HIMALAYA 2006
TRIP NOTES 6 MONTHS ON…
To the innocent bystander, the fruits of my trip into the Indian Himalaya consist of reams of photos, mountains of cushions, lumps of turquoise, hoards of scarves and unproductive day-dreaming material since our return last October. What these glistening gems don’t divulge are the memories of the ruggedness, simplicity, grandeur, humour and struggle I found in Ladakh.
I still find myself in awe of the Himalayan landscape and feel almost guilty to be able to reminisce what seems like an amazing ‘secret’ with our team from 06. From our small plane flying over the Himalaya at the start of our journey, I set my third curried breakfast aside to look down onto the snow-capped peaks and into the gorges perched high above sea level. With fairytale images in my head and all the swanky trekking gear in the hull, I only had a small sense of how different this adventure was going to be. It was only on the return trip out a month later that I understood that the valleys and passes below held hundreds of happily isolated villages, a chorus of horse bells, fragile trails hanging to scree slopes, rivers of boulders, and summits that threaten to push your heart through your chest. Compared with the innocence I had apportioned the range that first flight in, I was gratefully gob smacked on the way out.
My ticket into the Himalaya was a paradoxical hard-slog, yet utterly rewarding venture launching fashion label Nisuoc and the raw talent of local fashion designers Jo Coll and Jackie Keen. The craziness and support for the night was infectious, but more importantly the show provided another opportunity for women to pursue their passion in business and life. Even further, the process presented a platform from which we were able to launch the careers of a group of unsigned, previously unexperienced models who courageously entered our competition to learn to walk the walk and have since gone on to other shoots, events and shows.
Coming from a (somewhat) orchestrated event to being at the mercy of the obviously inefficient matrix of Indian airline security was then a rude shock after 30hrs of travel. However it was also the point at which my thought processes began to change. India, and in particular Ladakh, gave me a different outlook, a slower pace, a reminder to not sweat the small stuff, and emphasised that no matter how hard you push for something, everything happens in its own time or was never going to happen at all.
All these great realisations happened with a severe lack of alcohol, mind you; quick ponderings on innumerable pit toilets; fluctuating team coherence; a staple diet of potatoes; momentary devastation at the thought of not being able to complete the trek; the meditative melody of Rinchen’s praying; and frustration at physical impediments, blisters the size of golf balls and a feverish flu heightened by altitude, beyond fitness and my control.
The glue? Tea. Litres of it. And guts, resolve, a wicked team of friends, and keeping a clear view of the bigger picture while taking a birdbath in your tent. Thankfully, for me the five star sanitation won’t end there.
I am honoured to now be looking forward to providing a mentor role to GOT’s new team of girls. Thanks to the continuation of the GOT legacy, I have the opportunity to subject a new audience to my altitudinal wit in Peru in September, where I hope to be able to share the experiences and stories our team made in Ladakh and provide support to the GOT Glamazonians on their trek this year.
Bring on the coca tea…
Kelly