Puliyogare at Zajibal Pass (The great lakes trek) - Part 1 (Title credit - Dr Sunita Ravi)
One thing I have learned in life so far is that almost all of us are crazy to some extent. This craziness is seen in many forms; we spend our entire adult life doing things we hate (and grumbling about it), we call it our work. There are some who carry out the charade of enjoying companies of those they hate (spouses, relatives etc.). Then there are those who pray to idols for divine intervention(now you know about about my spiritual leanings). Crazier are still some of us. We get up at 4:30 AM to run 20Kms. Spend a crazy long time sitting in the cold lugging heavy cameras to photograph a tiny butterfly, an elusive bird or a tiger. Sit in extremely uncomfortable stadium in 35+ deg sun watching equally crazy idiots play with a small hard ball. Our team above shared the crazy joy(!) of climbing up rocks and mountains, living in uncomfortable tents and walking long distance in remote, cold mountains.
This is a blog of our crazy adventure in the Kashmir Himalayas. Our team consisted of Sunita and Nalini, both of whom had trekked with me last year to Rupin pass, my son Sidhu, who had trekked with me a few years ago to the Rupin Supin valley and trekking newbies, Sharmila and Rama (Nalini's close friends), Amulya (Sunita's niece) and Sidhu from Vizag (Amu's friend). Apart from me the team had a total of 3 treks as experience amongst them.
After last year's trek to Rupin Pass, all of us had put the great lakes trek as the to do trek; we had completed the trek that was rated the number 2 in country and we wanted to do the trek rated number 1. I wanted to plan this years trek in a way my son could join and that meant the only window was July to match his college break and theatre commitment. The SW monsoon meant that we had to choose either Himachal or Kashmir and we chose Kashmir. After a bit of search, we identified Kashmir treks (http://www.kashmirtreks.in) based on facebook reviews about them. We wanted our own customized group rather than join a fixed departure trek organized by the more professional organizations such as Trek the Himalayas or Indiahikes due to the fact that the customized trips and a close knit group always provide better trek experience.
We left from our hometowns to Srinagar on the morning of July 10 (5 from Chennai, 2 from Vizag and 1 from Bangalore), amidst deep concerns from our family about security and weather in Kashmir. There had been news of heavy rains in Kashmir and there being flood alert etc. However, we landed in Srinagar in glorious weather, temperature in the mid 20's and beautiful blue skies. Kashmir treks had sent in a representative to receive us and he met us in the arrival area. Hassan immediately reflected the warm Kashmiri hospitality that we encountered throughout the trip.
A brief road trip brought us to the Dal lake and we were ferried in a Shikara to the house boat we were going to stay the night. To say we fell in love with Srinagar would be an understatement
The houseboats themselves are surprisingly luxurious. Unlike the one's in Kerala, these are permanently moored. Permission for owning a house boat is only provided to the traditional owners and this restricts the supply. Still there are nearly 1200 of them of varying sizes in the lakes. Each houseboat reportedly costs upwards of INR 15 million and are made of Cedar wood. There are apparently house boats which are 100 years old or more in Dal lake.
Our house boat owner Sultan served us delicious lunch, home cooked Kashmiri style. We then relaxed and got to know each other. We also saw that all the essentials are delivered right at the boat by sellers on boats and shikaras. Later in the afternoon Sharmila joined the team.
We were informed by our guide of a change in the program. We were told that Sonmarg was crowded and dirtied by Amarnath Yatri's and were recommended that the next day we would leave early in the morning and trek up to a table top above Sonmarg, rather than leave late in the afternoon and camp at Sonmarg. It turned out to be a very wise decision later.
Day 1, July 11: Srinagar to Sonmarg and trek to Shekdur
After a greasy breakfast of bread and eggs, we were transported by Sultan in his boat to the shore. We then boarded 2 cabs to travel to Sonmarg. The entire route had heavy army presence and unobtrusive as any army presence can be. Unlike the Uttarakhand and Himachal part of the himalayas, Kashmir valleys are very wide and as a result the roads are much wider. Upstate Kashmir is so green and clean, we are amazed at the beauty of the place. All through our route there were orchards of apple, stone fruits and walnuts. We reached Sonmarg at around 12 and were greeted by some of the most beautiful mountains
We were met by our guides, the crew consisted of 2 guides, 1 cook and 2 horsemen to take care of the 8 horses. All of them were hardy Kashmiri men and youth native of Naranag. The walk from Sonmarg to the Shekdur (3300m) campsite was a gentle climb through meadows (pictured above)
The army Jawans greeted us at the starting point and we soon met them again at their camp above Sonmarg. They checked all our id's and sent us on our way to the table top at Shekdur. The table top is a wide meadow at 3300m and we had a beautiful campsite by a stream.
It was the only day we had a camp fire going during the trip. Our dinner was a simple affair of rice and some vegetable. We discovered that on this trip we were going to be on a poor food every day, having been spoilt in all our earlier treks by Chain Singh and Co. The cook was hopeless and the variety was non existing. We said our good nights and retired for the night.
Day 2 No trek camp continues at Shekdur
Sometime in the middle of the night, we realized it had started drizzling. Once we woke up in the morning, we realized that it was going to be a wet day and it was raining non stop. The shepherd who's house was nearby informed us that rain would continue till the evening. as the trek leader, I had a call to make, do we continue camping or do we start trek in the rain. Considering that most were novice trekkers, we chose to stay put. What came in handy was the fact that we had an additional day for camping at Vishnasar lake. The rest of the day was spent in playing cards, walking around the table top and getting to know each other. The cook called up the office and organized additional tarpaulin and also got us chicken for dinner. Meanwhile, another 2 guys landed up in the evening and camped next to us.
By nightfall the sky was beginning to clear and we were hopeful that we could start the trek next day.
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