Markha valley trek

31 July - 03 August

It was coming up to the end of July, over 3 months in India, and I had not been on a proper hike.  I had lugged a lot of gear around, and these were among the least used items in my bag.  I had walked around a lot, done a few day things, and even camped overnight, but no proper multi-day hiking: pretty sinful for someone spending so much time in and around the Himalayan mountain range.

 

The reasons for failing to get a good trek organised is not for a lack of trying, or availability of options in the area.  It is just because organising anything, let alone a multi-day trek, in India is not easy.  All the booking agents need a group before they will consider helping out, so travelling solo does not convenient (to them).  Also, the agencies do not seem to correspond with each other, so trying to organise a group of interested persons is difficult (i.e. requires effort and foresight, two qualities very lacking here).  Also, booking through any agency is expensive.

Finally, I had found a buddy who was keen on trekking, and had a good trek in mind, which we did not need a guide for.

We arranged to meet up in Leh, and the day after I arrived, we were on our way.  My trek started a little earlier than my buddies', as we arranged to meet at her accommodation.  I realised only after agreeing to the plan that it was 2km away.  So, at 5am, with backpack affixed, I walked across the streets of Leh, with the sun rising above the mountains behind me.

We met our arranged transport, and took the 2 hour ride to our starting point, at the village of Chillim.  Well almost to our starting point.  There were road renovations being done where we were going, so the driver dropped us about 20 minutes away from the starting points.  So before we had actually started the trek, I was about 4km in.

Pre-trek, trek,
Leh

5am sunrise in Leh

According to the blogs we read (mostly she read, I did very little organising for this trip honestly, and would have been very lost without her) the route was clearly marked, not by signs or symbols, but -as per the instructions - by just following the horse poop.

Not a very reliable method, I thought, as my knowledge of horses is they do not tend to poop in any orderly manner, let alone, to mark out the way of a 60km trail.  However, it was explained that these horses walk up and down the trekking path, as this also leads to the villages scattered around the valley (which was our path), and therefore if you saw poop, you saw the way the trading caravans were moving – which conveniently, was the way we should be moving too.

A rural, mountain, Indian's interpretation
on Hansel and Gretal's path making prowess,
Markha valley trek, Ladakh

To be fair, it largely worked.  Though, to be safe, we had also downloaded an offline, digital map.

The Markha valley is dotted with villages, and the destination each day was one of these.  Basically, you hike until a desired village, and then stay at one of the families there.  Here they provide you with a bed, a shower (and most of the time, even a warm one, if you know who to ask), and food: chai and biscuits; a hearty, warm dinner; breakfast in the morning before you are off; and a packed lunch for your way.

Homestay at the end of Day 1, Sara village

Our room for the night, Sara villlage

Nothing better than a warm meal after a day's trek,
Sara village

Day 1 and 2 were about 20km each (excluding my bonus, pre-trek distance), but was largely on flat ground, and we followed the Markha river (strange how the river and trek have the same name - totally weird).  As we got further from the road, which disappeared after the second village, the beauty of the valley really come to the fore.  The second day required us to do multiple river crossings, and owing to the large amount of rain at this time of year, the rivers were high and fast-flowing.  This meant that a lot of Day 2 was spent with soggy, wet socks, basically with my own private pond inside my shoes, filled with ice-cold, mountain water.

Markha valley in its glory,
Markha valley trek

Sooo... we had to cross that.
Actually was one of the more successful
bridge crosses of the day,
Markha valley trek

Our packed lunch,
outside the town of Markha

Markha valley in (more of) its glory, Markha valley trek

We started climbing on Day 3, the highlight of which was coming to a group of ponds at over 4600m altitude.  In one, a large, golden Buddha statue had been erected inside.  Deciding we had found a good place as any other, we stopped for lunch.  By this time, we had also picked up a few other groups, and had a nice crew of about 7 people, who we met up with, and then lost at various points over the days.  

We found an abandoned fort with
a "no entry" sign on...

So we explored it :)

Here was the top of a mountain the group debated if we
actually had to have climbed, turns out not really part of the route :),
Day 3, Markha valley trek 

By day 3, we had quite a crew going.
Not the worst place to stop for lunch,
Markha valley trek

The main attraction of the hike is the 5,280m Gongmaru La Pass.  We climbed this on the morning of our fourth, and last, day.  But beginning the fifth day was really difficult.  Not only did we have to contend with tired bodies, from three previous days of hiking, but it had rained from the time we reached the campsite (the only night we spent in tents) until the time we left in the morning.  Spirits around the site were low.  It was cold.  Everyone’s packs had been wet from them leaning against the side of the tent.  Oh, and it had started to snow.  The thought of a(n approximately) 400m incline gain in a few kilometres was therefore not too enticing.

Our tented camp, drenched.
Didn't realise quite how colourful though it was.
Must have been really miserable at the time
Nimaling, Markha valley trek

Though, once we started, the body quickly warmed up, and the views of the snow-covered mountains more than compensated for the poor weather and breathlessness of being over 5000 metres above sea level.  On reaching the peak, we had a real sense of accomplishment.  My new found tactic on downhills on mountains (to save the old knees), was running down the other side.  Lots of fun and turned a 3-hour trip up, into a 20 minute run down.

Having not grown up in snow, starting to see what
all the fuss is about.  Beautiful.
Gongmaru La Pass, Markha valley trek 

Reaching the peak,
Gongmaru La Pass, Markha valley trek

One of my most favourite pictures of the whole trip :)

A longer-than expected walk thereafter, and many more river crossings than I cared to deal with later, and we had completed an amazing few days: of great, local food; amazing, hospitable hosts in the homestays; breathtaking views of valleys, rivers, and mountain peaks, a close encounter with a rapid river crossing; and an abandoned, off-limits fort that we just had to go up to and explore within.  Highly recommended, and at least I got to use all my hiking gear 😊.

Ending off 4 days in the Markha valley