Today was Wednesday, 3rd June. The day had come for Gampo to finally leave Leh. The beautiful Pangong Tso was the last destination of this trip. He had already covered Tso Moriri, Hanle, Nubra Valley, Turtuk and even taken less trodden paths to Saser La and Lingshed. Zanskar was for another time. He had also started missing his home by now, its been a month since he last talked with his family, mobile connectivity was very sparse in the region. He wanted to know how Dorji was doing after recovering, and spend some time with her before he leaves to join his job in Bangalore - the joining date was not far now.
The other 2 bikes in his entourage had left for Pangong the day before. Gampo had stayed behind one more day in Leh so that he could say good bye to Oni. He knew no details of Oni through which he could stay in touch with her - her address or the phone number of someone in her family (Gampo had never noticed Oni carry a phone, she was too young). He couldn't have just left abruptly - after all she was his new best friend. But Oni didn't show up that day. With a heavy heart but with firm conviction that he had to proceed, Gampo left for Pangong the next morning. He decided to take the Leh-Karu-Sakti-Durbuk route as it was the most convenient one.
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THE OLD TRAVELER
AdventureAcknowledgment: Dedicated to my wife and my best friend (who are the same person) without whom this would have been a classic.
