JULEH JULEH
MY INCREDIBLE JOURNEY ON THE CHADAR
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The high passes leading into Zanskar, Kargil District, Jammu & Kashmir, remain snowbound for eight months a year, effectively cutting off the valley from the outside world. Each winter, Zanskari people take the only route out of the region – trekking across the white Chadar (sheet) of the frozen Zanskar River to Leh – to
JULEH JULEH
MY INCREDIBLE JOURNEY ON THE CHADAR
trade their prized butter for other goods. This centuries-old butter trade occurs in late winter when the river is frozen solid, which makes it passable. A popular trek now follows this route, ending at Chiling, outside Leh (Chiling–Markha La–Tib Yokma–Nerak–Lingshod–Tsarak Do–Pidmo– Zangla, then back to Chiling). I trekked on this difficult route (Chiling– Nerak–Chiling) in February 2016 and through my camera, I was fortunate to capture some incredible moments and scenes on the way. This book is a glimpse of my journey to Jannat—as I call it—with a group of fellow trekkers through
Yuvaj Singh Ahuja | 2016
this stunning, breathtaking place...
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dedicated to the lost soul... 4
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You only live once? False. You live everyday. You only die once. —Anonymous
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uleh is a magic word. Say Juleh when you want to say hello, goodbye, thank you, how are you, nice to meet you and you’re welcome. It was probably the only word we learnt while in Leh and may be the only word we needed. People in Ladakh are incredibly friendly; a smile, a nod of the head and an exchange of
“Juleh” are always offered as you walk past anyone in the town. Every time we crossed a porter or fellow travellers, I would shout Juleh, mostly to hear it back even louder in a friendly tone.
Juleh — pronounced as joo-lay
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Ever since my return from the Chadar, I have been restless. I seem to have left a part of me behind – a bit of my mind and a bit of my soul. I close my eyes and I drift back to walking on the frozen Zanskar, walking in that narrow gorge with rocky mountains around me. Lost in my thoughts. Lost in finding the purpose of life. With the sky so clear that I just wanted to touch it and pluck the clouds. The air was so pure that I just wanted to close my eyes and keep breathing in as much as I could. I am more forgiving to life – I am happier. There is another purpose to my life, which I cannot comprehend yet but I feel it. I read somewhere that it was better to misplace your soul in heaven when you are alive than to burn it in hell of the modern civilization. This is what this trek does to you. It takes you to heaven. The Chadar was definitely Jannat. I walked on the frozen Zanskar River, along with eight friends, for six days covering more than eighty kilometers. These photos and notes are my tribute to this once-in-a-lifetime experience of the journey from Chiling to Nerak and back to Leh. This by no means is an easy trek. It requires a good understanding of your gear as the temperatures can drop to –30 degrees Celsius during the night. The pace might be slow on ice but the walks are long and with backpacks, it can definitely get the better of you at times. Crossing over the rocks is a tricky affair that requires presence of mind and total concentration at all times. 6-day trek 3 days Chiling—Nerak, 3 days return
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The seeds for this trek were planted a couple of years ago by a dear friend Vikram, who completed this trek in 2014. An avid trekker with several summits to his name and someone I lovingly call Mastah (master, guru) for passing on the mountain bug to me. We usually end up talking Zen after a few drinks! My journey on the Chadar started on 5th of February 2016 when along with Sonal (this is my second trek with her), we took the early morning Air India flight out of New Delhi to Leh. I must say the flight took off on time at 5:55 AM but true to Air India style, the wait for the bags at Leh airport seemed longer than the flight itself. The first view from the aircraft of the snow-capped mountains, river and the valley built up the excitement of what lay ahead. The temperature drop hit us a few minutes after we landed in Leh. Simple full sleeves clothing got quickly covered in layers of warmers, down jackets, gloves and hoodies. The temperature was –2 OC on this beautiful crisp morning. We needed a couple of days in Leh to acclimatize. With many suggestions on when to take Diamox (altitude sickness medicines), to how to walk, how many layers to wear, and even how to pee (yes, we needed to carry our pee bottles in our tents), the anticipation was continuously building up. We spent the weekend getting to know our fellow group mates while just sitting in the sun, and sipping on endless cups of hot water and tea. It was wonderfully relaxing. Our group was diverse in terms of nationalities and our jobs. A six-foot 60-years old businessman from South Africa (who did a head stand on the frozen river), another six-footer from Switzerland (a totally outdoor guy), two male stewards from Quantas Airlines (Australia) - one into transcendental meditation and the other a crazy world traveller, and five of us Indians from our varied corporate jobs and NGOs. I must say we bonded well – somewhere we knew its best to be nice to each other as the next nine days in the wilderness are going to be with this very bunch. This story is my journey with eight others in each of whom I could see a bits of my personality reflected in from time to time.
