Dodgeball at 3700m

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Getting to Manang was like getting to the land of Canaan, or fruit and honey, ambrosia and nectar. We had all started to fantastise about Manang, hot baths, fluffy towels, spa type facilities.....actually when we got there we had rooms with an ensuite squat toilet and shower and this was absolute luxury!!! Although very snowy, the sky was piercingly blue and the sun hot. Clean once more and happy in the knowledge that we could spend 2 nights here, the mood of the group lifted considerably.

We went to the Himalayan Rescue Association's talk on Altitude Sickness. Its very good and no one who has been to the talk has ever died of AMS apparently. My stats are really good, very low pulse and my blood oxygen levels pretty high - around 95%. Feel fine, no headache and trying to keep hydrated. Actually drinking enough water is one of the hardest things about the trek. When its freezing cold the last thing you feel like doing is pouring freezing cold water into yourself. I have a cunning plan though. I get the kitchen to fill my two Sigg flasks with boiling water and use them as hot water bottles at night and then drink the warm water the next day.

I've just re-read that sentence. It sounds DISGUSTING! I"ve got to get out of here.

There is a cinema in Manang. It's brilliant. You tell them what you want to watch and when and they put the film on for you. They pause halfway through and bring everyone a cup of tea and a bag of popcorn. We had a choice of about 6 , a lot of mountain adventure stuff. We chose Into Thin Air. Its the film taken from Jon Krakauer's book about the 1996 disaster on Mount Everest when loads of people died. I quite enjoyed it, but in retrospect it might not have been the film to watch. It totally freaked the rest of the group. People going snowblind, getting frostbitten, mad with summit fever, croaking their last words across a radio to their pregnant wives back home....

On our acclimatisation day we walked up to a glacial lake and played a game of Dodgeball to get our pulses and hearts going. Loads of fun. The group are getting quite a reputation up on the circuit. Most people doing the trek are in their 20s. Ther majority of my group are in their 50/60s. Bob has metal knees and turns 70 in a few days (though he's fitter than most 20 year olds and can arm wrestle a Nepali porter at 20 paces). We are attaining legend status. And I hope when I'm 50/60/70 I'm capable of doing the circuit still.

Left Manang in thich falling snow. Waiting for the others outside the lodge I made a snowman which an old Nepali bloke insisted on putting a tail on (?!) and then had a snowball fight with Brian. He chucked a snow boulder at me from the roof which I swear if it had hit me, would have put an end to my trekking days. Easy to get revenge however on a man who wears small shorts in the snow.....

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