Introduction
This June, at the very start of the summer holidays, I took a school trip to Ladakh, India. This 16 adventure consisted of 9 days of trekking through the Markha Valley, reaching an altitude of 5250m, and a 2 night homestay with a Ladakhi family, chosen through the Lamdon Model School in Leh. This trip to Ladakh has had a long history of being the very best trip offered to Grade 9 students at UWCSEA - it has been occurring for over 20 years! One of the reasons that various elements of the trip have been possible, such as the eye-opening homestay, is the long standing relationship between UWCSEA and Lamdon School. UWCSEA has been supporting the school for over 20 years, providing funding for new construction projects, the planting of trees (partially to offset our own carbon footprint), and raised tremendous amounts of money for their aid during the disastrous floods of 2010. Gap year students also come to teach at the school. Through this link, we were allowed to gain an insight into the typical lives of students in Leh, and also had a tremendous opportunity to see where our money was going to.
Day 1 (as written in journal) - July 17/12
Location: Stok Highland Hotel, Ladakh (Leh and Stok are villages in Indus river valley, on opposite sides of the Indus River)
Height: 3500m
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| Stopas! |
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| Kidney Bean field (one of our rest stops) |
After about 12 hours of travelling, we finally arrived in Stok! We had taken a 5 hour flight from Singapore to New Delhi, followed by an hour flight from Delhi to Leh. As we had been flying throughout the morning, everyone was seriously tired. As the plane finally touched the tarmac at the Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport in Leh, my first impression fo Ladakh was the vast expanse of barren land with towering mountains, covered in a light dusting of powdered snow. Once we were out of the arrival terminal, we took a school bus to the smaller town of Stok, 45 minutes away from the airport. What struck me on the way there was the simplicity of life in the mountains that I had gathered from my surroundings. The air was fresh, the colourful buildings one or two stories at max, the land barren with only a few stunted trees. Thankfully, in the city itself, and in Stok, there was a lot more vegetation, with poplar trees dotting the village. Following a delicious breakfast, we were all sent up to our rooms to sleep for a few hours. This proved easy due to our fatigue and the peaceful sounds of birds chirping as well as the absence of traffic. After a delicious lunch around 2pm, we set off for a walk. Due to the large jump in altitude - from sea level to 3500m! - most of use were incredibly slow and apathetic. However, the walk was beautiful and breathtaking in the brilliant sun of the day. It definitely helped me get acclimatized to the increase in altitude as we took constant breaks. We then took another rest in our rooms. Sitting here now, the view from our window is absolutely amazing! I can't believe we're finally here!
Day 2 (as written in journal)
Location: Stok
Altitude: 3500m
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| Assembly at Lamdon School |
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| Young Lamdon School children |
After waking up to the bright sun at 6:0am, we headed down to another delicious breakfast. Following that, we boarded buses to Leh, following a narrow, somewhat winding road into the market place of the city. After getting off the bus, we made our way to Lamdon School, doing so by walking over a mountain by the Leh Palace. The walk was significantly easier that yesterday as we had, by now, somewhat acclimatized. Once we arrived at Lambon School, we watched their morning assembly as the 1800 students in their marron jumpers lined up in neat rows, singing their prayers to the Dalai Lama, the Indian National Anthem, and listening to their principal speak about the long relationship between UWC and Lamdon ( we had gotten a similar speech from Bill Kite, one of the organizers of the trip who had been living in Ladakh for 27 years, the preceding nights at our nightly briefing). We were then presented with the traditional white scarves, traditionally given to honoured guests. Following, we had a tour around the school by Bill, as he pointed out where all the money that UWC has donated to Lamdon had gone. It was quite nice seeing where the money had gone. It shows ow such a small action from us goes a long way to making a huge difference in someone elses life. After lunch in the newly constructed Boys Hostel at Lamdon School, we took cabs to the Thiksey Monastery. One of the Lamas gave us a background to the Monastery, showing us the prayer hall and the giant clay Buddha. What really struck me was how, when constructing a giant Buddha, the inside is filled with relics and saffron before the the outside is painted and finished. It really showed the nature of the religion, how the inside of a person holds more weight than their outside image, and shows that Buddhist do not worship empty deities. We then proceeded to Shey Palace, which used to be the capital of Ladakh when it had been an independent state. We saw a huge copper and bronze Buddha circa 1500. Following we returned to the Stok Hotel for some R&R.
