Shashank’s birthday might have been the best day of the trip for all of us! We had been working to put together a little card for him- with Gabriella’s doodles and messages from us all that we glued together with candle wax. We were heading to a new field site that day. It was the first time we were leaving the tourist circuit and we were all excited to see what we would find. The journey was incredible. Stoic brown mountains would open out in bits into green meadows and we could see marmots popping in and out of the ground like they were performing a song in a Disney Movie.Soon, we reached the Indus. It was the first time any of us was encountering this fierce river that has shaped so much of the sub-continent’s history. Almost as soon as we crossed the river, it felt like the landscape began to change. Like most other people, I’d seen hundreds of photographs of Ladakh before ever going there and this was not even my first trip up there. Besides, we had already been in the field for over a week so I didn’t expect to be surprised. But  the landscape changed fast and I was completely stunned. Brown mountains turned to purple and then white and then black. I had never imagined rocks and sand or mountains could ever look like this. As if the place wasn't stunning enough, we spotted two black necked cranes just by the side of the highway, at a spot that isn’t commonly known to have them and were able to get  a closer look than even Tso Kar. Shashank managed to get some beautiful photographs too- talk about a happy birthday!

Onwards, the landscape only got more magical. Small towns, propped up on jagged hills looked like mystical kingdoms and herds of Kiang ran across the valley and  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. But it was about to get better still. As we ascended towards our field site, clouds covered the sky and it began to hail. Suddenly, the vast brown landscape was speckled with white and just as we turned a corner, we saw a lake literally sparkling in the distance. We made our way towards the most surreal place I’ve ever been. The lake was a crystal blue that I’ve never seen before in a natural environment. We were freezing but were very excited to take the Trident out because it looked like there could be a dragon living in the depths!

We completed our field work and needed to head to another lake for a survey. But delayed by road blocks and hail; we were way behind schedule and had not had a chance to eat lunch. There was a lone tent by the side of this lake and Topden, our resourceful driver had no intention of skipping lunch. He was familiar with this area because he used to come here to assist with medical camps and vaccination programs. He spoke with the lady at the tent who graciously agreed to have us in for lunch. The tent was beautiful. IT was bright , so clean and well organized and the lake listened through the entrance. We communicated in pieces and smiles through Topden and she fed us fresh butter and curd and this was probably my favourite moment in the whole trip.

Having completed the other lake survey we returned to our rest house for the night which was at a monastery. Situated in the midst of barren brown lands, this bright and colourful building stood out magnificently. We were looking at this royal structure when Shashank called out to us to rush to come see something. The excitement was well worth it because a puppy about the size of his face was waddling towards us. He was a ball of fluff and excitement- he looked like an animation of a puppy. The rest of our time there was spent playing with and squishing this puppy..

After a fresh and warm dinner, cooked so kindly and eaten in the warm kitchen, we created an ad-hoc (but as indulgent) version of a serradura as Shashank’s birthday cake with condensed milk, marie biscuits, Dairy Milk chocolate and coffee powder. We then sat around together after dinner feasting on this bowl of (mostly) cream, and playing cards. At one point, Gaby, Raghav and I walked out of the monastery to use the washroom and when we were walking back in, we all paused at the entrance of the Monastery. I forget why we stopped there in the first place, but once we were there, we couldn’t leave. We stopped talking and it was one of those moments, when you could feel your mind making a memory. It was pitch dark and the you could just about distinguish the structure of the monastery but we could smell the incense that had been burning in the evening. Above was a sky densely full of stars. I’m not even sure how long we stood there but I definitely felt very grateful to be there that crisp night. Also grateful to then return  to the warmth of the room to play rummy and beat Raghav in every round :)