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CHADAR TREK 2014 .................................................................................................................3! DATE: February 8th to February 16th, year 2014. Introduction Among the Top 10 Treks in the world and also the most unique...................................................................................................3! Trek Category: Tough..............................................................................................................3! Chadar Trek Program Schedule (Summary) ...............................................................................4! Day 1 - Fly to Leh 3524m (11,562 Feet) above mean sea level ...............................................4! Day 2 - Drive to Chilling (3 hrs drive) and trek to Tilad Do camp 3100m (2 km, 1hrs trek) .......4! Day 3 Tilad Do to Gyalpo camp 3170m (9 Km, 6 hrs trek) ....................................................5! Day 4 Gyalpo camp to Dib Cave 3225m (14 km, 8 hrs trek) .................................................6! Day 5 Dib cave to Naerak camp 3390m (10.5 km, 7 hrs trek) ...............................................6! Day 6 - Naerak to Tibb............................................................................................................7! Day 7 - Tibb to Shingra Koma.................................................................................................7! Day 8 - Shingra Koma to Chilling and drive to Leh..................................................................7! Day 9 - Return from Leh. ........................................................................................................7! Registration Fee, Payment Terms, Inclusions and Exclusions ....................................................8! Registration Contribution Per head ..........................................................................................8! Payment Terms .......................................................................................................................8! Inclusion ..................................................................................................................................8! Exclusions ...............................................................................................................................9! (Mandatory Items Checklist) ..................................................................................................10! Personal Medical Kit ..............................................................................................................10! Tips for facing extreme weather on Chadar Trek.......................................................................11! What kind of attire do I wear to endure the extreme Chadar Trek winter cold? ......................11! Carry you personal munchies (Anti-Oxidants, Proteins, Vitamins etc)....................................11! Personal Hygiene ..................................................................................................................11! Other FAQs for Chadar trek ......................................................................................................13! About Nature Knights ................................................................................................................15! Team Nature Knights ................................................................................................................17!
Introduction
Among the Top 10 Treks in the world and also the most unique...
In one of the mightiest mountains in the world, where most peaks are covered by snow almost round the year flows the mighty Zanskar River fed by many glaciers. Zanskar River is famous for its gushing rapids of white waters that are popular for extreme white water rafting sport. Zanskar River in the heart of winter freezes to form a sheet of ice or blanket and is known more popularly among adventurers world wide as "Chaddar", a journey on this remote and exquisite landscapes gives trekkers a glimpse of the world unlike any other place in the world. Its one of the top ten treks in the world. Zanskar frozen river route (Chadar Route) was traditionally was used as a trade for locals living in Zanskar Valley who came through this route to Leh for trading during harsh winters of Ladakh.
The Chadar Trek includes 2 days in leh and 7 days trek in extreme cold conditions. It is a winter trek over a frozen river in Ladakh. Average mean temperature during the day is minus 15 and during nights temperatures fall to minus 25 and 30. The desolate trek is over the ever changing Chadar frozen river. Ice forms, breaks and changes colour on the river every few hours. At places the Chadar (or ice) does not form over the river. Trekkers have to forge a new trail climbing over snow covered steep rocky banks of the river to again descend to a spot on the river where the ice is more stable.
Day 2 - Drive to Chilling (3 hrs drive) and trek to Tilad Do camp 3100m (2 km, 1hrs trek)
For those who have been to Ladakh before may have come across sangam point; a place where Indus and Zanskar rivers meet. We have to follow road going parallel to Zanskar river here. Travel distance between Leh and Chilling is around 64 KM. We drive to the point where the vehicle can take us then start our Chadar trek. First day trek is fairly easy "Tilat Campsite" can be reached in a hours time from the time you start the trek. This campsite is located near sangam of one of the tributaries of Zanskar and main Zanskar river. Get ready for your first night experience of staying in campsite on or near frozen river in extreme cold conditions. It recommended that you carry pocket size personal warmers that can be keep Copy Rights Reserved Page 4 of 18 www.natureknights.net / asif@natureknights.net / +91-9619182010
in your jackets or sleeping bags. Any kind of heat / hot soups / Warm Food / Camp Fire is welcome. Fire wood is a treasured commodity here and comes at a cost.
You will find yourself rapidly relaxing as you walk, enjoying the views; watching for wildlife. Look out particularly for snow leopard pugmarks, Ibex on the gorge walls, and few occasional birds flying and few even dive from ice into the river, turning over pebbles looking for edibles. Copy Rights Reserved Page 5 of 18 www.natureknights.net / asif@natureknights.net / +91-9619182010
Today we will pass through what the porters call 'Chadar Gate'. A little surprise for the trekkers.
