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The Journey Matters

Most treks I have done have involved aiming for a summit or highest point.Once there, I would quickly rush back down to the base and fly home. But one trek I did in January 2019, the Sham Valley trek, was of a different kind.

In summer, the Sham Valley trek is considered a beginner’s trek. But I did this trek during the coldest part of winter in Ladakh with my partner in crime, Dr Anindita Bhateja, who is our family physician, my co-runner, and co-trekker; in short, my ever-ready co-crazy friend. We have done many fun, mad things together, including knee surgery. She had hers a few months before I did,and she was my doctor, friend, and encourager through my surgery and during post-op rehab.

We were keen to do a trek in sub-zero temperatures,so we told the trekking company, Aquaterra Adventures, that we wanted to go somewhere that was -20ºc. Among other things, we wanted to test out our sleeping bags and trekking gear to find out if they would actually protect us in such temperatures. Vaibhav Kalra, head of Aquaterra Adventures offered us a customised Sham Valley trek.When we were planning the trip, I wanted to know what the summit point was, but he just told me to trust him. We needed at least four people for the trek, so we roped in a friend Jalaja and her husband, Anup, to join us.

We flew to Ladakh on a Saturday morning and the Aquaterra team took us to a beautiful boutique hotel. Normally on treks we stay in fairly standard hotels. This time, the hotel we had booked had some technical glitches, so we got upgraded to a fancy hotel with central heating and fabulous meals. We stayed there for a couple of days to acclimatise to the altitude of 10,000 ft above sea level.
The place was sunny and lovely, and the national ice hockey matches were going on at the time, so I decided to go and watch a game. As soon as I stepped out, the icy cold winds hit me; the temperature outside was -15ºC. This was only the start.

On Monday morning, dressed in multiple layers, we packed our trekking gear, daypacks, duffels, and ourselves into a jeep and left the warmth and comfort of our hotel. The temperature was -20ºC. We drove for a little whileand got to the point where our trek was to start. We got off, put on our daypacks, got our trekking poles out, and began to climb. It was -18ºC.
We walked along the road for about ten minutes and then left it for smaller footpaths. The paths we walked on were covered with snow. There were no people, trees, or houses—just snow as far as the eye could see. All four of us walked at our own pace, sometimes not even within each other’s sight—only the sounds of the next person’s footsteps, and our trusty guide, led us on. We trudged through the bitter cold while frigid winds hit us. Before long, we spotted a small abandoned cottage, and beheld a hot meal awaiting us.
Our trekking team had organised lunch for us—lemon rice, Maggi noodles, pickle, and hot lemon tea. I am not usually a great fan of Maggi but those were the tastiest noodles I had ever eaten in my life. Our fingers, toes, and lips were frozen, and the hot lemon tea warmed us up like an elixir. Energised once more, we started trekking again. We walked over frozen streams—I almost slipped down one when the ice gave way under my foot—and on snow-covered roads, and through what used to be a village but was then a ghost town. All the people from the area had left for warmer climates to escape the harshest part of winter and there we were, braving it out.

By 5:30 pm, we reached our campsite. It was-25ºC and the sun had gone down. The cold was beginning to seep into our bones. We were completely drenched inside our snow-proof outerwear, because of the all sweat that had collected over the course of the trek. Our feet were also completely wet and frozen as snow had gotten into our trekking boots and melted.After a cup of hot tea, we jumped into our tents, peeled off all the layers, wiped our bodies clean, put some cream on,and got into clean, thermal night clothes. At that point we were trulyfreezing—the temperature had dropped to -27ºc and the winds had picked up. Luckily, a hot dinner was waiting for us in the dining tent. Our head lamps were our only source of light, and we used a porta toilet.
At night, we were not sure how we were going to sleep. We all had multiple thermal layers, socks, gloves, hot water bags, and thermal patches, but we were still extremely cold. Then, the temperature dropped even further, to -30ºC. I touched the outside of my sleeping bag and there were icicles. Even my breath was turning into icicles. What a night! Thankfully, my crazy roommate, Anindita, and I were able to laugh it off.

It snowed all night and by morning we had another three inches of snow to wade through. We woke up to a beautiful and sunny but snowy and cold morning. We start trekking again through snowfields, each of us at adifferentpace and withour own thoughts. The only footprints besides ours were those of the elusive snow leopard, which we never caught sight of.

Were we heading for a summit? No,we were just trekking. All around us were mountains, some entirely snow-covered and others which God had artistically painted with snow. That’s when I realised why I love trekking. This was my time to communicate with God. All I could see around me was God and His spectacular creation. Every time I trek, I empty my cluttered mind and fill it with God. On this trek, I realised that for this reason, the journey was as important as the destination. At any moment, I could stop and take in all the beauty around me. It was so special, untouched, and divine.

On the second and third nights, we stayed at a Ladakhi homestay which meant that we had a roof,not a tent, over our heads. It was as cold as the first night, but this time, we had real toilets. We spent our evenings sharing, laughing, and bonding with each other. These were special moments which we could never get with one another in the bustle of Bangalore.

On the fourthday, we went back to Leh and exactly seven days after we left, we were back in Namma Bengaluru.Back to honking and traffic, millions of people, and noise, noise, and more noise. The temperature was 28ºC—a 58ºC climb from the coldest point in our week.
It is beautiful to acknowledge that the journey is just as or more important than the destination. I realise that when I was an architect, my life revolved around the goal ahead of me. I was always trying to finish projects without enjoying the process. Now, I find that the means are far more significant than the end.
Of course the destination is important, but so is the way. So take a few detours, enjoy your journey, and get back to the main road feeling energised. What’s stopping you? Go forth and enjoy your journey t0 leadership!