Foreigners – Trekking vom Shadey to Basecamp

28. September 2024

 

4.250 m -> 4.400 m / 6 hiking hours / 10 km

 

 

It cleared up during the night and in the morning there was a beautiful blue sky. However, I was travelling too early to be able to take a photo of Shadey in the sunshine. People were already milling around early and eagerly carrying their bales of cattle feed home again.

 

 

 

 

But where the sun kissed the mountains, there were a few pretty pictures. So I took the path back to the houses that looked so uninhabited.

 

 

 

 

 

I had crossed the river the day before. And on this day we stayed on the side. We went up and down a bit and then a surprise between the bushes: a trekking group! 7 people from Italy! Together with a guide, helpers and lots of horses! They came from where I wanted to go. We were a little amazed at each other. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of them, only of the horses. The horse people were clearly not Zanskaris but probably from Himachal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then there was a turn-off away from the valley. We crossed a dry river on a bridge – once again marvelling at what had been built.

 

 

 

It went up the dry valley a little and then we turned off again and from then on it was all uphill. It was already grey again, but when I got to the top, it opened up again.

 

 

 

 

It was always a great pleasure for me when I saw the little tent. I find this photo really irritating because you can’t immediately see whether it was taken up or down the slope.

 

 

The clouds became less and less and so I enjoyed the view next to the kerosine canister and out of my tent.

 

 

 

 

There’s not much to report about the day or the route – I already knew one part and the second was mainly uphill. The following day was to be the exciting one, with 2 passes to conquer and a fairly long walking distance. So I had a good rest first.

 

But just before dark, there was one more event! A pair of brothers from Bangalore emerged from the passes! They actually wanted to go down to the river, but as it had dried up, they stayed at the small spring here. I marvelled at them and their minimalism. They had already been travelling for some time: Hampta Pass trek with an extension to Baralacha-la and then forward to my intended destination. They only had small rucksacks with them, one of them estimated his at 8kg. That’s less than when I go lodge trekking…. How does that work? Well, you have to make huge sacrifices in terms of comfort. I really wouldn’t be able to cope with so much minimalism and still found myself quite decadent with my luxury. Although I was more in the middle of the road compared to the fully equipped Italians.

 

I gave them a few apples. Then it was dark and everyone was in their tents. In the morning I asked what they were actually cooking with. Not at all! What would they eat? Nothing at all? But yes, they had a huge packet of chapatis with jam and mayonnaise. That was really special.

 

These were the last people Lobzang and I met until the end of the trek. What we saw instead will follow in the next blog posts. But first there were these two passes to do. Would I manage them and how?