Day 3 (as written in journal)
Location: Stok
Altitude:3500
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| The wild horses |
Today we rose bright and early at 5am to get the best of the day and the nicest weather for our practice trek. We set off at 6:40 on a nice 5/6h trek through Stok and the surrounding mountains. As always, the view was breathtaking with towering snow capped mountains in the distance. Around 10pm, we reached the saddle of two large mountains - around 4000m. It was quite cold and chilly, definitely a change from the heat of the day we had experienced yesterday. On the way up, we had seen a spectacular sight - 4 wild horses galloping across the mountain with their manes rippling in the wind. They were so majestic - they reminded me of the last fer stanzas of Edwin Muir's poem, 'Horses'. Those of us who opted to the proceeded to closer to the peak of one of the mountains. Due to my small bladder and the copious amount of water that we were drinking, I had to stop for yet another bathroom break. Never had I a pee so scenic. We then proceeded down and around the mountain back to Stok. As we were on the other side of the mountain we had just climbed, the wind was blocked and it was unbelievably warm. As we descended, we ended up walking along a dry river bed - the rocks were incredibly smooth! Not everyone was fully acclimatized during the hike, so some slightly sicker people walked slowly at the back. However, when there was only one hour left to go, sickness struck. So many people started to feel ill and nauseous. Many got heat exhaustion due to the extreme heat of the later part of the day, and others were just physically exhausted from over exertion. I, for sure, was extremely hungry when we returned. Two out of my three roommates felt really sick, the third with milder headache - I was the last one standing, left to help them all out. The overall situation is pretty bad since we start the full 9 day trek tomorrow. Later, at 4pm, we had a briefing about the following days trek, watching a demo how to set up the tent, and mentally preparing by discussing our fears.
Day 4
Trek Day 1
Location: Zinchen
We woke up at 4am to depart on our trek to campsite number one - Zinchen. The trek itself was fairly flat, following at first a trail parallel to the Indus river, and later, a road. The whole trek, including breaks took around 9 hours to complete with views that weren't particularly inspiring as we were following a road. When we were nearing the end of our walk, our sherpa lead us, the leading group, to the location the campsite was the following year. However, due to the shift in the river, the campsite had moved somewhere upstream! We spent the better part of an hour finding out where it was, climbing up and down hill and through the fields. Every time we thought that we had finally reached the campsite, we found out that there was still more to go. It was rather disheartening. When we finally did reach camp, the rest of the group, with the lead sherpa, Nirku, were coming the right way. They had simply followed the road. The campsite itself wasn't great. There was dust and pollen everywhere, getting into all the tents. That afternoon, we rinsed off in the river. Despite the heat of the day, the water was absolutely freezing as it had come directly from the glaciers. Brrrrr... In hindsight, it was quite refreshing. One thing that took a while getting used to ( other than the water), were the toilets. Like true campers, we used holes dug in the ground, covered only by the toilet tents. They definitely stunk.
Day 5
Trek Day 2
Location: Rumbag
Altitude:3800m
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| Optional hike - on top of the mountain! |
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| Rumbag Village |
We got to sleep in today! We woke at 6am, setting off one hour later than expected due to people having trouble getting ready. We left at 8:30 for a much shorter hike than yesterday - just under 4h. We ended up crossing the icy cold river 4 times, leaving us walking in our water shoes from crossing to crossing. Personally, wearing Keens, I didn't mind, but several people had to walk over the rocks in their thin soled water shoes. Another slightly irritating thing with the crossings were that we had to change our shoes and wait for everyone to cross before we moved on. Luckily no one fell in! The campsite at Rumbag was beautiful with a long slope of green grass opposite to the river with prayer flags. Later that afternoon, there was an optional hike for the purpose of exploration and acclimatization for the next day. Only about 20 people actually came! Anyways, the hike was absolutely amazing. We walked through the village, and decided to climb up a steep mountain side, so steep that we actually had to slide down on our bottoms! (One of the sherpas actually went all the way up the mountain in flip flops!!!!) We had an awesome time - we reached 4000m that afternoon.
