We leave Mukutgaon behind us early in the morning. We don't know what is ahead of us, because none of us has ever been here. We hire a local villager to guide us to the Mu La. The weather is quite good, although in the morning it is raining a littlebit. Very soon the weather is becoming better and we see a fantsatic rainbow.
The autumn coloured slopes are fascinating and there are still many flowers. We are quite early in the season (it is October 2nd), so it is still realtively warm. We are climbing higher and higher and now you begin to feel the altitude. Our acclimatization process has been terrific because all of the going up and down and up and down for many weeks. Because the Mu La is waiting, we will start taking Diamox tonight. After a steep decend to cross a wild river, on the other side we climb higher and higher. Soon, some porters spot many blue sheep on the slopes at the other side of the river. You can hardly see them because of their color which is exactly the same as their surroundings. But as soon as they become aware of us, they start running. Now that is incredible! They are decending like crazy! The steep mountain slopes are no problem at all. I wish I could do that too.
Today's walk is not easy because of the height. Fortunately, it is a realtively short walk. We are looking for a suitable camp site, but no one sees a proper place. But one of the guides is looking up and suggests to climb up to a flat plateau. Grmbl. I hope it is a good spot because my tongue is hanging on my shoes. Well this is worth climbing for! Our camp site is a perfectly flat yak karka surrounded by the snow covered walls of the Dhaulagiri II range. It is almost too good to be true. We set up our tents and start doing nothing.
Up till now, our health has been fantastic. In previous years, Rick became ill around 3500m. A combination of sun stroke and high altitude caused headache and nausea. Because we are now at 4850 m, we think everything will be all right....Nope. In the afternoon, Rick has a headache and don't want to eat. It is the same pattern again. So he falls down on his bed, because tomorrow he will be just fine. Lucky for him, it is a day off.
The next morning, Rick is feeling much better, but decides to stay at the camp site. Today there is a voluntary trip to a lake (we assume there is a lake because it is on the map..) at 5600m. That would be a good preparation for the Mu La of tomorrow. I decide to join the crazy few, ignoring some early warning signs in the morning. When I wake up, I sometimes have to burp. These burps taste awful, like rotten eggs. But I'm feeling good, so I join the group.
We get a sneak preview of the trail we will follow tomorrow when we will climb the Mu La. At 5200m, I want to go back to the camp site (called 'Source Camp' because of all the water below) because I am cold. I discover some signs of diarroeha, so it's time to go back. The weather is changing and I don't want to go further. I have seen a small lake and I'm not very impressed. (Afterwards, I heard that when the sun came back, the water coloured blue....) One of our guides, Purna, is accompanying me. This time, I ask him to go as soon as possible to the camp site. In an blink of an eye (almost then), we run/walk to the camp site. I can hardly think, just running across the river bed to go home.
The following hours, I'm beginning to feel sick. At first, I thought my burps were the result of the first Diamox pills. But in the evening I feel so sick that the only thing I can do is waiting for some liberating vomiting :-(
Then hell breakes loose. Vomiting, intestinal problems, fever. It is horrible. I do not eat and sleep. I have to get out at night 9 times because of these problems. And I am panicking as well: tomorrow is the ascent of the Mu La, the highest pass during this trek. Super. I have to climb that stupid pass with zero calories in my body.
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