August 22: 5 hours

Before the day started, our guide told us it would be a simple 2-hours journey to Nimaling, the highest campsite on the trek.

But a quick check at the given itinerary told us it would take 5 hours. Nonetheless, we held our tongues and followed her lead. After we passed through meandering valleys and arrived at Thachungtse, a hilly campsite, she said she'd run ahead to reserve a tent for us.

All we needed to do was to cross one more hill and we'd reach Nimaling in an hour's.

We reached in 3 hours.

And it was more than just "one hill".

The trail from Thachungtse to Nimaling wasn't well-marked and there were many possible paths - some leading to Kang Yatse while others detoured back to Hangkar.

Since we were already well-acclimatised by then and relatively ahead of our friends and other trekkers, there was no one we could turn to, to ask for directions.

So we did the next practical thing, and followed horse droppings.

Long lines of horses are a common sight in the mountains, since they are usually deployed to trekkers with heavier equipment.

It took us a couple of turns before we finally found a visible trail, and hoped for the best that the large tent in the horizon was Nimaling.

Thank god it was.

We arrived to find our guide sitting by the kitchen with a bowl of maggie noodles, and a question which hung unanswered.

"What took you so long?"

At 4,700m, Nimaling was sunny in the day and brutally cold at night. After a heavy dinner of vegetables, dhal and soup, we huddled with our friends for a game of Yaniv.

Next to us, was a large group of Israeli trekkers, who fresh out of army, tended to head to India in droves.

August 23: 7 hours

The final day was by far the most gruelling.

Kongmaru La is a 5,200-m tall pass that stood just a little outside Nimaling.

It was a foggy morning, and the peak was obscured by heavy dark clouds.

We took quick breaths, trudged slowly up the gradual incline for about 2 hours before arriving at the wind-swept peak. Prayer flags strained against strong gusts while the fog continued to roll in.

Then it was a smooth descent all the way till we reached Shang Gorge.

Though we were only half an hour away from the pass, the weather became considerably kinder. It wasn't long before the heat beat down strongly on our backs.

The red serrated stones of Shang Gorge pierced the sky on both sides, and converged in a narrow meandering trail on the ground.

It took us two hours through the undulating terrain before we reached a teahouse at Chuskurmo Village.

One more village crossing later and we finally clambered up to the main road at Shang Sumdo where we caught a jeep back to Leh.

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