Crossing the pass

First of all, thanks to all who are reading and commenting, makes the effort more worthwhile. If you really like it, make more people read it, that will make it even more worthwhile. :)

Its been 6 days since I last blogged. So much has happened since then. Lets do this in chronological order.

The moment I finished my last post, I met Peter, a Dutch guy trekking the same trail. When I said 'Easy name to remember', he replied ' Easy going person too'. By jove, he was right. Something clicked and we trekked for the next 5 days together. Our similar trekking pace and Snickers lunch philosophy helped.

From Chame, where I blogged from last, the walk to Lower Pisang and then on to Manang were pieces of cake. At Manang, the vegetation was almost non existent and it had snowed very recently. Cold winds in the afternoon made life really difficult. At Manang, both me and Peter felt good and fresh, skipped the recommended acclimatization and saved it for later. Letdar, 4200 meters, the stop after Manang was so cold that the water bottle next to my bed froze completely. I had a slight light feeling in the head due to altitude. Next morning, we left for High Camp. In some ways, I was not sure if I wanted to sleep that high.

High Camp was where I realized how much of a mental thing high altitude trekking is. Every step, you fight your doubts, you conquer them. The moment you start losing the battle, your body stops responding. I was always skeptical about High Camp and that brought about a wave of Acute Mountain Sickness. Only the name is horrible, it was just a little headache, loss of appetite because of the brain getting little oxygen at height. Now, this is normal, it happens to everyone, even those who acclimatize. Since I was not sure in the first place, I felt really down. There was a time I even considered climbing down but decided against it because once you go down, you never usually make it back up.

I slept the night with a Diamox and a Paracetamol and 2 hot water bottles. Something changed in the night, I dont know what. Probably the doubtful part of my mind was conquered by the more optimistic one. I felt fresh as ever and the walk to a 5416 meters pass seemed like a cakewalk. Just 2 hours in -20 degrees and lots of snow and ice instead of the estimated 3.5 hours. 5416 is the highest I have ever been and it is really and exhilarating feeling to have managed this, more so after having a bout of doubts. The climb down was like a run. I did not even notice the 1600 meter climb down in the adrenaline rush of passing the summit.

Oh and I forgot to mention, myself and Peter crossed the pass on just 1 snickers and 500 ml water between the 2 of us. Not for nothing do they say, 'Its all in the mind'.

Doubts aside, the pass had some fantastic views of the Annapurna range. I a short on time and internet is again as expensive. Am pasting some photos, not sure how good are they because I have myself not seen them on large screen. I am sure when you are live blogging from such a place, this is excusable. More later.