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Day 4
Paju – Urdukas
I woke up around 5 am, and we started trekking at 6 am hoping to avoid as much of the heat as possible. Mingma G had warned us that it would be a longer day of trekking and recommended carrying as little as possible in our backpacks. Despite his advice, I insisted on keeping all my warm clothes in my backpack, worried about being left cold if we waited for our duffels at the next camp.
Shortly after we started trekking, I regretted my decision as my backpack felt heavy and its internal frame was shifting, making it difficult to carry. Additionally, a screw had come loose on my trekking pole, causing further aggravation as the pole kept collapsing. I had to ask the group to take a break so I could address these equipment issues.
After about 1 hour of walking, the faint trail ended, and we started on the Baltoro glacier. It was exciting to finally hike on this famous glacier that I had read about for years. The glacier was like a giant sea of ice covered by a thin layer of rocks with occasional streams of water bubbling up to the top. There was no clear path once we were on the glacier, and footing consisted of loose rocks.
We stopped for lunch at Khorbutse, which was a little over halfway to Urdukas. The views were breathtaking but marred by the presence of human and animal excrement and flies. The army camp here was empty during this time of year. I indulged in Coke and crackers while our cooks prepared hot noodle soup. However, we had no utensils, resulting in a messy meal.
After lunch, we continued to Urdukas but chose a path that led us to a steep section with loose rocks. We had to carefully downclimb to return to the main trail, taking extra time and care. When we arrived at Urdukas, the porters from various groups were sitting together, singing, and making music with makeshift drums. It was enjoyable to listen to the music they created.
As one of the last groups to arrive, most of the campsites were already taken. Eventually, we found enough space to pitch our tents and settled in for dinner and sleep. The views from the camp were astounding, with the famous Trango towers directly in front of us.
As dinner was being prepared, I learned that our cook Saddam was nauseated and throwing up. I wasn’t sure if he had heat exhaustion vs acute mountain sickness vs some type of food poisoning. I treated him with an anti-nausea medicine which allowed him to keep fluids down and rehydrate himself. I figured regardless of what was causing his nausea the key to treating it was making sure he stayed hydrated.
