Trip to Nepal
October 2006
 Day 11 - Manang to Churi Lattar

Churi Lattar is a very small town at 4200M (just under 14000ft), into the zone now where oxygen intake becomes noticeably different.  Not dramatic, but out of breath quicker and a bit slower to recover.  After leaving Manang, we stopped in Yak Kharka after about three hours walk, in order to eat some lunch.  Yak Kharka means 'Gathering of Yaks' so I was a bit disappointed to see a very small gathering indeed (two).  The wind chill has really picked up, and it's close to 5ºC with wind chill.  There's a very large cloud filling the E-W corridor in the sky and blocking that sweet sun light.  Clouds and mountaintops mix here and appear like the sun sending out misty white solar flares.  The clouds appear to emanate directly from the snow packed peaks, because the peaks are often higher than the clouds themselves.

As we head higher,  views of mountains are easy come-by.

Early in the day, the sun is strong.

I'm wearing my hiking uniform still, but sunglasses are now a necessity.

This guy was interesting - he was 64 yrs old, an ex LA cop, who couldn't make it on his pension in the US, so he moved to Thailand.  He said he lives very well, and has done 14 trips around Annapurna.  But he has nothing to prove by walking it, so once he gets this high he rents a horse and takes the horse over the pass.  I didn't see him again, but it's the going down After the pass that seems very rough on a horse.

In this picture, you can see a bicycle riding away.  Two mountain bikers were riding / carrying their mountain bikes over the pass so they could ride them down the west side of the circuit.  I had heard of them, but assumed that their bikes were some high-tech aluminum alloy.  In fact, they were solid and not light at all.  After this, I didn't hear what happened to them.

Another mountain view - it's probably Chhulu West or Chhulu East.

This is a view looking down at the bridge just before the road comes up to the tea house in Lattar.

I've started walking up a hillside behind my lodging, turning back for a view. 

At this point, I've climbed fairly high up above my lodging and have a view that is, under more normal circumstances, incomprehensible: mountains all around, a raging river far below, a suspension bridge over the river, scrub evergreen and mountain wildflowers.
It's cold now and windy.

Ram has joined me up here, and is taking in the beautiful location also.

We met four Canadians from New Brunswick here who worked at a hospital.  They received 3/4 salary every year, but got every 4th year off to travel and this was part of their year abroad.  One of them (Laurie) had legs and lungs of steel and generally walked circles around everyone.  The group had gone down the US East coast by car, to Arizona, then down into Mexico, then two months in the Sea of Cortez sea kayaking around Baja.  Then they went north to British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, then East across Canada until they got home.  They rested for 1.5 months, then headed for Nepal.  They were going to do three treks, and this was just the first one.

Day 12 - Lattar to Thorong High Camp