Day 9 – September 26

Acclimatization day in Manang. Woke up late (7 am). Lazy breakfast. Started reading “Into Thin Air” (the true story of how a lot of people died climbing Everest during a snow storm). Walked through the village. Pretty laid back place, lots of lodges and restaurants. A couple of bakeries as well, with Western products (cinnamon rolls!). Several shops where you can buy everything a trekker might or might not need: clothes, Toblerone, dried fruits, RedBull, books (“Into Thin Air” being among the popular ones), medicine, SD cards, trekking poles (sigh…), etc. Resupplied on soap and toilet paper.

Before leaving Kathmandu, we bought supplies: dried fruits, granola bars, peanut butter, the sorts. Barely touched them by now, as we were never hungry, with so many restaurants along the route. In Manang we could have bought everything we wanted (well, on a slightly higher price). No need to carry everything up here.

Went to a lecture on acclimatization held by the Himalayan Rescue Association. Got some helpful tips for planning the next few days. General rules for acclimatization:
– sleep 300 meters higher each day; you can also sleep 500 meters higher each day if every 2 days of walking are followed by a rest day
– the “climb high, sleep low” technique (you can climb as high as you want during the day, as long as you descend and obey the previous rule) speeds up acclimatization
– if you’re vomiting, you might be developing high altitude cerebral edema; take Dexamethasone and descend
– if you feel you lungs are filling with liquid, you might be developing high altitude pulmonary edema; take Nifedipine and descent
– Diamox can help in speeding up acclimatization

Went to one of the local cinemas and watched “7 years in Tibet”. Sat on wooden benches covered with yak pelts. The $2.50 entry fee included tea and popcorn.

Day 10 – September 27

Clearest day yet. Trekked for 2 hours while looking in awe at the white caps around us. Facing Manang we had Gangapurna (7455 m – check out the awesome photo here) and its glacier. Looming in the distance we could see La Grande Barriere, with Tilicho Peak (7134 m) to its right. The story behind the name can be read here.

Started a 4 day side trek to Tilicho Lake. Today we’re staying in Khangsar (3750 m).

Here’s a map of the Tilicho Lake trek in relation to the main trek. The map was taken off nepal-dia.de, where we also bought the pdf guide.Since we’re off the main route, accommodations are more basic. You may ask yourself what can be more basic than a squat toilet or having the water faucet outside of the building. Well, the lodge we’re staying in now advertises 24 hour hot showers. The shower room is just an empty room… with a drain. And you get a bucket of hot water and a cup.

There was a TV in the dining room. It was running a stupid show on the Indian version of National Geographic, with lots of silly YouTube videos. Felt so weird watching TV after being cut off for 10 days. Didn’t matter we didn’t understand the language. Even the commercials got us hooked.