Kaza, Himachal Pradesh, India, 18 January 2017, 0201 hours:
Am in the bed, under a thick quilt and a blanket. It will take 5-odd minutes for the bed and blanket around my body to get warm. I just had the most amazing meal – hot rotis, hot moong dal, potato and capsicum preparation, rice and green chilly.
Thinking back on what we have achieved simply by getting here, I feel thankful. If we had given it too much thought or over-planned it, we would probably not have done the trip. That was a true ultra-marathon two days, starting from Chandigarh at 12.30 pm on 16th January, a total of 26 hours on the road in adverse weather conditions for city folk, covering 540 kilometres across some very tough, harsh and remote Himalayan terrain.
It is -20 degrees here in Kaza and my heart is pounding with the effort to generate heat for my body. The involuntary shivering of limbs has finally subsided. My breathing is now regular. Am dead tired and off to sleep now.