Got up at sunrise after a very bright, cloudless night with beautiful stars but terribly cold (< -25°C). The first sun rays felt really warm and I put my sleeping bag and mattresses out to freeze-dry. After breakfast, around 9 h, Tsewang and I set out for Thochuntse. The others would pack the horses and donkeys and follow with Tundup, the horseman. Tsewang and I made good progress, too much progress according to Tsewang, so we made a small detour to a nearby monastery at a 3900 m peak. Unfortunately, the monk was not there as from the inside you could see KY. However, after another hour, at a turn of the Markha valley, we saw KY. An enormous pyramid of ice and snow, dominating the valley and surrounding peaks. Extremely impressive steep icy flanks that explain its alpine rating as D-. Sublime but also a bit scary. When we reached Hankar after about 4.5 h, we sat down in the sun at a small farm and got tea. After an hour Mingma arrived and we decided to wait there for Tundup, Nankat and Jigmat with the cattle as we would now enter a small valley without sun (and it is still freezing crazy). The trail runs for long stretches over the frozen Markha, extremely slippery and more suitable for skates than shows. The hoofed animals struggle with the ice and Tsewang and I have to wait a lot. Around 5 we arrive, with the cattle, in Tsochuntse where we will camp overnight.
21/01/2022
