The day I thought we were going to die...

In Ladakh, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) ‘builds roads in the sky’, including some of the world’s highest motorable passes. The gravel roads are only one lane thick, littered with rock falls and all have vertical drop off on one side. Risking life and limb to keep the roads open, the BRO erect some humour roads signs in attempt to limit the loss of life:

» Overtaker beware of Undertaker
» Better to be Mister Late than a late Mister
» Go easy on my curves
» Love thy neighbour, but not while driving

So a normal day driving in Ladakh is scary enough, but then we had snow and the visibility dropped to less that a couple of meters. The driver refused to slow down. There are no straight roads, only twists and corners after corners. Terrified we would have a head on collision, we hatched an emergency plan for escaping when the car inevitable fell down the side of the mountain. Thankfully this didn't happen, and we eventually got to our destination, the freezing cold Pangong Lake (4350m). After surviving the drive, we now had to survive night. The coldest night ever (-18C) huddling together in a rickety shed, something I'm sure Joseph and Mary would have turned down if they'd been offered it back in Bethlehem!