MY GREAT HIMALAYA TRAIL X RANDY SUN
WATERPROOF & BREATHABLE
WATERPROOF BREATHABLE SOCKS KEEP YOUR FEET DRY AND COMFORTABLE IN WET WEATHER.
ADVENTURER'S CHOICE
The day promised to be boring, but ... First, I'll return to the issue of short cuts. Yesterday, when there were 6 kilometers left on the map to Kharpunath (but it was necessary to make a hefty detour towards Simikot), the guide decided to take a short road, which was advised by the locals. The short road turned out to be a hellish descent along a loose pile with a total length of about 5 km. Each step along this path demanded the utmost concentration of attention. Since it was impossible to walk quickly along this road, we arrived at Kharpunath completely exhausted approximately 3 hours after starting the movement along the short road.
Once again, I hint - check with the guides for details about the "short road" before going on it. However, if the guide is convinced that he is right, then asking about the details will most likely not help.
So, today we are walking a short road to Rara Lake. It will take about five days to Rara Lake, but maybe we can get there faster. This short road has an important advantage (except that it is shorter) - it goes above the standard path, which means it is not so hot and, probably, noticeably fewer flies.
Side effect - you need to overcome the pass with a climb of about 1000 meters. And before storming this pass, you need to go back to the trail from Simikot to Rara Lake, which runs at an altitude of about 3000 meters.
As a result, today we had to gain almost 2000 meters per day. And this is not at all the same as dropping them, especially with a backpack on your back. As a result, we spent the night right on the pass. And I thought that I really didn’t have the strength to walk.
In fact, as soon as we began to climb to the pass, we simply had no further choice. Until we reached the very top, we simply could not find a place for the camp. It was a hard day. But they say it will be easier tomorrow.
From the conclusions and recommendations: if you decide to go from Simikot to Rara by the upper path, you should not look into Kharpunath on the way. Most likely, you will not find anything interesting there, but go down and up 1000 meters.
Interestingly, the climatic zones on this route were different from the climatic zones at the same altitudes in Limi. Here, at an altitude of 3000 meters, a coniferous forest with huge pines and Christmas trees grows, and closer to 4000 meters, instead of Christmas trees, rhododendrons begin to prevail. The herb also differs in composition and we felt a new bouquet of smells, also very pleasant.
Culturally, this area is also different from Limi (and the area north of Simikot). Hinduism prevails here and, accordingly, only Hindu temples are encountered on our way. Dined as usual with a dalbat in a small village along the way.
The village looks different from others - here almost all houses have roofs not flat, but with slopes. More precisely, I would say that most of the rooftops have covered verandas. As in other villages, the houses are close to each other and you can walk through almost the entire village on the roofs without going down to the ground (especially since between the houses there is not only earth, but rather shit. For the first floors of houses are habitat of livestock. Incidentally, this, by the way, mainly explains the abundance of flies).
By the way, this dalbat was relatively original: we made it from products harvested directly from the local vegetable garden. Well, we didn't collect rice ourselves, but it was also from a local field and an unusual reddish hue.