Annapurna X, rest days in Manang

Описание: Friday, 25 April 2025

We all slept much better last night, and my watch indicated we've now acclimated to 7,050', a 1,000' improvement over yesterday. Every night we spend in Manang, at 11,700', we're probably going to gain another 1,000'.

We met Joey for breakfast. He was originally planning to make the side trip to Tilicho Lake, but instead, he's going to make a beeline for the Pass to stay ahead of the forecast bad weather. We're in no hurry, and Ken's still sick. We can afford to stay in this hotel for a week if need be, and it's certainly no hardship.

Patsy wanted to hike up the south wall of the valley to check out the glacier nearest Manang. We set off at 9 am. We're obviously not well acclimated since we were soon huffing and puffing our way up the steep trail. We were nevertheless still overtaking everyone else, and no one passed us.

After about 1,000' ascent, we came to a small inhabited settlement. Brrr, it must get really cold here at night. We continued another 500' to a Stupa located at 13,000'. That was enough for me today. I was tired and wanted to get back down before the wind picked up.

We dropped our gear off in the room, found Ken, and went for cappuccinos and pastries in our hotel before heading off to the daily 3 pm Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) lecture.
The current resident GP, Dr. David, is British. Patsy and I chatted to him for a while. He'd applied to volunteer here for a 3-month stint six years ago. He retired 3 years ago, but the Nepalese government still gave him the job.

Ken had a coughing fit and left the room halfway through the lecture. David said it's not uncommon to pick up what Ken has in Kathmandu. He said Ken should recover with rest, but it would certainly increase his chance of suffering from AMS if he tried to go over the Pass in his current condition. We were told that half the people going over the Pass suffer from AMS, most of them below age 50, and not even the Nepali are immune. They've already had a couple of porter mortalities this season.

David applauded our decision to hang out in Manang. He said we're staying in the best hotel with the best bakery.

We went for dinner at 18:30. I had a Yak (most likely water buffalo) steak with a mushroom brandy sauce, veggies, and fries with Buckthorn juice (a local specialty). Patsy had a mushroom omelette with steamed vegetables, and Ken had a veggie burger and fries.

Saturday, 26 April 2025

Patsy and I slept very well last night. When we awoke up at 7 am, my watch said we've gained another 800' acclimation, so now it's 7,850'. Our acclimation benefit is tapering off, but I had the best night's sleep in at least a week with good REM (1'20"), and deep (1'50") sleep stages according to my watch.

At breakfast, Ken was still coughing and congested, so we encouraged him to see Dr. David. Then he asked us to check the back of his neck. It's sunburnt and peeling, but didn't appear to be blistering. His hat doesn’t have any protection for the back of his neck, but he was with us when I was looking for a new hat, specifically with a neck flap, in Kathmandu. I had trouble finding one, and ended up buying an expensive Columbia Sportswear hat. We found Ken a much cheaper hat with a neck flap here in Manang, so he bought that.

Today, Patsy and I wanted to climb up the Manang side of the Marsyangdi River Valley to pay a visit to the Praken Gompa, where we were told there's a resident Lama.

Starting uphill, we soon came to the beautiful "Milarepa Memorial Park" that looked like a Gompa. It's very ornate and clearly well-kept, with an entry walkway lined with cherry trees. It would be the perfect location to enjoy apple pie and cappuccino, but, sadly, there didn't appear to be a cafe here.

Higher and higher we climbed until, after 500m vertical, we reached Praken Gompa. The resident Lama, Anni Chorten, performed a puja, giving us both blessings, and made tea for us. In exchange, we made a donation. Anni is 77 years old and lives alone, following in her father's footsteps. Her father, Deshi Lama, lived here until not long before he died, at age 101.

The Gompa was like an Anasazi cliff dwelling. It was built into the cliff and consisted of at least 4 rooms. We were joined at the Gompa by a young Italian couple, Maria Luisa, Gianni, and their guide (they have a porter, also). Maria Luisa was very animated.

Ken had been to see Dr. David, who prescribed him some medication and told him he needs to rest some more.

We were expecting snow tonight and/or tomorrow, so we'll hang out in Manang. We didn’t come prepared to slog through miles of snow, and we're not anticipating that the upcoming tea houses will be even close to the same standard as Tilicho Hotel.

Returning to our room, I was able to climb two steps at a time. Hitherto, I've been struggling to climb one stair at a time, so I'm getting stronger. For dinner tonight, Ken and I both ordered veggie pizza. Patsy had dal bhat.