It would be unfair to say that the day began at 3 A.M. More appropriately, the night ended abruptly at that unearthly hour when my alarm tone 'Save Me San Francisco' split the freezing night with Patrick Monahan's voice. Feeling extremely lazy, I snuggled a little deeper down into my blankets while Buddha used the washroom first. Soon, I too freshened up and we were both ready to leave by 3:30 a.m.
 |
| Destination in the Distance |
However we suddenly realized that nobody else had even stirred. Buddha went around knocking on doors and waking grumpy looking people up in the morning chill till well after our planned departure time. The elderly couple and young girl chose not to accompany us on this nocturnal high altitude adventure (which turned out for the best, given the breathing difficulty that even we faced at the lake).
 |
| The Snow comes Closer |
We finally left camp at 4:15 a.m. and began a spiraling climb from 8000 to 17,000 feet. Gurudongmar Lake was the 12th highest lake in the world at 17,100 feet. Only an hour out, we suddenly heard a thud followed by a bumpy noise. Stopping to inspect, it turned out that the silencer had broken. Though we tried to hitch it up with rope, our efforts weren't very successful and we ended up getting regular doses of diesel fumes inside the vehicle. In addition to the thinning air, the carbon monoxide in the fumes was causing us difficulty in breathing in the confines of the car. Anyway, with no choice in the matter, we pressed on.
 |
| Traffic Jam |
We stopped for a cup of tea at a little village along the way. From here the steep ascent began. As we rose up into the mountains, the vegetation changed from tropical jungle to pine forests to sparse bushes, and finally to just mud, rock and ice. The tops of nearly all the mountains were snow capped and as we ascended, the chill began to set in.
 |
| Surface of the Moon |
We had to show our passes at a number of army check points along the way and by 6:30 a.m. we were driving through landscape similar to what one would imagine the moon's was like, with the exception of the occasional stream criss-crossing the cold desert. Vegetation became almost non-existent at this altitude.
 |
| Frozen Lake of Splendour |
At 7 a.m., we arrived at Gurudongmar Lake. The sight that met our eyes was almost hard to believe; the enormous expanse of the surface of the lake was frozen solid, making it a beautiful sheet of ice, serenely located beneath snow capped peaks. In another direction, the lake was bound by barren desert, a freezing wind blowing across it. The cold bit right down to one's bone and to keep warm, I walked briskly down to the lake and back. Now the thinning air got to me. I was beginning to feel the symptoms of hypoxia that we had learnt about in aeromedicine. I just slowed down everything I was doing and gradually the headache and breathlessness faded away.
 |
| Twelfth Highest Lake in the World |
About an hour and several breathtaking photographs later, we decided to make a move back to humanity and lower altitudes. It had begun snowing and as we made our way down the hill, it struck us that the level of snow on the hillsides seemed higher than when we had seen it a couple of hours earlier while going up. We arrived back at the guesthouse at around 1 p.m. and rested for a short while before assembling for lunch, a simple affair of rice, dal, vegetables and an omelette. Done with lunch, we quickly packed our bags and loaded them onto the carrier of the jeep. Thanking the owner for her hospitality, we set out for Lachung, three hours' drive away.
 |
| Of Pebbles and Froth |
The drive was through terrain similar to that which we had encountered so far and I slept much of the way. We stopped a couple of times for tea and sightseeing but were soon on the road again. By around 5 p.m., we entered Lachung Village and Buddha took us straight to Sunflower Guest House, our place of residence. Leaving our bags in the room, we had a couple of biscuits with tea, and then headed out. Without much to see in this part of town, I soon headed back to the guest house.
 |
| Host Family |
A hot bath and change refreshed me, and I joined Buddha for a warming whiskey. The family who owned the place was with us and we had a great time talking to them. After a little while, we had a hearty dinner of rice, dal, chicken and potatoes before I settled into bed and wrote about the events of the day that culminated as I fell asleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment