The Trek Day 2 - November 17

I wake at 6.30 to go to the loo. A soft light filters into the valleyand I cross the stream to take some photos from the hill opposite. There is an od stone hut with an aqueduct and wheel attached which used to be used for powering a grinding stone. It had probably been used for hundreds of years and was now abandoned for the concrete houses in the villages. We have breakfast, a last toilet break, group stretching, the donkeys are loaded and by 8.30 we are off.

The first half of the day is easy mostly level stages with a rest stop every half hour. We cross a few rivers, after one of which we stop for lunch. The snack stop in Karreri village afforded us with dancing grannies and worldly wise children for whom we are the only evidence of another world. Beck is still unwell and we walk with the "B" group for the rest of the day on what is meant to be the "easier" route. The path is progressively exponential, and for the last 2 hours, almost vertical, which doesn't seem to bother the cows who we occasionally pass. Justine, the Charity Challenge group leader and I devise trekkeng poles for cows, which we will market when we get back to Dharamsala.

There is an hour of traversing when we reach the peak of the hill we have been vertically climbing and we reach the Bhated River campsite. 2 horses carrying the porters bedding have gone missing and 2 boys are sent to find them. Whilst we agree to sacrifice some of our bedding for them, reserve supplies have been sent from Dharamsala and arrive that night. The tragedy for some is that those 2 horses were also carrying the scotch and rum, although the beer carriers made it. It is Dr Rajiv's birthday and he opens a bottle of wine which we all get a agood sip of.

This night I take Beck's advice and sleep in only thermals, socks and hat, and am much warmer.

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