We had cooking equipment, food and enough nuts /chocolate to feed an army, all we needed now were our horses.

Coming back from the Nubra Valley we scheduled in 2 days to organise our trek that would take us out of Ladakh, through the Zanskar valley and into Himachal pradesh. We had 2 and half weeks until our flight from Delhi, the time consisted of 12 days walking, 2 days rest, 2 days in a jeep and 2 days buffer. Ryo took us to a nice cafe where we wrote out our calendar of each day of the trek, what food we would be eating and how much we thought it was going to cost. We got many mixed answers of where we could take a jeep to the start of the trek. Unfortunately it is being shortened each year by a road that so far links Leh to Lamayuru to Photoksar, the second stretch of road is barley a road but it can be driven if theres no rain. The other stretch of road links Zangla to Padum to Tsetang, again this road is also getting longer each year, so from what used to be 20 day walk now takes 12.

So after spending a day being pretty chilled, trying to decide how much nutella we'd like vs peanut butter, we went for 2 pots of nutella (we should of got 3) and a pot of peanut butter, anyway the day was really wasted. The next day was completely chaotic! We split into groups Johannas and I went to buy cooking equipment (2 x kerosene stoves, pressure cooker, pot for 6 people, plate/bowls, cups and all the rest. We bought some tough sacks and bags to separate the food, we should have bought more cardboard boxes, more large tough sacks and better string, but we got by with what we had. So that was us, Jerry and Ryo bought all of the food, the veg, pasta, cheeses and more biscuits and chocolate than you can imagine (good to have Jerry on that department) leaving Mayu to do some personal shopping and prepare a package to send in the post. However Ryo's wife Chihiro was not in a good way, after coming back from Nubra she'd come down with a fever, it was looking as though 2 members of the group were not going to make the trek. So with that on our minds it was making the day complicated, we were rushing around in a panic trying to buy everything we needed to leave the following day, however we were thinking we might need to leave one day later, losing one of our buffer days. This coupled with my onset of diarrhoea I was feeling pretty stressed. Mayu then tells me that the post office is closed (the information came from a shop keeper trying to sell her a carpet, don't trust them!!) so we couldn't send our package, but carrying an extra 5 kilos with us was not an option. We went just to double check, and it was closing in 30 mins, so I begged and pleaded for them to wait until I had the package ready, so with my stomach like a washing machine I ran as fast as I could to collect the things we needed to send, took them to the tailor to be wrapped in a white sheet and sewn (the most medieval stupid method of sending a package, but that's the way everyone does it) so with 5 mins to spare I had it ready, weight and paid for, so fucking stressed by this point, but we were pretty much ready, all we needed now was some good news that Chihiro was feeling better. We organised to meet that evening to get the news. It wasn't looking good and we decided that if she wasn't improving by tomorrow morning, we'd leave and if she was then we'd leave a day later. The next day we saw a real improvement so we decided to wait a day longer, I used this day to relax in bed and on the toilet and tried not to worry about missing the flight from Delhi.

So the taxi was booked and we were ready for the next morning, I was feeling almost well again and Chihiro looked much better but it seems Jerry was now suffering. It really felt like someone was trying to tell us not to go on this trip.

