Day eight – june 8 2011 – to Nagaru (12,500 ft)

Okay, so breathing was easy....a steady rhythm followed after i thankfully watched the porter lift my bag and leave...some people stopped their journey so far and planned to return base-ward from here. I could not believe some of the good trekkers were leaving this undone! Returning from here...and not continuing further was a choice i had myself. Looking at my feverish state and wobbly legs and a frown on my face, hari and others already thought i was being foolish in continuing with the trek.




I did not want to explain to them at that moment what this trek actually meant for me. It meant facing my fears. It meant trudging forward with whatever strength. It meant testing my limits....a typical SCORPIO quality if you ask me....and i did not care who felt it to be foolish or not. If i would need help, they were going to be there. If i could absolutely NOT do it at some point, i would return. But coming so close to the goal, just 4 hours climbing to Nagaru (highest campsite) and then to the main goal SAR PASS .....a frozen lake in the snow at 14,000 ft....i did not feel like going back. If i could climb to Ratapani....i could do anything. The whole feeling was “bring it on!” ....besides there was nothing heroic in giving the bag load to a PORTER for heavens sake. How difficult could it be to carry just myself today?

A word on PORTERS. In the supposedly male dominated society where males are associated with strength....i would like to pointedly mention that all the porters we met were FEMALES. Allright? My porter was a beautiful girl in her 20’s , half my size and carrying 3 bags on her back. The total weight of all bags was obviously more than her own. I felt guilty handing out my bag to her...but it was all a good decision as i found out later. She was beautiful...a Himalayan beauty with naturally flushed cheeks, wearing simple clothes but could beat shiela and her jawani anyday... they carried the bags in a peculiar way, bending forward and walking. That trick helped me a lot later. Get less tired by that posture....

So we trudged forward. Again a steep climb. I had specifically wanted the trek to be a gradual climb and this was not atall what i had signed up for. i tried to lose myself in the immense beauty that surrounded us. The slope was steeper than Ratapani, yet this trek was supposedly “better” than the last one only due to the shortened distance.

If you ask me....i was panting for breath again. With Nirav patiently with me...that guy has got PATIENCE and WILLPOWER and all other superlatives in the thesaurus. He urged me forward at many points again. Never ending slope came to a halt at the lunch point.

This particular lunch point was amazing....how could they get a makeshift tent up on that 60 degree slope?! That point also had a sheer cliff edge on one side and barely walking room on a ledge where all were “perched” literally and having Maggie and tea and whatever. We were amongst clouds. Foggy haze surrounded the lunch point and the visibility was hardly a few feet. And the COLD....as we were walking it was all okay, but the moment we stopped to have “lunch”....things got worse than ever. We had ascended many feet to this point....and the chill set into my bones....along with fever and other stuff. I realised if i had carried my bag on my back, i would not have made it to the lunch point atall.

I looked at my porter peacefully sipping tea as if it were an everyday stroll. The human machine really can tame itself to suit any topography. For sure. I mean these girls climbed like mountain goats. And i am sure our pace was too slow for them.



Soon after the lunch point we started climbing again...winding slopes became gradual at last and the snow surfaces appeared to come closer with each hillock we crossed. Finally few shouts confirmed that we reached the campsite. I climbed upto the tents with rubbery feet...and ofcourse collapsed inside the girls tent...so this was it. NAGARU. Highest campsite.

Was told to get into the tent and stay there, as it was going to be too cold outside. This was the first campsite where they actually told us to stay indoors and not try to “acclamatize” so soon. Understandable.

The guide showed us a layer of snow behind the tent. That was supposed to be our water source. So in the hours of the day that it could remain in molten state, we would get water. ( for all purposes, the same water source) and as the temperatures ran cold, the snow would freeze and no water. There was a huge piece of rock there with things scribbled on it in red paint. My porter told me this was a holy rock. God resided in it....and we were told not to sit, stand or take support of that rock in any way, neither use the area around the rock for any activity, because it was considered to be very holy. My porter told me once that rock was disrespected, we would face trouble higher up in the mountains. Like landslides, hail, avalanche....nobody was prepared to argue with that or take chances at atheism. She sounded really sincere.

Within few minutes the dinner was ready...and all the warm clothes came out of bags. Everyone was wearing every piece of clothing they had got. Alongwith leather gloves. We were told the temperatures went to – 4 degrees or less in the night. There was an Indian flag waving on the steep surface of the cliff adjacent to campsite. Wonder why? Was it for show or were we close to the border in some way. Forgot to ask. Most likely we were close to the border.

Snowfall soon began...and the entire campsite became slippery and dangerous. We were told not to move out then. Because the campsite was on a steep surface with cliff drops on 3 sides of it. The 4th side continued as a hillock with the trail we were supposed to climb later.

We were to have Bournvita and sleep early in the evening itself because the wake up call next day would be 2:30 am!!!!!! It was insane. I mean it was technically another trek on the SAME DAY if you ask me. WHO gets up at 2 30 am in the night ?? watchman. Owl. Board exam students. Insomniacs. Druggies. Police. To think of a few.

That night was the worst torture ever. For me. I was sleeping next to the tent flap and since the entire tent was sloping, i kept ROLLING OUT of the tent in the freezing negative temperatures! With cough and cold and fever. I thought for a moment i would die there. At Nagaru. The sleeping bag was not enough, the thick blanket was nothing and my shivers continued through the “night”. A few people slept peacefully, while others had the same feeling. I got zero sleep that night. Few times during the night, my girls in the tent helped me as they woke up too, shivering. I would get into position, then again roll out after some time. It was uncomfortable and unbearably cold. I tried all possible tricks to keep myself warm---none of them work, mates.

So we heard the whistle at 2 30 am, waking us up to prepare us for what we had actually come ...SAR PASS TREK. We were to leave so early into the night only so that we reach SAR PASS before 11 and cross it before the snow melts and it becomes slippery and dangerous in the snow. Thats why all the furore of 2 30 am. Bed tea, breakfast and packed lunch. Packed lunch was funny....dry snacks, chiki and some other wierd stuff. i guess nobody was mad enough to COOK at such a high altitude and freezing temperatures.

So at 4 am we set out, fully covered....towards SAR PASS. My legs wouldn’t carry me. If you have stayed awake all night and got work to do immediately next morning, you would understand the level of frustration and sleep-deprived state of body we were all in. I took medicine for fever and pain...and trudged along. I had decided to carry my own bag today...and not give it to porter....just some kind of ego inside of me. So i carried. Thinking of the bag as an extension of my own body...heavy or not, whatever.

I didn’t care anymore. About anything but reaching SAR PASS. On way we saw that our altitude was above MOST peaks of the Himalayan range visible to us at that point. That feeling is different! The entire mountain range when you see BELOW your eye level. That was new. And the rising sun made two beautiful RAINBOWS on the mountain peaks....that was SOME SPECTACULAR SIGHT. I was too zonked to capture a photo of that....but i saw many brave energetic people doing that so i was like ....what the hell, will take from them later. I concentrated on getting that picture painted firmly in my head. It was majestic. Nothing comes close to the beauty of the Himalayas. And if i had the choice, i would build a holiday home here, nestled in Nagaru....and live. (add hot water and other luxuries to it first. Not to mention, my palace would be central heated too )

With such relaxing pictures in my head, i just went on and on....walking .....steep slope after steep slope....with snowy imaginations of SAR PASS in my head....finally. today was the day. Highest point....

xoxo