Day 8: acclimatisation in manang

Stephen got up at 6 am to hike to the ice lake with arm and the guide. I decided to actually have a rest(ish) day and explore menang.

I watched sunrise over the valley from the warmth of my sleeping bag the had a delicious breakfast of real coffee and baked beans with chapati.

I then went for a wander up through ‘town’. Sadly the Himalayan mountain rescue haven’t arrived yet, and many shops were still shut because its only the start of the season. I spotted a bakery and sat outside in the sun for second coffee ( which was proper filter coffee) and a freshly baked crossiant, still hot. I got chatting to another trekker who was keen to climb up to the monestry at 4000m above manang.

We set off for 1 hour basically straight up. It was tough but the views were amazing. There were 2 other monuments on the way up we kept thinking must have been the right place but it was still up up up.

We arrived and found a female monk in a cave like temple carved into the mountain. Apparently we were the first visitors that day. She gave each of us a blessing for safe passage across the high pass, and made us black tea. We stayed and chatted for a while. She had lived there 35 years. After almost an hour, other trekkers started to appear, so we decided to head back down. Much more tricky. 

I eventually got back to the hotel by midday And had a delicious tomato soup for lunch and a cold shower.

In the afternoon, myself and 3 other trekkers headed up to see the gangapurna glacier and lake at the bottom. Another high hike with an amazing view. Climbing high sleeping low helps you acclimatise. 

By the time I got back stephen and the rest of our group were back. Having had a nice day at the ice lake. 

Dinner was potato based before struggling to get to sleep because of a generator outside the room.

Tomorrow we start to go proper high. I’m feeling a bit scared but feel well acclimatised now. Fingers crossed there’s no snow.