It has been a while since we last blogged, we have been without mobile phone or internet/wi-fi. Please check out our recent stuff. Kaza is the place to get the bus to Manali our final stop on the Tribal Circuit. This anti-clockwise circuit is regularly done by trekkers in this region. The only snag is the Kunzum Pass, which is a glacier pass at 4600m high on the way there. This pass does not usually open until July as the snow, landslides and glacier need to be cleared. Global warming has meant that the pass opens earlier and earlier. We were told at Peo that it would be 10 days before the pass was clear so we might be in luck to take the 10 hour bus in the anti-clockwise direction rather than the clockwise 48hour long way back round the circuit. The journey to Kaza from Tabo on another packed bus took us along the silted valley floor past villages perched on green terraced plateaux. We saw Dhankar a village and monastery perched on the edge of a mountain top. I had a record 5 people leaning on me in my aisle seat (one on my knee, one on my thigh, one on my hip, one on my back and my neighbour on my other side) - it still hasn't cured my personal space issues though! Kaza is busy and alive with shops, market stalls, dhabas and guesthouses...oh and dogs! We stayed at Siddarth Anand after being touted at the bus stand. The Ghouse is only 100ms from the bus stand - great for us with our ridiculously large luggage. The guys helped us with our bags while we checked out the room. It was a "no" from me as it was dirty even at 250 Rps per night! Paul raced round several others only to discover it was the cleanest place for miles. We ate at Mahabuddha restaurant - great chef, serves a vast range of stuff. We then spoke to a great tourist guy to find out the latest on the Kunzum pass. Word was that it would be another 5 days 'maybe' until the pass was cleared, some people with 'sensible bags' were walking over the pass. We met up with two guys who we had met at Nako, a Japanese guy and Bala - a Bollywood film writer. They recommended Kibber a tiny village of whitewashed Tibetan-style residences set at 4200m, which was a 50 minute bus ride away - on the way is Ki monastery, a picture postcard sight. My distress at staying in a less than hygenic guesthouse led me to want to move on so we planned to get the 17:00 bus to Kibber the next day. In the morning we explored Kaza and the surrounding area (see photos). The 'short walk' ended up an 8-9km one, with us seeing a herd of Yak and getting snowed on on our return when it became freezing cold. Next day we arrived at the bus stop at 16:00 and waited around. The scheduled 16:00 bus to a place called Mud did not set off so we were not sure what was happening, there were lots of people hanging around the bus stand. Our Japanese friend turned up and told us that there was a bus strike so our only options were to get a share taxi 800Rp divided by the number of passengers (sometimes 10) or hire a 4Wd taxi to ourselves. With no means to communicate with others around we got our own taxi to Kibber. Good job we did, Paul was able to get our driver to stop along the way so he could take some great photos - see Ki Monastery and the fox.