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View from the aircraft of the mountains, snow, river and the valley
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT | Busy, over-crowded streets with people in a celebratory mood in Leh town | The folk dance | The gaze. A street vendor, the colour of his eyes caught my attention | Age has nothing to do with beauty and charm
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT | Pathar Sahib Gurudwara | At the Phey Yang Monastery | Praying wheels | The prayer offerings
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And suddenly you know... its time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings. –Meister Eckhart
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We started our journey on the morning of 8th February with a drive for an hour and half on beautiful tarmac roads, which were like butter to drive on while crossing many army installations and feeling mighty proud of the Indian armed forces. The subsequent one hour was scary to say the least – the roads were as wide as the width of the car at places and we were driving on loose gravel hundreds of feet above the river. One wrong move by our trusted driver and its goodbye to life. Maybe that’s why all of us were so quiet during this drive. Sometimes praying and sometimes in awe of nature. We drove past Chiling and through magnificent sceneries, as the road went on further and further until we reached a dead end – the trailhead to the trek.
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Confluence of Zanskar and Indus
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And then, we reached the starting point of our trek as no vehicles could go beyond‌ We got out of our vehicles with quiet excitement visible on our faces, checked our backpacks one more time, straightened out our gear, wore our ice grips, wished each other luck, took a deep breath, and started to descend. Hiking down on these dusty loose rocks is scary and a bit of teamwork surely helped here. At this point, we wished we were nimble-footed mountain goats.
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT | Joesel and Daniel wishing each other luck before they head down on to the Chadar. Throughout this trek, it’s very easy to spot the Swiss with his pompom hat. | Rainer looking a bit like Sean Connery from 007. | Bobby and Sonal getting ready to take their first steps on the Chadar.
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It’s your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you. —Rumi
The first step on the frozen Zanskar was surreal. I have waited for some time to be here and was scheduled to be here in January 2015, but a dam formation had cancelled all treks for that season. In my own ways, I paid homage to the river, asked her to watch over our group and me. I read somewhere that legends say – the spirits of the Zanskar try to kill you once at least, but once you survive, they watch over you forever... A strange feeling was engulfing me; it was asking me to absorb everything around me – the majestic mountains, the quietness, and the colors, asking me to hold it still in my mind. My friend Nupur (who was with Vikram on the trek of 2014) had proudly stated that she was the only one from her group who had not slipped on the ice even once! She gave me lessons on how to walk – sometimes asking me to walk like a penguin and sometimes asking me to imagine how I would walk after a few drinks. Sadly these lessons were only theory. Nothing prepares you to walk on the Chadar. You need to learn by yourself. Your feet and your mind forget that they have to coordinate. The first few minutes on the ice are both fun and scary. Sorry Nupur, I slipped several times and the last fall was quite painful. You wonder if this is how Jannat would be. With the vast expanse of frozen river stretching for kilometers, clear blue sky, beautiful mountains and the best of all – absolutely clean fresh air (important to say this since I come from Delhi). God, my lungs could get used this! I was nursing a cold when I got to Leh and everything vanished. I was told it’s because the viruses don’t survive such low temperatures. Isn’t that amazing?
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TOP & BOTTOM | The rush to have the first photos clicked on the Chadar with Sonal, Greg and Garima. Greg will never leave an opportunity to have himself clicked with the ladies. Reminds me of me actually! | Joesel learning the art of walking on ice
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While we were all engrossed in our own thoughts, busy admiring the beauty around us, and counting our blessings, suddenly harsh realities dawn. I saw a porter with a massive load on his back. It had to be captured to remind us of the “real world.� The hard reality is that while we are on this blissful journey, these guys have to toil hard to make a meager living. The porters are the backbone of any successful trek. I can still hear Juleh, Juleh ringing in my ears. Each and every porter to cross us had this amazing, infectious energy. The greeting of Juleh would sometimes lead to a back and forth of who could say Juleh louder than the other and many times with a melody attached to it.
