Friday, August 12, 2011

Trekking in Kashmir: Wrap-Up

Gangbal Lake, Kashmir.
When I first traveled to Srinagar in July for our Trekking trip, I really had no idea what to expect. I had done all the ticket and hotel booking up to Srinagar and back. But what exactly would happen in Srinagar was a big mystery. My brother has friends in Kashmir, and he assured me that they would take care of the actual trek.

Ticket and hotel bookings were done using the online portal MakeMyTrip. A really excellent website for planning air travel and hotel bookings. Most of the air travel was done using IndiGo, but for some of the sectors, we used GoAir. Even though both the airlines are classified as "low-cost", they are both excellent and highly recommended.

Originally, our trekking party was 5 people (Myself, My son Shawn, My Brother Roy, and 2 of his friends). However, at the last minute, the friends had to drop out due to other commitments, which left just the 3 of us to do the trekking.

Roy's friends came through - and arranged for us a really fantastic 7 day trek, along with a great deal on the entire package. You can read about the details of the cost and track route here.

Here's the summary of the 7 days, as we traveled through the Himalayan mountain range starting from Naranag and ending at Sonamarg.

Day
Start Point
Destination
Distance
Difficulty
Blog Entry
1
Naranag
Trunkol
12k
Hard
2
Trunkol
Gangbal
5k
Easy
3
Gangbal
Gadsar
19k
Very Hard
4
Gadsar
-
0k
-
5
Gadsar
Vishnasar
16k
Very Hard
6
Vishnasar
Shokhdari
19k
Hard
7
Shokhdari
Sonamarg
5k
Easy


As for the essential list of items to be carried for a trip such as this, my recommendations are as follows:

*Note: This assumes that you have booked a proper trekking tour, and the tent, sleeping bags, blankets and food will be taken care of by the tour operator*

1. TREKKING SHOES:
A good pair of trekking shoes is essential. The local Kashmiri people may be able to scale big mountains using simple plastic shoes, but we can't. We need all the help we can get - and a good pair of trekking shoes does exactly that. Protects you from slipping while ascending on descending on slippery trails.

"North Face" brand of trekking shoes.
I used the "North Face" trekking shoes. It does not really matter what brand you use - as long you find them comfortable, and they are specifically designed for trekking.

How do you know if the shoes are designed for trekking?. Well, they have special grooves on the soles to give proper grip while climbing or descending. Look at the sole of the shoe, and see if they have patterns as shown below.

Grooves on Trekking shoes.
As you can see, trekking shoes have special grooves. The grooves on the toes is the grip for climbing, and the grooves on the heels is the grip while descending.

2. WALKING STICKS:
Invest in a good pair of walking sticks. They are very useful to keep your balance on slippery trails.

Walking Sticks.
3. CAMERA:
This is a bit tricky. If you want the best pictures, you should obviously take the best camera you can afford. The only problem is the best cameras tend to be heavy - especially if you are are lugging a dSLR with different lenses.
Nikon D300
For example, I carried with me my Nikon D300 along with 2 very heavy lenses, plus batteries, filters, etc. The camera bag itself weighed around 8 Kg. This may not be a problem when trekking short distances, but when you are walking non-stop for 8 to 10 hours, those 8 Kilos end up being a heavy burden on your shoulders.

My suggestion is to carry something small - yet gives good pictures (because you will take lots of them). Perhaps one of those 4/3rd systems like the Panasonic GF3 or NEX-5 from Sony. Even a point and shoot camera will be fine because most of the pictures will be taken in daylight.

4. BACKPACK:
Since the backpack will be carried by the support team, the quality of the backpack is not that important. You should get a bag that is easy to organize your clothes, medicines, etc.

65-liter backpack (North Face)
I used a 65-liter backpack from North Face, which was just ideal to pack all the items required for the trek.

4. WHAT GOES IN THE BAG?
The following is a list of things I packed for our trek, based on the suggestion given to me by one of my experienced trekking friend. I found the list to be comprehensive.


CLOTHES
TOILETRY
MEDICINE
MISC
5 pair socks
Toilet Paper
Personal meds
Knee support
5 undies
Toothbrush + Paste
Painkillers (lots)
Sunscreen
4 t-shirts
Hair brush
Eye/Ear/Nose drops
Sun glasses
1 long-sleeved shirt
Shaving Kit
Plasters
Torch
1 jumper
Ear Buds
Tablets for Diarrhea
Washing Soap
1 jacket
Small Towel
Bandages
Pocket Knife
2 shorts
Soap
Antibiotics
Lighter
1 rain poncho
Lipstick (yes lipstick)
Electrolytes
Passport, Tickets
1 woolen cap

Vaseline
Water bottle 
1 pair gloves


Chocolates
1 warm paint


Energy bars


That's about it. I encourage people to experience the beauty of Kashmir. You need to put in the effort of walking, because that's the only way you can reach these remote places. But the reward is a view of Heaven on Earth.

1 comment:

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