Sham Trek
I love destination trekking - going from place-to-place, and don't even mind sleeping in tents. What I do mind is, getting out of the tents at night for toilet reasons. Anyone who camps knows exactly what I mean. You have to unzip your sleeping bag, unzip the tent, put on Tevas, find a flashlight, and make your way to a toilet area - looking out for snakes and other beasties!
But this was going to be a a "piece of cake" - we had a four or five mules - plus mule tender - to haul everything, a guide, and, not one, but two cooks/assistants (from Nepal). View image
Footloose Travel's local operator consulted us on every aspect of the trek including: what foods we liked; any allergies; and was very patient answering our questions.
The Sham trekking route is a very well-traveled . It was fun meeting other trekking groups, from other countries, and "schmoozing", comparing notes and getting new ideas.
Our cooks diced, chopped and slaved over their propane burners, concocting three meals a day plus snacks like french fried, or onion rings, until we begged them to stop. Even sharing the abundance of food with other trekkers, there was just too much. Despite the altitude and exercise, we were gaining weight!! And neither of us have any resistance to push food away. View image
There was usually a little village by our camp, on a beautiful site, and the village children would come and visit. They were very interested in what we wore, and my lipstick. (Sheila, "tent goddess" of Ladakh.)
The trek itself wasn't that difficult but, once again, altitude made a significant difference. The owner of the Deskit Villa even came from Leh to one of our campsites to see if the "ex-Marine" was still breathing.
We continued on....