Day 6
Trek Day 3
Location:Gang La
Altitude: 4500m
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| View from the peak of the optional hike |
Once again were woken up before the sun at 4:30 by the calls of the sherpas knocking on our tents, asking if we wanted hot chocolate, coffee or tea in the tent. After the first morning, I always thought it better to wait for breakfast for hot drinks, as the problem with taking it in the tent is that you actually have to finish the drink before you get packed up. Anyways, once everything was packed and breakfast eaten, we set off. We had one more river crossing right outside the campsite before embarking on our 5h trek. Between the two camps, we gained 700m. Like normal, the train of 70 horses carrying all our duffel bags and equipment passed us in three groups. One group however, stopped in the same place we were taking a break for some reason. As they waited for whatever problem to be solved up ahead, some of the horses randomly walked around staring at us. One of them was absolutely hilarious - just the way it moved! Anyways, once we arrived at campsite, we took another quick break and then proceeded to continue on doing a small acclimatization trek, as the following day we would be going over our first high pass. We continued to climb up another mountain, gaining another 200m in altitude. From the top the view of the snow capped mountains and glacier rivers was beautiful. Due to the altitude, when we got back to camp, the wind was unbelievable! The eating tents were being blown over! Thankfully, it died down later the night, though the temperature also dropped to a chilly 5C.
Day 7
Trek Day 4
Location: Skiu
Height: 3?00m
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| Group photo - Gang La high pass |
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| The multicoloured sunglasses (high pass 1) |
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| On top of the high pass |
Another early morning. We had to wake up at 4 in order to complete the days trek. It took us 4 hours to get up to the Gang La high pass. On the way up, we saw an abundance of marmots, poking their heads at us out of their holes. They were incredibly cute. When I looked at them through a pair of borrowed binoculars, they looked like beige wombats with fuzzy tail - so cute! Once we arrived at the top of the high pass, 4900m above sea level, the feeling was exhilarating. It literally felt like standing at the top of the world, looking down on the valley in front of you and staring towards the horizon at the endless mountain tops. The feeling that fills you is one as it you've conquered the world. A few of us, who had climbed further, wanted to head up another peak. Our request was declined due to the fact it would take another 2 hours. The following 6 hours were spent on our descent. We travelled through the Markha Valley, stopping at a chai tent, and filling our time with eye-spy, twenty question and various story games. When we finally arrived at the dusty campsite, it was too late to rinse in the river, and had to resort to water and a bucket. We all slept well that night - after a 10h trek, everyone was exhausted.
Day 8
Trek Day 5
Location: Markha
Altitude: 3750m
Another long day! We woke up at 4:30 once again, but due to the extended talk by one of the teacher leaders about lunch boxes, we left and hour late, at 7/7:30 am. On the trek today, we saw pidgeons - proof that they inhabit literally every surface of the planet no matter the temperature or altitude. The ones here were particularly fat: I assumed that they'd need it for the cold nights! We also saw a humongeous flock of goats with curvy horns. I swear, one of the ones with long strait fur, basically looked at me, saying "b**** please, I'm fabulous". The trek took us, the fastest group only 8h - a lot better than the 10 hours estimated by the group leader. Despite the fact that today was meant to be the 'river crossing day', there was a single river crossing, right towards the end. The Markha river was so strong that we were told to form a chain while crossing it, holding the hand of the two people next to me and facing upstream. Once we arrived and set up our tents, we were allowed to wash in the river; it was so nice following 2 days sans showers. The one problem today was that there happened to be a stomach bug going around, likely due to the dirt under our nails when we ate with our fingers and our improper washing of our mugs. One girl had gotten it so badly that she needed to go on a horse - she couldn't walk.
