The adventures of the Princess of Leh, at 6123m...

So finally it was holiday time. I know many people think that by working abroad every day is holiday time, but believe me in between fighting global poverty and living in Delhi a girl needs a break...

So it was off to Leh which is in Ladakh and is an autonomous area of Jammu & Kashmir. It’s known as ‘Little Tibet’ and is nestled between the Himalayas and Karakorum at 3500m which takes your breath away – literally. My plan was to go there for 12 days to spend time with two friends, the first at a music festival and the second who was visiting on a group sustainable eco holiday and to do a bit of trekking. Of course this being India, it did not quite go according to plan.

The music festival was cancelled a few days before I left due to local protest and fear that a mass influx of revellers (4000) would corrupt the local youth. I was a little peeved, particularly as I was looking forward to spending time with my friends I was going with, but on arriving in Leh I understood why the festival had been called off. The flight was slightly exhilarating as it took two goes to land due to the wind and obstacles such as snowy peaks and monasteries clinging onto cliffs, all within close proximity of the runway. I took a taxi to the guest house that my festival friends had booked and was warmly greeted by Dawa who ran it.

The guesthouse was definitely local. I was the only a)girl b)foreigner staying and it was me and 8 helicopter engineers from Bangalore. I was treated like a princess, hence the nickname I gave myself for the rest of the week. I was given the penthouse ‘suite’ (on the roof with a private bathroom) and was woken every morning to hot lemon tea and a bucket of hot water for a shower. Heaven. The engineers failed to convince me to play cards with them every night but we did have a rather fun day trip on the Sunday. We went to the local Sikh temple (gurdwara) for a free lunch, visited Dawa’s village to have a cup of tea with his Mum and went to Spituk monastery. Visiting Dawa’s village was a great insight into Ladakhi life. Living is around sustainability and each house has a beautiful veg garden with a stream flowing through for irrigation. Sadly this traditional way of life is declining, hence why the musical festival got cancelled. Basking in the sun petting his cows I could see why it was important to preserve it.

So with no rocking out to be done, I decided it was time to hit the hill seriously. Stok Kangri (6123m) looms mightily across Leh and I decided I was going to climb it. So let’s put this in perspective, it’s quite high. Higher than Mont Blanc (4260m), higher than Mt Kilamanjaro (5895m) but not quite as high as Mt Everest (8848m). But I like a challenge, particularly mountain based, so off I headed on a 4 day trek. We had a great group, consisting of a Dutch couple and a French girl and guy. The first day we walked for 4 hours to the first camp (4200m). I thought this would be easy but by the time I reached the camp my head was pounding and I had the first signs of altitude sickness. I started to get a bit worried that if I was feeling like this now how would I be at over 6000m? Well there’s nothing like a good meal and night’s sleep to sort you out. Our expedition cook was excellent we even had pizza and a cake on our last night.

The next day it was a 2 hour walk to base camp (4900m), I took it slowly and spent the afternoon resting. After 6 days of bluebird skies and sunshine the clouds seemed to be ominously chasing us and by 5pm the camp was being lashed at by heavy rain and wind, not a good sign for our 1am start to the summit. Shivering in the tent (from cold and slight nerves) I tried to rest. At 12.30pm with no rain to be seen, a cup of tea was poked through the tent and it was up for porridge. So off we set. Through the patches of cloud the stars were amazing and we hit the snowline and glacier at 5000m. Other trekker’s head torches could be seen ahead in a caterpillar formation like gloworms but apart from that the mountain was pure silence and darkness.

By 5800m we had plodded uphill steadily and sadly my French tent mate got altitude sickness and decided she should go down with one of the guides. So as the dawn broke it was onwards with our crampons and ice axes being fully used. The final ascent to the ridge was at a 45 degree angle and involved falling in line slowly with fellow mountaineers. This consisted of another English group of guys on an organised tour and a platoon from the Indian army. The ridge started at 6000m and whilst everyone rested, we decided to break out of the chain gain and head for the summit. Breathing was getting harder by every centimetre we seemed to move. You could literally only walk 2 metres before needing to stop to get your breath back. But we finally made it to the top. Sadly the cloud hung around obscuring the view of K2 but as it temporarily shifted the catches of the view we had were stunning and worth all that effort. We descended exhausted, as it began to snow a few hundred metres before we reached base camp, I was very glad to be warmly greeted by a big cup of chai and congratulations for making it. A true adventure for the Princess of Leh.

Highlights: going on holiday and not feeling completely broken – this had to be the first holiday I had for many years where I was not completely exhausted from work and needed a week to wind down and feel sane, Tibetan food – momos (little parcels of stuffed heaven) and delicious noodle soups - yum, my discovery of Jungle Tea – that would be a Ladakhi hot toddy made with rum - double yum, beating the boys – I know I shouldn’t boast but I was extra chuffed that we beat the Indian army platoon and slightly smug group of English guys by half an hour to be the first on the summit that day, a visit to SECMOL a sustainable school that helps Year 10 students learn life skills and takes on the failing education system in the region – chatting to Ladakhi students about their life and ambitions that revolve around staying in the area and carrying on their traditions was truly inspirational.