The sky was incredibly clear up here at this altitude, with such amazing blues.
I did my morning check to make sure if anyone had nicked our bikes (we should be so lucky) and realised I had left my shorts out.
A novel way of killing the bacteria I thought. Just then I remembered the 4am running coming from Scott's direction. So I went over to see him. I came to find this:
The poor bloke had been to the toilet 6 times since I heard the 4am ghostly run, it was now only 6:10am. he looked awful and he said he felt awful. The day was not to be a long one, just the 8km up over the Lachalung La Pass then freewheel down to the next town called Pang. We could easily have a late start. So we decided that we would rest until Scott felt better and we would leave in the afternoon.The sun came up and it turned into another really hot day. Lara and I sat outside the tent reading happily in the sun, the only thing we had to interrupt our peace and tranquility was Scott sprinting off into the distance with toilet paper flapping behind him every 20 minutes.
We realised that Scott was not in a good way and this was not a simple case of Diarrhea, he had a fever and frequently went from a sweaty mess to a shivering bundle of down bags piled on top of him in 5 minutes. The problem we were faced with is that where we were, there was no food and water, and it was at 4815m, not a place humans should really be. We weighed up our options, we probably had enough food to last us a day but not enough water. Scott was going to need a lot of water to keep him hydrated due to his frequent running trips. So we made a decision to try and wave down a truck to give us a lift the 24km to Pang were we could get supplies for sicknote. It took nearly two hours to get a suitable truck. A very kind man said with out hesitation that he would happily take us. So we loaded all our bikes and bags on top and climb aboard what was to be my scariest motor journey ever.
Don't get me wrong, this guy was not a crazy or bad driver. It is just the combination of a 20+ year old knackered truck, very rough roads and a little worry about Scott that added to the mixture to make this a scary ride.These trucks are old as prementioned. The suspension is shot, so you feel every bump in the road, the drivers are fighting with the truck through each corner as they have no power steering, so are really having to man handle the steering wheel. One corner he went round (they do it in 2nd gear flat out so that they do not have to go down to first as that makes it difficult to change back up to 2nd due to the steepness) heaving at the wheel, when we hit a rock. This totally took him by surprise, the huge jolt sent him flying out of his seat and he landed at our feet completely letting go of the steering wheel. The three of us without hesitation grabbed him and threw him back at his seat. He smiled at us.
Pretty much straight after that Scott turn an exceptional pale colour. You could tell he just wanted to be put down and out of his misery. But being the tough bloke he is he just sat there and slowly rocked back and forth.we soon passed over the pass
The first time any of us had been above 5000m, and it was in a diesel truck in India. One for the grandchildren (no mum, I have nothing I want to tell you, it is an expression).The scenery was stunning with big towers of rock sticking out.
Of course all taken from inside of the truck
So finally the 'death ride' as it was nicknamed finally came to an end when we reached Pang. We offered the driver some money to say thank you, but he refused. A hero he was to us, a thoroughly genuine nice man of this world.
Shame it was not at night otherwise we might of been able to get the full effects of the in cab disco lighting! So it as now around 6:30pm, we went to a dhaba and ate some dinner, Scott managed about 3 spoonfuls of plain rice and three sips of coke and then receded back into his world of not knowing who or where he was. In time old fashion it was getting dark and we needed to find somewhere to sleep. I had seen a patch of flat grass about 300m before the town. so we headed off there to set up the tents before it got dark.I had my normal nights sleep waking up panting, but tonight I had the added noises of scott sprinting off into the darkness every half an hour.
The next day it was obvious we were going nowhere. Scott needed to rest and get better. Thankfully we had built spare time into the trip for this, so there was no hassle. We knew there was a military post here in Pang, so we got Scott up and went to see if they had a doctor there. Thankfully they did, and Scott was seen to, he had his oxygen levels checked to make sure it was not the altitude, it was not. Just some bug he had picked up. He was given some medicine and back to bed for him.
Lara and I took advantage of the river we had camped next to do some body hygiene work
First wash I had had for 5 days, cold, refreshing and nice to feel clean again as I was black with dirt.
I don't think Lara has the same resilience against cold water as I do and being in India and female she had to wash in her clothes......
Clothes were washed and more of our books were being read.
Again the weather was kind, a bit warm but lovely to sit outside in and just relax and hope that Scott's bowels sorted themselves out. We mingled with the locals who seemed curious as to what we where doing on their grass. 
Their owner came along later and opened our tent while Lara was changing in there. She told him to get lost while I yelled "No No No".
Into the evening Scott was starting to feel better, his fever had gone and the military drugs had started to work on him. I made him some noodles and tried to coax as much food into him as possible. He had not eaten for nearly 24 hours and must have been running on zero.
Night came and we all went to bed, hoping Scott would be feeling better in the morning.
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