Trekking - day 1
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2009
1
9
138
Trip End
Mar 01, 2010
Where I stayed
Homestay w/Padma
Rumbak, Kashmir, India
Saturday, October 10, 2009
When I arrived to the "trekking point" by the bridge, it proved there is a couple from my hotel is just going for a walk as well. They are well equipped and going with the two assistants and four horses. We depart at 10:30. They are going to trek for some 4-5 days, but for the first day we walk together to Zingchen. The folks were from Valencia, but live in Ireland for some years. It was nice talking to them, and the views were awesome. The weather is also very good - it's sunny with some picturesque clouds. The road till Zingchen is actually suitable for jeeps, or even regular cars and it almost didn't take us up. After some 4 hours of walk we reach the campsite of Zingchen, the guides who didn't stop for lunch are already there, and the camp looks almost ready. Here we split, the folks stay for the night, and I have some 3 more hours before the sunset to get to Rumbak, now walking alone I got a debriefing from the guides how to proceed, and the way seems to be simple - walk along a small river all the time, crossing it here and there on the bridges. There is only one place not to get mistaken :). And it was really simple - the trek is pretty obvious, marked with the horses' droppings. The fresher the poo the more confident is the walk. Eventually I got to the map of Rumbak but misinterpreted and almost kept on following the trail, instead of turning to the village, but some yellow-red person on a hill helped me out as a lighthouse. Another 15 minutes walk and I'm at the "village" - some 6-9 houses along a "street". The "homestay" means sleeping & eating at a house of one of the families in the village. And for me it was the first time to homestay (though afterwards it happens to be something pretty official, there are even tariffs set: Rs400 per night for a single person). Padma (this is the name of a homeowner) proved to be a very welcoming women, she invited me into her house. The main room was a big room with some mattresses & cushions along the perimeter. It was already after the sunset, so there was a little light coming through the relatively big windows, but there was no power and it was pretty dark in the room. Before I had time to get rid of the backpack and the coat the table was served with a nice bread, yogurt and tea with milk. Needless to mention that all were delicious (well, on that day I only had breakfast, oups..). Then she brought me a dish that reminded me pasta with rose & cauliflower sauce - also absolutely yummy. Finished all that I decided just to go sleep - it was a long day after all - I walked some 25 km, climbing some 500 m. The sleeping room was a small just next to the main one. It had mattress by each wall and a pile of thick blankets. I was allocated two of them - there was no heating in the house, and at 4100 m it should be pretty cold by night. Come folks gathered in the main room, they lowered their voices when I came to sleep - its pretty remarkable, isn't it?
