| During my first visit to Spiti, I had walked along the | | | | convinced that we are ready for an assault on Bhaba |
| snow-covered track between Dhankar and Kibber. | | | | Pass. Tashi made breakfast a little earlier and before |
| There are no hotels in all of Spiti and accommodation | | | | the morning sun had time to get too hot, we started |
| can be found only at the government rest houses. I | | | | our long march. In three hours we could have made |
| had stayed at the homes of villagers whose warmth | | | | half a day's march but Bhaba was an altogether |
| and hospitality never ceases to amaze me. They | | | | tougher and slower proposition. |
| were mostly farmers who worked hard during the | | | | The path was fairly flat for the first hour, turning into |
| brief summer months to raise their crops of barley | | | | a climb about halfway up. And the further we |
| and peas. Sitting around the family hearth - a | | | | climbed, the tighter the angle to the summit became. |
| wood-burning stove in the middle of the kitchen - | | | | Almost four hours to the minute after we had set |
| and sharing a simple meal with them, one felt the | | | | out, we hauled ourselves over the last boulders, high |
| outside world to be unimaginably remote. | | | | above the glacier, and found ourselves faced with |
| Returning to Spiti now, after many years, I saw a | | | | one of the most supreme views on earth. |
| greatly expanded Kaza. I was dreading and preparing | | | | A cold wind was blowing on the pass and I was |
| my self for the worst but was relieved to find, | | | | feeling heady owing to the altitude. The journey |
| despite the inevitable signs of progress, that the old | | | | down the southern rim of Bhaba with deep snow |
| town still retained some of its medieval charm, with | | | | was even more exhausting and precarious. I kept |
| its traditional mud houses and narrow alleys. The | | | | losing my footing on the loose surface, and when we |
| bazaar was packed with shops and stalls and there | | | | finally reached the bottom, the waterfall down the |
| were even the ubiquitous STD telephone booths, | | | | mountain refreshed our sights. There was green |
| which made long distance calls readily possible. | | | | everywhere, the monsoon clouds brought wisps of |
| The barking of Rab woke me. I peeped out of my | | | | rain, the spray on our bodies glittering in the late |
| tent but could see nothing in the morning light. The | | | | afternoon sun. We followed a long, winding path |
| sun was still behind the ridge in the direction Rab was | | | | through forests and across meadows of wild flowers, |
| facing. Giles, the schoolteacher, looked through his | | | | camping next to a stream. Later that day, while our |
| binoculars. 'It's an ibex... one ... two ... three...oh, there is | | | | tea and crispy pakoras were being prepared, we sat |
| a herd of them,' he shouted. | | | | outside in the sun watching lammergeyers and |
| The view was magnificent. Tall crags leapt from the | | | | imperial eagles circle overhead. |
| slope where the ibex grazed; wisps of cloud swirled | | | | Suddenly Stephanie noticed that Rab was nowhere |
| high among the cliffs, weaving a soft mantle against | | | | to be seen. The porters said that he may have died |
| the now blue sky. The animals' fawny-brown coats | | | | of cold. But I think Rab was too intelligent to go on. |
| were camouflaged against brown rocks. Their short | | | | He may simply have turned back and headed for the |
| dark tails wagged. Enormous horns rose above their | | | | last camp. There, having rested, he would have |
| tiny heads, ending in sharp points. We thanked Rab | | | | found his way back to the last village or other human |
| for letting us see those magnificent creatures and | | | | habitation. This was the way in which Himalayan dogs |
| offered him a special helping of food. | | | | exist: they hunt for themselves, find their own |
| We were now in the remote Pin Valley of Spiti. | | | | water, travel from village to village and master to |
| White-washed villages appeared periodically, | | | | master, earning their keep by playing watchdog. |
| surrounded by patchworks of fragile fields. Harsh, | | | | Nevertheless, the sense of achievement was |
| rocky Mountains rose above them in singular walls. | | | | overwhelming and that night we built a bonfire and |
| There were no trees or bushes, just stark | | | | sat outside singing songs. I raised my mug of tea in a |
| ruggedness that formed its own beauty. | | | | toast to my absent friends - much too weary to |
| After eight days' trekking from Kibber we were | | | | move and too smitten ever to leave. |