Landruk (1565m) > Ghandruk (1940m): A little down, and then a little up, hmm

What can I say?

Words can’t express… we’re woken by the smooth tones of Sittaram as usual

“Helloooo…. Washing waterssss”

I unzip the tent, and hitting me in the face is what exactly?

Annapurna South (7219m).

At some point overnight it has been ice-cream scooped into position and the mist removed for breakfast.

Amazing morning view.

But to bring me back down to Earth… T’s back is truly rooted.

. It’s a little better she says, but I think not. We had told Ang about it the night before and he gave her some meds, which helped a little I guess. We had another chat over breakfast and he was encouraging… just saying we can take our time and all that stuff. Luckily, we were in the position of having 3 guides to 4 guests, so if need be, the group can split should the pace become an issue.

Ahh well… Breakfast and away… We’ll see what happens. The first part of the day is downhill, so maybe that’ll make life easier… A 1100m descent always looks good on paper.

So yeah… basically after 20 minutes of struggling on in a stubborn whimper I sat T down, took her pack off and strapped it to my front… It some sadistic way it was a good thing we bought the same packs …since I could effectively couple her pack to the harness of mine and have it free-swinging across my chest.

Hmm.

Ang, Subas and Sittaram all tried to take the pack from me.

. But I mean seriously… You guys are already carrying more than us with the medical pack and stuff.. So no.

Well, we hobbled down to the Modi Khola (400m) and crossed the bridge to begin our ardurious 1400m ascent… some of us rucking two packs, hmm

As mean as the day sounds, it wasn’t actually too bad… I kind of think that the shock factor of the steps from the get-go at Phedi was more difficult.. Not that I’m saying this was easy… Seriously though, it was a struggle for me.

T on the other hand… She was fkd. Her back wouldn’t let her do much more than 10 minutes at a time before she had to take a seat or stay still for a few minutes. Understandable. I actually have a classic photo that surmises the day when we arrived at Ghandruk… I’m all smiley and she just looks depleted from pain…. I won’t post the photo though, haha.

Anyway… We finally made it to Ghandruk (1940m), which is also a big village. Watched some local dogs having a play fight at the campsite… I laid out of beds and T had a lay down.

Apparently word had got around to the porters of my two-packed hike as I was now acknowledged by them as being more than just some foreigner with money.

I had asserted my alpha maleness to Eric.