Ascent part 0

These next few entries cover the last 9 days or so.  The fact that I'm typing them nnow ruins a bit of the suspense as to whether or not I made it off the mountain for that, potential beneficiaries and heirs apparent, I apologize.

 

A little bit of general background as to where I was/am.  Ladakh is just on the other side of western Tibet (and is a.k.a. "Little Tibet" as its people are a sub-branch of Tibetans).  It's literally between a rock and a hard place as to the west lies the bloody valleys of Jammu & Kashmir where confrontations w/Pakistanis and insurgents continue and to the east is the disputed border area w/China where the Chinese, using specious reasoning even more pathetic than their flimsy claims in Tibet, invaded in 1962.  Otherwise though it's a lot like Tibet but with a substantial Kashmiri (Muslim) minority.