Tuesday 1 December 2009

In search of the mountains - Day 1

-Tumling, 2980m

One down, five to go :). I haven't trekked in a long long time! And it shows :(. The 2 hour walk to Pulpit Rock this summer doesn't really count, I was carrying practically nothing at the time. By any standard I'm carrying a reasonably light pack, but those first 15 minutes were horrible!!!!Eventually had to swap my pack for my guide/porter's much lighter backpack. It felt terrible :(, what with the whole 'don't pack what you can't carry' thing gnawing in my head :(. But at least I was smart enough to swallow my pride and be sensible about it. Half an hour or so later, feeling somewhat better acclimatised, I swapped back :). Thankfully, all the way to Tumling.The weather was quite bright and sunny when we left Maneybhanjang and I got a pretty good look at the gompa at Chitrey. By the time we'd made it to Lamaydhura for breakfast, little more than half a dozen huts by the trail less than halfway to Tumling, the swirling wraiths of fog had overtaken us.By my reckoning, it took us just short of three and a half hours, minus the food stop. And we got to Tumling just after 1130, well before I'd expected! It's a good thing I suppose, gave me a little more time to get used to things. There's a viewing spot quite close to here from where one can apparently see Kanchendzonga and even Mt. Everest in the distance, but sadly the weather's made that impossible. Maybe if it lifts around sunrise tomorrow I'll manage to sneak a peak before heading off towards Kalipokhri.The evening flew by as other trekkers landed up! I'd spent the entire afternoon reading and checking the weather outside every now and then. Unfortunately, none of the others are heading any further, so I suppose it'll be just me and Nema again. I must say though, I'm quite happy with my recovery! All the soreness is more or less gone. Plus, tomorrow promises to be a somewhat similar, maybe even easier trek, compared to today's :).Currently: beginning to look forward to this!
Listening to: the crackling candle

No comments:

Post a Comment