The one day that we spent at Dodi Tal was very relaxing. Mouneet and I decided to do some washing in the river, the water was freezing and both of us had a tough time washing all our stuff.
Now the water current was also quite strong so Mouneet lost his napkin, we had to go running along the bank to recover it.
Basically the remainder of the day was spent appreciating the beauty and serenity of the valley and the surrounding mountains. I spent most of my time parked on the trunk that you see in the photo. Lying there and listening to the strumming of the 'Dire Straits', I did not realize when time passed by and all too soon it was dinner time.

The next morning we hit the trail at 9.00 am.
The stage ahead was the most strenous of all the stages, we decided to hire an extra porter because it would be rather tiring with the present load each of us was carrying.
This stage was also very beautiful and we had a steady climb of about 4 to 5 hours. The altitude we were climbing up to was 4100 mts. (Darwa Pass) and so none of us talked much during the climb.
During the trek we had to cross numerous streams and usually they all had stepping stones to keep you from getting your feet wet.
Mouneet thought that stepping stones were booby traps or hiding places for water snakes. During the entire trek there is not a single stream he crossed without getting his feet wet.

On the way our guide strayed from the path and we found ourselve climbing through very steep and slippery grasslands. And then the heavens opened up.
It started pouring and then came hail, this was the only time on the entire trek when I thought that maybe there is some danger involved in all these adventures. We were clad in flimsy ponchos which kept billowing in the wind, the rain was lashing us from all sides and there wasn't one square metere of flat land. I lost all feeling on my face and couldn't even move my lips to speak.
Thankfully the rain stopped after an hour but the sky remained cloudy so we abandoned the original plan of going to Seema and went instead to a village called Baikulu.
The local people have no idea about time and distance, they keep telling you that it is a half an hour walk to a certain place and you could end up walking for half a day. Even the mountains are deceptive, you think you just have to climb till there and then you are across the summit when you reach there you see another huge incline laughing at you. In this picture I am looking at that incline.

When you go for a hike, you go to enjoy yourself and take in the awesome beauty of the land that surround you. You are not going for an endurance test or a race.
It is always adviceable to carry light loads, in a comfortable backpack.
If your load is too heavy you will not enjoy the walk but will only be focussed on getting to the campsite and dumping your bag.