Wooden bridge over mountain stream
The next day morning, I was summoned to the sarpanch's house for a purification ritual. I had to trek 10 km. over mountain streams, rock and stone to reach the sarpanch's house. Thondup had sent two tough looking escorts who accompanied me to the top. It took us almost two hours to reach Lavishing - the sarpanch's village. The landscape began to change and a canopy of green could be seen. Walnut and apricot trees stretched across the horizon and the fields were full of grain, ready to be harvested. I found out later that the staple food of these Aryans was barley, grown in these terraced fields and irrigated by the mountain streams that rush to meet the Indus flowing below. The ascent was rather steep and the altitude nearly 17000 feet. I kept replenishing my body fluids by drinking lots of natural mineral water from the countless streams that crossed on our way.