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Mountains know the secrets we need to learn. That it might be hard, but if you just hold on long enough, you will find the strength to rise up. —Tyler Knott Gregson
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Ice crystals at some places reminded me of my little daughter’s favorite movie Frozen. The song ‘Let it go’ kept playing in my head. I imagined her singing this song along with me. The punch line in the lyrics – “and the cold never bothered me anyway” – was kind of true here for me actually. It was a mind thing – once you accept that it will be cold, you can move on to enjoy the rest of the experience of the Chadar. It did help that we were all very well clad. Vishwas – one of our guides had inspected our gear a day before leaving and anything short was purchased from the Himalayan Adventure store in Leh.
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The incredible landscape we walked upon
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LEFT TOP & BOTTOM | Ice breaks and lifts up from the river creating this magnificent terrain RIGHT TOP & BOTTOM | Bhundu taking a break | Bobby and Sonal
The walk starts again after a short break
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Our camp site for the first night
Our guide Nitesh is patiently waiting for me to come down the rocks and start our second day walk while I’m trying to soak in this gorgeous view.
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The trail winding through the gorge with many shades of ice and Zanskar gushing through below the ice.
One of few waterfalls on the way
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All smiles to the distance traveled and to the wonderful way ahead...
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Day two lunch. There is a sense of gratitude and calmness among all and mostly all are engrossed in their own thoughts...
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More smiles to a much-needed rest and lunch on day two.
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We reach a patch where the Zanskar has not frozen. Nitesh carefully accesses the terrain and chalks out an alternative route up the rocks. Lessons in teamwork help.
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Thats teamwork – together everyone achieves more
Joessel being helped by his trusted porter
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“We rise by helping others”. Nitesh helping the porter.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT | Relaxing at our camp after a long day’s trek | Eyes in the sky – Army choppers watching us from above | Porters find shelter in the smallest of caves
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The gorgeous gorge and a frozen waterfall
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT | Greg getting impure thoughts and Sonal cleansing him of those | And then Bobby gets into the mood
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT | I’m held by Greg and Daniel – at least I would like to believe so | Sonal posing with the porters
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When the world turns upside down!
“Aaaaaa!” — a happy Daniel (top left) without his pompom, and the rest of the gang looking down from the heavens!
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The only Zen you can find on the top of mountains is the Zen you bring up there. –Robert M. Pirsig
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Carefully manoeuvering on the thin passage provided by the frozen edge of the Zanskar
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The mountains at times seem to be composed of lava, volcanogenic sediments and carbonate rocks
Vishwas, our guide, forms the last chain link
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Another small detour up the rocks
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Frozen in time – the famous Nerek waterfall
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The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are... the second greatest is being happy with what you find... —Auliq Ice 64
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There was this time during the first night after dinner when we took the chairs from the dining tent and just sat outside in -20 OC weather gazing at the stars. There were about 4-5 of us just staring at the twinkling clear sky. It was the most magnificent night sky that I have ever seen. Between small conversations, I often heard myself and some of the others saying “wow, just look at the sky.” With millions of stars looking down at us, I remember pointing at one that stood out – with an orange hue to it - and saying, “that one up there is my nana.”
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Porters lighting up their fire in a cave above our camp site.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT | Dawn breaks down on our camp | Another group and their camp in the far away distance. | The kitchen tent is the first to have its lights on while the trekkers are still in their dreams.
