Day 5: The Trek Begins

On the first day of the long awaited trek, everyone was up and ready by 7 pm sharp. I myself wasn’t in the best shape, I had a raging flu and allergies, but I knew I had to push through. I would not get another chance like this again. So we pushed on, and found ourselves at the base of the trekking pass an hour later. The track from there on out was steep and rocky, so Fayeem’s brother took us the rest of the way on a tractor, which although bumpy, was rather enjoyable. After a few photos, we set off on what was to be an exciting journey. Of course, my father, Haris, Mr Hörmann and I were completely exhausted after about half an hour. We found it amazing how the porters and Fayeem still had so much energy in them, walking briskly about a kilometre ahead of us with hardly any breaks, all while carrying 20 kg worth of equipment. After a steep uphill climb, we stopped for tea and then proceeded to cut across the hills via a narrow path, which although easier, was also more dangerous as the Passu Glacier was on the right and if you slipped you would fall into a crevice and be done for.

But oh, how picturesque the Glacier was. Rarely have I had my breath taken away by a good view, and this was one of those times. I became even more excited when I learnt we had to cross it and camp on the other side.

After making it to the crossing point, the porters clambered over the ice covered rocks to hack footholds into the ice for us beginners. This, coupled with Mr Salman’s warnings of the dangers of such a low glacier, made me realize that crossing this would not be as safe and easy as one would think. My fears were confirmed once we stepped onto the ice. It was extremely slippery, and hard as steel, so if one fell, he would feel it. To make things worse, there were deep looking crevices on the sides that gave the path a foreboding air. Needless to say, after about a quarter of the glacier was completed, Mr Salman declared that it was too dangerous for us to go on and suggested we turn back and camp near the crossing point. I personally wanted to cross, but it was evident that they were some who didn’t feel they could do it.

After arriving back at the camp site, we got to work setting up the tents and making food. We had a hearty meal of canned Haleem and ptok, and after a very tiring day, finally retired to our cozy tents to rest, for the next day was to be even longer. However, the day and its surprises were not over yet. I was awoken by excited chatter outside the tents, and when I went out to investigate, found everyone looking or pointing their cameras toward the sky. Wondering if the mountain air had driven them mad, I looked up and saw what all the fuss was about. Up here from the reach of any pollution or dust to obscure its innate beauty, the sky was absolutely mesmerizing. I have never seen that many stars in my life, growing up a city boy. You could see whole galaxies from down here, it was surreal. With the help of an app on Haris’ Iphone we used a star tracking app. We had been using it in Lahore as well, but here we had a field day, identifying constellations and planets and showing them to the eager group of porters gathered behind us. It was the perfect end to a perfect day. And the best part was that there was more to come.