JustSomewhereAlone

Chadar Trek is listed among world's top 5 dangerous treks. Chadar is a sheet of ice that forms in winter on Zanskar River, a tributary of Indus, in Leh-Ladakh. It came into limelight after BBC Human Planet did a documentary ‘Chadar – The Most Dangerous School Run' in the 90s. That's when even I had wished to meet the Zanskaris. I got to know about the trek when I visited Leh in the summer of 2014. I was obsessed with Zanskar and this year, even though I was not prepared, I had to go, and so I went. I saw heaven, hell and some magic! Beauty: The last point of the trail is called Nerak a village that has the biggest frozen waterfall. The Zanskari locals (porters) jocularly say "you go through Swarg (heaven) to reach Narak (Nerak)." The river is a powerful, ruthless, seductive beauty. She does things to your brain. Her water invites you. At times when I was alone, she tried to manipulate me by singing 'how heavenly it would be to be one with her'. Her ...

The song:   While saying goodbye, my sulking wife says "You will hold hands of beautiful women, You save them, while I wait for you in this cold..." The only reason people survive the Chadar Trek is because of the Zanskari locals called 'porters'. These porters have magical powers, they can save lives! Yet, they are innocent, the purest of souls ever existed. Most enthusiastic, resilient, fun-loving and respectful. They look small in form but carry our luggage double their weight on craziest of paths. Laughing when they fall and singing while climbing hills - still helping people on the way. Each one of them saving hundreds of lives every year. I imagine them to be those small mythical creatures from fairy tales who come to life just to help someone and become part of woods and trees and land and mountains when their work is done. Coming back only to help again.

While wandering around the little lanes of Leh, I made some wise friends. In all my excitement I told them about my life-changing trek, but they were not amused. They just rolled their eyes and gave me the look of, "Humans! Why do they have to complicate life? Why can't they just chill!?"

  Where the wise Indus and young Zanskar meet  The beauty   The feral Zanskar A tamed river Broken sheets of ice   The waterfall   The frozen waterfall - Nerak Porters make campfire on lucky days  The beautiful, safe, happy, Leh: And a wonderful farewell Walking on clouds!!! Above: Clouds from flight window Below: Walking on Chadar