The next day was a clear day and we moved out of the camp without delay. There was lot of snow on the la and we wanted to cross it at the earliest. The initial slope was free of snow and then it started. First less snow and then it was in good amount. The going was slow and we moved with caution. The straight trail now became zigzag and reached the top which was covered with snow and it was not possible to reach the flags without wetting the feet. It was so different this time. The brown ground had been covered with snow. Latter we came to know that the conditions were quite bad two day earlier when another party had crossed the pass. The cold and snow did not deter us from spending some time at the top after which we moved on to the middle section which was also under heavy snow cover. Suddenly a horse train came up from opposite direction and I jumped over to a stone sticking out of snow to avoid walking on fresh snow. Some of the animals were injured and bleeding but continued on there way. It took some ten minutes for the complete train to move ahead and then I moved and reached the lake, but did not stop there as rest of the party had already moved ahead. This time we climbed up the glacier and moved in the trail made by the party which had moved from other side. Once I had moved off the glacier the snow started to reduce and finally it was more or less finished by the time we reached the lake  at Tut-yailak, where we had stopped on our way up. The rest of the team was waiting there and we had our packed lunch and a half an hour rest. The camp today was still far off and so we walked off from the lake with a last look towards the Saser la. The way ahead was without snow and as such was not a problem despite being quite long. Finally the camping place came into site but the horses were not to be seen and till they arrived the camp could not be setup. Finally the horses came and I was told that the horse carrying my baggage had jumped into the lake and so my stuff had got wet. I thought it was a joke till the horseman himself came and gave me the news. I jumped and went looking for my bag which was indeed wet and on opening it I found the inner stuff also wet. The sun was going down as I spread my things out for drying. Most of the things got dried except sleeping bag and few heavy woolen items. That was not much of a problem and we slept off after dinner.

The day was clear and we wanted to finish off the trek as early as possible. That was the reason why we had done two stages in one day. As such now the movement was down hill and due to cold there was less water in the nala’s which we had found difficult to cross on our way up. The nala immediately after the camp was crossed jumping over the stones and soon we were on the regular trail. A group of Yaks were grazing in the ground and they too were moving down with the start of winter. The team moved fast and took the road under construction. The dozers which had come for cutting the road had gone back. I took the trail which was moving towards the river and landed on the river bed where as rest of the team kept moving on the road. Finally I reached a point where the river moved to the extreme left and I had no chose but to climb up to the road. So trailing the team I reached the Camp. The water point were good for wash so refreshed we thought about the further plan. In the mean while the horses also came in, but they did not have any further plans and setup their camp immediately. The sun was strong and we wanted to be back on the regular road at Sasoma at the earliest. But how to do that. There were no vehicles we could wave at and take lift. However, as luck would have it, a dumper was sited about some two km below the camp and two members went to have a word with the driver. They came back with the good news that the driver had agreed to take us to Sasoma but would come to the camp to pickup us at four in the evening. Well we did not have any other choice and so decided to wait. The dumper came at the appointed time and we boarded it with our essentials as rest of the things were supposed to reach Sasoma along with the horses next day. As it got dark we reached Sasoma and moved into the camp. The horses did not arrive before noon and we had to spend another night at Sasoma and moved towards Leh next day and reached by four in the evening with out any hassles. Thus ended a long trek from Leh to the Aksai Chin and back, the memories of which shall not leave for long.