Trekkingday 2: Base Camp -> Chogdo – Great Happiness and Bitter Frustration
28. June 2026
“It already gets light around 5:00 AM, and since I went to bed early, I always got up slowly around that time. Or rather, I made myself a seat in the tent, drank hot water from my thermos, and looked at the landscape. I thought it was cold and put on a beanie, but I didn’t even need it.
hen I packed my things, got dressed, started taking down the tent (I only needed help with rolling it up, my small hands just can’t squeeze it small enough for the tent bag), and went to the horsemen for breakfast. And around 7:30 AM, I usually set off while the two of them finished packing everything up and loaded it onto the horses.
Actually, there had been a trail to the 4,6xx m high Kichen-la pass, but we went a different way. We branched off from this valley without a path and went up onto a 4,730 m high mountain ridge. I find walking without a path a bit more strenuous, and sometimes I was a little unsure if I was going the right way. But then the horses already arrived.
The mountain ridge didn’t have any clear marking for a pass or anything, but it was just amazing in its vastness and the view into the next valley. A bit further down, though, there was an impressive structure made of stones and fabric. And much further to the right of it was the actual pass, which I walked over to out of curiosity just to take a look.
The clouds and patches of sunlight were great to look at and snap photos of. I was glad and happy. Oh right: I had been recommended and bought this back support from Sonam-Physio, and I always wore it while walking. I felt that it actually protected me from further back strain. That was nice.
I thought I would just take the path marked on Mapy down, but at one point I was intercepted by Sidhar. He had run a long way to tell me that there was a much better path that the two of them would be taking. He said I should come along too. I was unsure. Maybe I should rather stick to the route that probably all trekkers take? Past a shepherd’s camp. I was warned that there were dogs there. That was the deciding factor – I would go with the horsemen. To do that, we had to cross the entire wide valley, and then it actually went up a bit again. This here is the view over the wide valley, where the route would actually have gone down along the lighter mountainside.
So we climbed up a slope again for a bit – and it was a little sketchy in some places. Meaning, the drop-off was quite steep all the way down and you only had a narrow path. My fear of heights kicked in, but I managed it! I looked strictly at the trail and mumbled to myself that I could definitely make it. It worked! Unfortunately, I don’t have a proper picture of it, since everything was a bit tricky. Maybe you can get an idea from this one?
Here is a look at the map – I’m the blue dot, and the red line on the right would have been the ‘normal route’:
We then came back onto a mountain ridge with a great view all the way to Sakti and the Nubra Valley mountain range – and a bit of network!
On the way down, we saw a large herd of goats in the distance and a large herd of yaks that we had to walk right through. Unfortunately, the shepherd didn’t speak any English at all, but he was ready for a photo. He belongs to the shepherd’s camp where the dogs were supposed to be.
As always, the horses walked much faster than me. But Sidhar explained the way to me precisely: I would come to a house and absolutely had to go down to the left of it and then across the river. Under no circumstances turn right!
The house was abandoned and situated next to a gorge. To the left, it dropped down steeply. To the right, there was a path. How was that supposed to work? I walked back and forth. On the other side, other horses and horsemen appeared. One of them waved and gestured, pointing to this steep slope on the left. I cautiously took a closer look without my backpack first: indeed, there was something like a steep path with horse tracks. So off I went. But oof, it was really steep and slippery, and I struggled and tensed up on the narrow loose stones. And the nasty part was: a wide river was rushing down below. I was supposed to cross that as well? I didn’t feel up to that at all. At that moment, this trek was just a bit too tough for me, and I felt frustrated about it. Slowly, I edged my way down with shaking legs. Made it! And there was another path along the riverbank. Maybe there was a bridge after all? Or the horsemen on the other bank would come to help me? In luck! A bridge! I was so relieved!
I then still had to walk quite a bit up the opposite valley. Looking back at the photo, it ‘naturally’ looks much less spectacular than it did from above.
The horsemen had orders to look for me if I wasn’t at the campsite by 5:00 PM. I was quite glad about this instruction because I knew that someone would come eventually. But I had managed everything on my own after all, though I was pretty exhausted. Fear consumes energy. And time. It was already past 5:00 PM. And so, Sidhar picked me up about 1 km before the camp. That also made me happy, knowing that he actually cares!
Chamba was struggling to put up my tent, but doing it alone is really hard. Especially when you don’t know the system yet. We then quickly managed it together, I moved my things in, washed myself at the river, and just lay around exhausted until dinner.
So, we had already not taken the planned route. But the next morning, further events occurred that completely ruined the execution of the planned tour….