How my fear of heights got fixed in 1 day in Indian Himalayas

I've always had considerable fear of heights. My father told me that even as a baby I had immediately started to cry when he took me anywhere higher up. It was like that, until I went for a trek in the Himalayas...

It was supposed to be just an easy day trek, walking in the mountains. And while it really was only a one day trek, I wouldn't exactly call it easy. Maybe there was slight miscommunication, and when the guide asked if we were "fast walkers", maybe I should've asked some more questions.

Our target was Beas Kund, a Hindu holy lake I mentioned briefly in my introduction.

The beginning was easy, almost boring. We walked on an asphalt road slightly uphill for 5km (3 miles), starting at an elevation of about 2400m (7900 feet). Magnificent scenery at times. (you can view all the photos in original size in Steemimg)

We got off the road and started up a footpath. Free-roaming horses on the way...

The path went on for another 5km. In the picture are my friends Tanner and Carly, with our guide leading the way. Unknown Indian trekker sitting on the hill. Horses were not the only animals on the mountains, there were also lot of dogs roaming free.

After bit over 10km (7 miles), 3 hours and 800m (2600 ft) higher Carly started to get tired (I don't blame her, it was tough) and wanted to stay behind. Tanner stayed with Carly, so now it was only me and the guide.

We started to get well above the snowline...

After a very steep path we got to a boulder field. It's difficult to tell the size of the boulders from the picture, but they were pretty big. The guy on the lower right corner gives you some size reference. The guys on the left are Indian mountaineers, training here for the mountain environment and getting used to the high altitude. The lowest altitude where you can get mountain sickness is 2300m, and we started the trek above that.

Then it was time to get over the boulders. The guide asked me if I was sure I wanted to go on. I must admit I was starting to get a bit tired here, but I'm also not one to give up easily. So on we went...

Pretty soon I realized that this wasn't going to be a walk in the park. The boulders were big with steep angles, and there were deep holes between them. Falling into one probably wouldn't have meant dying, but it could have resulted in nasty long-term injuries. Let's just say that with tired feet it didn't feel like the safest thing to do...

Care to step on the snow? (The guide did, I was lucky to have long enough feet to jump over)

When I was going through the pictures I realized that none of them really captured the feeling I had when out on that boulder field. Even though the drops were not that high, the danger and the feeling was the same: make one false move and you fall.

Of course in the worst spots I wasn't thinking about taking pictures, as I was more concerned with my health and well-being. The pictures I took mostly lack size reference and the rocks look like small pebbles that could be easily crossed by children. Anyway, here's one picture with 6 people for size:

Well, we finally got over the boulders and on to easier walking ground. The slopes were still steep but there was a mostly-not-very-slippery path which felt easy compared to the boulders. After a while we got on a snow/glacier coming down from the mountains, that lead us to our goal of Beas Kund lake. I think it is probably more beautiful when the snow has melted...

On the other hand the scenery to the other direction from the lake was really, really impressive. Here is my feeble attempt at capturing what it looked like. I recommend opening the picture in original size. The mountain walls you see are about 2,5km (1,5 miles) away, and the group of people maybe halfway of that.

At this point we had come about 14km (9 miles), 5 hours and 1300m (4300 ft) up to a total elevation of 3500m (11500 ft). That would have been quite enough for me for one day, but of course it wasn't... we had to get back where we came from. And over those boulders again... I'm not going to bore you with more pictures of rocks, but yeah, it was challenging again. It took some real concentration, but I made it back without injuries.

The total for the day was 28km (18 miles). I was extremely tired but glad I had gone the whole way. Especially as back in the hills of Manali I noticed that my fear of heights had almost vanished. I'm not saying it's totally gone, but now I would call it more like healthy respect for gravity, instead of clearly irrational fear.

Challenge yourself and it will be worth it.

If you want to read more about my travels, please upvote and comment :)