Monday night: the hospital was amazing, i'd taken a book and water expecting to wait hours. But I paid 6p and joined 3 others sat waiting- you could see the doctor having the consultation only 2m away and so hear everything (although I couldn't understand as it was the local language). She saw the next 3 within 10 minutes and then me; her English was good! She said to continue the antibiotics for 5 days and try some antibiotic, steroid cream, which she wrote a prescription for, and return when the antibiotics finish if it hasn't improved to see a skin specialist. So, as I expected, the people in the hostel were panicking over nothing, but I guess it was good to check and for 6p and 15 minutes of my time it was worth it. I got the cream at the pharmacy opposite and a shared taxi back to the main town. I made porridge with fruit for tea, showered and chatted to various people in the hostel.
Tuesday: I headed out to enquire at more tourist agencies that people had suggested. Then I got lucky because as I was asking in an agency a couple come in to confirm a 5 day, 4 night trip starting tomorrow! They said they were happy for me to join and it worked out £150 including transport, a guide, accommodation and food. I went walking up one of the mountainsides of the city to Leh palace, but had heard it wasn't worth paying to in. So I continued up to a fort- good practice for tomorrow, you can certainly feel the altitude as you become short of breath quickly. Amazing views over the city and mountains. Several army bases and a strong military presence around here following the problems in nearby Kashmir and as we are near the Tibetan border- a lot of Tibetan refugees here. I walked back and got some lunch at a cafe- better than yesterday! Then chilled reading til I had to go back to meet the guide at 6pm. I also booked a bus to Manali for Monday- it'll take 2 days, but includes a nights accommodation and food for £32. I needed to get a new small rucksack, as this was never a proper hiking one. But as I tried to withdraw more money it wouldn't let me!! I realised that after withdrawing money earlier to pay for the trek and bus that I'd reached my limit for the day. The internet was down all over town, so I couldn't even go to a cash exchange place and pay on card to get cash. So I dashed back to the tour agency and the guy gave me back 5000Rs to see me through to tomorrow. I got a bag and had some fruit for tea, before packing.
Wednesday: nowhere in town has had internet for over 24hours, so I was rather concerned I hadn't been able to let anyone at home know I was going hiking and wouldn't be in contact for 5 days, so I left a message and mums number with a girl at the hostel if it come back on, although she also goes hiking soon (turns out mum did get the message). We met at 7am and stopped for breakfast. Then it was a couple of hours to the starting place. We come across a couple of landslides, so you sit and wait while these guys are using their hands to move the big rocks into a truck. Then another 1km and there would be road works as they are trying to widen this treacherous road, so again these guys are hammering at the stone on the mountainside and you're waiting for it to be cleared. We made it and had to get a small wooden box on a rope across the river. You can fit two people in it and you are suspended above this huge river as a couple of others pull the rope to get you across. The hike today was short- 3 hours and not too steep. It is a beautiful place- mountains and the river with the odd lush, green area. We made it to the 'village' we were staying at about 3; they have home stays in these villages- where you stay at the locals house and they give you food. So, as you can imagine, it is basic where the tap is just the running stream. I dozed, read a bit, had a cup of tea with the Irish couple who are very nice- primary school teachers in Oman. Then we had dinner at 7.30- it was proper traditional food that we ate in the locals kitchen/dining room/bedroom. Steamed bread, lentil stew and a soup to start, which was good! They gave us the local beer they make from barley to try- it wasn't the worst local brew. They are all Buddhists here and so lots of Buddhist monuments and wheels and flags, etc., and it was very interesting talking to the guide about the traditions. The bed sheets were possibly as soiled as the ones at the project house, but what can you do?! A very clear night, with the best stars I've seen on this trip- you could even make out the Milky Way, as I ventured out to the compost heap that you squat over as an excuse for the toilet.
Thursday: chapatis for breakfast at 7, we left about 7.30 and had been warned it was a long day but not too much climbing. Considering the height, it gets very hot! The three of us all walk well and so even after a couple of breaks we made it by 2.30. The guide said it was 22km, but it didn't feel that long and the scenery was spectacular! I washed a bit in the stream and dozed and read. Then we walked to the village monastery- there is one monk who comes for a year to look after it and is then transferred. We had dinner at the home stay- rice, lentil stew and a cabbage dish. Each village has about 10 families living there- you wonder how they survive when it's so remote and for half the year this area is covered in snow. I'd finished my book, it was very good- by an award winning Indian author and tales of the caste system and inequality in India. However, it means I now have nothing to do in the evening- I listened to some music and played scrabble against my phone.
