The entire party, trekkers, Nepalese and Tibetans had lunch together just below the Shao La. Jerome Ryan put his garbage bag back on and descended the steep hillside, made fairly slippery from the drizzle. At the bottom, the drizzle turned into rain and I quickened my pace, walking down a broad valley with low-lying grass and scrubs. I had to constantly jump from rock to rock to avoid the small rivulets of water that flowed haphazardly through the valley. With the Joksam campsite in view, I soon came to the last hazard of the day, a ten metre wide river with occasional boulders and pieces of wood sticking up from the water to aid our crossing.