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| Mountain goats! |
Day 9
Trek Day 6
Location : Hangkar
Altitude: 4000m
Today we got up at 5:30 for a 5 to 6 hour trek continuing along the Markha Valley. Mother Nature was pretty upset: it was raining for a good few hours, We had to delay our departure until the rain had stopped as it would do us no good to 1) pack up in the rain and 2) cross the freezing cold rivers in the rain. During todays trek, there were 2 river crossing, one of which, someone fell in! She didn't get completely soaked, but had to borrow a shirt from one of the teachers as she lacked a spare. Throughout the walk, the rain was off and on: every time I put on my rain jacket, the rain stopped and vice versa. It got so irritating in the end, that I just kept my rain jacket on for the rest of it. A highlight of the trek was when we stopped to pet a donkey - it was insanely fuzzy :) After setting up our tents and resting for a few hours, there was an optional trek that I opted to go on. During the trek, we saw a dead dog that was skin and bones. One of the local boys who had come from the campsite with us told us that it was supposedly eaten by a snow leopard! We also saw the lower part of a cows leg...looks like a snow leopard has been roaming around. Towards the end of the walk, of all things that could have happened, it started to hail! It kind of hurt as we walked back to camp.
Day 10
Trek Day 7
Location: Nimaling
Altitude: 4900m
This morning we woke up to dry weather for the first time in ages. It didn't last long. As we set off, it began to 'sleet', and then proceed to snow. Like yesterday, the precipitation was constantly interrupted by short sunny patches that we knew from yesterday's experience, wouldn't last long. A curious thing was that everytime we stopped for a break, the snow started again. A signal? For lunch, we stopped at lake that was just randomly situated in the middle of the mountain. It was slightly bizzare - I assume that it had been formed by glacier runoff collecting in an indent in the mountain - however, it was incredibly picturesque. The guys in our group took to seeing who could skip stones the furthest across the pond. Our sherpa, Nirku, won hands down. He could skip a stone from one side of the pond to the other!
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| View of the pond in the middle of the mountain |
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| Skipping stones |
Like normal, I was in the first group of people that arrived at the campsite. As we relaxing with our hot chocolate and noodles like every other day right after the trek, we received the news that the second group of people was in need of 5 horses and an oxygen tank. We were utterly shocked and scared. At the teachers instruction, all of us rushed to put up the tents for everyone, filling them with mats, and organizing everyone's bags. It was incredibly hectic - no one knew exactly what was going on. It turned out in the end that a girl had passed out from AMS (she was later fine - she actually finished the trek to the campsite) and another guy had ended up with hypothermia and AMS (acute mountain sickness). At the lake, he has started seeing colours, but swore that he was fine. He then started to hallucinate, and proceeded to pass out. He was woken up to the teachers breathing on him, trying to warm him up, and fell in and out of consciousness. He also supposedly had a seizure. Luckily, three young Frenchmen were going past and lent them their tent, sleeping bags, and made them hot drinks. When the guy finally stumbled into camp, two older frenchmen who were doctors, helped him. (We had actually been travelling the same route of they had from day three. I assume the Markha Valley trek is quite popular. The men were incredibly nice :) ) It seemed that the guy had endured such a scary ordeal - he didn't remember half of it - that could have been fatal. As there is no possibility of helicopter evacuation due to the proximity of India's border with Pakistan, it just makes everything a lot more scary. It was overall, just such a freaky day. Most of the people from the second group arrived in tears, leaving somewhat of a scaring impact on everyone. However, in the face of all this horror, I assume we bonded as a group, with everyone doing their best to ensure the safety and comfort of others. It showed the possible serious consequences of the trip if things take a turn for the most. Luckily, everything turned out fine.
