Now the good thing about being on a no frills tour was that we could get off a lot quicker in the morning: after all we had no showering and shaving to do and no cafetieres of coffee to linger over, (although we always had a perfectly fine breakfast). Probably the most important thing was that we had no hangovers to nurse!
We left camp feeling bright and chipper, unlike the hoorays, and looking forward to the day's walk. It was only to be a short walk as we were climbing up to the highest point on the trek and we needed to acclimatise.
It was nice to have the time to linger to look at the flowers ...
... talk to the locals ...
... and take lots of time to admire the views ...
As we climbed, we found ourselves occasionally above the clouds; it was a very long way down. The walking was very much Gio style i.e. plod, plod, plod which is the perfect way to walk. Part way through the morning we were overtaken by the hoorays, charging along at top speed and making quite a racket. We completely disapproved - what was the point of their trek!
The high point of Sandakhphu at 3,636 m was reached before lunchtime. There was very little there apart from a few tea houses. We borrowed one to brew a cup of tea. Sandakhpu is at the end of the jeep track, so it where most Indian tourists finish their trip, as they're not walking. Things were about to get a lot quieter.
As we left the settlement we were now on a walking path rather than a driving path (not that we'd have driven the driving path!) We walked for another 30 minutes or so then got to our campsite. As it was a wild camp we had it all to ourselves. The tents were up and waiting for us, so we grabbed one in the front row, dumped our gear then went to the dining tent for lunch.
While we were having lunch it rained hard. In fact it rained all afternoon, so we were all holed up in our tents, snuggled in our sleeping bags. We emerged from time to time for a quick sprint over to the dining tent for such delights as tea and the most delicious pakoras. The tent entrances got quite flooded and we had a damp floor. Our spirits remained high though and we enjoyed reading our booksand watching t.v. programmes on our iPads.
We were early to bed in view of the weather and so as to to be ready for the call to 'mountain view' at 5.00 a.m. the next morning. We'd been promised a good one.
Lots of love, George, Yorkie and Gio xxx
1 comment:
Sigh! Looks and sounds lovely - Suffolk Branch wish they were there too.
Post a Comment