Anchor A WALK TO REMEMBER The Markha Valley in central Ladakh is a remote high altitude desert region snugly tucked between the Ladakh and Zanskar ranges. This is one of the most diverse and picturesque treks, taking one through the Hemis National Park, remote Buddhist villages, high altitude passes and a lake—the perfect way to acquaint with the mystical kingdom of Ladakh. Words HIMMAT RANA Photography HIMMAT RANA & KAMAL RANA Snow-capped mountains in the backdrop, star-studded sky above and a river flowing right outside the camp— everything came together perfectly at this night halt site near Hanker Village 56 AUGUST 2018 DIC0818-Anchor-Markha.indd 56-57 03/08/18 3:12 pm his is a story from my bag of adventures, in order to stretch the trek to over a week, decided to tweak about two boys, or to be more precise the trekking route a little. While the conventional trekking two men, stubbornly refusing to grow up, routes start from either Chilling (three-four day trek) or trekking by themselves through the Markha Zingchen (five-six day trek) and end at Shang, ours was going Valley in Ladakh, for eight days and seven to commence from Leh city itself and boasted of an additional nights. Not sure if you choose to make a plan pass in Stok La (4,850 metres/15,910 feet), stretching the Tor the plan chooses you, but whichever way it works, it worked duration of the trek to seven to eight days. With a heavy perfectly for me and Kamal as we embarked on an impromptu Ladakhi breakfast in our bellies, we commenced our little trip to Ladakh—the land of high passes, to figure out what the adventure from Leh city. hype was all about. The bus ride from Delhi to Leh (via Manali) was an DAY 1 Leh – Stok adventure in itself. Three days, three buses, two stopovers and Walking along the road with shops on either side, the sun a bus breakdown later we finally reached Leh city, bang at the burning down, 20 kg strapped apiece, and watching cars zoom stroke of midnight. Certainly not the most comfortable ride by, wasn’t quite the start we were hoping for, but it certainly but the stunning landscape on display was worth the slightly made for a fun story in retrospect. We were fresh and the initial sore backside. excitement coupled with a brief stopover at the Royal Palace We bought ourselves a trekking map of Ladakh and met Museum at Stok, prepped us to carry on for much longer than up with some local friends over coffee, discussing how best to we otherwise could have. explore the place. Staring at the map I was like a kid in a candy By later in the afternoon we had crossed the Stok village store, wanting it all, as I pointed to the longest trek in sight. and entered the countryside, where we were welcomed by It was a 30-day trek across the Zanskar Valley, from Padum to the Stok Chu river. With lights fading and a river by our side Tso Moriri, passing through numerous remote villages, high we decided to put the curtains down for the day, setting camp altitude passes, nomadic settlements, wildlife reserves, lakes, on the porch of a dilapidated house. Tents pitched, the stove monasteries and along multiple rivers. Everyone at the table came out and dinner was prepared. The body had taken a looked at one another, in a look that said, he’s lost it, but were good beating under the sun, learning first hand why it’s called courteous enough to put it across extremely politely. I was India’s most isolated region, and it was now time for some well- schooled that since it was our first trek in Ladakh, that too deserved rest. without a guide, we must start with a short acclimatisation trek and then, graduate on to a longer one. And so I reluctantly DAY 2 Stok – Stok La base camp agreed to pull the curtains on this one, as we zeroed down on Started early with a cup of coffee and some rather forgettable the five to six day-long Markha Valley trek. Five days down masala oats. We underestimated the distance shown on the from 30, well I wasn’t going to give in without a fight and so map and like the hare in the classic, decided to stop over for Day 1 Every village along this trail welcomes you with lush green barley and mustard fields, bordered by willow groves—a sight for sore eyes in an Day 2 Leaving the Stok Chu otherwise monochrome landscape river behind, we started to gain elevation heading up to 58 AUGUST 2018 AUGUST 2018 Stok 29 La pass DIC0818-Anchor-Markha.indd 58-59 02/08/18 6:05 pm Day 3 Drenched and tired, we decided to pitch our tent a few hours before the Stok La base camp and crashed right after Day 4 A scarecrow at work in a barley field along the Markha River. The winters in Ladakh are extreme and long, restricting the growing season to four-five months a quick nap, snack and a bath along the river, only to realise plucked out our ponchos. It, however, continued to pour all falling and screaming, we had soon crossed the river at least downpour, as we began to question, what we had done wrong much later in the afternoon that we still had a long way to cover through the day. So there we were, adamant not to slacken 13-14 times, beginning to realise that we in all possibility had to attract the wrath of the gods. And so I did what any Indian before we reach a respectable altitude to pitch. Sleeping at based on our learnings from the previous day while our boots lost our way. We hadn’t seen a soul, a foot mark or pony poop in in such a situation would do, I started to pray. What happened such high altitudes isn’t very comfortable to say the least, and got wet and heavy, making a squishy-squashy sound with every over five hours now. Here we were in the middle of nowhere, next still amazes me to this day. Not only did it stop raining, the steep ascent to Stok La (4,850 metres/15,910 feet) had just step. The temperatures plummeted, the winds started a story of rocks still trickling down mountains as we timed our march we were blessed with not just one but two rainbows. It was commenced. So we pressed the pedal to the metal, deciding their own as we marched on with drenched feet and muddied to avoid falling debris and forced to cross a menacingly strong the brightest and closest we had ever seen a rainbow. With the against anymore stop overs and stubbornly marched on to the shoes. Shivering, drenched and tired, we finally made it to the river over and over again, with the light fading out on us. We sudden turnaround in weather as a clear message, we picked up fading light. Soon the stars started to climb up on us as we other side of Ganda La (4,900 metres/16,070 feet), the second weren’t worried the least, to be honest, as we had rations to last speed and cruised forward. And like a cherry on the cake, we crossed over Stok La (pass) in pitch dark, with our headlights pass of the trek and quietly burrowed into our sleeping bags. us another week, if need be. But thankfully, after closely re- found the most extraordinary camping site, just as it was getting showing us the way. The descent from Stok La was a much examining the map we somehow managed to get back on track, time to pitch. It was a setting made in heaven. Green grass on needed reprieve as we used gravity to the fullest, to accelerate DAY 4 Shingo – Skyu heading to Skyu village, our next stopover point. an otherwise barren landscape, a river flowing nearby, wind- us downhill. Half-an-hour into the descent, I felt a little uneasy Woke up to the sounds of pitter-patter the next morning; Once we reached Skyu, which apparently sounds a lot carved sand mountains running on either sides and a snow-clad and so we decided to set up camp right there, around an hour the rain hadn’t stopped since the previous day. We had a late funnier at 4,000 metres than right now, all drenched and tired peak in the backdrop shining bright under a star-studded night before the recommended Stok La base camp. It was pitch dark breakfast, expectantly waiting for the rain to die down and from the river crossings, we decided to retire to a nice little sky. Some poha, Maggi and crazy night shots later, we called it a and we were too tired to cook, so we just had a light snack and sprung out from our tents at the first sight of clear weather. homestay instead of setting camp. The facilities at `1,000 per day, retiring to our comfortable little tents. fainted off to sleep. However, the nearly 24 hours of rain had already done the person were obviously very basic but to our tired and wet souls, damage, wreaking havoc on the barren, mud and stone terrain, felt super luxurious. We elaborately put all our wet clothing to DAY 6 Markha – Hanker DAY 3 Stok La base camp – Ganda La – Shingo triggering numerous landslides and washing away not just the dry and devoured the tea and biscuits served, as soon as the The trail on this day wasn’t very taxing either, as we romped We had more than learnt our lesson the previous day and foot marks but complete trails.