Javeed had conjured us up what we thought was a challenging first couple days. Of course this was only the “warm up”, explained Tsering our guide. We called him Sri for short, but affectionately remember him as the Tibetan Johnny Depp. He wore a skull and crossbones headscarf and ran on nicotine, black tea, and glacier water.
He was incredulous that we didn’t want to stop and rest (our motto was slow and steady wins the race), as they were his smoke breaks. So he resorted to lighting his tiny handrolled cigarettes as soon as he was 20 yards ahead of us on the trail. I also suspect he ran a small gambling racket amoung the pony-men.
On Kilimanjaro, the highest camp was at 15,330 ft, and they discouraged people staying a full night there, as it is only meant to be used as a staging ground for summit attempts due to the increased risk of altitude sickness. In Ladakh, we were to spend nearly the entirety of this trek well above 15,000 ft.
It was on Madok La that the cumulative time at elevation began to affect me (Jesse), which led to poor sleep and appetite. It felt like I was always full, and eating felt like adding more air to an overfilled balloon, tempting it to pop. I powered through.
Jen did a little better, despite our brown (boilded) drinking water containing visible sand and bits of yak turd in it.
Stuffed to the gills with food and fueled by our fiber-rich water, we set off in the morning for the next mountain pass, Madok La (16,000 feet). First we had a stream crossing through thigh-high, fast-running, and limb-numbingly cold glacial water. A German in another group demonstrates the technique in style, stripped down to near essentials – neon green spandex, ski poles, and sunglasses.
A view back on our campsite as we begin climbing, Stok Kangri in the background.
More climbing
Some curious Himalayan marmots we spotted
There were some trekkers and ponies going in the other direction, on their way to climb Stok Kangri… maybe next time.
After a few tough hours we reached the top of Madok La pass, looking at Stok Kangri and the watercolor foothills.
The prayer flags mark the end of a climb, at approximately 16,000 feet.
Our new ponies (replacing the donkeys).
A last view of Stok Kangri before we descend.
Lunch spot on the descent to the next camp.
A mango juice induced coma, the Dutch passed us here.
Only to be woken up by this pony man looming over, chatting with Tsering.
After rousing ourselves, we continued walking to the campsite, called Madok Pho (about 14,500 feet).
One of the ponies brought its baby to work. On the job training starts early here.
A view of the campsite ahead, with the following day’s course looming over. Tsering is in the foreground.
Can’t get enough of the snowcapped peaks.
At the campsite, the precipitous trail for the next morning visible above – note the line of ponies making their way above the tents.
Later, a heard of Yak invaded our camp, wrecking havoc and eating camp supplies.
Another gorgeous sunset.
So we passed the first test of the trek, in less stellar shape than Kili, but nonetheless invigorated by the beatiful surroundings. The final push up next…
round the world in sixty days 