Day 8: Skiu -> Markha

It is going to be a long day today. We have to walk the whole way along the valley to Markha. We started up late at around 9 am. In hindsight we should have started early as it gets really hot later in the day. The valley is very beautiful with green patches along the Markha river surrounded by barren dry mountains. The contrast was terrific. It got really hot in the afternoon and the going got tougher. Even small slopes became difficult. We stopped at the village of Sara (a couple of houses) to have our lunch. We left at around 1 pm. Our guide Stan warned us that we have tor each the river crossing near to Markha at around 3-4 pm at the latest as afterwards it may be difficult to cross due to the possibility of high water levels. The water in the river comes from the glaciers. As the day gets hotter the glaciers melt faster leading to an increase in the amount of water flowing. There we had to hurry up to cross the river in time.

It was a difficult trek in the hot sun. Most of the places didn’t have any shade, exposing us to the hot midday sun. My video camera stopped working after some time. I guess it was the heat. Finally we reached the river crossing at around 3.30 pm. Luckily the river water level was only knee deep. I forgot to take my sandals with me. I sent it along with my main luggage with the ponies. That made crossing the rocky river bed in bare foot quite uncomfortable. In addition the water was close to freezing. But everything went on well. About 1 km after the river crossing we reached the village of Markha.

There is an old monastery on the top of the cliff overlooking our campsite. The Markha river flowed in full strength on the side of the campsite. I was completely exhausted from the long day of trek. Its already 4 pm and we walked more than 20 km today, most of the time in the hot sun. My shoulder was also paining a lot from carrying the backpack. Am gave me a shoulder massage again, though she herself was completely exhausted. We finished our dinner at 8.30 pm and I immediately went to bed. I also took a pain killer as my shoulder was not looking good.