Finally application sent, medicals done I was all ready to go to Siachen......shortly after my brother's wedding.
I had every doubt regarding my ability to cope with the altitude and terrain but that little uncertainty drove me to face the challenge. It was not just any trek it was an expedition with the Army
Adventure Wing to the Siachen Glacier which is the longest
non-polar glacier in the world!!!
I would go where our soldiers go, I would be on terrain that not many have been on. I was inspired by the mere thought of that.
The beginning seemed rather smooth, I reached Leh and on the same flight were those who would be on the expedition with me. Nayan and Darshil. I was also aware of a rather strange character whose name was Vaibhav, I knew he was already in Leh and was for some reason paranoid about meeting up as soon as we landed as he felt that if he did not get his booty into army protection he would miss the expedition !
Other than being paranoid about getting into the companyhe turned out just fine and normal !! :D
The first week at Leh was meant for acclimatization and we had our routine medicals at the beginning of each day after which we began our journey from Leh to Base Camp which was a 200 km journey though Nubra Valley. The journey itself was mesmerizing and who was to know that those same peaks and the rocks we were driving past would be snow clad when we done with our expedition.
(Before I move ahead, Leh, these guys watched Kung Fu Panda, and the next thing I knew what that we were being named, and it caught on pretty fast, because no one knew Po's real name :D
Darshil became Po, Vaibhav Master Shifu, Badri Master Monkey, Nayan Master Snake, and me Master Tigress and we called ourselves the Famous Five.
(Before I move ahead, Leh, these guys watched Kung Fu Panda, and the next thing I knew what that we were being named, and it caught on pretty fast, because no one knew Po's real name :D
Darshil became Po, Vaibhav Master Shifu, Badri Master Monkey, Nayan Master Snake, and me Master Tigress and we called ourselves the Famous Five.
The Famous Five hung out at the Leh market everyday, Po how to ride a bike as he was the only Five who did not know how to ride one, and how he learnt....... he got to learn to ride a bike at 12000ft feet on a suset road - lucky boy!!!! All the guys esp. Badri - the guy with the camera around his neck and Nayan - the tallest one on the right was made to buy presents for the ladies back home.)
Ahem... back to Base camp.............
Ahem... back to Base camp.............
There, we spent an entire
week acclimatising further and also training / hiking / doing ice-craft
and attending lectures and presentations about life and survival on
the glacier, Operation Meghdoot, the history of Siachen and its explorers, etc.
Siachen Base Camp was all about: Hepters flying over us all the time, the
worlds highest battle school (Siachen Battle School), the worlds highest
ATC (forgot what that stands for - air traffic control may be), a whole load of
stallion trucks as friend put it - it was straight out of a war scene from a movie!
Of course there was good stuff at the Base Camp, tucked away in one corner is a small cafe that runs like the most popular restaurant in town,they open by 5 pm and closes by 6 pm because they all out of Momo's n Jalebi's ! Up you read that right...... and the Famous Five.
The Training
Of course there was good stuff at the Base Camp, tucked away in one corner is a small cafe that runs like the most popular restaurant in town,they open by 5 pm and closes by 6 pm because they all out of Momo's n Jalebi's ! Up you read that right...... and the Famous Five.
The Training
The battalion of 16 Rajput hosted us, under the guidance of the Ustaad's from
the Army Mountaineering Institute at Siachen we learned about all the mountaineering equipment used to tackle the
glacier, 10-point, 2-point and 3-point climbing techniques used to negotiate ice
walls with the help of crampons and ice-axes. Scaling a 45-60 degree
ice wall on your toes was surely a task!!!
After the training we began out journey to Kumar Post that was to be a 120km trek that have to be done in 8 days. We hiked from an altitude of 12000ft to 15600ft
approx in 4 days, and then headed back to base camp in another 4 days.
The ultimate sight throughout the trek post camp 2 was the Majestic Karakoram on the right and the awe-inspiring Saltoro on the left, with each successive mountain having a smaller glacier flow between it and the next mountain. The sight was unforgettable !
Behind the Karakoram lay China 30 km away and behind the Saltoro lay Pakistan (about 10km at
places).
At certain points we could spot our soldiers on the peaks of the mountains of the Saltoro.
The strategically placed glacier is certainly a crown fit for a country like ours and I now know that our soldiers defend it as a mother/father would protect a new born.
We traversed through moraine, ice, snow, rocks and crossed crevasses to reach the first major post after four days of walking and passing four camps.
Walking up the valley knowing that the Indian
Army has been defending this area under the most extreme and oppressive
inhumane conditions 12 months in the year, year after year for 2 decades
before the ceasefire in 2003 - really makes you wander into a higher
state of consciousness...(Vaibhav)
As we climbed and climbed, we passed three camps to finally get to the Kumar Post - the view from there was mesmerizing.........
Though getting there was a task so much so that we hardly got a chance to look beyond the terrain for fear of tripping and falling. Further the crevasses were a hazard as well.The area is hard to traverse through, but I would give anything to walk on it again!
 |
| Kumar Post |
We reached safe n sound and soon we head back to where we came from.
This is a video put up by a friend and it is one heck of an awesome one - I wonder why I did not do the same!
More soon
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