Chadar Trek Return Journey | Lingshed Nerak Tibb Caves Shingra Koma Leh

 Chadar trek Return Journey | Lingshed Nerak Tibb Caves Shingra Koma Leh

Having reached the Nerak & Lingshed climax of chadar trek, it was now time to start the return journey. This is the sixth part of my Chadar trek blog series. If you missed the initial parts start reading from here for better context & mind boggling nature. From the fifth day onwards we started the retun jouney toward Leh. We reached back to the first camp over the next three days . We went back over the same route we had started i.e. Lingshed Nerak Tibb Caves Shingra koma Leh

Day 5 | From Lingshed To Nerak & Tibb | 10 + 12kms | 9 hrs | 11,811 ft to 11,150 ft & to 10,760 ft

Waking up on the cold morning it was next to miraculous that our feet were not aching. This Lingshed homestay episode is one of the best memories of chadar trek i have. They had a compost toilet indoors . Very practical.  We got ready and had breakfast which Amelie had lovingly prepared. 

It had snowed all night. When we came out of our warm dwelling it seemed like a completely different place, the snowfall transformed the landscape. Few locals came to see us off 🙂

Out trail was hidden under the thick blanket of ice. Trek shoes had completely given up to the snow. We continued with the wet shoes in hope of reaching  our gumboot hideout place quickly.

After an hour or so we reached the Gates of Lingshed. They had completely transformed.

Finally reached the Zanskar river & quickly changed to gumboots.Walking on chadar felt like a cake walk. After about 3 hours from Lingshed I finally reached Nerak. 

Without stopping at Nerak we continued towards Tibb Caves. The sun was just coming out.

Our weary bodies finally managed to reach the camp to unite with our team.That night I had so many masala stories of Lingshed to make them jealous I could go on for the night. But the tired body was yearning for rest. So after a quick dinner I slept like a log.

Day 6 | Towards Shingra Koma | 15 kms | 9 hrs | 10,760 ft to 10,550 ft.

This would be an exciting night as we had to camp at shingra koma- the beautiful campsite around a U bend of Zanskar. But first we had to reach there through the chadar which seemed to be rapidly loosing strength.

After the initial ease , we reached the place where the chadar had totally given up but the rocks were climbable.

Add video. 

 After a while reached a place where the river was victorious over the chadar submerging the chadar below it.

After going through all the cold water, ek chai toh banta hia.

This all continued for a while where the dangers of chadar were clearly visible. One last time we reached a spot where the chadar had thinned out so much that we had climb the rocks to get across. But the dare devil porters who could not waste more time risked it all by stealthily walking over the delicate sheet of ice.

After this adventure the last leg was pretty straightforward. We reached the Shingra Koma campsite pretty fast and settled in our tents till it was chai time. With our tummy full we climbed a bit high to get a better view of the camp site. It was wonderful.

I returned back to the tent to complete my half poem. Will add it here when i find where i wrote it.

Today was the last night on chadar. Our team of 11 over enthusiastic trekkers had become a close knitted family & had one last great camp fire. I feel nostalgic on the last days of treks. I still had zero falls. Cheers.

Day 7 | Towards Tilat Do & Return to Leh | 9 kms | 10,550 ft to 10,390 ft.

Last day to enjoy chadar. Today was the most anticipated day on the trek as we had planned to take a dip in the ice cold river. Every one said don’t do it but we had nothing to lose it being the last day of the trek. So after reaching Tilad Do while the porters were preparing tea we decided to take plunge in the ice cold water.

Video.

After the jump it felt like a thousand needles pinching simultaneously. We got out of the water as quickly as possible and immediately got dried up. One hell of a memory.

Before we bid good bye it was time for one last group pic.

The last seven days have been one hell of a ride. Million memories later we made way through the last hour on chadar. Some of us preferred to continue enjoying the chadar till the last moment possible.

While some of us climbed to the road and continued to walk till the pick up point. The view from there was spectacular indeed.

We got to the bus , bid farewell to the Chadar and were off towards Leh. Unfortunately the bus broke down in the middle of nowhere. We had to wait for almost 4 hours in darkness for the back up to arrive. But it was all memorable.

Back in Leh. Everyone started pack their bags for their flights scheduled through the night. I had planned two more days after this to go around Ladakh.

I visited the monasteries the next day & went to the frozen Pangong the following day which in itself was another great adventure.

END OF PART 6

Next day I visited monasteries around Leh Click here to read about the spiritual jouney 

PARTS: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

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