Ending Time: 2:00PM
Our lodge in Chame
Today's walk was very pleasant. Manaslu remained in our sights most of the way and we passed by the Paungda Danda rock face. We took a long lunch in Dhijur Pokhari but still arrived early enough in Upper Pisang to wash my hair and walk around the village while there was still sunlight. This was the first village we stayed at that didn't have a shower (although not the first without hot water), so we got buckets of hot water to bathe with. Upper Pisang is awesome, in the truest sense of the word, and is one of the most beautiful places I have been. It has the most spectacular view of the eastern end of the Annapurna range. Annapurna II, IV, and III are all all visible. Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy and the sun was behind the mountains, so my photos of them today didn't come out that well.
Lamjung Himal
Laurence on the trail
Paungda Danda rock face
Manaslu
Paungda Danda rock face
The vegetation has changed considerably since our trek started.
Closer shot of the bushes now surrounding us. The reds, greens, and browns were really beautiful.
The view of Upper Pisang from Lower Pisang.
An interesting plant.
A close up of the flower.
Upper Pisang - our lodge was the blue and white painted on near the center.
Prayer wheels in Upper Pisang
Prayer flags in Upper Pisang
An apple tree. Apples are a staple crop in the mountains of Nepal. We were able to get themalmost everywhere along the trek, whereas bananas, oranges, and other fruits disappeared at the high elevations.
A rooftop in Upper Pisang
A porter carrying his load through a small temple in Upper Pisang.
Our lodge in Upper Pisang.
We stayed at the same lodge as our Canadian friends again tonight. Laurence and I really enjoy their company. an Australian named Simon and a couple of Spainards, Raoul and Carlos, were also staying there. Simon is also a triathlete, so we chatted for a while about the sport. He was just gearing up for his season in Australia whereas I had just finished mine a couple of weeks before leaving for Nepal. The Spainards were planning to attempt Pisang Peak in the next couple of days.
Tonight was the first night that we had the pleasure of a wood burning stove in the dining room. It made such a big difference comfort-wise. It was still cold even with it burning, but it made it tolerable if we kept our jackets and fleeces on.
As usual the power was out after dark, so the lodge owner and the porters started up some lamps. I think they were burning white gas, either that or kerosene. It got a bit dicey for a bit because they were leaking and some of the fuel got spilled all over the floor. One of the lamps started running out of fuel and during the process of trying to tak eit down from the ceiling, it ended up broken on the floor (it had not yet completely run out of fuel so was still lit during all of this).
Our room was quite cold for the first time on the trek, and for the first time a blanket was provided. We sprayed everything, including ourselves, with bug spray before going to bed that night. I was bound and determined to not get bitten by bed bugs or acquire a flea infestation on this trek. Laurence has her Nalgene water bottle filled with boiling water just before bed and uses it as a hot water bottle at night to keep warm. Plus, it has the added bonus of being safe drinking water in the morning. I thought this was a brilliant idea and followed her lead. It was nice to throw it in the sleeping bag while I brushed my teeth and then have a warm sleeping bag to get into. It stayed fairly warm for several hours and helped make sleeping so much easier. Tonight was the first night that I realized that my sleeping bag was not warm enough. I have a very nice down sleeping bag that packs really small, but it is only good to 32 degrees Fahrenheit (or so the label says, I found it to be too cold at temperatures above freezing as well). Thankfully, the blanket was available and I had my hot water bottle.
Tonight was also the first night I really felt the elevation (it was also our first night above 3000 m). I woke up several times short of breath and decided to start taking a low dose of diamox each day until we got over the pass.
1 comment:
diamox does what? helps to acclimate to the altitude? I also forgot to ask, what is a summit? Is that a jump?
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