Off we go to Base Camp
After the acclimatization, we were scheduled to leave for the Base Camp of the Siachen Glacier. It’s a drive on the rugged roads through the Nubra river Valley. This journey was eventless except for few ‘tea-break’ stopovers and a lunch break. Our trucks lumber along the road alongside the Nubra river and sometimes in the river bed in the Nubra valley with the mountains towering on both sides. These are barren mountains – no trees, no significant vegetation. Whatever the little greenery that is there soon turns to brown by the time we reach Base camp.
Amidst the travel I noticed the rocks on the mountains/hills alongside. They are smooth, very surprisingly. Laid my eyes higher up, the smoothness is still the same- this smoothness is nothing but the result of being in water for long time. They are like the small smooth pebbles we see in streams. And to find them at these heights is debatable controversy - a challenge to our “Creation” theory. From my view there could be three possibilities :-
a. These rocks were in the water covering the earth before earth was separated by the Almighty.
b. Himalayas are known as folding mountains – that form when two landmasses collide. Indian plate colliding with the Asia mainland, land folded up at the point of contact forming Himalayas. Since sea separated the two land masses the rocks were smoothened in the sea/ocean and when the land folded up, these rocks settled along with the soil that formed the mountains.
c. As per Hindu Mythology the Kashmir valley was a huge lake which was the hiding place of a demon that killed people. Sage Agasthya had to drain the lake to trigger destruction of the demon. Once the water drained the smooth rocks and the land remained - of course the demon was destroyed.
Well as I said, it is debatable.
The closer we reached to the Base Camp, the fewer the villages and sparser the people. On the way we were told that this is the last village that we’ll come across. This means that we will not be able to see “Civilians” and the civilization – only the FORCES from now on. Also means that it’s a goodbye to seeing females – except in the “pondy literature”, general magazines and of course in our thoughts and dreams. No thoughts of not seeing old people and kids – strange, only concerned about no females. Some sort of eeriness and strange thoughts creep in – for everyone – will I be coming back to the colored civilization again? Will I return in same good shape? What if something
happens? How long will it take for the news to travel to near and dear….. its all black thoughts.
Then suddenly someone shouted “see there is the glacier”. From my truck, from 2 Kms, all I could see was that there is some sort of inhabitation – the Base Camp - and beyond it, there is no road. Something huge, wide and black and looking like lava is filling the valley between the mountains. It is later the next day that I learned that this black thing is nothing but the glacier itself – the mass of floating ice – turned black with the mixing of soil.
By the time we reached the Base Camp, the sun was setting. There was a bunch of men that cheered our arrival. Some were from my Battery who reached a week before us - happy that we are with them again ; the rest were from the existing Regiment- glad that they will go back to the civilization. Hot tea was served with biscuits and water too, though not in the same sequence.
There is a two “room” shelter for the officers from Air Defence – one for the Battery Commander and one for the troop commander (officers like me). The room for the troop commander will be occupied only for few days – during the training before leaving for the glacier and for few days after coming back from the glacier. These “rooms” are separated with a wall and have separate entry doors. A small toilet is “attached” to the rooms. These rooms are not the regular brick-cement type. Just rocks piled up, mud plastered. Iron sheets separate the floor from the sky and rocks are placed on these sheets that they don’t fly away in gusts of swirling winds of the valley. I am going to be the occupant of my room for the time being.
In this Base Camp we are to acclimatize for couple of days before we start our Training. We have to successfully pass the training to walk on to the higher abodes on the Siachen. This famous training centre is called
We are now at 12,150 Ft.
Next – About the Base Camp and the SBS Training.
Amidst the travel I noticed the rocks on the mountains/hills alongside. They are smooth, very surprisingly. Laid my eyes higher up, the smoothness is still the same- this smoothness is nothing but the result of being in water for long time. They are like the small smooth pebbles we see in streams. And to find them at these heights is debatable controversy - a challenge to our “Creation” theory. From my view there could be three possibilities :-
a. These rocks were in the water covering the earth before earth was separated by the Almighty.
b. Himalayas are known as folding mountains – that form when two landmasses collide. Indian plate colliding with the Asia mainland, land folded up at the point of contact forming Himalayas. Since sea separated the two land masses the rocks were smoothened in the sea/ocean and when the land folded up, these rocks settled along with the soil that formed the mountains.
c. As per Hindu Mythology the Kashmir valley was a huge lake which was the hiding place of a demon that killed people. Sage Agasthya had to drain the lake to trigger destruction of the demon. Once the water drained the smooth rocks and the land remained - of course the demon was destroyed.
Well as I said, it is debatable.
The closer we reached to the Base Camp, the fewer the villages and sparser the people. On the way we were told that this is the last village that we’ll come across. This means that we will not be able to see “Civilians” and the civilization – only the FORCES from now on. Also means that it’s a goodbye to seeing females – except in the “pondy literature”, general magazines and of course in our thoughts and dreams. No thoughts of not seeing old people and kids – strange, only concerned about no females. Some sort of eeriness and strange thoughts creep in – for everyone – will I be coming back to the colored civilization again? Will I return in same good shape? What if something
happens? How long will it take for the news to travel to near and dear….. its all black thoughts.
Then suddenly someone shouted “see there is the glacier”. From my truck, from 2 Kms, all I could see was that there is some sort of inhabitation – the Base Camp - and beyond it, there is no road. Something huge, wide and black and looking like lava is filling the valley between the mountains. It is later the next day that I learned that this black thing is nothing but the glacier itself – the mass of floating ice – turned black with the mixing of soil.
By the time we reached the Base Camp, the sun was setting. There was a bunch of men that cheered our arrival. Some were from my Battery who reached a week before us - happy that we are with them again ; the rest were from the existing Regiment- glad that they will go back to the civilization. Hot tea was served with biscuits and water too, though not in the same sequence.
There is a two “room” shelter for the officers from Air Defence – one for the Battery Commander and one for the troop commander (officers like me). The room for the troop commander will be occupied only for few days – during the training before leaving for the glacier and for few days after coming back from the glacier. These “rooms” are separated with a wall and have separate entry doors. A small toilet is “attached” to the rooms. These rooms are not the regular brick-cement type. Just rocks piled up, mud plastered. Iron sheets separate the floor from the sky and rocks are placed on these sheets that they don’t fly away in gusts of swirling winds of the valley. I am going to be the occupant of my room for the time being.
In this Base Camp we are to acclimatize for couple of days before we start our Training. We have to successfully pass the training to walk on to the higher abodes on the Siachen. This famous training centre is called
“The Siachen Battle School” (SBS in short)
We are now at 12,150 Ft.
Next – About the Base Camp and the SBS Training.
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