23 Oct - Superlatives and the summit : Day 2 Singilila Trek

The carrot in its translucent carrier bag still came out today, but as Sarah and I yomped up hills, for much of the stunning route it was behind us. We still don't know what's in the box, or even whether it's for us. What got us going today was like four weddings and a funeral: one bad, & four extraordinarily fine!

Let's start with the bad. 5am, although it might have been earlier, and our hosts' dogs decided to outdo the cockerel. Almost tuneful, but unbelievably annoying. If it hadn't been quite so cold I might just have run outside to throttle them. They did serve as an alarm tho', and despite my fears that they were warning of something sinister, five minutes later an annoyingly buoyant Ajay knocked on our door.

"Worth getting up?" I mumbled from under thick layers of duvet and blankets. "Yes, yes, please come!"

Five minutes later and we were fuelled by the most spectacular view of Kanchenjunga: crystal clear and lit by a rising red orb to our right. Spectacular doesn't even start to do it justice, but I'd better save the real enthusiasm for tomorrow. 30 degrees further right, we see, for the first time, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, the Tibetan plateau and all the way West to Annapurna. As morning vistas go, a 34 year high for me, 31 for Sarah... The energy we felt definitely good point number 1, and surprisingly effective fuel for enthusiastic walking to today's goal, Sandakphu, where the views should be even better.

Then breakfast. Highlight 2. Once you disassociated the ingrained smokey smell, that of lentils in chilli and coriander, closely followed by cooking Tibetan bread lured to gluttony. A spread, no, a feast to fuel the most ardent walker. And thus, unable to resist seconds of all of porridge, bread, and pulses, my determination for the trek ahead grew.

Pride. Pride is normally seen as an ugly virtue. But today I wanted to prove I could carry - to hike independently. Chering, our porter, looked somewhere between abashed and happy as I told him I'd carry the big pack until lunch. So that's number 4. View, breakfast, pride, and the promise of an even better view to come. As it happened we outpaced the pack horses going the same way as us, and Ajay for most of the route (although I suspect he was being kind), and the only movement on the track faster than us was the inimitable Land Rovers.

So I find myself now in the company of the drivers, drinking Tungba (millet beer) and Rhododendron wine. Sarah is tucked up in bed staving off the bitter cold at the 3636m we have reached. The drivers are a jovial bunch, and the same smiling faces we passed earlier repairing an extraordinarily steep piece of the track. The room is dark, lit only by a candle, and the warmth has steamed the windows. There's a sense of companionship that comes from their shared endeavour. What they do with 60 year old Landies is incredible: yesterday's tracks seem like A roads in comparison to what we have seen them tackle today: insane descents, climbs that by foot we struggled with. Skilful underplays it, but as you'd expect, they're modest, quiet and charming. I did ask, but it was very clear that I couldn't have a go!!

Pictures:

Kanchenjunga at sunrise, and the crowds are up to catch their first glimpse too. Can you tell we're enjoying it.

Land Rover heritage lovers eat your hearts out!

Millet beer stored in its traditional wooden containers. You drink it through a bamboo straw!