I was shaken by yesterday’s headlines: 18 people died in snow storm in Mustang, Thronag Lha, a place where I was just ten days back. There was no sign of snow then, it wasn’t even that cold. Lots of people mostly foreign tourists, their guides and trekking aids were met in the way. The place was so much is peace and totally safe. I must say I had never been to a place so cruel and yet tempting. Everyone underestimated the mountains. They laughed at it. They had had victory over it. And the mountains as well didn’t care about anything. It was the wild, on its own. Gulping and restraining every other step of yours and the air; well it had an attribute of filling your mind with fear and terror. The periphery was so beautiful and yet gloomy. No one wanted to stay there. Everyone in a race with themselves to cross those hills, but everyone wanted to be there. Those hills were the symbols of difficulty and people wanted to have victory over it, put in their life book that they won and Thorang Lha lost. The only purpose for this was to overcome the obscurity of life, maybe every human search that for a life time in different Thorang Lhas. The mountains were tempting. It promised to relieve you from sullen and melancholy forever. It played with our mind. The higher you go, the shallow you feel. Heavier in the heart and more difficult even to breathe in that thin air. Slowly it ceases your solace and fills you with fear and discontent, slowly controls over you and makes you to quit your life in its womb. Thorang Lha has killed lots of people before too. The unpredictable mountains, you never know what’s there for you when you reach the top.
Thorang Lha pass is located at about 5400m height from the sea level. It’s a pass between Manang and Mustang, the districts beyond the mountains. It’s the most challenging trekking route in Nepal. The trekkers start from Besisahar, Lamjung, pass the Annapurna Base camp, climb over Thorang Lha pass and cross the pass to get to Mustang and Muktinath. Some even trek up to Jomsom or Kagbeni. It’s the route, most favored, possible to trek on and conquerable. I choose the opposite. The unfavoured, tough and so called “the impossible”. I planned to go from Muktinath to Chembur to Thorang Lha to Annapurna Base camp and finally to Besisahar. Yes, that was the plan which everyone suggested me not to do. The earlier night, decided to quit the idea and return cherishing what an astonishing trip I had. The plan was getting a bus and returning back next morning. I woke up at the dawn. I felt something inside me, continuously suggesting there was more. It wasn’t over yet. The journey I was in wasn’t complete. It pulled me outside the bed and I found myself climbing the stairs of Muktinath temple, the temple of the god of Salvation. In no time I climbed over 100 stairs and reached there. It was cold and I was underdressed but the chilly wind had a tender pleasure for my soul. I looked at the two little water pools, I had survived the thrill of being in it and losing my senses for some seconds. I looked around, there were people running, shouting and even crying below the 100 little taps flowing the ice water and their sins were being washed away. I sat there and recollected my journey in search of the missing part. The only thing missing was Thorang Lha.
I had collected few data and information about the path. The trekkers I met told me that the way was too steep and tough from the Mustang side, the side I was trying from. The two girls one Chinese and next probably Russian, who had just reached Muktinath told me that the way was too long, tough and unimaginable from the Mustang side. The hotel owner directly said that it was impossible for me to cross the pass. The more research I did, only the traits of impossibility piled up. That was the reason for my decision to quit that night and now the idea was reinstated. I was convinced that I was just being afraid of an obscure enemy I hadn’t even met. I was quitting and running away. The journey meant a lot for me. It was supposed to be an epiphany for me. I had lots of propositions to be enlightened. I had achieved a lot already and some were still out there haunting me, the most important ones. And this walk of impossible was tempting me to search my answers in it, it certainly had lots of secrets hidden in it.
We started late. It was already 8 am when we reached Chembur. There were few kitchens and it was the last place to relax. There was only slopes, rugged path and fatigue ahead. When we explained about our motive to the trekkers and kitchen owners, they suggested us, it was very tough, not impossible but tough. It was better not to go. A lady even claimed that we shall suffer from altitude sickness. I had done few researches in that too, and I had prepared myself for that. The real journey of endurance started from Chembur. There was only one way, climbing the rough hills. Pushing oneself ahead. No trees, no shades, nothing to hold on or catch, only the flag poles between the distance of about 500 m kept to ensure the trekkers are in the right way. Slowly the bag in my back started to be heavier, my legs decided not to walk and only my obstinate motivation of crossing the Thorang Lha was making me move ahead. I used to walk a while and look back to see an unimaginably steep path I just walked by. The feeling used to re-energize me and I moved ahead slowly. I had a companion, more motivated, punctual and perceptive. He continuously suggested me to follow a system, a system to enforce myself to utilize my inner strength and reinforce me to walk more stable and swift. He was worried that I was showing the sign of fragility and it was going to be more difficult ahead. There was another bigger problem waiting for us if we failed to cross the pass by daylight. There were people in that deserted land, lots of passersby, but only from opposite direction, the favored path. With each and every one we talked to only threw back confounded expressions, some even praised our guts, many of them still suggested us to quit and some even scolded us that we were in a suicide trek. But we carried on. We every talk my motivation was failing. Slowly I started to accept, this really was a madness, I was doing because of my ego. I had already walked a lot during the whole trip. My stamina was very low when I started that day, now it was almost nil. We surely had started very late, so it was going to be more difficult due to sturdy wind and who knows maybe snowfall. And besides all these reasons the most pressing one was the opinion of all these trekkers. They all agreed at the same thing, we should quit. A fear had developed that was dissolving all my motivation but we didn’t stop walking until at a point we decided to stop, quit and return. The place we stopped was the Thorang Lha for us, it was surely a place of Marvel. It was the end of a hill and a start of new one. We were at about 5000 m height, still halfway from our destination. We could see layers of mountains, one after another till the horizon. The most magical thing about the place was its perfect silence. Not even the blowing wind made any sound. We stopped and waited. Few people passed by and few stopped to talk with us. When the listened about our trek, they were surprised how we even made up to here.
