(written 23 July 2006)

I am tremendously behind, so I will have to sum up and some details will be lost. Second day of hike (July 18) we continue along the road until it stops about halfway to Zangskar Sumdo. This road will eventually connect Padum to Darsha, providing winter access to the southern Zanskar Valley and Darsha.

Along the last stretch of road, half a dozen Nepali men move a 3 foot diameter rock with a crowbar. A Siekh man on top of a bull dozer makes deliberate eye contact, then gives me a little bow with his hands palms together.

The last hour of the hike is tremendously hot with direct sun. Bella only in a bandana, and neither of us sunscreen. B gets heat exhaustion and passes out in the tent after we arrive. We consider adding a rest day here, but opt to go as high as Ramjak, and then consider continuing to Chumik Nakpo if Bella is feeling up to it.

Sitting in the tent talking with Dorjay, the ground shakes for 1-2 seconds. I instinctively ignore it, used to passing trucks causing the floor to rumble in the city. Except no road here, no trucks. Dorjay and I exchange wideeyed glances and Dorjay says earthquake. We scurry out of the tent to survey the landscape. No visible avalanche, but I'm left with a visceral understanding that the Himalaya is still rising.

Later in the afternoon, Dorjay calls me asking me for medicine. He brings me a 40ish year old man, and I end up doing a fairly complete history with brief exam. Intermittent RUQ pain worse after eating lasting 4-5 hours. Similar episode 3 years ago, told he had "stones" and needed an operation. Benign exam. I diagnose biliary colic and give him some advil and some oxycodone for his pain. Tell him he needs to go to a doctor. Write a note explaining my H&P and A&P and give it to him with a pictoral explanation of how to take the meds, and send him on his way. His friend then tells me he has worms in his stool. I apologize that I have nothing to give him -- he'll need albendezole or mebendezole which I did not take with.

Third day of hike (July 19) we cross the barai nala and officially enter Ladakh. Up the valley on the south side of the Shingo La to a campsite just south of Chumik Nakpo. Views of Ramjak mt. Bella feeling better and we hike well.

Fourth day of hike (July 20) is cool and rainy. Bella wears wool sweater and refuses to wear any kind of shell layer. Steep hiking past glaciers and at one point 2 dead ponies seen off the trail (not ours!). The Shingo (Shinken) La is windy misty and gorgeous.

I'm breathing hard, feeling the altitude, and Bella has to stop after every 30 or so steps in the steep areas to catch her breath. She complains breifly of chest pain, but this resolves. At the top, Dorjay Jigmet Sonnam and I are exuberant and circle the prayer flags -- Dorjay and Jigmet whoop victorious.

The valley we are in is maybe the most striking I've seen. Below us is Gumburanjan a huge rock face reminiscent of (the big rock in Yosemite made famous by Ansel Adams), while above we can see some of the himalayan peaks.

Fifth day of hike (July 21) we descend the vally to Kargyak. We follow Gumbarajan then pass it. The valley just gets better and better now with Gumbaranjan behind us and Zanskar red mountains ahead. Bella feeling much better and making good pace ahead of me (no pack for her yesterday and today). River crossing thigh deep -- the ponies look like they may fall in! Pass several other groups heading the opposite direction -- B chastises me for always asking where they are from, encourages me to just say Julay (Ladakhi for hello) and not be such an aggressively friendly American.

We arrive at Kargyak and I'm amazed by the Tibettan trappings -- Chortens and mani walls dotting along the valley below us. Walking through town makes me think of something out of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda -- little medieval village with Zanskaris tending the fields (always women) and children being changed and clothed by their mothers.

We camp by the river a bit north of town. After setting camp, I wander to the group of houses nearby. A woman motions to me to help her push barley seeds that had roasted in the sun into a burlap bag. I help her, and a man comes over and helps as well. He asks a bunch of questions, but I don't understand. She has a child on her back, maybe a year old, with sun and wind burnt cheeks. I take their picture with the bags of barley, and I draw them a map showing that I am from New York and they are in Ladakh. Another woman comes over and takes the camera from my hand to examine it. I gently take it back, snap her picture, and show it to her. She is unsure what to make of it.

I say goodbye and continue up into the town. A young man gets my attention "Bonjour" "Hello" I stop and he explains to me in competent English that he is on Summer Break and very bored in his town. He invites me to have tea. I follow him. He ushers me through a door into his house. It is very dark inside, and for a moment, I think perhaps he will kill me. But I press on, and he does not, instead motioning to me to climb stairs into a single room. We talk a bit, exchange addresses, and I take his picture with me in front of his house. He serves me yak's milk curds with tsampa, which is actually quite good.