Crossing the Thorong La

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At what felt like an unearthly hour our alarms went off and the adrenaline kicked in. This was it, the crossing of the Thorong La. I know that Clarisa and I both had our worries that we'd be up to the challenge but once you're this far, there really is no backing out! I'd been pleasantly surprised with my performance on the mountains so far but as we got up and dressed in the freezing cold I must be honest there were certainly plenty of nerves about making it! I was also slightly concerned that Clarisa wasn't eating much. Aside from lethargy (and this was only at the end of a day trekking) and loss of appetite she had no other symptoms of altitude sickness so we encouraged each other that although we had the high pass to cross, this would be our first day of proper descending as well ascending.
We set out before dawn and initially all of us were very quiet, having private 'Oh my God, why I am here?' moments! We began walking, in the dark, with only our headtorches giving a pool of light onto the white snow in front of us, it was bitterly cold and the wind swept round us numbing hands, feet, nose and ears in just a few seconds. I pulled up my hood and my neck warmer till only my eyes showed and trudged on like that for what felt like hours but was probably only one and a half at the most. Next the wind dropped and we had the chance to notice the stars shining brightly out of the pitch black sky. After this, the most magical dawn started, the light rising up behind the sharp contours of the inky dark mountains giving us the feeling we were in the centre of a massive bowl. The dawn seemed to take it time to rise and we plodded (that is the only word for it) on round the trail balanced on the steep sheer hillsides. Soon, apart from just weaving round, the track became steeper again and soon our party has spread out. Gansa was leading the way, I was in the middle and Clarisa and Sonam brought up the rear. I was keeping Gansa in sight but lost the other two. It was now warming up nicely and the sun was beginning to shine fully down on brilliant white snow producing a perfect trekking day. As I continued I lost sight of Gansa too but didn't worry too much. He is quite short and very agile so I knew he'd just be ahead. The trail was less clear due to the snowfall but I could easily follow his footsteps as we were the first party to cross the pass that day! It was fantastic to be walking pure, umblemished snow through the most spectacular, awe-inspiring environment I have ever come across, and to be doing it alone, without the crowds and entirely at my own pace. I felt high as a kite and just had this massive smile plastered across my face! With my excitement I hadn't noticed the snow getting deeper, it was now up to just below my knees! We had heard there was snow forecast for the high pass but this doesn't usually become problematic before December-time. Well it's mid-November and we had snow fall the day and night before so I began to worry slightly as to how deep in might get! I carried on though, following Gansa's prints in the snow, knowing he would likely turn round if it got too deep. In the Lonely Planet guide I had read that there are a set of prayer flags 15 minutes from the pass. Despite watching intently for these, they never came! I came across the high pass all of a sudden, a blast of colour in the white-out! This vast mound of brightly coloured prayer flags fluttering furiously round the elevation marker sign was like seeing heaven! My pace quickened and soon the massive relief of having reached it washed over me. Despite the bright sunshine, it was still bitterly cold with the wind blasting back and forth, that Gansa and I crouched down next to a little wall only a few bricks high to one side of the pass to wait for the others. We had to keep stamping our feet and moving to keep warm and were willing the other too to arrive! When they did about 15 mins later we had a group cheer and a hug and posed for some victory shots. At that point an Italian couple we'd seen at Thorong Phedi also reached the pass and were appearing over the hill. They kindly took a photo of all of us and we exchanged the favour. In all we probably spent only 10-15 minutes on the high pass as the cold and winds drove us on. We also knew we had to push on to Muktinath, our destination to stay tonight. As soon as we were a little way down off the high pass the wind was much more tolerable and our day began warming up considerably. As we started to walk across and descend slightly, we saw some of the most magnificent mountain views I have ever seen, including all the books, films etc. I have ever seen about the Himalaya. There was literally a basin of snowy, jagged peaks spread out like an amphitheatre in front of us. It did make us a bit emotional too if i'm honest! Can totally see why the Himalaya gets it's name, meaning in Sanskrit 'Abode of Snow', it is such a magical place.
Although enchanting, the conditions prevent you from hanging around too long and so we pressed onto into our next region, Mustang, leaving Manang behind us. The next few hours was all about descending, 1600m in all in just three to four hours. Quite a challenge to the legs which have become now only efficient at the uphill! Within hours the moutain slopes turned into slippery scree slopes and then to dirt tracks in the grassy hillsides. We were heading straight down into a valley toward Mukinath. From this vantage point it was possible to see some of the road-building work being done around Annapurna circuit. A couple of bulldozers growling, ripping out sections of hill to convert to road to improve accessibility. On speaking with Sonam about this he says it will be of major benefit to local Nepalis, which I can appreciate but we were concerned that this precious, beautiful trail, accessed only on foot and so currently deterring the larger swathes of tourists on buses etc., would become more exploited and vulnerable. I hope this is not the case and the Nepali government and it's people can see a way to protect one of it's most unique and astounding assets.
Weary now, we made it to Mukinath, a small town, essentially one main dirt road with shops, guesthouses and a gompa... pretty standard for Nepal you may say..... but what makes Muktinath special is the proximity of the looming peaks that rise around it. On arriving we settled into our guesthouse, Sonam kindly got us a room on the top floor with it's own rooftop balcony overlooking the gompa and mountains and a bathroom with hot water, AMAZING! He then announced that we weren't allowed warm showers and he said this can cause some (unspecified) complication with altitude sickness. He mumbled something about a blood clot and said he'd seen people die of it. I'm afraid there was no telling us and after i'd finished a bowl of mashed potato soup (was delicious.... but then I think anything would have been) and could not fathom the reasoning behind his request, prompted had a warm shower.... it was worth risking death! Sonam seemed perturbed by the fact we weren't up for visiting another gompa this evening.... well we had been 11 hrs walking when he asked us. He says he'll save that for tomorrow morning for us instead. That's if we ever move again!!

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Comments

[nepaltrips]

Great experience!
It's really a great experience. thank you for sharing it to every one.