I have given you what were sort of the concluding comments, the summary or the résumé of our trek; it is time to go into some detail. While we walked I wrote; we'd arrive at camp mid to late afternoon, pop up our two man (that is really a one man) tent and then with a much-needed afternoon chai in hand I would slip off to some rock or grassy patch to begin scribbling away. I have a couple of diaries containing the day-by-day run-down of what we did, but I cannot be asked to put all that up on this blog and you might very well find it rather boring. Instead I will write about the highlights - the characters we met, near-death experiences, special places, etc.
Each day we had our routine: We would wake up at around about six am, stretch and slip out of our smooth silky Kathmandu sleeping bag liners to varying degrees of cool. The first ten days had me going to bed in all my thermals and even my down jackets and piling Mum's warm clothes under my feet (I have a super short thermorest), while Mum snuggled onto her full-length, down-lined, extra-warm Exped mat and woke up each morning saying how hot she'd been. Crawling out of the tent I would, each morning, be blown away by the view - snow-capped mountains, raging rivers, gorges, the Himalayas! We'd get into our trekking gear and pack up the tent before breakfast. Our horseman would sometimes bring us a chai, which would make our morning all the merrier. For breakfast there was usually some variation on sabji and rice - chapattis or muesli if we were lucky and once or twice omelettes (!). Somehow, by the time we had slip-slap-slopped (put on our sunscreen, for all you non-Aussies) and were ready to set out it was usually about half seven. One morning we left before five to cross the Shingo La before the snow had melted and we risked disappearing underneath it, but in general our departure time got later and once we started walking with our French buddies we were doomed to leave at eight or eight thirty.It wasn't really an issue but setting out is usually better because a) it gets hot and b) days were long and it is nice to arrive at camp with a bit of time left to enjoy the afternoon. Our horseman said Mum and I walk fast, which we don't. We walk at a good pace (if you ask me) stopping to take pics, enjoy the view, eat a few fruits and nuts and sometimes we'd even tack on an extra break for lunch (Manali cheese and bread while we had it and then stale-ish chapattis by the end). But our breaks weren't long and we did make good time. Once we'd done the camp set up it was usually time to eat or prepare dinner. We had asked for our horseman to do dinners for us but it didn't often turn out that way. He cooked half the time and was off in the mountains with his horses the rest of it, which meant Mum was often in charge of dinner, reluctant or not. I somehow managed to get out of dinner duty most nights, I think it was a combination of our horseman's reactions to my cooking and cleaning and my being busy writing. By the time we had eaten it was usually late (past nine) and after I watched the sky for a good ten minutes - the stars are spectacularly bright and each night I saw at least one shooting star - it was time to crash.
Within this rather stable routine I have collected countless wonderful memories and photographs that I will share in this blog over the next few weeks or months.The stories won't be in chronological order but it should be clear enough. Now you have the context I can get into meat of it all!
Each day we had our routine: We would wake up at around about six am, stretch and slip out of our smooth silky Kathmandu sleeping bag liners to varying degrees of cool. The first ten days had me going to bed in all my thermals and even my down jackets and piling Mum's warm clothes under my feet (I have a super short thermorest), while Mum snuggled onto her full-length, down-lined, extra-warm Exped mat and woke up each morning saying how hot she'd been. Crawling out of the tent I would, each morning, be blown away by the view - snow-capped mountains, raging rivers, gorges, the Himalayas! We'd get into our trekking gear and pack up the tent before breakfast. Our horseman would sometimes bring us a chai, which would make our morning all the merrier. For breakfast there was usually some variation on sabji and rice - chapattis or muesli if we were lucky and once or twice omelettes (!). Somehow, by the time we had slip-slap-slopped (put on our sunscreen, for all you non-Aussies) and were ready to set out it was usually about half seven. One morning we left before five to cross the Shingo La before the snow had melted and we risked disappearing underneath it, but in general our departure time got later and once we started walking with our French buddies we were doomed to leave at eight or eight thirty.It wasn't really an issue but setting out is usually better because a) it gets hot and b) days were long and it is nice to arrive at camp with a bit of time left to enjoy the afternoon. Our horseman said Mum and I walk fast, which we don't. We walk at a good pace (if you ask me) stopping to take pics, enjoy the view, eat a few fruits and nuts and sometimes we'd even tack on an extra break for lunch (Manali cheese and bread while we had it and then stale-ish chapattis by the end). But our breaks weren't long and we did make good time. Once we'd done the camp set up it was usually time to eat or prepare dinner. We had asked for our horseman to do dinners for us but it didn't often turn out that way. He cooked half the time and was off in the mountains with his horses the rest of it, which meant Mum was often in charge of dinner, reluctant or not. I somehow managed to get out of dinner duty most nights, I think it was a combination of our horseman's reactions to my cooking and cleaning and my being busy writing. By the time we had eaten it was usually late (past nine) and after I watched the sky for a good ten minutes - the stars are spectacularly bright and each night I saw at least one shooting star - it was time to crash.
Within this rather stable routine I have collected countless wonderful memories and photographs that I will share in this blog over the next few weeks or months.The stories won't be in chronological order but it should be clear enough. Now you have the context I can get into meat of it all!
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