Day 11
Trek Day 8
Location: Nimaling
Altitude: 4900m
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| Nimaling campsite |
Last night was freezing and cloudy, so unfortunately star gazing was cancelled. It was a shame, as supposedly the stars here are meant to be amazing - there normally are tonnes of shooting stars. As we were spending the night at the same camp, we got to wake up late, have a leisurely breakfast, and play cards. Due to the previous day's myriad of accidents, our teachers decided to change the optional hike to the KY mountains base camp, into a mandatory acclimatization hike to avoid more AMS on tomorrows high pass. There was a short extension on this hike, which I went on, leading us to a base of a snow capped mountain. I was really disappointed that the original hike never occurred - I really wanted to see the glaciers up close - too bad. On the hike, once again, we came across a huge heard of goats. One almost charges me when I got in it's way! Luckily Nirku scared him off, with the threat "we'll barbecue you!". My friends and I later went to the chai tent and tried the chai for the first time. It was extremely tasty. They know just the right amount of sugar to add. The afternoon, the cooking staff made us pakora :) and we were given a demonstration of the rescue equipment on hand tomorrow: the portable hyperbolic chamber and the stretcher. After dinner, as the last night of camping treat, the chef made us cake! It was incredibly amusing. The cooking staff were constantly chasing the yaks away from the camp. They were all frolicking around due to the fact it was spring. One yak excreted in front of one of the teacher's tents and ran off!
Day 12
Trek Day 9
Location: Stok Highlander Hotel
Altitude 3500m
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| Our prayer flags on the Gongmaru La highpass |
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| Multicoloured sunglasses on the Gongmaru La Highpass |
This morning we woke up at 5:30 packed up our tent for the last time, ate a huge breakfast, and tipped and thanked the horsemen. Then at 8am, we set off on our trip up the high pass. A few hours later, we finally reached the Gongmaru La high pass at 5150m. We took copious amounts of photos and hung up the prayer flags that we had written our wishes on the night before. I wished for (on a yellow flag), the safety of travelers no matter their distance or mode of transportation. It was an amazing sight, our wishes fluttering high above in the sky. As there was also snow around, a few snow ball fights started (for some people this trip was their first time seeing snow). I, as well as about 10 other people, decided to take the option to go further up to the peak of the nearby mountain. It was, according to someone's watch, 5250m high, which is probably the highest I'll ever go in my life! We took tonnes of photos, saw a gigantic eagle and built a snowman. Soon enough on the descent, we caught up with everyone else. The day had many river crossings due to the fact that the river, which at this time of the year should be a small stream, was a torrent with waterfalls, flowing over rocks and under ice. As no one had packed their water shoes, the sherpas lifted and arranged rocks into bridges for us, so we could cross without getting wet. The descent took ages despite the fact we took hardly any breaks. We stopped at another chai tent which had much better chai - for some reason, it was a lot more tasty that the other days. From there, it was another 2/3h to the buses. The descent took overall 7/8h, while the climb was only 3h. When we finally saw the yellow buses at the start of the road, Bill Kite was there waiting for us with food and drinks. It was so nice! By the time we set off back to the hotel, it was about 7pm. Everyone was ecstatically happy to have completed the trek - we all sang at the top of our lungs all the way back. By the end of the night, my throat was sore. When we arrived, we had dinner, and went up to the rooms to clean up. It felt so nice taking a warm shower.
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| Top of the peak (optional hike) |
Day 13 - Homestay
Location: Leh
Altitude: 3500m
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| Homestay family |
Today we woke up at whatever time we pleased and headed down for breakfast aroudn 9am. It was so strange not waking up in a tent - I was disoriented at first. Following breakfast, we just hung out, playing cards, and in my case, finally reading my book. Following a lengthy briefing about the home stay, we packed for the two nights, had lunch, and headed to Lamdon School to meet our hosts. My friend and I got a host who was 17 and lived with her aunt, uncle, and their 3 kids in Leh. After a kind of awkward bus ride, we arrived at her beautiful concrete home. We, in throughout the night, were served 3 types of tea: milk chai, chai, and the traditional salty butter tea. I have to say that it was fairly good though the butter was rather greasy - without the butter, the salty tea was much better. We also tried a traditional porridge like dish of salty tea and maize. It wasn't bad... but I think in order to really enjoy it you have to grow up with it. For dinner, we helped make momos, traditional dumplings with cabbages, onion, chilli and garlic stuffing. We learnt how to fold then into Western moons - not as easy as it looks! They were delicious! The interesting thing is that the house, despite it's size, still has "local' toilets. Also, tonight we learnt that Leh is cut off from the rest of the world for 3 months during the winter. They have to preserve their food - and there's also no school. Supposedly they get 3-5 m of snow!
