Leh is 3 505m above sea level. It is surrounded by mountains, the colour of a non-descript beige-brown. The Himalayas here are rock and stone, a mass of earth rising all the way to the sky. When the sun sets these rock mountains are ochre. When it is cold, they are purple. The sky itself seems closer. It is a deep blue. The colour of the ocean, I imagine, as it would be deep down beneath the waves. I wake up on our first morning in Leh and wipe a thin streak of dried blood from my nose. The Ladakh region of north India, of which Leh is the capital, has an annual rainfall equivalent to the Sahara. I brush my hair, the ends frizz with static. When I make the bed there are flashes of bright green where my hands touch the sheets. It is so dry that all the moisture has soaked out my skin. I feel like I have aged five years, and I...
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