We arrived at the end of the road, through an amazing drive in and out of canyons and over mountain passes. Arriving around 4 in the afternoon Johannas and I walked with the driver into the village of Photoksar to try and find some four legged helpers. Within 10 minutes we had an offer on the table, 400 rupees for each donkey and the donkey men fed themselves. We paid for 7 days in total including the time it took for them to return. With that sorted we set up camp for the night and prepared dinner, the first proper meal I had eaten in 2 days. It didn't sit well, I spent the night running in and out of my tent, and to both mine and Jerrys surprise we didn't run into each other in the dark as he seemed to of been enjoying a similar nights sleep. The following day was one of the toughest days I've had in my life, I avoided breakfast because it just didn't make sense to eat, but after walking 6 kilometres with stomach cramps I thought I must eat something. The rest of the guys prepared some noodles whilst Jerry and I both laid down in the shade, I ate the noodles but it was a big mistake, the stomach cramps got worst and the diarrhoea continued. At this point I was considering to head back and end the trek there, but being in the middle of nowhere made this difficult. I saw a jeep in the distance and my heart sank, I thought maybe someone could give me a lift back to the village. Fortunately my wish could not be fulfilled, the truck had long ago broken and was out of use. Almost tearful we walked on for another hour or so to reach a camp ground I had Mayu to thank that day for putting up with me and keep me going. I wasn't worried about preparing dinner, I had a bit of soup and went to bed. Sleeping peacefully, the next day the cramps had disappeared, amazed at how much better I felt, I was so happy that I didn't manage to make it back to the village, it's amazing how negative your mind turns when you get sick. Both Jerry and I felt re born, it was a steady diet of soup and tea for the following couple of days but we were strong again. However now it was Johannas's turn to feel the wrath of whatever this virus was, and his turn was on one of the toughest days, hiking over 5000m to get into the next valley. With the aid of our new swap from donkeys to horses we all got to the next camp.

With the illness well behind me I had my head held high, thoroughly enjoying the mountains, cooking dinner together and sleeping in the tent. Our horseman was brilliant, his English was good and we enjoyed a lot of chatting about what life was like for each of us. The weather was really good to us also, but our first panic happened when one of the horses fell on the end of the second day. After falling it started to run down the hill with Ryo's bag still attached dragging along the floor, after a few hundred metres the bag fell off along with some of our food. Jerry and I ran over to investigate, it wasn't a pretty site, the bag was ripped, their tent was missing and all of our pasta was covered in broken glass. First on the agenda was find the tent before dark, but the bag was beige so it camouflaged very well and took almost an hour to find it. Next task was thoroughly washing all the spaghetti in the river, the water was so so cold, and our hands were completely numb, but the thought of swallowing a piece of glass and being a long way from help we just kept washing and re washing to make sure. So that evening we had a tomato and onion sauce, served on a bed of himalayan river washed pasta, I can highly recommend it. We had another small scare the next day, when it started to get dark Ryo and Chihiro hadn't turned up at camp, we left plenty of arrows pointing the way but it was getting dark and still no sign of them. The horseman and I put on our head touches and started walking back along the trail, I didn't want to walk too far as the trail would get very dangerous at a point an hour or so ahead and a slip in the dark would be fatal but we had little choice and I'd walked that way a few hours before in the light so I could be extra careful, the horseman Tsiring was not happy with the risk we were taking. Relief came just before nightfall when we saw a torch light in the distance, I shouted up and got a reply from Ryo. After this they picked up their pace and the following day was pretty easy.

We arrived in Padam the day before my birthday, and by chance the town near to us was holding a Buddhist festival the following day, it was much more authentic than the last we'd seen. Preparing some more food for the next stage we had everything ready again to leave late afternoon of 7th after the festival had finished. Tsiring had organised a jeep for us to take our bags and food to meet him in Tsetang, we loaded everything on the truck but were told we can't be seen getting in the car in town. With all our things in the car we found it difficult to leave and walk 15mins out of town where the driver said he could meet us, through broken English I understood that because he wasn't registered as a taxi driver he would pay a fine if caught. So trustingly we let him drive off, and 15mins later we hopped in and were on our way.

Jerry and Mayu surprised me with a birthday dinner with cake and beer, we looked at the amazing stars and went to sleep. The following days went very smoothly, the pace was good leaving plenty of time each evening for preparing dinner, and the horses were behaving themselves. By the end of it I was fluent in horse but must say I was glad to see the back of them, but not literally as their farting is non stop!

We arrived in Manali with a day gained and we caught a bus within 20 minutes of arriving, so the smells and noises of Delhi came much quicker than we thought.

Back in Delhi we went through with the plans Jerry and I had been talking about as we walked in the mountains. I chose strawberry icecream and Jerry went for the cookies and cream, we sat on Eva's sofa and indulged. And thats all from India!

 Discussing the size of a horses thing, and organizing the trek ahead.

 Talking business, trying to organize donkeys, but with no luck

 A Ladaki man with a van, he got us to Photoksar in one piece.

