Himalaya part 2

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we set off for the village of Yak Kharka situated an hour or so past the village that people used to stop in, but that had suffered servere landslides and according to kapil was still not safe. we stopped in upper Manang and i bought a very ornate Gourkha knife with a hand made sheaf that was apparently from Tibet. it seemed everything was from Tibet according to the stool owners, they were obviously aware that this was somewhat of a novelty for the average tourist, as was yak bone jewelery, that was infact a cheap synthetic resin mix made in moulds that were being passed of as hand carved. some pieces were still very nice tho and a lot cheaper than the same thing in kathmandu. the closer we got to Yak Kharka the more sparse the vegetation became and heards of yak were everywhere grazing on the hillsides. the weather was now colder than ever and shortly after arriving, sleet began to fall, so the prospect of snow was looking ever more likely for when we got to the pass. in the evening Me, Kapil, Wendy and her porter Raj all played cards which seemed to really help keep Wendys mind off of her altitude sickness that seemed now more than ever to have been, at best self inflicted, at worst an excuse to turn around and not face challenge ahead.

in the morning wendy wanted to play more cards, and being that the trek wasnt a particularly diificult one that day, we sat until around 10am playing. as we went to leave it started hail stoning so we put on our water proofs and embarked on our journey to 4200m through the lifeless landscape. it was now to cold for any kind of vegetation to survive, we trekked along tiny mountain paths with sheer drops, where a trip could end in certain death, but that after this many days of trekking didnt bother me in the slightest. i was just happy about the fact that i was now able to make use of all the warm clothes i had packed for the first time, meaning that my bag was no longer cutting into my shoulders. after a particularly steep incline we stopped of at a precarious little tea shop perched just before a sign posted landslide area for some tea and biscuits before hastily making our way accross what Kapil called " danger area". we arived at Thorong Phedi where we were met by a snowstorm, while everyone sat inside the cafeteria trying to keep warm, i went outside to feel the snow against my face. the snow was so heavy that it obscured any views that there might have been of the mountains, all that could be seen were the goat skulls that sat on the dry stone wall at the village gate next to the Tibetan mantra stones. i had gotten exactly what i had been hoping for, snow, and lots of it, we had trekked for 10 days from the blistering heat of the midday sun to an altitude so cold that nothing green can live, no crops, not even the odd leafless bush, what the villagers do in winter is a mystery to me but it must be an incredibly hostile place to try and survive.
that evening we again played cards for a while to ocupy Wendy as this is the most common place for people to get sick and we had already seen a couple of rescue helicopters going there in the previous few days. people were talking about whether or not it will be possible to go the next day due to the heavy snow fall, but Kapil informed me that even if the trail was closed, he knew the way and we would go regardless. everything was fine and wendy had decided after speaking to Kapil, that she would rent a horse to carry her up to the top of the pass and a guy was on his way to the previous village in the snow to go and get it. however she soon picked up the lonely planet and started reading, filling her head with doubt, became very upset and said that she was sick and would be taking a rest day here and went to bed. me, Kapil and Raj all decided that we would give her a knock in the morning to see how she was feeling as this was not the kind of altitude to be resting at, if she really was sick it could prove fatal. i went to bed wearing thermals and fleece lined bottoms and a fleece top, with 2 blankets and a hot waterbottle, there was no heating in this uninsulated stone building and it was extremely cold, needless to say i had a restless nights sleep.

we got together in the canteen and decided that despite it being 4.30am, and her request to rest, we had to knock for wendy. we arrived at the door and Kapil and Raj both stood looking at me, it had clearly been decided that i would have to be the one to wake her up. i knocked once, twice and on the third time i was answered by a "WHAT DO YOU WANT!" i explained our concern and asked if she felt up to making the pass but " Just f*#king leave me alone" was the aggressive reply we got. Kapil looked very worried and said that this is how people get when they have altitude sickness and that if we didnt do something she might die. i sensed however that something was not quite right, and of course, did not want to send a helicopter unnescesarilly. i asked her to be completly honest with me and asked if she really was sick or just psyching herself up for the pass? she sobbed back to me that the latter was the case and the panic was over. despite the fact that this ordeal was obviously due to genuine concern she continued swearing at us, so we let her be, wished Raj luck and went on our way by torchlight up the steep path to the pass. it wasnt long before the sun was rising and as the mist started to clear one of the most amazing sights i have ever witnessed revealed itself. beyond the mist the rising sun illuminated the blue sky, a range of towering majestic peaks covered in snow, stared back at me, leaving the other trekkers looking like nothing more than ants in the distance. this single moment made every drop of sweat and achey muscle worth it, there was nothing else to do but stand in complete awe if my surroundings. 2 hours had passed since we set off and there was still at least 2 more. we had started at 4200m and had to climb to 5416m, despite the cold (it was definatley below freezing possibly -5) i was hot from the hiking and had to take of my hat and open my jacket to cool down. my glasses kept steaming up from the heat i was generating and i ended up swapping them with a porter we had made friends with that was suffering from mild altitude sickness. Kapil gave him some dimox to help with the symptoms and we just pushed on until we reached the pass. at the top of this snow covered waste land was a tea shop where we sat and had some of the dry food we had brought with us and ordered a couple of coffees to mix with the rum we had also brought. we offered the rum around but not even the natives seemed interested, which was slightly concerning but we had reached our goal and were determined to celebrate either way. we only had a quarter bottle but at that altitude we were a bit tipsy and Kapil entertained everyone by singing and dancing while i joked around and shared out biscuits, before we new it an hour had passed. still feeling the effects of the rum we both began running downhill through the snow slipping over occaisonally and laughing until we had left the snow behind and stood at the top of a steep descent down into the arid drylands. this view was again something quite magic, in the distance were more mountains completley void of vegetation with icy peaks and at the bottom of the valley was a village that somehow had green fields around it. the contrast of this against the sandy surrounding wasteland was like a scene out of lord of the rings and i again stood in awe. Kapil was soon ahead of me and after 3 hours of walking down a steep stepless trail my knees were killin me, blisters were fast forming and my thighs were punishing me for putting them through it. i finally made it to the bottom and took a short lived rest as Kapil informed me that if we didnt leave soon there would be no rooms left in Muktinath. so after a 4 hour uphill climb of 1.2km followed by 4 hour 1.7km descent we continued another hour to the village. we checked in, bumped into Jeff (from Colorado) and Kamal and before long we were drinking apple brandy and playing more cards (it was still festival and gambling was apparently an integral part). this continued for the next few hours until around 10pm back at our hotel restaurant where we bought more apple brandy and smoked ourselves to sleep.