Day 4 Gyalpo camp to Dib Cave 3225m (14 km, 8 hrs trek)
Today is full of surprises and fantastic landscapes, the river starts to curve and you can see the uphill slope of the ice as we ascend the river into Zanskar. We will pass incredible waterfalls on our left, normally frozen into aquamarine ice cliffs. The waterfalls were said to have come from a river given to local people who visited Tibet centuries ago to plead for water for their barren land. They were given a box which they were told they must open only on their return home. The curious Zanskaris were nearly home when one of them opened it; out jumped a tiny fish, and the river sprung from the ground high above here. Also today we will probably have to climb briefly above the river - on the sharp bends the speed of the current breaks up the ice. Lunch will be on rocky beaches by the river, and camp is near one of the many caves that are blackened by centuries of use by the fires of locals. Our porters use these caves to cook and sleep in, and many of them are slowly being turned into small huts by Zanskaris. This is a popular campsite. As a camping etiquette our teams' first jobs is to dig a toilet pit and clean up the rubbish left by groups. If there is no snow here the sand that blows around can contaminate your food. We have stringent hygiene rules for our kitchen, anti-bacterial hand wash always available. Use it!
Day 5 Dib cave to Naerak camp 3390m (10.5 km, 7 hrs trek)
Look forward to one more spectacular day. Crags seem to leap up from the frozen river surface, and ibex can usually be seen defying gravity far above. After lunch we pass the 'incense tree', so called because the locals use its branches to burn in their morning rituals, and the prayer flag draped tree marks the entrance to Zanskar proper. The porters will normally take a few twigs from the tree, then tear a small piece of prayer flag to wrap it in, and present it to you. Welcome to Zanskar! An hour later we turn a corner, and there, high above the river, is the bridge that links Zanskar with Ladakh, and Neraks village with Lingshed Monastery - in summer. Then the valley gorge opens up, and we see the small huts that mark some of the summer grazing of the Neraks villagers. The village is far above. A trail is normally beaten through the snow to these huts, where we camp. And rum is possible. Copy Rights Reserved Page 6 of 18 www.natureknights.net / asif@natureknights.net / +91-9619182010
Day 8 - Shingra Koma to Chilling and drive to Leh. Day 9 - Return from Leh. Interesting note, extra days stay back at Leh
Most of us are staying back one day extra and going back on Monday.. Its always good to come back after a trek into a local town and have just enough time to stretch your legs, celebrate and chill out. This will be optional day 10.
Payment Terms
50% advance and balance before October 20, 2013. Inclusion Local transport (Point to Point as per planned program only) Sleeping bag during trek, Tent (3 person in each tent) Kitchen tent, food, toilet tent, mattress, utensils, crampon, trek leader, local guide, cook, helper and, porters for the group equipment. We allow to carry 7-8kg weight in your backpack (only your personal stuff), Our porter carry the central equipment like sleeping bag, cooking utensils, camping gear etc. Food: Food during trek as per standard menu i.e. from Feb 9th to Feb 15 Standard and simple Food at Leh (Feb 8th Lunch and Dinner; Feb 15th Dinner, Feb 16th Breakfast)
Exclusions
1. If you need personal porter to carry your backpack so you have to pay extra Rs.660/ per day per bag. Trek will be lead by our trek leader. 2. You have to bring only your personal clothing, backpack and any trekking/sports shoes and Gum boots for day hike. You can easily buy the Gum boots from Leh at the cost Rs. 350 to Rs. 400/- (But recommended to buy from your local city as you can try them out before you are on to the trek). 3. Any non-standard menu item in food not included (cost to be borne by individuals ordering the same).] 4. Airport transfers cost not included in the budget 5. Stay and food cost for additional night 6. Stay for additional days not included in the budget. (Most of are staying back one additional night after the trek); Stay for additional night at Leh is working our for Rs.1,500/- approximately per person per night on twin sharing basis (will soon share the exact cost once we block the hotel rooms). In a deluxe grade lodging. This cost to be paid in advance. Cost of the food during additional day/nights stay has to be paid in cash during the stay. 7. Bottled water or beverages cost to be borne by persons ordering it. 8. Shopping / Personal gear / Tips to porters cost not included in the budget 9. In case of emergencies (Act of God, Sickness, Flight cancellations, Road blocks etc) if we incur additional cost of stay / food or other resources. The additional cost incurred has to be borne by participants. 10. In case someone has to return from mid way through the trek due his/her personal emergency (the additional cost of transfer / travel / stay at Leh cost would be borne by individuals). 11. Anything that is not specifically mentioned in the details in budget is not included in the budget. 12. Un-utllised resources will not be refunded.
