The second day of the trail began with a wake up call at our tent at 6am. They bring coca tea to your tent to entice you out of bed. Again, so spoilt.
Brekkie is good here too, the chefs and porters are my heros.
We were told today was the hardest day of the whole trail. We were walking 8km and ascending 1200m of stone steps, followed by 4km more down 600m to 3600m above sea level.
We ventured off and started the climb up the stairs. It was a hot day and we got a bit burnt. By lunch we had walked up 800m and 6km. We were exhausted.
After lunch however, proved to be the hardest stretch of the whole trip. The ascent up to dead Womans pass at 4215m above sea level was difficult as the altitude started to kick in. Sim was already suffering stomach cramps and a bit of gastro, and now she had to deal with the lack of oxygen. We slowly made our way up. The journey up was amazing. Streams, cascading waterfalls and exotic plants line the trail. We also got a close glimpse at some hummingbirds and deers.
When we finally got to the top, the sense of accomplishment was quite overwhelming. You could look back down and sea how far we had come. The architect in me compared the climb to walking up the Empire State building 3 times.
The walk down the mountain proved even more harrowing, easier but scarier. The stone steps are in no way BCA compliant. You wanted to motor down but you had to do so with caution.
We finally got to camp just before sunset. What a long day, so hard yet so fulfilling.
We ate dinner and then got a surprise when the chefs brought out s cake covered in jelly for dessert. These guys never cease to amaze, how they managed to bake a cake and set jelly on top, in such a short time and with minimal equipment I'll never know.
That night it began to rain. It was a tough notes sleep.
- Blog from iMat
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