Mane Dhank, Himachal Pradesh, India, 18 January 2017, 0005 hours:
We have passed the Kioto Formations and are now snailing ahead gingerly since there is thin ice on the road, fresh snow continues to fall, and a skid on this narrow high road will send us into the Spiti down below. Ameen and Suresh haven’t been on this road in daylight and I wish I was blissfully ignorant because right about now it is taking all my will power to not focus on the ifs and buts and what’s beyond the darkness to my left.
This is being alive – heart pumping gently, skin tingling due to the cold, fear clawing at the door of consciousness and a smile on my face because I am here in this moment in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India.