Personal Hygiene
Complete bath during the trek will be a luxury and too tough for most people to even think about. But its very important to maintain personal hygiene. Here are few tips. 1) Always carry personal pocket size hand sanitizers. 2) 2 or at-least 1 pack of Candid Anti-Bacteria Powder. 3) Wet and Dry Moisturizing Wipes 4) Small Hand Towels (Always handy for hot water sponging). Copy Rights Reserved Page 11 of 18 www.natureknights.net / asif@natureknights.net / +91-9619182010
5) Small Mouth wash; Mouth freshers; Chewing Gums that helps in cleaning teeth besides Tooth Paste, Tooth Powder and Floss. 6) Moisturizing Cold Cream 7) Sun Screen 8) Deo Sprays. Anti Bacteria sprays are also available
Some additional nice to have items one any high altitude treks (will share soon). Of all the treks in India, Chadar is one of the most expensive treks you will do. Following reasons: 1) You have only one option to reach Leh during winter, i.e. fly to and fro all other routes is blocked due to extreme winter. 2) Expensive labour, Porter rates are more than double in winter. You can imagine why. 3) Rentals of all equipments and gear are very high during this small season. 4) All food has to be flown in so obviously is very expensive. 5) Fuel since it is very limited is very expensive; it takes almost twice the amount of fuel to cook the food than in normal conditions. 6) It is not advisable to have a very large group of trekkers on a single party. For those venturing out to the Chadar on the Nature Knights exploratory trek, our only advice is to prepare for the trek and not to treat it as any other trek. The rewards from this trek are plenty to take the white winter scenery in the Chadar canyons is once in a life-time experience. Experiencing this marvel is something people travel all over the world to witness. I hate to admit, but Chadar is actually a very glamorous trek to do.
Drab ppts, zigzag sales graphs, collection pressures, project deadlines, commuting in the Metro, rising inflation, stock market crashes, an ever increasing collection of junk cable TV channels.. Sounds familiar? We don't have the solutions to this nor do we offer a 4-minute nirvana course. We also don't know the 10 quick steps to salvation.
These are realities of a crazed city and no one can avoid it. Not even us!
Yet, we know certain things; that as you travel 10 km further from Panvel on the Goa highway, the temperature drops suddenly; climbing the Mahuli peak early morning leaves you with better Copy Rights Reserved www.natureknights.net / asif@natureknights.net / +91-9619182010 Page 15 of 18
lungs and heart; star gazing in the middle of the night atop Harishchandragad can be an unparallel experience; a coin tossed from the top of Vasota peak at Babukhada can swish right back at you because of the wind pressure rushing up the valley like a hurricane...
That it took 22 years for the Sidhis to build the Janjira fort, the only one which Shivaji could never conquer; Daulatabad fort changed hands between 7 dynasties in its 800 year old history; there could be even more forts yet to be unearthed in Maharashtra; 'Creole' is a variation of Portuguese languate spoken in the world only by a small community (of less than 400 people) in the fishing village of Koralai near Alibaur, 'Ladakh' is 'the coldest desert in the world and also has the highest motorable road in the world, hightest saltwater lake in the world, least populated district in India in terms of density and is a land like no other", Bhutan is rated highest in Asia as The Land of Gross National Happiness'....
We Trek, We Travel, We Explore... Wild Life Sancturies, Forts, Historical Places, Jungles, Lakes, Mountaines, Beaches... Our Bucket of Adventures.. Rappelling, Rock Climbing, White Water Rafting, Sailing, Fishing, Paragliding, Caving, Snorkelling, ... on and on... We honestly attempt to live, rather than survive and we will be happy to invite you to join us. Do get in touch with us..
Our seasoned core team is made of people who come from Corporate World who have varied hands on exposure of Off Beat Travel and Adventure Sports. Many of these team members have already handled several Adventure Offsite Events, Managed Extreme Adventure Sports and Team Building Events. Nature Knights team comprises of its core members teaming up with local associates across all geographical area of our operations to give safe and life time experiences to our customers.
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