Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - Day 5

Kashmir Posts:
1. Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - Day 1 and 2 [CLICK HERE]
2. Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - Day 3 and 4 [CLICK HERE]
3. Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - Day 6 and 7 [CLICK HERE]
4. Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - Day 8 [CLICK HERE]

Day 5 - (Gadsar / 12,000 ft to Satsar / 12,000 ft)

Rocks and mountains are not enough. Today, we were given yet another challenge, walking on the ice  .. To be honest, I'm kinda freaking out when I look at the ICE ! :X

Can you see the big fat ass crack in the middle ?? And below the ice is actually the river stream .. And yes, I kinda have a lot of scenarios playing in my head. What if the cracks gone worst and the whole ice cube just fell off ? What if my stupid shoe is not good enough and I just slip down the river and hit myself with rock? What if I'm too fat and the ice just cracked when I stand on the ice?

Seriously, all those was what-if questions were playing in my head. T_T

But thank goodness to the kind soldiers who actually came to give us the help and yes, the ice did not crack any further ... *phewwww* And according to our Leader, a day before us, the horses which also cross on the ice, few of the horse actually slip and fell into the river and died .. :( Sad to know that ...

After crossing that, we had a wonderful view of the mountains and river by walking about an hour or so on a long trail .. Not too tough as there's not much of ascending here .. Probably just a slight one.

Some of the lovely views I caught along the way ..

Love this stunning shot of the horse ... *syok sendiri*

Just probably half an hour before reach to 2nd army camp, the sky started to drizzle with strong wind .. And also that last part of it was ascending T_T So, managed to test my windbreaker to its usefulness .. So yeah, definitely a good one ..

Reached the army camp and again, thank god for having them we have a place to hide from the strong wind and rain and have our lunch break ..

The army .. When talking to them, apparently they have to be stationed there for few months (can't rmb specifically how long) before they can actually go back to city or back to their own family .. I on behalf of all the trekers, thank you for your service and ensuring the safety of the place around .. At least, we all can trek in peace without worrying much of our safety .. :)

Although it is still raining heavily outside, we still got to move on as we have to reach the camp before the skies get dark .. So, we just rush through the rain and wind .. Thank god we have one of the guide with us that bring us all the way :)

On the other hand, when we reach the camp which was just an hour away from our camp .. The rain sort of stop and the view was just superb !!

 Best windbreaker !! 

 Daddy trying to dry up the shawl .. kekeke

 Thank god the weather turn good so that we all can dry up all the clothes, raincoat and our shoes

And of course thanks to Indiahikes team for their friendliness, professionalism and care towards all of us

According to our Guide Leader, this is considered the highest camp that we have for the whole trekking .. So, it''ll be the coldest among the nights .. 

Just when we thought the hardship is over, not until the next day ... :X

Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - Day 3 and 4

Kashmir Posts:

1. Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - Day 1 and 2 [CLICK HERE]
2. Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - Day 5 [CLICK HERE]
3. Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - Day 6 and 7 [CLICK HERE]
4. Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - Day 8 [CLICK HERE]

So, on my previous post, I literally died on my first day of trekking and wasn't really looking forward for my 2nd day of trekking. However, the group leader and guides convinced us that the trek for the day will mainly be 70% flat land ... o_O Had a doubt on it ...

Day 3 (Nichnai / 11,500 ft to Vishansar Lake / 12,000 ft)

Started our journey around 8am after having our breakfast and packing our lunch and also packing up the tent ..

Probably I have sorta adjusted myself to the altitude there, I felt that I could walk slightly better than the first day. Another reason is I decided to dump my fat dslr into the bag pack which will be carried by the mule while in my day pack, I make sure I only carry water, food and jacket .. That's all !!! 

And yes, finally get to really enjoyed my trekking scenery .. =D

Honestly, although it's just rocks and mountains and grass but the scenery is really stunning that I just couldn't describe in words and I think my photos have NOT done enough justify for the place. And i sincerely telling you that you really need to be there on your own to taste the wonderfulness of Mother Nature.

These are the only animal that I see for my 7 days trek .. *meeehhhhh baaaaaaaaa*

Wondered why there is colour on their wools? Reason being, that is the way the shepherd track which belong to them and which are not before they start fighting among the shepherds .. So, these sheeps and goats are some sort of trademarked XD

Descending .. Some of the more rocky trails .. After this part, it's flat road !! *woot woot* I could never be so thankful of flat road nowadays ... *kiss the floor*

Look at the beautiful red flowers .. It's like lavenders but in red ...  

