But soon we discover that August does not augur well for Himalayan journeys. It would make a perfect loop and offer a mosaic of landscapes. Our original plan was to drive along the Sutlej river from Rampur Bushehr to Recong Peo, Kalpa, Pooh, Khab, Nako and Tabo into Kaza and return through the Kunzum pass via Rohtang and Manali along the Beas. Contrary to my fears, no one reported altitude sickness, except me, not even at Demul, a village perched on a promontory at 14,000 feet (4,200 metres), where we stopped for the night at a typical Spitian village homestay'.

The journey turns out to be utterly delightful as much for the kaleidoscopic and stunning scenery that the drive serves up along the route as for the interesting, and at times desultory, conversations we have on a range of topics. I am slightly apprehensive about the altitude sickness I am invariably prone to how would the others react at such heights? But even more daunting is the prospect of throwing a set of perfect strangers all of them are my friends, but they do not know each other yet into a small vehicle for extended hours on the road for 10 days. STOCK up on pain balms, spare spectacles and take an oxygen cylinder, advises a friend when he comes to know of my plans to drive into Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, in an all-senior-citizens' group. A Himalayan sojourn in the postcard-perfect Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh.

Frontline fields of thunder patch