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After spending two nights in tents on the banks of the frozen Zanskar and walking through some of the most gorgeous terrains, we reached Nerek at about five in the evening on our third day. We crossed a magnificent frozen waterfall and a rickety old wooden cable bridge on the way. One look at this mighty frozen waterfall, and it again dawns on us just how cold it is around us. For falling water to freeze, it ideally needs to be below – 20 0C for about five days in a row. As a place, the homestay at Nerek was quite dusty, and the rooms seemed cramped with some green thin foam mats on a long wooden platform laid out on one side and a bukhari running on kerosene in the middle of the room. At first we thought that there was no way we could fit five grown men into the room with our rucksacks, let alone sleep on the wooden boards with that thin layer of foam. We decided against lighting the bukhari since many of us were allergic to the smell of kerosene. A wise decision indeed as we would have smelled of kerosene ourselves by the morning! It was after many years (most probably since my college days, almost twenty years ago) that I slept with four other guys in the same room that was laid out like a dormitory. It seemed strange to say the least. Apprehensions soon changed to sounds of uproarious laughter. Rainer opened a bottle of Amarula and a couple of packets of delicious South African beef jerky. Daniel sat in one corner to fix his ice grips with some rope on to his boots. We got freshly made pakoras with hot tea, followed by dinner, and many, many rounds of rum and vodka. The laughter touched high decibels and we were not surprised to see the local folks trying to peep into our rooms wondering what the hell was happening. I will forever remember this night at Nerek as the “night of the crazy laughter.” Greg with his stories of the mile high club, Daniel sniffing out toilet roll to identify who it belonged to (it was me!), Joesel with his crazy stories and an enviable hygiene routine. This was the kind of laughter that is typically shared between long lost friends catching up after ages on old stories of childhood. But here we had just known each other for less than five days. Being on such a journey together brings a certain camaraderie that is almost instantaneous.
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TOP & BOTTOM | Our home stay at Nerek village | Warding off evil
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT | Getting the juniper put on my arm – the locals consider this as good luck for our journey and bless us a safe passage back. | Smiles all around – Garima, Sonal and Bhundu | Greg in his element with Jossel and Rainer lost for words. | Wooden beds for five men next to each other.
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Many moods...
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The jokes only these three were privy to | Rainer doing the head stand on ice
LEFT TOP & BOTTOM | You can never leave Greg and Rainer out of the action RIGHT TOP & BOTTOM | Garima in one of her famous Bollywood poses | Sonal and Garima learning skydiving pose on ice
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TOP & BOTTOM | We laughed and we laughed. With one silly story after another, all our aches and pains of walking for hours on ice seemed to have disappeared.
The fun continues through our trek the next morning
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The further I go, the closer to me I get. –Andrew McCarthy
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The stunningly picturesque landscapes...
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River surface laden with broken ice
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT | My injured foot is bandaged by Vishwas, who actually cannot get the grim expression off his face; and I am at times carried too | Sonal and I making the victory sign
Jannat! If there is a paradise on earth, vo yahan hai, it is here...
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The Snow Leopard is an elusive animal and sighting one in the wild is rare, but we were extremely fortunate to spot one. Our driver just jumped off our taxi and started to aggressively gesture towards us to come out of the cars. For a few moments, we were wondering what was he so excited about. Then in a thrilled but calm tone he said “leopard.” Hearing that, we all jumped out of our cars and there it was – this glorious beast, merging perfectly with the rocky terrain.
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Like all journeys, this too had to end. But somewhere I feel a change in me. Although I am still trying to find the many answers to my thoughts, I leave from this trek at peace – in many ways definitely in a better place than before. I hear this voice – its not spoken out loud, but it’s clear and distinct. It’s the Zanskar calling me back. Telling me that I am a part of it forever. And I cannot wait to head back.
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Dipin, Tina, Kunal, Mikey, Manit, Smriti, Neeraj, Neha, Johnny, Raleena, Sanjay, Aanchal, Rajiv and Ritika for this amazing birthday gift. Vikram for inspiring me towards this trek and lending me your gear. Nupur for the encouragement and confidence. Sonal for believing in me, encouraging me, and pushing me to take that next step. Rainer, Daniel, Garima, Dipti, Joesel, Bhundu, Greg, and Bobby. Vishwas, Sonam and Nitesh for helping me out when I was injured. Patiently waiting for me and sometimes carrying me. The team at White Magic Adventures for looking after us so generously. The people of Leh for letting me experience the kind of love that I can freely die for. The spirits of Zanskar for looking after our group and me. Ayana, whose thoughts and singing kept me going through ‘thick and thin’ from the beginning to the end. Vidushi, for love, patience and understanding to let me experience such journeys.
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BACK COVER | With half our journey over, we head back from Nerek on a snowy morning and a bit of a heavy heart.
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Life goes on... Whether you choose to move on and take a chance in the unknown. Or stay behind, locked in the past thinking of what could’ve been. —Stephanie Smith
JULEH JULEH 2016
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MY INCREDIBLE JOURNEY ON THE CHADAR