i woke up at around 4.30 with a nasty headache and got back to sleep at around 5.15 only to have Kapil knock on my door at 6am. he tried to get me up a couple more times but i finally surfaced at 8am. we walked through the worlds deepest valley (The Kandaki Valley) and stopped in a tiny village for some food where i had a yak burger (quite tasty). you could hear the wind whistling past outside and see dust blowing through the street. soon after we left it reached gale force and became difficult to walk in some places (it isnt called the windy valley for nothing), i had to take of my cap and secure it under the cover for my bag, only to find that the cover had also nearly completey blown of and my cap was nowhere in sight. we crossed what was once a river bed, but that was now just a desert wasteland and Kapil found a fossil, i had no joy despite spending an hour with my eyes fixed on the floor, although i did find some nice rocks. Kapil had asked me how i would feel about cutting the trek slightly short to go to his village in Gourkha for the festival as he would like to see his mum (he would already have to spend the equivalent of christmas day and boxing day trekking) and i agreed. so when we arived in Jomsom we caught a jeep to Kalopani which was convieniently the least interesting of the trails so far and spent the night there.

Kapil woke me at 6.30 to see the views of Annapurna 1, Dhalugiri, Nilgiri and Tuckhe peaks, even tho it wasnt the clearest morning the pine forest covered landscape contrasting with the snowy peaks in the distance was beautiful. my legs were stiff as boards and very painfull to walk and we stopped at Ghasa village at a small local restaurant for a couple of beers. it was the equivalent of christmas day so some drinks were in order plus it helped with the agonising pain that i was in after letting my muscles cool down for an hour or so. i pressed through the pain as Kapil laughed histerically and took pictures of me as my face cringed with every step accompanied by " oh shit, f*#k, Bo*#@cks." we made it to the Rupche waterfall and stopped into another local little place and ate fried goat and dhal baat and the granfather of the place gave me 'Tikka' (blessing). we then discovered that the bus that normally runs to Tatopani was not running and i would have to endure another 2 hours of walking on blistered feet and battered legs. when we finally arrived after what seemed like an eternity we headed staight down to the hotsprings near by, where a large bath had been constructed andthe hot spring water plumbed into it. we bought beers and smoked for the next few hours until dark and stubled the 15 minute walk back to our hotel room in the pitch black without a torch light through the wilderness.

the morning walk was only 45mins to where the buses run and my feet and muscles were feeling better from the hotspring, we bought a ticket and waited. i got talking to a French girl that had just qualified as a doctor, which was handy as i got her to look at a lump that had been slowly growing behind my ear for the last 8 or 9 days. she said it was only an absess and that it would clear up on its own, which is what i felt was the case, but it was nice to have a professional opinion, as doctors were pretty hard to come by in the Himalayas. a jeep arrived at the bus and it turned out that our ticket was also valid to jump on...... the roof. the inside was full so we hopped up and spent the next 2 and a half hours bouncing down the dirt track through the mountains, holding on for dear life. the views were of course a lot better than peering out of a small window and i was actually gratefull to have ended up on the jeep roof. the scenery had gone full circle, once again i was dazzled by an array of countless waterfalls and tropical plantlife and we laughed as the jeep kept nearly bouncing us off the roof into the river 150ft below and arrived safely in Beni the last village on the circuit.

THE END 😊

my next blog will be about my visit to Kapils small village, Okhle, in the District of Gourkha. i will do my best to get bk on top of this backlog of blogging..... i promise.

until then MUCH LOVE spk soon

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Photos

Mystic Himalaya
the path to Thorong Pass

Himalayan Bandit
this was to stop our lips from cracking from the combination of sun, cold & wind

Comments

[Steve B]

...I wish you'd make your mind up Dave-!
...wow - great pic's Dave -had to make a comment as soon as i'd seen them...it's just gone 5 here in Ponder End -definitly NOT the most beautiful place in the world - LOL...keep 'em comin - Steve B