Expedition to the Himalayas August 2005

The CCF expedition to India set off early morning on the 5 th August. After a full day of travelling we arrived at our Delhi hotel, which was situated in a rather busy, and smelly area of town. For all of us, Delhi life was a wholly new experience, with horns being the main way of communication and signalling on the roads, the sight of detritus everywhere and the general feeling of energetic chaos. Our first full day consisted of a coach trip around Delhi visiting places such as Rajghat, where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated, the towering Qutab Minar, the Red Fort, the central mosque, the tomb of Humayun and the Lotus flower-shaped Bahai temple.

The next days were essential for re-thinking our expedition after the unexpected cancellation of our internal flights, and so we were very fortunate to book a ten-day trek. Preparation for this started that day, with food needing to be bought, our rucksacks packed with only the essentials and eating our last western meal for two weeks: pizza. For our altitude training we took a public bus (another six hours) to Keylong, which is at an altitude of 3000 metres. To get there we had to drive over a 4000-metre pass which some found exciting, and others absolutely terrifying. At Keylong we made two-day hikes to two of the five Buddhist monasteries in the valley. After a couple of days we left our comfy hotel rooms knowing for the next ten nights would be in tents. Nevertheless, the morale was high as we arrived at our first night campsite, and it was here that we met our guide, Anand.

Day one of the trek consisted of a gradual ascent of about 300 metres and four hours walking. Days two and three involved coming closer to the Shingo la pass which is at 5100 metres, and on day four we crossed it. This was so far the most demanding day as we ascended 500 metres and then descended another 500 metres on some tricky terrain including snowfields and a glacier. One of the contracting high altitude mountain sickness leading to the decision to carry on to Kargyak village, which was at a lower altitude. When we walked into the village we were greeted by all the villagers and given Tea and biscuits. Weather persisted to prevent the helicopter from taking off and so the decision was made to turn back and do the return walk in three days instead of five. Day six campsite was at 4700 metres and team really felt the effects of altitude that night.

From the end point of the trek we headed back to Manali in 4x4s and slept that night in a well-earned bed. Our destination thereafter was Agra. Here we visited Agra Fort and the next day at 6 am we saw the Taj Mahal. On our final day we visited the deserted city of Fatephur Sikri, which was only inhabited for 15 years during Akbar’s reign. From here we stopped off to admire Akbar’s tomb and then left to go to the airport.