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| Yurutse |
We started at 8.30 in the morning after breakfast. Initially
we trekked along the Jingchen gorge crossing the Jingchen river many times and
slowly climbing altitude. The route took us through the Hemis national park.
The river crossing was not at all difficult. It was a long day of trek with the
temperature rising as the day progressed. At around noon we reached the village
of Rumbak which is at 3800 m. The route bifurcates
here, one going to towards the Stok La and the Stok Kangri mountain and the
second towards the Ganda La basecamp. Here one or two houses constitute a
village. There is a tea tent run by the Ladakhi women where we had our tea and
a long break.
Afterwards we proceeded towards the village of Yurutse which
is at 4120 m altitude. The hot climate, the thin air and the weight of my
backpack was making my climb difficult. Am and I were moving at snails pace
where as the girls and the guide were usually moving pretty fast at the front.
There is also a homestay at Yurutse. Just one building and it is the Yurutse
village! It is a beautiful location. The homestay sits on the side of a green
lush valley surrounded by barren mountains.
We were so tired that we decided to take a break and take
our lunch there. We still have to climb 400 m today. After an hour break we
stared our climb again. It was a slow climb, but the landscape was really
beautiful with the mountains half blue in colour. We could see the Stok Kangri
mountains at a distance. After about a tiring 200 m climb we reached a camp with a small tented restaurant. This is
the lower Ganda La camp. We were so tired that I thought we will be camping
here. But our ponyman and the cook had already climbed further and pitched the
tent at the upper Ganda La camp!
We took a half hour break
and climbed again. Slowly, but steady, we reached our final destination
– upper Ganda La base camp at 4545 m – at around 4 pm. The tiredness made all
of us to lay down on the mattresses and sleep for a while. Later on we had our
tea with biscuits. I tried some timelapse photography while Am did her
meditation. I had some slight headache, probably from the high altitudes. My
shoulder was paining a lot. After sunset the temperature dropped drastically. I
guess it should have been between 5 - 10
degrees. After dinner we quickly went back to the warmth of our sleeping bags
in the tent. Am gave me a shoulder massage using the pain balm that I had with
me. It was very helpful and it was really nice of her to do so. Tomorrow is
going to be a hard day. We have to climb the Ganda La pass which is at 4900 m.
Hope my headache will be gone by then. Fingers crossed!!
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