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Day
1 on our acclimatizing trek, 9/7 2015: After 3 days in Leh at more than
3500m vi take off. Here is the Indus river seen from the
taxi, taking
us from Leh
to Zinchen. |
Arriving
in
Zinchen at 3350m. Here are plenty of horses and donkeys
prepairing
to walk Markha Valley trek. We are not going that
far, just a
shorter trek to
acclimatize for higher altitudes. |
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A
road is being built between Zinchen and Rumbak. Even electricity is
beeing
drawn to Rumbak. This means that the river crossings that
were nessecary
earlier, don't have to be done anymore. |
As
you approach Rumbak after about 3h, the narrow gorge opens up to a
wider
valley. Behind it are the higher, snowcapped mountains. Here
is
a teatent at
3860m, where you can get some drink or snacks. We
stay for a cup of tea. |
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We
continue to the small village of Yurutse (one house) at 4150m altitude.
This is
a homestay, meaning you can get food and a bed here. Our
original thought was
to stay here with our tents, but since we are
feeling ok we decide to climb the
short way to Ganda
La
Base Camp. |
Less
than one hour later we reach Ganda La Base Camp at 4330m. Here
is a
teatent where you can get food, plus place to put up your
tent. |
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Dante climbing towards Base Camp. In the
background to the right, we can now
see Stok Kangri, 6120m. |
The
teatents are normally made of old army parachutes. Our tents are the
two
small green ones in front of the white teatent. |
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A happy
horse. |
Day 2, 10/7 2015: From almost
4500m, Base Camp is still visible down there.
We have a light packing
now, since we will return to Base Camp. |
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Dante climbing, now at about 4600m. We
really begin to feel the thin air now,
must walk slowly.
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Short
before the pass we pass a flock of yaks. |
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Plus
one or two marmots. |
Ganda
La Pass, 4980m. This is one of the routes leading to Markha Valley, and
many trekkers pass it any normal summers day. It's
concidered a
difficult
passage because of the altitude, especially if you haven't
acclimatized properly.
Without any acclimatizing you should not try
going up here, it would be very
dangerous. In the backgroumd is a viewpoint, and behind it
the summit of Ganda
Ri. |
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The
route further towards Markha Valley, to the west. |
A look
back to the east, where we came from. |
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Parts
of Zanskar Range, to the west. Unfortunately, many peaks are covered
with
clouds. |
Here's
the pass, seen from the viewpoint at 5020m. It's with great effort we
climb
now. The air is thin. |
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But
we make it, just as the weather collapses and it starts hailing. My
altimeter
shows 5110m, so I use that as official altitude, since there
are quite different
opinions about the altitude up here. The first
5000-meter summit, yes! |
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