 Goat sunbathing

Our lunch place for the day .. So happy that manage to catch up with the frontiers for lunch ...

Here's the only photo I manage to take of what we eat everyday .. Almost ..

Puri or Chapati with some potato dhall base

To the extent that I got so jelak with the food I rather just bite on my biscuits though I'm not fan of biscuits ..

"shaving time !!!"

So, after lunch our journey continues for probably another 2 to 3 hours ..

If only I have the time, I would want to just sit here whole day and enjoy the scenery .. One motivation for me to walk faster to reach the camp so that with a HOPEFUL thinking I can enjoy the scenery near our camp .. 

Before reaching to our camp, our guide decided to take a longer route to show us our very first lake of the trek, Vishnusar Lake ...

Yes, I was kinda overwhelmed when I saw the lakes :'D Doesn't it look preeetttyyyyyyyyy .....

Took quite a lot of photos but photos of myself are not in my own cammie before we head to our camp which is just half an hour trek away from this lake ..

Day 4 - (Vishansar / 12,000 ft to Gadsar / 12,000 ft via Kishansar Lake and Gadsar Pass 13,750 ft)

So, 2nd day of trekking wasn't that bad ..

Worst nightmare was actually on this day .. As we are going to trek from 12,000 ft all the way up 13,750 ft to Gadsar Pass which would be our highest peak point for this trek ..

Before start of the journey, thank god that we have marathon experts in the group, one of the member provided us this energy booster drink which I honestly helped me for the day's trekking .. I took few sips and somehow my sugar level just shoot high and I was literally running up to the peak leaving my parents behind ... OK la .. I'm not running but I don't feel as tired when I was walking up the hill though I'm still grasping for air once a while .. =]

 i THINK this was taken before the start of the journey 

Before our or rather MY nightmare starts, manage to enjoy another awesome lake, Kishansar Lake

After enjoying this view and looking back at my front trek and looking at the people who are in front, I'm kinda like "OK, let's take more picture here have a good rest first"

That red trailed mark is where we are supposed to trek up .. Looks short and stout eh .. To reach to the 'X', actually took me about 2 hours to reach there and we are actually crossing 2 mountains or maybe hills for some people ... TWO HOURS ok .. not 2 minutes ...

Top view of both Vishnusar and Kishansar :D Totally love this picture .. I think this photo can be sold hor hor ...

Us who made it to the top .. Greatest achievement ever !! And I am really thankful to Georgie (the one squatting in front of me in the photo), he sort of guided me and take care of me along the way up to here :D

After all the energy used up for ascending, it's time to descend .. Sighsss .. If only I am elastic enough to jump over the pass .. Anyway, descending is definitely much easier for me but normally descending is where it'll hurt your knee and toes the most ..

View when we descending .. That's the Gadsar Lake :D

3rd lake, Gadsar Lake !!!

Evidence of me was there !! Do I look like a professional trekker ? 

On this trek, we also had lavender along the way .. It was so damn beautiful ~~~

Another photo of me .. Just kinda missing myself .. =]

It was not only the toughest day of the trek but also the longest hour trek .. That day it took us about 8 hours in total before we reach our camp .. Imagine all the energy used up for climbing, and had to walked for probably another additional 4 hours ..

And oh yeah, before we reach the camp, we have to pass through the first Army Camp checks .. They supposedly be doing security checking on the trekkers but probably it has be done earlier by the group leader, so what the army did was just took photos of us .. LOL ... Group photos btw .. Army sounds scary but actually I think they are really friendly and helpful ..

Didn't had a photo of the army camp site .. This was right after the army camp .. A small little hut for a family and high chances they are the Gipsys ..

And about 5 minutes away from here, we set our camp for the day ...

3 more days of trekking to go !!!! Yes, I was kind of counting down every day when I reach the camp .. Thinking how am I going to survive for the remaining days .. But everyday, when I finish the trek, it was really a gift to me .. Everyday I feel so thankful, thankful that I manage to walk on my own reaching the next camp without any serious injuries, without falling sick .. I really couldn't imagine if any of these happen to me half way through the trekking .. 

That's all for now .. Again, I promise I'll try to post the remaining trek experiencing SOON !! I pwomisseeeeee ... Pls continue refreshing the page every day ...