Day 14 - Homestay
Location: Leh
Altitude 3500m
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| The monastery |
After an awkward session of face washing and tooth brushing (we had no idea what we were supposed to do) and a breakfast of freshly made chapati and eggs, we headed to Lamdon School to watch their talent show. It was exceedingly long - 6h! In the first 2 hours there were a lot of good dances and songs, however it started getting rather repetitive. After lunch, my friend and I decided we'd rather not go back for anothe 4h, so we explored the school's classrooms and later, after hearing there was a further 2h, climbed up a nearby mountain to one of the main monasteries in Leh. The view from the top was utterly breathtaking. We could see all of Leh, including the famous white stopa. When we later descended, we heard that our host had been looking for us for an hour, and that we, along with another host and her guests, were going to the market, and later to a party. We looked at various jewelry items, and stopped for lunch (I had tea, as I had already eaten at the school), which was cheap with huge portions. The party was held at a restaurant, and while we were waiting, we did some more shopping - I only bought a pair of earrings. Unfortunately, to my host's disappointment, not everyone turned up, but anyways, we had fun with the cultural show and the delicious food. The naan and mushroom paneer were amazing! We squeezed 7 of us into a car on the way home, dancing to the music. It was a awesome night.
Day 15
Location: Stok
Altitude 3500m
This morning, we had fresh chapati for breakfast, along with chai and salt tea. We asked and found out that the momos were made out of diced cabbage and onions, fried with a single garlic clove and pepper, turmeric, chili, and meat masala for 5 minutes. The dough for the dumpling was wheat flour and water rolled out and cut into circles. They are then steamed. That morning, we exchanged gifts - we got the traditional cloth scarves and in return, gave them our presents. We then proceeded to take pictures, exchange email addresses and emails. As we were running late, we took a cab to school. The interesting thing about cabs in the morning is that they all basically run along one direction. They're basically like buses. You flag one down, get into it, get off at a designated stop. From school, we were 'given back' to the teachers, and taken down to the market for 1.5h of shopping! So much for spending the whole afternoon! I bought a few things but lacked the time to find presents for some people. We then took the buses back to the hotel, had lunch, packed, had reflection time, and then dinner.
Day 16
Location New Delhi
This morning we woke up at 4 to catch our flight to New Delhi. As the airport was a civil enclave on a military base, there were tonnes of security checks and virtually no hand luggage allowed. When we finally arrived in New Delhi, after an hour flight, it was a boiling 37C! Supposedly, the day before it had actually been 10 degrees hotter! It was like stepping into a warm bath - it reminded me of being in Western Australia. An hour later, we reached our hotel. To our surprise, we were staying at the oldest 5 star hotel in Delhi, the Oberoi Maidens, as a treat following our long trek. The food was amazing, but some people's table manners were not. We had gone from sitting on the ground and eating with our hand to sitting at a proper banquet table with cutlery all laid out and bread in little bowls in front of us. Some of the guys ate so disgustingly! Urgh. As we weren't allowed out of the hotel, we spent the afternoon relaxing in our rooms with occasional ventures to the pool (as it was also outside, it was pretty hot). Unfortunately, they didn't have a fitness room. It was a nice treat to be pampered on the last day - I have to day, the desserts were amazing!
Day 17
Once again, we woke up early to catch our flight back to Singapore. By 6pm that evening, we were home. :)
Conclusion
I have had an absolutely amazing experience in Ladakh. I have learnt so much about myself, become closer to my friends, and made loads of new friends. I have been fortunate to experience the beautiful marvels of the Markha Valley, and feel that burst of adrenaline at the peak of a mountain. At the same time, I've learnt to appreciate, respect, and live in someone elses culture, making me ever more grateful for all the opportunities and conveniences available in my everyday life. It's been an amazing trip, one I'll remember for the rest of my life.
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| Group photo, Gongmaru La high pass |
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| River crossing! |
The view from the Eiffel Tower was pretty impressive - you could see for miles. Due to the fact that summer is peak season, there were so many people! Thankfully I opted to take the stairs - the line up for the elevator would have taken hours.
