Dharamsala is a place or building devoted to religious or charitable purposes, especially a rest house for travellers. We would be traveling to such a place at the foot of the Larkya La Pass situated at 4600m. Here we would be forced to sleep before attempting to walk the pass that is 5160m. Prem had warned me that this was a place where sleep would not come easy. People had also died here due to altitude sickness. I was wondering how my sojourns from the previous day would come back to haunt me, or had they helped me in being acclimatized?

On another note, once you walk in this country, you are only surrounded by the mountain people of Tibetan origin. The landscapes are devoid of trees and the only elements are rocks, water, high mountains, snow and whatever the heavens bring forth. I have always fantasized about traveling over to Tibet on foot. Walking in this part of the world made me realize that just putting one foot in front of the other, was a task in itself. (Forget traveling to other places)!

I felt good during the first half of the walk. We were supposed to stay the night in Samdo, but I chose to press on as I had heard through the weather report that unstable weather was due at the pass in a couple of days. I so did not want to be heading back down the valley through all those landslides again.

It felt right to have a crack at the pass now!

People were assigned tents to sleep in as well as metal huts. Food here was prepared by really tough and organized Sherpa’s who got their supplies from the Donkey trains further down the valley. I felt the effects of the thinner atmosphere, but I still had a good appetite and I slept deep when I rested. When I arrived, the weather was clear, but after I took a nap, the clouds were beginning to roll in. An ominous sign for tomorrow?