Friday: once again we stormed it so arrived by 12- we are walking through the Markha Valley and so surrounded by mountains and through the valley runs a river which we have to cross regularly to make a path. In some places you get old wooden bridges, or rocks as stepping stones but today we had to wade through hip deep; the water was freezing, as you can imagine it comes from the melting snow and quite powerful so it was a mission not to be swept along and it rolled rocks on to your feet. Luckily, I found a book for sale at one of the homestays/cafés in the village we were staying at, so I shelled out £3.70 for the privilege. I ate lunch, slept and read. It is nice to be hiking again and luckily my foot and hand are getting better every day! We helped make momo's- a traditional dish a bit like filled dumplings for dinner. Took a walk to the local monastery that's several hundred years old, ate and slept!
Saturday: left at 7am and today was a lot tougher than the last few days. We had a 4 hour climb up the mountain pass, about 1000m, and suddenly we were at the top of the mountains that we could see from the valley at about 4900m. We still made it to camp for 11.30- tonight is a campsite as the location is so rural no one lives here, so back to sleeping in a tent! I dozed, read, washed a bit in the freezing stream, but along with several others was suffering from a headache with the increase in altitude. It got very cold as the sun went down, so after dinner I retired to my tent to keep warm.
Sunday: the final push! We had a final 350m climb for the first couple of hours. As I walked I felt my heart beating so hard it felt like it might burst out of my chest, the blood was pounding around my head, my legs were numb from fatigue and not getting enough oxygen and looking up to the never-ending path to the summit then I did ask myself why I do these things!? But I made it and the rest was downhill- a lot of crossing the river which was low enough to use rocks as stepping stones luckily. 7 hours after we began and in desperate need of a shower, we met the car to drive us back to Leh. I bought a diet coke and returned to the hostel for a shower and catch up on the internet as thankfully there was something resembling connection back. I went out for dinner and then spent the evening chilling in the hostel considering my next move.
Monday: I made it for the 5am bus- most people on it are French, as were the majority of other trekkers we met. I've never known roads like it; half of them were dirt tracks and those that were Tarmac had suffered horrendous potholes and/or been covered in gravel/rocks from landslides. Most were only wide enough for one vehicle, so as we come across anything coming the other way there was a stand off to who was going to reverse. As we reversed along these mountain edges you could only see the sheer drop out of the window as the wheels were so near the edge- I literally saw my life flash before eyes more than once. Seat belts?!? Haven't seen one of those in over 5 months. It's quite amazing how they have even built roads here as we were continually ascending and descending these huge mountain passes! I'd almost say it's worth doing by bus, just once, to admire the scenery as I've never seen anything like it- it certainly wasn't boring, although dad would have been cross as I did sleep through some it. We finally arrived 14.5hrs later, about 7.30pm. The French were very French, pushing to be first for everything but it worked in my favour as I stood back and everyone was put in dorm rooms and as the last one I got my own room!! Result! And rather lucky as I am suffering from horrendous diarrhoea. We had a buffet dinner- very typical Indian food but good enough and they even had wifi. A very uncomfortable bed, but relatively clean sheets after I swapped my stained pillow with the best in the room of 5 empty beds.
Tuesday: breakfast at 6.30- another light buffet, including paranthas (a rather tasty, traditional northern chapati with potato and onion in the middle). Left at 7 and the Indian who was next to me was staying, so I could stretch out in the double seat. Words fail me when it comes to describing the scenery- I could never do it justice! It ranks up with Patagonia as the most stunning I've ever seen, especially as the sun was shining today. Arrived in Manali about 12.30 and got a tuk tuk to my hostel. Manali is a major hippy joint ("joint" being the operative word) and indeed my hostel was full of long-term bummers with dreads and meeting all other stereotypes, but it's cheap and good internet at last. I headed out to explore the town and treated myself to a massage- it was very good and much needed with my achy legs after the hike! So I've been sat trying to decide where to go next. I've scrapped Nepal as after a bit of research and speaking to fellow travellers then the main attraction is hiking, but due to the monsoon rains most hikes are inaccessible or not much fun in the rain. First world problems: having the money in the bank and a passport that allows you access to almost anywhere- I'm spoilt for choice. I searched cheap flights from Delhi and was left with: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam/Cambodia or slightly more to Armenia, where I could see Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan (on my bucket list), but don't need visas. After consulting my guru (smell) for her views on SE Asia and Sri Lanka and searching weather, visas, attractions, etc, I'm still boggled. So I guess you'll find out in the next blog......... Hope you're all well!