Posts Tagged With: Hiking

Staying at high camp was a good idea until the sun set behind the mountain ranges at about 4pm. That’s when the cold started to kick in, and because it was so far, firewood was not available to heat the damn place up. This is good for the environment, but bad for us. For the first time, even I couldn’t sleep in relative comfort in our -12C sleeping bags as the ‘comfort zone’ is probably closer to 0C. Checking the temps, it dropped past -1C at around 8pm. Don’t even know how the ‘luxury’ trekkers were camping outside….CAMPING IN TENTS!

At high camp, there’s a sense of excitement in the air, as everyone are getting themselves ready for the trek up to the pass the next day, sort of like preparing for the final battle with the mountains. Continue reading →

With the massive amounts of people, we were afraid that we’d get to high camp at 4900m and be left without a room to stay in. We’re not too fond of sleeping in the dining hall, so we set our sights early at a 630am departure. Problem was, by the time we were supposed to wake up, being frozen the whole night Jiajia looks so out of shape huddled in her sleeping bag she wasn’t even sure if she could get up. She toughed it out, grabbed breakfast and were on our way. What a trooper!

We were a bit late, and by the time we were on the road the Canadians were already out, and a group of retired Frenchman who carried their own 70L packs and looking like they summitted Everest back in their golden years. Crossing through another landslide area, although now looking like childs-play after the Tilicho Death Zone we traversed. After 1.5hrs, we reached Thorung Phedi, the teahouse at the bottom of the pass. It was barely 9am, and we even surprised ourselves with our speed! Stopping for tea, we saw the Canadians catch up and already looking for a room to stay. We beated on, and after another 45mins we were at high camp, wow. We were settled in before 10am and now have a whole day to rest up before the trek tomorrow. It’s only another 500m climb up to the pass, but it’s a 1600m descent…. better prepare ourselves for soreness.

Seems like after the past three days, we’ve regained our strength and our muscles are adapted to the up and down trekking now. The ascents are not as painful and the descents are easier on the knees. Only problem are the blisters that start to creep up.

To treat ourselves, we had a massive breakfast before heading out, and after taking an extremely quick lunch we were afraid that we’d have no place to stay, so we didn’t sit down to relax much longer. Not really wanting anymore Dal Bhaat or curry, I ventured to try some local Manang-style dishes. Ordering a Thugkpa, which is a local noodle dish, I was pretty surprised when it arrived. In front of me was a bowl of soup with spaghetti and carrot shavings. Okay? So spaghetti is a local cuisine of Manang….. We also had a cup of Seabuckthorn juice, served hot. A plant from local regions, it is made in house and tastes some what like a peach/pineapple juice, but served hot? By 1:30pm we were already at our destination of Churi Letdar, and without much pain despite having to ascend and descend and then ascend again…. Jiajia hasn’t been sleeping well so we didn’t push the day any longer and settled down into the sun room of the hotel.

We bumped into a group of 3 Canadians (Ryan, Sarah and Sandy) and reconnected with the Chinese girl we met before, this time with a new solo trekker. The day was early, but we sat underneath the warm glow of the sun and had two beers! The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting with the Canadians and the Chinese people. The Canadians, looking like the athletic outdoor-sy type, were really nice people. Two were from BC, one working as a hydrologist, and one as an environmental consultant. The third guy was in marketing and like us, quit his job to travel. And it was also Ryan’s 30^th birthday on the 30^th after crossing the pass, and he invited us to ‘pound some beers’ (sic) with him down past Muktinath. Haha, fun.

After dinner at 7pm, and brushing/washing our faces in the kitchen (all of the water pipes have frozen by now), we huddled up to our rooms to sleep, but it was sooooo cold! With our awesome FF bags mated together, and a blanket over it was enough for me and I was sound asleep quickly, but Jiajia being the restless+cold sleeper had trouble the whole night. In the end pretty much we were both sleeping in a single bag to stay warm…

One more night in high-altitude before heading over the Thorung-La Pass and back into warmer places!

Having a long day ahead of us, we woke up at 5am and was on the trail by 6ish. Hitting our first snag, we had to cross a small river but since it was so cold, the rocks used as steps now had a sheen of ice over it, causing a bit of annoyance as we wandered around trying to find another way across.

