Perhaps the vodka was not a good idea, but surely I can handle 2 vodka & limes with my volunteering friend & daughter. I'm up most of the night not knowing which end to put to the toilet first. One look at breakfast and I run off again. It's 8am and we're supposed to be leaving for our trek, I feel dreadful. Ve sys I should stay home and rest - do a short trek tomorrow. Please give me half an hour I ask. I take prescription medicine & will myself to be fit. I don't want to be a nuisance & be sick along the way, there will be no bathroom facilities at all for the weekend trek to see Everest.
We set off, S, Vineet (our sweet constant companion) and our guide Babu. Babu is 23 and has been guiding treks every day for the past 6 years. He has an engaging personality and I want to hug him when he offers to carry my pack. We stop at the first tea house & our caring guides persuade me to take chai. It's a nourishing drink & gives me the lift I need. We share the steep, rocky, narrow path with pack mules carrying supplies & I'm not game to look over the edge. We pass a plaque for a successful Everest climber who fell to his death here 2 years ago. 'Small steps, careful' says Babu. I'm only able to take in the surrounding beauty during our brief chai & rest stops, the rest of the time my eyes are busy watching the placement of my feet. Towards the end it gets very hard for us and we psych each step. Babu is singing and laughing all the way. We reach our destination Triund, a beach umbrella and mat has been laid out for us, we are so spoilt. We collapse and fall asleep in the sun until Babu wakes us for a hot meal of noodles. Later we continue trekking and see wild horses, magnificent views and a temple even. Though cloudy I'm enjoying photography. Later as I walk alone the clouds part & I'm able to glimpse the monster mountains Everest I don't have my camera with me but it is photographed in my mind.
We spend a very pleasant evening around a camp fire with 11 young Indian & Tamil men & a young German man. It's cold and our caring guides give us extra blankets. During the night a violent storm hail, thunder, lightening heavy rain brings them ll in to the tiny room next to us. We eat a delicious cooked breakfast in a 4mx2m room that is home, shop & restaurant to our host.
Our descent is in the rain, but I don't mind getting saturated, I'm so high I'm on a high! Again Babu insists on carrying my backpack, I tell him I'm in love with him! The track is now slippery & there are waterfalls. We walk through a cloud & emerge to spectacular views below. The expensive waterproof hiking shoes that sisters laughed at me for buying are drenched & I'm loving every squelching step!
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