 Feeling rough on the first day of walking.

One of many sunsets

 Reaching the first of the high passes

 Johannas getting there on all four feet.

 Mayu's Yak picture is much nicer (she says) so contact her for a better version

 This part was incredible.

 I feared coming here again at night time, and was happy Ryo and Chihiro made it before darkness.

 The view of the milky way

 Tsiring rounding up the horses

 A Yak as a birthday present. Naturally I had no idea what to do with it.

 Pugtal monastery

 Monks avin lunch dan at Pugtal

 I've put him in the post mum, hopefully he will arrive at home soon.

 Amazing sight

 Amazing sight, not so amazing weather. The mountain in front is made almost entirely of white granite!

 One of a kitchen set ups.

 On the top of the last pass!

Leaving our last camp site, the following morning we woke up in Delhi.

The Noobra Walley

I'd say if you came to Ladakh and were not interested in trekking, this place is absolutely unmissable. We had a crew of 7 people which was perfect for renting a whole jeep, we paid 3500 rs which was a bummer as the first price was 3000, my fault for being greedy and thinking we were being over charged, however this was not normal India, and taxi drivers were being pretty honest from the onset. The jeep took us as far as Diskit over the highest road in the world, the sign said 5600m but I'm not sure it was that high, but certainly the highest place we'd been. The drive was full of more breath taking views, and just so relaxing. The second leg to Turtuk was tough, four hours standing on a completely over crowded bus, knowing how amazing the views would be, all I could see was a water melon, a sleeping bag and rucksack pressed almost to my face. It didn't help seeing Mayu with her lucky position in seat so she was low enough to look out the window, with her mouth open, fast asleep rolling her head all over the place. We did get a treat at the end though, the bus got so full that we were forced onto the roof, with a full 360 view with sun going down, it was magical.

Turtuk was so beautiful, like a little venice in the mountains next to Pakistan. The people were all so friendly, the weather was perfect, I don't really know how describe the place, my only hope is it remains the way it is, with a steady supply of tourists to give the people extra income and not get overloaded and destroy what's so magical about the place.

We visited a hot spring area afterwards, to be honest the hot spring it's self wasn't anything to write home about, but having hot water coming out of a tap was such a special treat. Everyone knows what pouring buckets of hot water over you feels like, but when it's been weeks without, its something extra special. The surrounding area was more of the same breathtaking scenery, there was a wishing pond (a pond you wish at) we didn't know at the time that it was sacred and swimming or throwing stones was not allowed, but we approached it from a strange angle missing all the signs telling us this. Jerry cut his foot quite badly, I guess this was the gods way telling him not to go swimming. He threw stones instead, I had to include this picture as it took about an hour of hard work to get the stone in frame. I can take credit for taking this picture but for all other pictures I have Jerry to thank for.

After spending the night in Panamik hot springs we went to a festival down the road in Sumo, where we spent a great day chilling in the sun, listing to music and drinking a lot of beer into the late night. We even had a two man silent disco going on, with a few locals listening to a song or two.

All in all we spent 6 days in Nubra valley and Visa allows 7 days, but we were keen to get back to Leh and start planning our final trek to take us out of Ladakh and into himachal pradesh again.

 Yet another police check point, just before the worlds highest road.

 A breath taking view coming into Nubra Valley

 A quick stop for a pee before boarding the bus roof

 Not sure how Ryo was finding space to sit on the very edge, both below and the roof were full to the brim.

 Chilling on the hotel roof, with watermelon and mint chai, looking at Pakistan in the distance.

 Our tour of the town

 The little peak in the distance we were told was K2, second highest mountain to Everest.

 Walking around little Venice.

I still can't see the no swimming sign, picture from Mayu

 After an hours work, we got the shot. Picture from Elliot, throw from Jerry

Johannas and Ryo off to try and cross a river, but with no success.

 Ladaki women singing at the festival

 Goa Gay Guy's dog Toto.

Crazy view from the desert sands, with tribal drumming in the back ground. Magical evening.

Most pictures from our offical photographer, Jerry Wilson.