The trek up was tough, but wasn’t as bad as the pleasure of hiking up to the Ice Lake a couple days ago which we had to ascended 1200m. This trek was only a 700m ascent and the road was rather long, so it wasn’t as steep as before. The walk up was half the fun, as the views of the surrounding mountains continue to change with the sunlight and your point of perspective. After 2.5hrs, we managed to get up to the lake, with which we were greeted with a tea house with the view of the whole lake!! Sipping hot tea and snacking on cookies we bought a few days ago (Random note: We bought 4 packs of cookies, but at our hotel was a mouse who picked up the delicious scent and managed to chew through two layers of plastic and nibbled on quarter of a cookie. We promptly changed rooms and threw that bag away, leaving us with 25% less cookies!). The lake was amazing, as we’ve seen our fair share of high-altitude lakes in Tibet, but none seem to have this kind of closeness to the glossy white mountains as Tilicho has. Well worth the walk!

After lunch back at Base Camp, we had to head back out of the area and be back on the trail, as Tilicho Lake was more of a side-trail. One slight problem, we had to make it past through the Death Zone once again!!!! This time, for some strange reason, fear kicked in and some baaad thoughts strated circling through my head. Being tired from the morning’s tough trek, every step required extra effort and concentration. It didn’t help that the winds have picked up, but fortunately it was blowing towards the mountain and not away from it. A few times, the gusts were so strong it wobbled my footing and gave a massive scare! As I concentrated on walking past the Death Zone, in my mind I was observing myself from above, with the narrator to those “You Shouldn’t Be Alive” shows walking through step by step of the disaster about the happen, saying how the weather was windy and because of the snow from last night causing disruptions in the rock formations, and before you know it BOOM! Landslide/Lost footing and down into the abyss below.

I still shudder at the thought of that stupid thing. And on the trail, we met some Chinese people who rode their bike from Tibet into Nepal, and was going into Tilicho Base Camp. We told them about how dangerous this part of the trail was, and they calmly mention “Yeah, this is the most dangerous part of the whole Annapurna Circuit, a lot of people die here.” I’m soooo glad we heard that AFTER we got past the Death Zone…..

Glad we’re still here able to write about this shit. Never doing that again….

After a good night’s sleep, we were greeted with the warm glow of the sun shining onto the mountains outside our window. It was still very, very cold, but we’re starting to get accustomed to this. Freezing cold in the morning (literally, the water pipes would freeze), sweating beads while trekking and freezing cold in the evening before cuddling up into our sleeping bags.

Today we’re headed out to Lake Tilicho, the supposed highest lake in the world! While packing our stuff, we went to gather our clothes that we left out on the clothesline to dry. The day before, I managed to wash one pair of socks, but as the water was freeeeezing cold I couldn’t muster up the strength to wash Jiajia’s socks, but we hung both pairs up to dry. By morning, my wet socks have turned into a pair of sock-popscicles, while Jiajia’s socks were GONE! SOME ONE STOLE HER SOCKS WTF? Granted, they were comfy merino wool socks, but we think the thief is in for a big surprise when he pulls it out of his/her pack and realize it ain’t smelling right =P Continue reading →

Checking the temperature outside my sleeping bag at 530am, it was only 1C! Strangely, our sleeping bags have recovered to their warm and cozy state after last night’s shivering cold. Looking outside though, the mountains just begun to show its peak under the warm glow of the dawn. Time to wake up!

Today was supposed to be a ‘rest’ day, since it is recommended we acclimatize to the altitude. And so, we chose to take a short day trek up to the Ice Lake. Not really knowing how high it was, we just knew it was about a 3-4hr hike up to the lake. Boy were we in for a treat. With the skies clearing up after yesterday’s cloud cover, the mountains were glowing in an almost translucent white. The views were spectacular, but the hike was torturous. By the time we got to the top, we’ve ascended 1200m vertically and sore in all places possible. We kept thinking we’d reach the lake, but instead it was just another plateau before another crazy ascent.

Reaching the Ice Lake at around noon, we were amazed at what lies before our eyes, not so much because of its beauty but rather the lake’s utter ugliness. It was merely a dirty pond with a layer of ice cover half of it. W T F? Disappointed indeed, but the surrounding panoramic landscape made up for it. We didn’t hike 1200m from farmland past the tree line and into the ice for no reason, the views (other than the lake) were definitely stunning. Glad the weather was in our favour! Taking a cookies and Cadbury chocolate picnic, we snapped a few pics before heading down so we won’t be too late for the 5pm cutoff for showers.

