Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Long Walk Back

Day 8: Stok Kangri Base (16,300ft) to Stok village (11,800ft) and drive back to Leh

I remember an old advertisement. It said 'Children walk to school but the run back home'. In case of trekkers I think the reverse is true. Trekkers climb with enthusiasm but they trudge back!

On the last day we had a small presentation ceremony where everyone was given certificates. Post that we had our group photos



















Finally we wound up everything and were ready to leave. Everybody had different information about the duration of today's walk. Estimates ranged from 2 hours to 6 hours! Initially we made good progress and were soon at Manokarno. From then on the landscape changed. All around we were surrounded by barren vertical mountain faces with sharp cuts and a reddish tinge. I was still sulking from yesterday's failure and did not bother to click. Thankfully Amogh did!






















Whenever the river came too close to the mountain we had to climb a bit to proceed. There were 3-4 of them and each one made me feel progressively more irritated. By now everyone was walking at their own speed and for most part I was alone. After what seemed like eternity finally I could see Stok village far away. As I reached there, there was a Sumo waiting to take us back to Leh... back to the comforts of the guest house :)























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