Before you relive my journey towards the India China Border in this fifth part of NIMAS BMC , incase you have missed the earlier parts of this mountaineering course you can start reading from here

Day 15 MOVE TO MAGO 11555ft 7km

On the 15th day we moved to Mago. We carried all the load that we had ferried to half-link (in two trips) till Mago in one go. ROOksOOk tilted towards 25kg. The good part being that we only had to carry this weight for 7 kms.

The negative part being this consists undulating route over 3-4 hills which slithered towards the top of the hill. Breathlessness was a constant problem for me. Once at the top, the descend was very much a relief. Our professors didn’t have a single issue in climbing. All the high altitude trained instructors brisked  through the route and were constantly encouraging our sorry asses.

After a lot of efforts, we finally managed to reach Mago. The Institute had put up at Mago’s primary school which had total student strength of 21 for class 1-4.

The sleepy town saw the Chinese invade in 1962 war only to later relinquish the land due to its hostile climate. We had walked into the area where the Chinese were afraid to stay 🙂

Mago is where I had my first brush with hot water springs. There are plenty of hot water springs here. We walked 2-3 kms to fetch dry wood for the evening & chilled in the super hot water bath on the way back.

This hot water tends to alleviate all the pains & is must for relaxing muscles

This water has some magical powers which prevent guys like me from leaving it quickly. I soaked in it till the very last moment possible. Once you get up from this pool you tend to feel powerless like a sack of jelly.

E.T. Phone Home

On way back to the camp there is an ITBP centre which has the miracle of modern world- the landline telephone. Starting the phone is a tedious process as it requires the generator to be started. Unfortunately enough due to the recent rain the ITBP guys had to toil hard for an hour to get the generator started. I was the first one to call home. First contact after almost last 10 days.  Happiness.

The cold evening as well as the exhaustion made the warmth of the sleeping bag a lot welcoming.

Day 16 MOVE TO CHUNA POST @IND-CHINA BORDER

On day 16 we took the acclimatisation walk to Chuna (13000ft) probably some 5-7 kms. Due to security reasons government doesn’t allow civilians beyond Chuna post. 5kms from here is the India China border. The route is super scenic .

Chuna post NIMAS BMC AMC

Chuna post NIMAS BMC AMC near India China Border

The army base at Chuna provided us Apple juice. What we would have really loved is a lift back to Mago 🙂

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I had planned my entire course reading your blog & was happy that all the Alpha Mountaineer knowledge came in handy throughout the course. Only 13 from our 66 batch got ‘Alpha’ and i am so happy I am one of them. Thank you Sir, hope we cross in the mountains some day” – Manas Sharma

We returned back to Mago walking parallel to the river & were mighty pleased to see the Mago school again. How fortunate would have been the children to study in the shadow of the mighty Himalayas.

Once back to the base, we had lots of free time . My love for the hot water pool was too much as I couldn’t resist an awesome dip. I headed back in the evening with couple of like minded guys to skinny dip in the near by hot water bath (called as Dhodup Chuten)

Here are some moments of river crossing & survival – VLOG 5 – i feel this is the best vlog i have made till now. Have a look.

Day 17 MOVE TO JEETHANG 13340ft

Today is another load ferrying session to the next camp of Jeethang. The route was scenic as always, but the lack of water intake on the previous day made me severely dehydrated today . I felt very weak today. Slowly and steadily we reached Jeethang. 

Jeethang is one of the most beautiful campsites I have ever been to.

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PARTS: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

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