Keylong, stop for one night and stay for three days.

The road from Manali to Leh seemed to be a motor bike riders dream, but with the current weather conditions we were having it might not have been quite the experience they were looking for. Most travellers embarking on the journey tend to take a nights stop over in Keylong around 6 hours local bus from Manali, but we had quite a bit of traffic before the rotang pass, which if the weather is bad is a complete waste of time. Unless you want to see a lot of Indian tourist seeing snow for the first time, it's hard to describe how stupid the whole set up is but once you see it you'll understand what I mean. We ended up being stranded in Keylong for 3 days, I use the word stranded because we were accompanied by a girl that was in a mad rush to get to Leh to see a festival, but my interests were not in watching a festival set up for a mass tourist photo fest. I was therefor in no hurry to board a bus or jeep over one of the highest roads in the world and get stuck half way in the snow for a night. Although with the clothing and sleeping bag we had I think we'd been prepared to do it, however Alex our insistent Polish roommate wearing only sandals, summer clothes and shawl to keep her warm would not have enjoyed that night in the bus.

I enjoyed the time we spent in Kelong, it became a little bit like ground hog day, Alex would wake each morning at the crack of dawn to wait at the bus station running from place to place trying to get the latest news on where the bus was, coming from Leh to Keylong, meanwhile Mayu, Jerry and I would sip our chai's from the hotel restaurant (conveniently opposite the bus station) watching the mornings madness unfold. Alex would also attack the bus station around lunchtime and Dinner, It became a sort of meal time entertainment each day. Bless her with all her hard work necessary or not she did manage to get everyone a ticket to board a bus bound to Leh, only question was how long would it take to get there?

So the 6am bus left at 9am and our bus was meant to leave at 8am but still had 't arrived, so being woke up by Alex at 6am didn't put me in the best of moods, however things were made much better having the best seats on the bus. Things went really smoothly to start with, the weather was amazing, incredible scenery and Alex seemed almost happy! However we hit a traffic jam, but it has to have been one of the best traffic jams I've been in, Joe will understand what I was experiencing when I was listening to Segue, full blast with amazing snowy mountain scape and a crazy Indian traffic battle as a stark contrast, it will be a memory I hope to remember vividly. Once we were up on one of the high passes we began to get the story, some people had been in this particular traffic jam without food or water through the night, which was exactly what I'd feared, but our bus driver was fearless, the Vinny Jones of north India. He pretty much directed the army to direct the traffic and got us moving. We were told at one point that we'd come at our own risk and a night sleeping in the bus would be a night we would want to forget, but a quick Indian hand gesture from the driver and we were on our way. After the jam the roads were surprisingly clear, I won't go on about Indian driving manners it's just too painful to talk about.

There was no chance in reaching Leh that day but we could easily make it to one of the camps to sleep the night. We stopped at Sachu, I may have got the name wrong. Luckily we were all acclimatised to heights by that point, as the camp was 4700m which can be dangerous for some people. I did hear quite a few times in the night people throwing up as they were not used to the heights. Mayu and I had a decent nights sleep, Jerry not so, seems as though the chow main didn't sit well in his stomach.
He was soon distracted by the views that followed. We were definitely in Ladakh now and the landscape was like nothing I'd seen. There was a moment where the mountains that surrounded us were all a red stone which meant the river ran red next to the road, linked with still being half asleep it felt very dream like.

With a few hairy moments with sliding and getting stuck in the snow it was a bus journey to remember and bus journey that many people will enjoy. I almost felt sad when we arrived in Leh, but we had things to be getting on with, a month left in India, still places to be seen, banana pancakes to be eaten, we got on our way.

 A view of a clear road, this truck about to join our traffic jam

The beautiful view

 The Ugly one

 Not sure what to say about this . . .

I'm as happy as Jerry looks

This was not the first time we'd seen this.

Our cosy tent stay for the night

The camp ground the next morning

A sight on the otherside, more of this to come.

All pics thanks to Jerry

Lazy days are followed by full power trekking days.

