By PTI
MUMBAI: Mahendra Mahajan, a 46-year-old dentist from Maharashtra’s Nashik city, finished an over 430-km journey between Ladakh’s Leh and Manali in Himachal Pradesh on foot early on Tuesday.
The journey was through high mountain passes in the arid Ladakh and Lahaul Spiti regions of the Himalayas and Mahajan is also attempting to get it recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest.
“I spent up to 18 hours walking, jogging or running everyday and cut a maximum of 96 km in a single day,” Mahajan told PTI over the phone from Manali late on Tuesday evening.
Accompanied by a team of three in the car, Mahajan – a veteran of endurance sports across disciplines – depended on local fruits, salted dry fruits, nutritional supplements and locally sourced food for his nutritional requirements.
He acclimatized in Leh, located at over 10,000 ft, for around five days before beginning the journey which was to take him to Tanglangla Pass at nearly 17,600 ft and cam pt at over 15,000 ft.
“My strategy was to camp low just before a pass, and undertake the climb early in the day,” Mahajan said, adding that the weather elements swung during the road time of four days, 21 hrs and 18 minutes for the journey.
The conditions near Leh were very hot during the day, forcing him to use wet towels, while on the very next afternoon he had to brave rain and wind chill on the Morey Plains before Paang.
Usually, he started off in the wee hours and ended the day late in the evening at about 9 PM, with the only exception being the last day where he kept walking into the wee hours to ensure that he achieves the feat in under five days of clocktime.
Mahajan, who along with his elder brother Hitendra won in their category in the Race Across America, held the record for the fastest cycle ride from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and has also climbed Mt Everest after cycling to the base camp from Mumbai in the past, also shared some data from the adventure.
He clocked 4.75 lakh steps, burnt over 28,000 calories and gained 18,147 of elevation in total to reach the target.
His team of Sumeet Parange, nephew Om and Nitin Wankhade walked with him or arranged hot meals for Mahajan.
“At times, it used to get boring and motivational levels swung as per various factors,” Mahajan, who used to pick up big pieces of rocks lying on the road that sees a lot of motorcycle movement these days, said.
Locals, Army personnel and cyclists cheered him all along the route, Mahajan said, adding that it was not difficult to get the permissions to undertake the journey except for walking through the Atal Tunnel near Manali, for which he required clearances and wasted some time.
The same journey was also undertaken by Haryana’s Sufiya Khan on foot a few years ago by traversing from Manali to Leh in six days.
But, she had done it when there was no Atal Tunnel, and climbed the formidable Rohtang Pass to make it into a 480 km journey.
