Taking up the Frozen Zanskar river trek is a dream of every traveler cum trekker. The picturesque location and its beauty attracts many tourists to this area.
Ladakh in itself is a popular tourist destination and attracts loads of tourists every year ranging from bikers, trekkers, adventure sport lovers to typical tourists who would like to explore the secluded, peaceful land and the hospitality of the local Ladakhi population.
Back in 2009, me and my brother, Suraj had been on a long 3 week bike expedition. Back then, during our research, we had come across the information of Frozen River trek and were enthused to do it some time in future. So, it was a part of our travel wish list.
Coming back to present, 2020 travel season was pretty much lost due to COVID-19. Back in Dec 2020, we were exploring the possibilities of visiting a place in the pandemic times. The old dream of the frozen river trek sparked in Suraj's mind. The advantage of the pandemic times was that the place would be less crowded. Lately the place is attracting huge crowd owing to the scenic pictures floating around and the commercialization. As much as 300 trekkers stay at the each of the 3 main camping sites.
Finally, we concluded that it was the right time to explore the terrain. The preparation of mind for the expedition was pretty much completed. We booked the trek with one of the well known organization for this trek 'Altitude Adventure'.
Now the next target was to prepare physically as the trek involves average 12-15 Km walk per day upstream and downstream. The trek involves gradual ascent towards the destination but the challenge is to overcome the freezing cold temperature and low oxygen level. The organizers had instructed a 2 month physical training which included walking + jogging + leg exercises. This really helps you to make your journey less painful and you spend more time in enjoying the hidden treasures of the nature. The target is basically to make 6-7 Kms in an hour which includes brisk walking and jogging followed by sets of sit ups.
Our travel date was 6th Feb and the actual trek was supposed to begin on 9th Feb. New guidelines recommend to land in Leh 3 days prior to start of the trek. This is mandatory to help acclimatize body for the high altitude atmosphere. On day 3, every trekker has to undergo a medical test which includes checking blood pressure and oxygen level. This is strictly followed on account of some unfortunate events that took place in recent years during this trek and some of the trekkers faced serious health issues including fatality.
Hence, it is highly recommended that one prepares his/her body physically by working on stamina and strength in addition to the 3 days acclimatization.
As the day was coming near, our physical preparation was in full swing. 4 days prior to departure of our flight from Pune to Leh, a news splashed on our mobiles that Leh administration declared through a circular that the last batch of the trek will depart on 7th Feb and post that the trek will be closed till next year. So the decision had to be made immediately to reschedule the flight and get the COVID test done which is mandatory for the trekkers. After all the preparation and enthusiasm gathered around, we really did not want to cancel the trek and decided to go ahead bearing the additional cost of flight rescheduling. The new departure date was 3rd Feb.
On 3rd Feb, we left for the airport in the early evening. Reached Delhi around 9.30 PM.
Took dinner at the airport and started search to find a place to take rest as our flight to Leh was in early hours of 4th Feb. Fortunately, we could find two couches to have some rest.
Early morning, we caught the flight to Leh and landed in another hour at Leh airport which is a defense airport and comes with lot of restrictions related to photography etc.
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