Trek Day 6: Dung Dung La Base to Chiling - 15km (5 hours)

The antibiotics were definitely helping and I was starting to feel better (though my blisters had started bleeding). The climb up to Dung Dung La (4650m / 15,250 ft) was difficult for all of us, but we were rewarded with beautiful views of Zanskar, Ladakh and Stok ranges, as well as the Zanskar River. The descent was long and hot with some areas being very steep. We finally arrived in Chiling and rewarded ourselves and our guide/cook/ponyman with a cold coca-cola. The bus was waiting for us so they loaded our gear and we headed back to Leh. On the way back the bus had to '4x4' across a big load of gravel, and Ian had to organize a work crew to get rid of another pile that the bus couldn't cross...the local army 'supervisor' was not happy that Ian had taken control of the situation and started to chase the bus, but we got back in quickly enough to drive away in time. Back at Hotel Khangri we really enjoyed a hot shower, and washed all of our clothes (the dust was incredible!). When I turned down the sheets I saw that the moths had infested the bed, so we made a last minute switch to our 'usual' room...I don't think that they know the words "i'm sorry" here, but we were happy for the clean bed!