Random observations from first trek

Here are some observations from my first Himalayan trek in no particular order.. I went to Tarsar Marsar, an easy and very beautiful trek in Kashmir. Details of the trek

1. Discipline:
   1. Usually, the results of not being disciplined are long-term: If you aren’t disciplined about what you eat, you will gain weight in 4 months. If you are not disciplined at your job, you’ll be skipped for that promotion 6 months from now. However on a trek, if you don’t pack your backpack carefully, you are going to have backpain today. Procrastinated cleaning your tiffin after lunch in sunlight, now you have to clean it with ice-cold water in the dark before dinner.
   2. Creativity/Smarts can be a substitute for discipline, but only sometimes. You can eat your dinner on a lid of someone else’s tiffin if your’s isnt clean for dinner. But no amount of smarts is going to save you from dehydration if you don’t keep drinking water on regular intervals.
   3. Discipline is not about sticking to a plan, it is about being prepared. Sure, what you actually do is stick to a plan most of the time, but situations change, plans change but being disciplined helps.
2. No mind-blowing insights: I thought 6 days without the internet, or outside communication would result in some deep revelation about me; life, universe and everything. But I didn’t have any. Maybe it was because I was always surrounded by amazing people, who I could have interesting conversations with. . . . I dont know.
3. People:
   1. It was interesting to see people being passionate about trekking. Trekking nerd talk is something I didn’t know I wanted in my life.
   2. Some people cried or had some form of mind-blowing experience at the summit. Going on a trek definitely means something very important to very many people.
4. Srinagar:
   1. Srinagar streets are filled with men and women holding AK47s every five steps. They search your luggage before you can even see the airport, A small guest house also has a big metal gate, security guards with guns, and a small gunpost as well. All this is very strange. However, People still speak Hindi, you still get panipuri and chai at every corner of the city, and of course, people litter here as well. Srinagar basically is in an uncanny valley of familiar and foreign.
   2. Srinagar in August is hotter than Bangalore in August. I had a minor heatstroke roaming around in Srinagar. 😪