I’m writing this while sitting in the restaurant of the Dewan-E-Khas hotel in Skardu, with Dan and Andy, over a cup of tea. The weather is great, with lots of sun, blue sky, and a few puffy white clouds. The birds are singing their songs and it's nice and warm. We’re getting ready to finish packing the loads, and Sayeed, and Ibraham have joined us for breakfast, as we make our plans for the day. Javed, (the Liaison Officer (L.O.) and Dave has also joined us to eat some of this giant watermelon that Dan purchased in the market for 200 rupees. Our biggest decision this morning is what to do about Andy's missing bag. It contains most of his expensive camera equipment, ice axes and group gear from Marmot.  We are trying to decide whither we should stay in Skardu another day to see if the bag shows up or at least get a better location of it whereabouts, before we head out. Our original plan was to pack up and drive to Askole tomorrow and start the hike the day after. This would help us to acclimatize, because there are rest days built into the hike to base camp, but we think it is worthwhile to wait one more day for Andy’s barrel.The photo is Andy in his new Balti hat with a new friend in Skardu.