Tabo, Himachal Pradesh, India, 1 February 2017, 1157 hours:

We have crossed the Mane Dhank climb and have reached Tabo. In essence, we now have a great chance of reaching Rampur tonight. We switched to the local cab since the diesel in our car had frozen and I wasn’t sure if it would take us through. Sanju decided to stay back and start the vehicle after the sun had helped it thaw. We were unhappy about leaving Sanju behind – Abhishek and the team are feeling really bad and I could see Sanju was unhappy as well – but I couldn’t take the risk of the whole team getting stuck again due to road closure. This is our third attempt at making it through. Thankfully Sanju had help from the local folk in Lingti, so there were no risks and I made up my mind and hopefully he may be able to catch up by evening. 
Abhishek has been trying to call to check on his progress, but Sanju’s phone seems out of range. 

Sanju had really wanted to take us to the Sun Temple in Nireth, his hometown. I can’t help thinking about him. Some times the mantle of being responsible for others is unbearable. It is a lonely vigil but it is a path that I understand and walk alone.