Because we camped about 30 kilometers before Kargil, it took us an hour and a half to drive into town in the morning. While in town, I had to do a little business on the internet and we had to change to a different taxi, because in this part of the world each town has its own taxi union and they won't let other towns' taxis do through or round-trip business.

Kargil is an interesting town even though the tour books don't think so. Although politically in the Ladakh region and with a Ladakhi-speaking population, the town is predominantly Shiite Muslim, with a main square named Ayatollah Khomeni chowk. The market is bustling with people, much more than any we had seen since southern India. No one seems to take notice of the tense Line of Control only 7 kilometers (4 miles) to the north, where less than ten years ago India and Pakistan fought one of their many wars.

We next rolled and bumped down the mostly dirt toad through the Suru Valley, a winding alpine area that passes along the base of the 7100-mete Nun and Kun mountains. The weather was not so good, so our pictures are poor, but the scenery was amazing nonetheless. Glaciers poured into the valley right down to the rushing stream. In the high end of the valley, settlements were few and limited to police checkposts and communication facilities. The only place Marcia and I could think of anywhere similar was Alaska.

We camped at Rangdum, about halfway from Kargil to Padum, our destination in the Zanskar valley.