Friday, October 20, 2006
11 October, 2006
We woke up to a beautiful sunny day but unfortunately a bit of hip and back pain. We lay in the sun and read being really lazy for a few hours whilst the gypsies went back to the lakes to catch more trout. Our trek was fairly easy to start and then we would descend down the mountain. Remembering the first day and the steep climb we were not looking forward to going down. It was really dodgy and dangerous and the path was quite slippery. I don’t know how the horses managed but somehow they did. One picks up momentum because it is so steep and the horses go really fast and then the gypsies have to shout at them so that they put on their ‘brakes’. It was very strenuous on the legs and it took us three and a half hours of solid walking to reach the river. We felt so dirty and tired and the driver was waiting for us as per arrangement in case we didn’t want to camp at the river the last night. Well, at that stage the boathouse was looking like a good option but we decided to stay and have one more night in the foothills by the river in the Kashmir Valley. It wasn’t so cold here but there was definitely a chill in the air. Our tent was right on the river which was very pretty and it was gushing by so fast and furiously. We were surrounded by heeps of goat, cow and horse poo and it was all pretty much quite dirty. Our sleeping bags were not feeling very clean and the blankets really smelt of the horses by now. We had a great fish and chips dinner again and we made a campfire and sat singing songs and laughing under the stars. We were very comfortable and slept well – finally. It was quite sad that our trekking was over but we were looking forward to a shower and a toilet.
We woke up to a beautiful sunny day but unfortunately a bit of hip and back pain. We lay in the sun and read being really lazy for a few hours whilst the gypsies went back to the lakes to catch more trout. Our trek was fairly easy to start and then we would descend down the mountain. Remembering the first day and the steep climb we were not looking forward to going down. It was really dodgy and dangerous and the path was quite slippery. I don’t know how the horses managed but somehow they did. One picks up momentum because it is so steep and the horses go really fast and then the gypsies have to shout at them so that they put on their ‘brakes’. It was very strenuous on the legs and it took us three and a half hours of solid walking to reach the river. We felt so dirty and tired and the driver was waiting for us as per arrangement in case we didn’t want to camp at the river the last night. Well, at that stage the boathouse was looking like a good option but we decided to stay and have one more night in the foothills by the river in the Kashmir Valley. It wasn’t so cold here but there was definitely a chill in the air. Our tent was right on the river which was very pretty and it was gushing by so fast and furiously. We were surrounded by heeps of goat, cow and horse poo and it was all pretty much quite dirty. Our sleeping bags were not feeling very clean and the blankets really smelt of the horses by now. We had a great fish and chips dinner again and we made a campfire and sat singing songs and laughing under the stars. We were very comfortable and slept well – finally. It was quite sad that our trekking was over but we were looking forward to a shower and a toilet.
# posted by Heidi & Richard's travels @ 7:24 AM 
