Himalayan Trekking Pt 2  Day 5 - Aug 11 -Markha-Hanker (8.5 hrs) The 5th day of the trek was one of the most scenic as we stopped off at several Gompas. First the Shamunatha Gompa by Markha and then, after 2 hours of walking, we detoured up a zigzag path in the mountains to the Techa Gompa - some 3,950 m. (13,035 ft.) high. After another laborious river crossing, we caught a glimpse of the peak of Mt. Kangyaze, which stands at 6,400 m. (21,120 ft.). We finally made it to camp at Hanker (4,250m.) by about 5pm. Day 6 -Aug 12 - Hanker-Nimaling (4.5 hrs) The 6th day of the trek was the shortest but possibly the most difficult. Although we walked only a little over 4 hours, the village of Nimaling lays at an intimidating 4,868 m. (16,064 ft.). The walk itself was through the freezing cold glaciers of the Stoke Range and I could feel a nice dose of AMS throbbing in my skull. We reached the dainty village of Nimaling just a little after noon and yours truly went right to sleep. After a repeat performance of my antics at the Kandla Base, I awoke from my nap late in the afternoon still a little dizzy from the altitude. Nevertheless, our altruistic guide Dawa had thoughtfully remembered a request I had made sometime earlier. While the Tibetans are known for their politeness, humbleness, hospitality and artifacts ... one thing they're not quite so lauded for is their taste in cuisine. One of the essential components of the full "Tibetan experience" is to try their notorious Soldja, also known as Gur Gur Tea, or perhaps most simply, butter tea. Dawa knew of a place just across the Markha River where this was brewed so we were off in no time. We came to a little coterie of stone cottages where some local Ladakhi women were dauntlessly herding goats and yaks into a stone barricade. After a short chat with one of the women, I was summoned into one of the dimly lit cottages where we were all seated comfortably around a small table. After downing a quick dose of chang, I was then poured a cup of Soldja. Above: Elimadate is also played, much to my surprise, in Nimaling. Who was the next to go? Well ..... whoever made the butter tea of course! Well the taste of butter tea is definitely esoteric. Yak butter, salt, soda, mil, green leaf tea and water is then churned and mixed with tsampa (barley flour) and then another chunk of yak butter is added to the cup once poured. Believe me, it's no less revolting as it sounds. The biggest problem is that it is profoundly impolite to ever reject a cup of tea in Ladakh so I found myself downing 3 or 4 cups as quickly as I could before thanking and saying farewell to my most bountiful hosts. So now to add to my headache and soar legs, I now had an upset stomach. Nevertheless, I now felt thoroughly fulfilled as I could now rightfully say I had tried the infamous gur gur tea.   We crossed the Markha River at Nimaling by horse. Day 7 - Aug 13 - Nimaling - Kangnurla Pass - Sumdo (8 hrs) We reached the zenith of our trek at 9:25 am on August 13th when we reached the summit of the Kangnurla Pass. At 5,305 m. (17,507 ft.), this was the highest I had ever been in my 23 years of existence and the highest I will ever be until I go to Tanzania and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro next summer! We used the horses to cross the aggravating Markha River as we were camped right at the bank and took about 45 minutes to climb. It was a tough climb however as the altitude affected us severely and it seemed like every ten meters walked was more like a hundred. Nevertheless we eventually reached the top and marvelled with the whole convoy at what we had achieved. The descent to Sumdo Camp was a pleasant and picturesque one, albeit a few tedious river crossings at Chhu Skurmo. We finally got to the Sumdo in the rain but there were cause for celebration that night as we had reached the last leg of our journey and were now less than 24 hours away from our first shower in over a week! Day 8 - Aug 14 - Sumdo - Marlselang (2 hrs, then visiting Hemis Monastery) The last leg of our journey was a simple 2 hour trek from Sumdo to Marselang, right on the bank of the Indus River. We had certainly had fun, many experiences, accomplishments and most importantly - plenty of photos and memories to make not only one, but two mesmerizing webpages! Still, we were without a doubt glad that it was all over and more than ready to take a nice shower, a meal, a nice sleep in a real bed and drink anything but sanitized river water. There was still one last rendezvous as we were picked up by a jeep and taken to the town of Hemis. The Gompa there is also known as the Chang-Chub-Sam Ling (Lone Place of the Compassionate Person). After visiting the illustrious monastery, Dawa courteously took us to his brother’s house for tea before we returned to Leh. Right: The Stumpa @ Marselang.... the end of the journey. Below left: the motley crew at the peak of the Kangnurla Pass. Below right: .......................... at the end of the trek - Marselang Stumpa. Back to Days 1-4 Back to India Map