There was a stage of tranquility inside me finally. I hadn’t crossed the Thorang Lha but I wasn’t less satisfied. I was elated for coming there. My happiness outbrusted ripping the silence. I laughed loud and shouted my guts out and the mountains did the same. I promised the mountains I shall be back to complete my journey. Next time earlier and more prepared. I failed this time but I vowed next time I shall defeat the impossible. Cross the Thorang Lha.
Thorang Lha pass is located at about 5400m height from the sea level. It’s a pass between Manang and Mustang, the districts beyond the mountains. It’s the most challenging trekking route in Nepal. The trekkers start from Besisahar, Lamjung, pass the Annapurna Base camp, climb over Thorang Lha pass and cross the pass to get to Mustang and Muktinath. Some even trek up to Jomsom or Kagbeni. It’s the route, most favored, possible to trek on and conquerable. I choose the opposite. The unfavoured, tough and so called “the impossible”. I planned to go from Muktinath to Chembur to Thorang Lha to Annapurna Base camp and finally to Besisahar. Yes, that was the plan which everyone suggested me not to do. The earlier night, decided to quit the idea and return cherishing what an astonishing trip I had. The plan was getting a bus and returning back next morning. I woke up at the dawn. I felt something inside me, continuously suggesting there was more. It wasn’t over yet. The journey I was in wasn’t complete. It pulled me outside the bed and I found myself climbing the stairs of Muktinath temple, the temple of the god of Salvation. In no time I climbed over 100 stairs and reached there. It was cold and I was underdressed but the chilly wind had a tender pleasure for my soul. I looked at the two little water pools, I had survived the thrill of being in it and losing my senses for some seconds. I looked around, there were people running, shouting and even crying below the 100 little taps flowing the ice water and their sins were being washed away. I sat there and recollected my journey in search of the missing part. The only thing missing was Thorang Lha.
I had collected few data and information about the path. The trekkers I met told me that the way was too steep and tough from the Mustang side, the side I was trying from. The two girls one Chinese and next probably Russian, who had just reached Muktinath told me that the way was too long, tough and unimaginable from the Mustang side. The hotel owner directly said that it was impossible for me to cross the pass. The more research I did, only the traits of impossibility piled up. That was the reason for my decision to quit that night and now the idea was reinstated. I was convinced that I was just being afraid of an obscure enemy I hadn’t even met. I was quitting and running away. The journey meant a lot for me. It was supposed to be an epiphany for me. I had lots of propositions to be enlightened. I had achieved a lot already and some were still out there haunting me, the most important ones. And this walk of impossible was tempting me to search my answers in it, it certainly had lots of secrets hidden in it.
We started late. It was already 8 am when we reached Chembur. There were few kitchens and it was the last place to relax. There was only slopes, rugged path and fatigue ahead. When we explained about our motive to the trekkers and kitchen owners, they suggested us, it was very tough, not impossible but tough. It was better not to go. A lady even claimed that we shall suffer from altitude sickness. I had done few researches in that too, and I had prepared myself for that. The real journey of endurance started from Chembur. There was only one way, climbing the rough hills. Pushing oneself ahead. No trees, no shades, nothing to hold on or catch, only the flag poles between the distance of about 500 m kept to ensure the trekkers are in the right way. Slowly the bag in my back started to be heavier, my legs decided not to walk and only my obstinate motivation of crossing the Thorang Lha was making me move ahead. I used to walk a while and look back to see an unimaginably steep path I just walked by. The feeling used to re-energize me and I moved ahead slowly. I had a companion, more motivated, punctual and perceptive. He continuously suggested me to follow a system, a system to enforce myself to utilize my inner strength and reinforce me to walk more stable and swift. He was worried that I was showing the sign of fragility and it was going to be more difficult ahead. There was another bigger problem waiting for us if we failed to cross the pass by daylight. There were people in that deserted land, lots of passersby, but only from opposite direction, the favored path. With each and every one we talked to only threw back confounded expressions, some even praised our guts, many of them still suggested us to quit and some even scolded us that we were in a suicide trek. But we carried on. We every talk my motivation was failing. Slowly I started to accept, this really was a madness, I was doing because of my ego. I had already walked a lot during the whole trip. My stamina was very low when I started that day, now it was almost nil. We surely had started very late, so it was going to be more difficult due to sturdy wind and who knows maybe snowfall. And besides all these reasons the most pressing one was the opinion of all these trekkers. They all agreed at the same thing, we should quit. A fear had developed that was dissolving all my motivation but we didn’t stop walking until at a point we decided to stop, quit and return. The place we stopped was the Thorang Lha for us, it was surely a place of Marvel. It was the end of a hill and a start of new one. We were at about 5000 m height, still halfway from our destination. We could see layers of mountains, one after another till the horizon. The most magical thing about the place was its perfect silence. Not even the blowing wind made any sound. We stopped and waited. Few people passed by and few stopped to talk with us. When the listened about our trek, they were surprised how we even made up to here.
There was a stage of tranquility inside me finally. I hadn’t crossed the Thorang Lha but I wasn’t less satisfied. I was elated for coming there. My happiness outbrusted ripping the silence. I laughed loud and shouted my guts out and the mountains did the same. I promised the mountains I shall be back to complete my journey. Next time earlier and more prepared. I failed this time but I vowed next time I shall defeat the impossible. Cross the Thorang Lha.
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