30 July 2018
After leaving Khangsar, we headed to Purne village that was 15 min away. An old lady noticed us and welcomed to have tea and food. She prepared rice for us. We had a complete schedule ahead of us. Around 3:30 pm we left purne. We crossed an old bridge and went to the opposite side as there were a lot of villages on the other side. It was a steep climb and after, we reached the high ground and it was a flat walk to Maling, Testa, kuru, Lalung and Table. Our plan was to go towards Tangze village. We were not sure whether there was a bridge to get to the village. We noticed some Europeans near testa. We saw a bridge before tangze stating phirtsela camp. We skipped the bridge and stuck to the right side thinking the village is on the right side. After 35 min of the hike, we couldn’t find any apparently we walked back to that bridge, it was around 8 pm already.
We walked towards Tangze and had dinner in the village. It took around 10 pm to prepare. We also requested them to pack 16 chappatis as for the next few days we didn’t have supplies. The kid in the house was studying in Leh and hikes by horse via Shinku la pass to the city. The kid was fluent in English. He told that these villages will have roads and factories and he wants to become a software engineer. We went out to camp, pitched up the tents, and slept.
Aug1
The next day morning, we walked towards phirtsela pass. We noticed there was another bridge to come to tangze which was not visible at night, just when we realized our 40 min walk was wasted . We also saw Kurgiakh from far. We were heading towards the village Table , to the left we saw a narrow gorge that might connect Shinjing base camp of Phirtse La. We climbed, it was a steep climb till 4600m. The landscapes were out of the world. After the climb, We hiked for 10 kms. Around 2 pm, we ate our chappatis with leftover pickle.
I was feeling so tired after the climb, so we decided to camp at 4700m and do the Phirtse la according to the plan tomorrow instead of pushing it in a day as we were already 3 days ahead in our plan. My vitals were normal after camping. Around 3 pm, we pitched up the tents and decided to relax. The Sun was strong and I couldn’t take a power nap. The campsite was amazing, it was just us. I woke up around 5 pm and drank the soup. Peter was recording his daily stories in an audio format. Soon after we discussed old stories and ate dinner, packed chilled chappati with chutney. We ventured out and it was freezing cold but then we noticed the stars and started taking photographs. It was amazing to see the milky way that looked surreal and immediately went back to sleep after. I couldn’t capture the milky way on my phone due to the unavailability of settings, but I enjoyed the moment watching the sky in peace.
Aug 2
The day to climb 5650 m of Phirtse la is here. Started early around 5:30 am, walking. It was a long walk. I was feeling good and confident. It was a long steep climb towards the top. I slowly proceeded as Peter was moving way ahead of me. I kept on moving without breaks and noticed some horses coming from the top. I spoke with them, they told they it will take 2 hours to reach.
All the horses were fully packed. Soon, Peter climbed to the top then I climbed. We saw some French people telling “felicitations”.
I asked about the bridge connecting Sarchu to their guide. We wanted to double-check about the bridge otherwise we need to walk till killing sarai which is another 15 km away from Sarchu. Also, about the multiple stream crossings, one towards the right and then towards left and straight to Sarchu. We flew downhill, had some raisins near the stream. We noticed two more French climbers with a guide. The guide saw our minimalistic backpacks and got surprised. A long walk ahead next to Lingthi chu, flat walk for a while, then close to the stream.
We drank water from the stream and walked again. It was a hot day. We kept on walking until we saw the stream crossing. The stream was ferocious. Peter and I formed a chain and moved step by step, to cross it. After that, we climbed fast. He wanted me to drag me to cross the second one, before that I saw a Shepherd named Pratap who asked for a lighter.
We gave him and he invited to camp with them. He had 600 sheep 15 horses and 3 dogs. It was an amazing campsite but was open, these people were tough as they sleep in the open, unlike others. They made us tea, started smoking hookah, and then made rice, dal with ghee. It was amazing food with big plates. We were so curious to see us being surrounded by sheep, and horses.
We pitched up the tent and the shepherd came inside to sleep with us. He wanted to see how it likes inside the tent. He started his morning by smoking a beedi. He said he was also being hosted by his friends as he was grazing on the other side.
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