When travelling is your passion and nature your love, then I am sure there might be a time in your life when you come up to a moment which just changes you and such moments never end as it grows within you as the change. I have been through such a day and today I will share my experience with you.

My love for nature grew since I was a kid and it kept on growing every day, but as I grew I always fantasized flying to some place outside my homeland to move a step ahead and in search of some new shelter until a day when in my college, me with my friends planned a trek to one of the Himalayas ranges in Chadar, a frozen river trek in Leh.

Everything was very normal and the trek was the same, started with planning, packing and moved out for the trek. We had a lot of fun while travelling, reached Leh and enjoyed the stay first night. Next day planned out to visit some places and market around. Leh is an amazing place and we enjoyed the trip to the fullest before the hard part started.

Then their started the hard part and the trip that changed my live and gave me a passion. Chadar is not a simple trek, a 64 km trek over the frozen river, the trek is not just thrilling but also harsh and one of the most difficult one. Staying under such extreme conditions with temperature below zero degree for days is definitely not an easy task. We were excited as well as thrilled while we started the journey, The first destination was Chilling where we drove with the bikes and reached to the end of the road here our trek actually started.

Oh! I still remember our first foots on the snow covered roads of the Chadar, it was careful as we were stepping the frozen river and it felt amazing. Walking around and enjoying with my friends we reached the Sumdo campsite after I believe an hour of walk, where we met several other group like ours. We laid our tent their and rested for some time before we started moving ahead. We moved further and kept taking breaks while enjoying the journey with our small games and talks till finally the day came to an end and we laid down for rest. I remember making of Maggie and tea while we stayed the night for rest, I remember the campfire which we made out of the few remains in the snow desert. Everything was exciting and more beautiful then I ever thought. Sleeping under the open Sky felt so mystical, I just cant explain it!

The next morning we woke up at seven to start further and complete our trek. Though the sun already came up but we could not feel anything, it seemed like walking in a deep cool freezer at temperate made coolest. We somehow started to move further, the extreme temperate made the trek more difficult then anything else. We walked for almost 10 kms before we reached our next stop “Shingra Koma “ which is a big campsite and we rested there for some time. It was noon and the sun came up high, this is now when we could actually feel a little warmth of it. After an hour of rest we started further and walked till it grew dark and we found it difficult for us to move ahead.

The trek continues for next two days until we reached Nerak, our final destination. We walked by through Tibb and made several small stops in between. We came across places where the river chadar was not a complete snow bed but had water and only the edges could be used to move ahead. When I reached there to the end I questioned myself, Do I really need to fly out somewhere in search of a new shelter? And the answer was no. The trek made me realize what life actually is for me, and since then I understood nothing but travelling is the passion of my life, something for which I can give up everything. My love for travelling and nature has come up through several experiences, and I have made a promise to myself, I would never give up on this!

This is when my life changed and the journey will always be bright in my mind… as said some journeys never end and though I am not there today I can feel the trip fresh in my heart as a daisy. The first step, the Maggie and tea, the snow covered roads, the campfire, the river water, the warmth of the sun, the extreme cold weather, nothing can ever be forgotten, it will remain in my mind and heart and more importantly in me as the change as the passion it gave me!