After our hairy experience in Uttarakhand getting lost without food we were very happy to head to our next state moving north into Himachal pradesh. Famed for its mountain scenery and stories of missing tourists, we were ready to put our training into action. Although the area is trekkers paradise we were planning chill out for a week or so with Mayu's friend, of a friend who met a Japanese girl hiking in Japan once, Acha was her name and she had been living up in the mountains with an Indian local for the past 5 years. . . as you can imagine, we were very curious.

Soon after meeting Acha and her boyfriend we soon realised that days were spent relaxing, a lot. Smoking, a lot and in between eating biscuits I'd check my watch to see if dinner time was getting any closer. Mayu and I soon realised that if we were going to get our daily mango lassi fix, we'd have to walk an hour and half back down the mountain. So for the next week it became our routine to walk down for breakfast to o rest guest house for the best mango lassi's in India, wait till afternoon until day was cooler, grab an ice cream and hike back up to the small village. It was the perfect combination of eating well, getting stoned and doing exercise. But this life tires quickly and we really wanted to go back into the wild. We were promised by Acha's boyfriend Tecco that we would go on a wild trek starting from his village, so we hung around a few days longer waiting for things to come together. Jerry arrived just in time for our departure.

The first day was up and up, up over rocks and bushes, ignoring any paths that might of been near us. It was a pretty brutal way of starting the trek, and by afternoon with only chai in my belly, I was completely spent. I ate dinner as fast as possible to see if I could get a look in on Mayu's dinner, but that was already gone. Straight after dinner we hiked up to the pass and saw an amazing site, we were up in the clouds, with the sun setting behind them, it set everything off orange and pink, like being in one of James turrel's dreams.

We woke the next day early, being led by our newly oppointed sheppard come guide. I decided to avoid the regular spliff breaks, but still most of the day remained very foggy. As soon as the sun broke through we could see the amazing mountain scapes we were hiking through. Late afternoon we passed through some amazing meadows, with flowers and little streams, just heaven for camping. So you can understand I was pissed off when we finally camped in a slopping meadow, thick with long grass, spiky things and an English favourite, stinging nettles . . . But that's exactly why you leave these decisions to the locals, little did I know we were sleeping on our dinner! I've had many years to work out that touching stinging nettles stings, that day was no acceptation to this rule, however we all spent the next hour with our hands full of stinging nettles, preparing them for tomorrows breakfast.
The shepherds of the valley we're extremely helpful and kind giving us extra rice and flour when we needed it, so on the last day we gave the remainder of our food to a shepherd we bumped into on our way down. The trek was really tough, we were hungry a lot of the time but we both enjoyed the wild experience we had. Our next move was to get back to collect a few things left and move further north to Ladakh.

The shepherds of the valley we're extremely helpful and kind giving us extra rice and flour when we needed it, so on the last day we gave the remainder of our food to a shepherd we bumped into on our way down. The trek was really tough, we were hungry a lot of the time but we both enjoyed the wild experience we had. Our next move was to get back to collect a few things left and move further north to Ladakh.

I couldn't wait to get out of bed, a bit like that feeling on Christmas morning, waiting for presents. Except I was waiting for my rice with stinging nettles, and if you'd done a blind taste test you'd be very surprised that you weren't eating fishy flavoured rice and spinach. But as usual I was starving and can only remember it as being delicious. We crossed paths with many people that day, we were told not to touch anyone, as these mountain people were holy and if touched by a foreigner you'd receive a￡30 fine (not sure who from) and touching a shine you pay double that, the gloves went on. Later on that day I really understood why so many people had gone missing in these mountains, I read that all these missing people were related to drug issues. A lone foreigner would stumble across a large field of dope and before the foreigner can explain they are only interested in hiking and not leading police to the field, they disappear not to be seen again. We were safe however being with a group of people from the surrounding areas. It was amazing to see so many plants hidden up in the mountains.

Before the trek in Mango Lassi Heaven

 Towards the end of the first day

 Nettles and rice for breakfast

Jerry couldn't wait for breakfast

 The mountain folk near Malana

One of the many fields we came across on the walk

All pictures from the offical photographer Jerry Wilson