My travel diaries
Thursday 13 September, 2007 - Leh, Ladakh, India
Another very early start. We're woken up with bed tea at 5am and begin packing up our things in the dark. It's soon light, however, and we're away from camp shortly after 6am.
We begin the ascent up to the Lasimo La almost immediately, over rocks for about an hour before reaching a snowfield. Again John breaks the trail for us, but this time the snow is more compact and not as deep, so it's easier for him. Even so, halfway up to the pass he decides he's had enough and lets Mingma take over.
The view behind us back down the Thanglasko valley is splendid, and the crisp cold air and clear blue skies provide great conditions for photography. The route up to the Lasimo La follows a very gentle, very smooth surface of snow up to a ridge of rock curving round to the top of the valley. The walls of the valley are peppered with high summits, most prominent among them the white seat of Sahib Chasa.
I have a burst of energy on the way up and overtake several porters, but Ang Dorje is determined not to be beaten by an Englishman and speeds up as I approach him. At the top of the 5400m pass I look down into another valley curving round to the right. The top of the pass is covered with a tangle of prayer flags, and I take a great many photographs as I wait for the rest of the group to catch up. Meanwhile Gokul tries to toboggan down the snowfield on a plastic bag, but the snow is too deep and he keeps getting stuck.
I stay on the top for about half an hour, but begin descending again before 9am. The path on the other side is snow free and descends steeply at first before reaching the valley bottom and flattening out after only a couple of hundred metres of descent. For the next two or three hours I walk on my own, descending very gently on a good path through a grassy valley strewn with boulders, which sometimes climbs high above the river, and sometimes drops to pass alongside it. I'm at the front of the group but feel as though I'm strolling in a leisurely fashion. At about 11 o'clock, as I'm descending to cross the river at a right-hand turn, Gokul comes running up behind me and tells me we're stopping for lunch here. He's only just arrived on time, for five minutes later I'd have been over the hills and far away.
It's a pleasant spot he's chosen to stop at, in a grassy area beside the pure river, with plenty of smooth rocks to recline against as we eat. After lunch I set off at a canter with Nic and Ulla to complete the trek. The big man has found a burst of energy from somewhere. He says it's because he's now finally acclimatised after two weeks in the mountains, but I think it must be the smell of beer in Leh spurring him forwards.
We see a couple more big fat marmots as we begin the walk after lunch. They hang about above their burrows, and when we approach too close they raise their tails and dive in. The path continues high above the river on the right side of the valley, passing from grasslands into more dusty terrain as it descends. Up ahead of us, the compact Stok range of mountains forms the horizon, with the steep triangle of Stok Kangri rising highest of all. It looks a difficult climb from here, but I know from my own ascent of it in 2005, that there's an easier route around the other side. We drop steeply to cross a side ravine before climbing back up again the other side. As we approach a village Ang Dorje comes running up behind us, and guides us the rest of the way through a jumble of pathways between fields and dry stone walls to the roadhead, which we reach at 2.30.
From here it's a short drive back to Leh. I share a jeep with Ulla, Nic and Kathryn, as we drive past the impressive-looking Phyang Gompa, Stok Kangri still in front as we return to the main road and back to Leh.
We have much needed showers back at the hotel after two weeks in the wilderness, and Nic and I are ready to head into town at 4 o'clock. There's a polo match on at the polo ground, but in the end we just fancy a beer instead. After a visit to the bookshop we head upstairs to La Terrasse rooftop restaurant for a Godfather beer, where we bump into Ulla sitting at a table reading her book. We reminisce about our trek and witness a rendezvous between Matthew and Kathryn in the rooftop bar opposite. They don't see us watching them, but sadly we don't see any embarrassing behaviour on their part.
We go back to the Kang Lha Chen hotel for 6 o'clock to give all our Nepalese and Indian staff a big send off and meet up with the rest of the group. We end up back at La Terrasse, sitting round a big table drinking more Godfathers. Mingma's head appears briefly up the stairs - he's come to spend his tip - but as soon as he sees us he disappears again, presumably not too keen to spend it in front of his erstwhile employers.
We'd been intending to dine at the Ibex Hotel tonight, another place I came to two years ago, but it's closed after the owner suffers a sudden family bereavement. The Tibetan Kitchen is also too busy to host our party and we end up walking a long way down the hill until we come to the same restaurant where I had a beer in the garden with my friend Arindam the last time I was here. I had met Arindam on a trek in Patagonia, and a couple of years later, unbeknown to me, he was working at a school in Leh when he spotted me exploring the town as I prepared for my ascent of Stok Kangri.
This time we sit inside, and I sit at one end of the table with Nic and Matthew. The beers flow and the big man and I are last to leave as we end up helping ourselves to all the half-finished bottles the others have left.
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