The donkey ride is a real life saver it enabled me and my friend to regain some lost energy. Not being used to
riding we are often trying to regain our balance especially when going downhill. We cover a 3 hour distance in
about 2. We manage to complete the relatively straight track with ease. At around 6pm, we reach the part of
the trek where we have to go through steep slopes and across the glaciers that we passed earlier. The
shepherds bid us farewell over here and head back while we begin our descent on foot. It will still take us
over two hours to get back to Besal. The stoppages on the way back are less and quite brief. Our guide does a
good job of keeping us motivated by reminding us of the constant threat of wild animals. At 7pm it is pitch
dark and the sky is decked with thousands of stars. It is one of the high points of our trek. I have never
seen so many stars in my entire life. Our guide breathes a sigh of relief as we hit the jeep track and told us
that now we were safe. We reach Besal at 8:30pm.
Unfortunately our misery does not end here, because of our late arrival there is no transport and we have to
walk all the way back to Jalkhad where we have parked our car. Jalkhad is 7 kilometers away from Besal and the
jeep track ascends some part of the way and then gradually descends towards Besal. There is a lot of heavy
machinery working all along the mountains and as a result rocks fall from slopes on top. We have to signal
them to stop working so that we can cross. We spend about 45 minutes walking on the road, fortunately we find
a Hilux going to Jalkhad. The driver is a contractor working on the Babusar road and offers to drop us at
Jalkhad. A friendly guy, he invites us to have dinner with him at Jalkhad. After having our only meal of the
day at Jalkhad we bid farewell to him and get into our car to drive back to Naran. It is almost midnight when
we get back to our hotel and immediately hit the sack.
My dream to see the lake remains elusive and the mission half accomplished but I guess I have learnt an
important lesson this year and next year I will definitely make it to the lake.
With that we end day 2 of our trip.
