Sleeping at altitude is weird. I seem to sleep solidly for about 6 hours, then need the loo. After that sleeping is a bit horrible: doze off, wake with a start short of air, panic then breathe, calm down, doze off and repeat for what feels like the rest of the night. Unpleasant!
Today we move on to Khare our highest accommodation of the tour at 4900m – or near enough 5000m. We will stay there 3 nights while we acclimatize by going further but coming back down, and just not doing that much but breathing. That’s the secret to it, apparently.
Up there, more or less in the centre hides Khare. To the right, amongst the smoother areas of snow, is the ascent route to High Camp and then Mera Peak.
On the way up there is a glacial lake that makes a picturesque spot.
The lake used to be larger but a landslide collapsed the natural dam and drained the lake.
The view is even better with someone posing for a picture.
Beyond the lake we follow the river.
Watch out for down bound traffic.
A bit about what the walking is like: In terms of muscle and cardio it’s no big deal. We’re not doing many miles and though some bits are steep we’re not doing huge ascents. It’s just about getting enough air.
So having great lung capacity and fitness is the thing. Not having that, my own solution, is to breathe through my nose so I don’t hyper ventilate, and breathe as deep as I can (full yoga breaths) in time with my foot steps. It seems to work so far, sounds like hard work but I don’t get out of breath.
After lots of deep breaths Khare comes in sight.
We’re staying in one of five guest houses in the village. Everything is about Mera Peak. You can even hire gear here. How come no one in the muggle world has heard of Mera Peak?
The accomodation is better standard here with electricity in the room – free too! And lighting. And the loo isn’t outside. We get quite excited.
The common room has a sun lounge with amazing views. It’s almost too hot to sit here but when the sun goes down and the temperature plummets you can order a hot chocolate.
