24 Oct - Singilila Ridge Day 3: It was like Christmas morning....

Waking up at half past 4 in the morning with a knot of excitement in my tummy is something I used to save for Christmas time. Dad has many stories of coaxing us back into bed with the promise that the fun could wait just a few hours longer...

This morning, however, Dad wasn't about and so my tingling toes (wide awake too thanks to the luxury of an unexpected hot water bottle which was presented at bedtime last night) twitched with excitement at the thought of our 5am wake-up call. Would the mountains be visible this morning? Was the 190 degree view really worth the trek up here to 3636 metres? Would Giles be able to tolerate my excitable state for much longer? At last, 5:10 and the tap on the door, accompanied with: 'Sir, sunrise' arrived. I bounded out of bed, put on every layer I could find, struggled to find my glasses and within 10 seconds of walking out the door of our drafty little hostel we found ourselves speechless at what we saw: a gigantic snow-covered panorama stretching as far as the eye could see. The initial hues of dark purple and blue transformed into fiery reds and yellows as we scrambled a few feet higher up to a viewpoint which presented Kanchenjunga's most famous angle: the Sleeping Buddha. From left to right her peaks resemble a magnificent horizontal human-like profile.

Kanchenjunga can't fail to dominate the skyline, she's just so close, but from our privileged viewing platform we can see much more: a perfect ridge of Stegosaurus-like peaks boasting 5 of the 6 highest peaks on earth. On the far left is Annapurna, our hiking destination in just over a month's time; out to the right is Bhutan's highest peak of 7800 meters; but of course the highlight was the very top of the world, Everest, who appeared to grow as the sun rose from the valley below. Words (unlike Giles) actually fail me, and I just hope the attached shots go a small way to help illustrate what we saw. Of all the places I have been in the world, this comes the most highly recommended to you all. Come and walk the Singalila Ridge!

And walk we did... The day certainly didn't go downhill from here. Loaded with porridge and Tibetan bread we set off for our destination: Molley, just 16 kms away. We were walking along a path, paralleling the Himalayas, and in relative warmth to enjoy the changing faces of the mountains as the sun and cumulus cloud rose. The foreground's rolling landscape was spectacular enough, but raise your head a few degrees and peaks continued to wow. Fortunately the grassy ridge was forgiving enough on the feet to allow the subconscious to drive, allotting precious time to absorb what we were seeing on the horizon.

By lunchtime the clouds had engulfed the giants but the atmosphere was no less impressive. The fog made for an eerie climb to our lunch spot where we were greeted by the chilly bleat of a 3-day old goat kid. Fortunately she wasn't on the menu and instead I enjoyed a cuddle as we ate yak's cheese Tukpa around an open fire. We weren't in any kind of restaurant, but simply within a small hut owned by one of Ajay's friends. Rows of cheese hung overhead, and when we enquired about the value of the stock, we learned that the owners were sitting on a relative gold mine! But, out of choice, they went about their simple lives where survival in the mountains is the priority, and no wish for material wealth beyond their shack and livestock was apparent.

A stiff post-lunch climb at altitude was made harder still with bulging cheese-filled bellies, but just 4 km later we reached Molley. Cold, foggy and rather run down, we retreated to our room for the latest round of Canasta: my new favourite card game taught by Giles and won by me! A perfect end to a perfect day...