We trekked 8 hours today, the longest day so far. I had a decent night’s rest in Chamje and a hearty breakfast of muesli and warm milk with a masala tea. Some friendly porters and guides also gave me some recommendations for the upcoming days. I’m also very lucky to have found some serious bandaids (similar to moleskin) from a French couple and one of the Nepalese guides has doctored my left foot. I think it has really saved me. (Note to other trekkers, Do break in your boots WELL before your trek).
I set out at 7am and had a few climbs early on, but they passed quickly. The scenery was beautiful. At first I was high above the river, watching the sun creep up and then I was literally next to the rapids for quite some time. I haven’t passed many other trekkers at all, and mostly the only people I pass are the locals, with their herd of horses, carrying goods from one village to the next.
I managed to cover 5 hours before lunch in Dharipani. It felt so good to sit and remove my boots. I treated myself to a coke and fried rice. I feared lagging behind this afternoon, but I felt strong after the lunch break , until reaching Danaque. I refilled my water bottle, had a bathroom break and learned it was only 1 more hour to a good stopping point. It was more like 1 1/2 hours and I lost steam at about 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the last 45 minutes were entirely uphill and this is the first place where I feel like I’ve struggled. But, I tried to look at it positively and realize that it’s 45 minutes of uphill climbing that I don’t have to do tomorrow morning.
By the time I reached the guesthouse in Timang, the sun was just dipping behind the mountains and the temperature was dipping too. I changed into some dry clothes and warm socks and headed out to catch the end of the sunset- and watched as the sun turned the snowcapped mountains pink.
I’ve sort of got into a nightly and morning routine of a cup of hot masala tea, and I was looking forward to warming up with one tonight- not just to warm me up, but to warm my hands up. It’s the coldest it’s been so far. I’m enjoying this all, but I know the next few days will be challenging, not only the trekking but the altitude and the cold. I hope the excitement will help me push through.
I’ve just polished off a hot bowl of vegetable soup and some chapati and scored an extra blanket and the only things that are cold are my hands and my nose. There’s not much else to do once the sun goes down, besides read, think and sleep… this would drive some people crazy, but I’m loving being so disconnected with technology and connected with nature. There aren’t many places that you can find this anymore.
