“Fear and Courage hold hands and walk here”, is what a Sherpa had told me about the Himalayas once I set foot in this serene yet fiercely intimidating snow-clad destination. Yes, I do admit, we all were scared. The larger-than-life peaks, the overwhelming white, the stories of the Yeti and the equally merciless weather, the climbers who never made it back and the daunting task ahead of us, made us feel so little and so few in front of the giant Himalayas.
Yet after handpicking the best of Sherpas (that our budget would allow!), making sure that every inch of cover and every grain of available bread was taken along, we set out to trek the great Himalyas! Making our way through the clefts and rugged passes, we slowly crawled our way past the Zoji-La through the Srinagar-Leh road. The snow had melted only a few months before our tryst with the pass, and the slick, shiny path reflected the sun like a million diamonds strewn across the road! We came across a small unnamed stream during our walk uphill, which was unusually warm for all the molten ice and snow spread around.
The whole trek was quite uneventful, as opposed to many of the trek posts you must have found on the internet. Barring a few slips and falls, and a sprain in the left ankle of our dear ol’ Marshal, nothing much had happened. But don’t mistake the lack of events as a sign of boredom. The trek from Srinagar to Leh counts among the most enthralling walks of my whole life, and if we hadn’t been winded up so badly by the time we reached Leh, I would have happily volunteered for a trip downhill too! Whenever you feel like you need a place to taste adventure and yet revel in the lap of nature’s marvelous beauty, all within a short budget, a trek in the Himalayas is the way to go!
Himalaya
