lake and back – a long and tiring day, with significant stretches of moraine en route	3,900 m at Patalwan Lake
5	Patalwan to Dawar Heights
6	Dawar Heights to Dawar – a pleasant walk. In Dawar by mid-day.
7	Dawar to Srinagar
Trekking Company: Boots and Crampons – 9000603444 – bootscrampons.com