After a slow morning running in the Bois de Vincennes, I finally ended up heading to Montmartre at about 1 pm. Having to use the metro (not the RER) for the second time during my entire stay in Paris, I was surprised by it's efficiency. A train came by every 3 minutes despite the fact it wasn't peak hour!
After waiting in line for 10 minutes to buy a ticket for the climb to the dome (in France, everyone, even the people at the ticket counters must take their sieste), I climbed the 300 winding steps all the way up to the top. The panoramic view was spectacular. I had come on a good clear day - I could pretty much see all of Paris.
Following my visit to the church, I wandered around Montmartre, getting lost. I came across the old abandoned piano factory where Monet, Pissarro, and other artists founded Impressionism, and tried in vain to find La Moulin de la Galette. I must have spent at least an hour trying to find that windmill! It wasn't where it was marked on the map - I never did end up seeing it. I loved the atmosphere of Montmartre. Despite the fact that it was filled with tourists, the narrow cobblestone streets and ivy covered home held some charm. 
It definitely was a week well spent in the heart of France - my vocabulary had definitely improved! 
Once again were woken up before the sun at 4:30 by the calls of the sherpas knocking on our tents, asking if we wanted hot chocolate, coffee or tea in the tent. After the first morning, I always thought it better to wait for breakfast for hot drinks, as the problem with taking it in the tent is that you actually have to finish the drink before you get packed up. Anyways, once everything was packed and breakfast eaten, we set off. We had one more river crossing right outside the campsite before embarking on our 5h trek. Between the two camps, we gained 700m. Like normal, the train of 70 horses carrying all our duffel bags and equipment passed us in three groups. One group however, stopped in the same place we were taking a break for some reason. As they waited for whatever problem to be solved up ahead, some of the horses randomly walked around staring at us. One of them was absolutely hilarious - just the way it moved! Anyways, once we arrived at campsite, we took another quick break and then proceeded to continue on doing a small acclimatization trek, as the following day we would be going over our first high pass. We continued to climb up another mountain, gaining another 200m in altitude. From the top the view of the snow capped mountains and glacier rivers was beautiful. Due to the altitude, when we got back to camp, the wind was unbelievable! The eating tents were being blown over! Thankfully, it died down later the night, though the temperature also dropped to a chilly 5C.
Another long day! We woke up at 4:30 once again, but due to the extended talk by one of the teacher leaders about lunch boxes, we left and hour late, at 7/7:30 am. On the trek today, we saw pidgeons - proof that they inhabit literally every surface of the planet no matter the temperature or altitude. The ones here were particularly fat: I assumed that they'd need it for the cold nights! We also saw a humongeous flock of goats with curvy horns. I swear, one of the ones with long strait fur, basically looked at me, saying "b**** please, I'm fabulous". The trek took us, the fastest group only 8h - a lot better than the 10 hours estimated by the group leader. Despite the fact that today was meant to be the 'river crossing day', there was a single river crossing, right towards the end. The Markha river was so strong that we were told to form a chain while crossing it, holding the hand of the two people next to me and facing upstream. Once we arrived and set up our tents, we were allowed to wash in the river; it was so nice following 2 days sans showers. The one problem today was that there happened to be a stomach bug going around, likely due to the dirt under our nails when we ate with our fingers and our improper washing of our mugs. One girl had gotten it so badly that she needed to go on a horse - she couldn't walk.
This morning, we had fresh chapati for breakfast, along with chai and salt tea. We asked and found out that the momos were made out of diced cabbage and onions, fried with a single garlic clove and pepper, turmeric, chili, and meat masala for 5 minutes. The dough for the dumpling was wheat flour and water rolled out and cut into circles. They are then steamed. That morning, we exchanged gifts - we got the traditional cloth scarves and in return, gave them our presents. We then proceeded to take pictures, exchange email addresses and emails. As we were running late, we took a cab to school. The interesting thing about cabs in the morning is that they all basically run along one direction. They're basically like buses. You flag one down, get into it, get off at a designated stop. From school, we were 'given back' to the teachers, and taken down to the market for 1.5h of shopping! So much for spending the whole afternoon! I bought a few things but lacked the time to find presents for some people. We then took the buses back to the hotel, had lunch, packed, had reflection time, and then dinner. 