Hiking up was hard, but hiking down wasn’t any better…. it seems like another set of muscles get sore from the descent, and blisters are starting to kick in after all the walking we’ve done. It also didn’t help that we somehow got lost on our way down, and almost walked to the wrong village!! And on our way down, the winds really picked up speed and we were blasted with 40km/hr winds. Steep trails, high winds and drop-off cliffs really really don’t mix well….. we were pretty darn glad we made it back to the main roads.

So, after stocking up with some cookies and chocolate for the next couple of days, we ate well, downed a refreshing beer and are now off to bed at 7pm. =)

It was a cold and chilly night, as it probably dipped below freezing during the evening. Our sleeping bags, although rated down to -12C, it was definitely outside the ‘comfort zone’ of the bag and it got so cold, Jiajia couldn’t even sleep. It was difficult just trying to climb out of the relative warmth of the sleeping bag and into the 6C temp inside the room. The view from our window though, was definitely one to admire…

Huddling downstairs around the stove once again, the hotel felt more like a homestay than a hotel, with locals walking in and out, the owner making cups of hot tea for the elders. This was a typical day in the life amongst the hills, and with the kids still wearing slippers it put into perspective how unadapted we were to the frigid realities of nature. And to put us to shame, a few days back that punk kid stole our chapstick, now up in this high-altitude area the wind is picking up, dehydration is kicking in as the air is cold and dry, so our lips definitely need some chap! Stupid kid….

Heading out later than usual per the recommendation of the rhasta Nepali from last night, the sun did warm us up a bit for the trek but the winds were bone chilling. With our trek out, we say goodbye to Annapurna II and watch as a sea of clouds drape the mountains and follow us as we trekked forward. By lunch time, the winds picked up with the clouds blanketing the sky, and it even snowed a bit! A slight sign of civilization, there was a bakery within our lunch spot which sold of all things, peanut butter cookies and apple pie! We stocked up on some goodies and were on our way to Manang.

Manang is the last place before the trek towards Thorung-La pass, the highest point along the trek and most definitely the coldest. At 3600m, Manang is no slouch either so people usually stay here for acclimatization. We got into town at about 1:30pm, just in time for the 2 o’clock viewing of Into the Wild at the ‘theatre’!! Without going into details, the movie was great in both screenplay and directing, and to a lesser extent draws certain similarities with our surroundings. We’re by no means as philosophical nor anti-establishment, but we do want to go to Alaska! By the time the movie ended, we headed outside into another horse race! We quickly headed back to the hotel, put on an extra layer of clothes and when we got back out, the horse race was over. W T F? We missed it two times in a row! Didn’t matter though, we were just in time for the 5 o’clock showing of Into Thin Air, which was one of the books we just read and also by the same author of Into the Wild, haha. This movie was about a disastrous ascent of Everest back in 1996 in which the author actually took part in. The book was REALLY good, but as usual the movie was lacking. Definitely makes you think twice before climbing a mountain….but the allure is definitely there.

So tonight, we sleep in a cabin with a view of the clouds, which have put the mountains out of sight for the time being. It’s a bit cold, and getting late at 9:15pm so we’ll call it a night!

Waking up in the early morning, it was extra difficult to climb out of our sleeping bag as it’s gotten ridiculously cold as we trek further into the mountains. Checking the temperature, it was only 6C in the room! Brushing and washing is now a freezing cold chore as the water is probably colder than 6C. That’s life in the mountains I guess!

The morning walks are usually the easiest, as you’re well rested from last night and you have a belly full of breakfast (which has been massive pancakes almost everyday!) to keep you going. Before you know it, you’ve walked 2hrs and hit a stop. This stop was slightly different, as the town was actually only 1 hotel instead of the 5-6 you’d usually see, but the best part was this village has an apple farm! It’s been a while since we’ve had fruits, and we need some vitamins. It also helps that the apples were crispy and delicious. Yay.

We continued to trek higher and higher in altitude, and you can feel the vegetation change. The trees become taller, and evergreens start to dominate the landscape, and glaciers slowly come into view. Think so far, this part of the trek has been the nicest, most “in-our-element” kind of trek, until we realized “Oh boy, this looks totally like Canada eh?”. And for lunch, we ate at a hotel built out of wooden logs, and one tourist made a loud remark “Wow, wooden log cabins, now we’re really in Canada!”. Turns out she was Australian. Continue reading →