DAY 11 – Letdar Settlement to Thorung Pedi
Thorung Pedi
Thorung Pedi Settlement
Today we walked for about 3 hours to Thorung Pedi, elevation 15,000 ft. This isn’t a village, it’s just a collection of buildings that serve as an Inn for the trekkers. They sit on this plateau at the end of the valley we’ve been following.
Our camp at ThorungPedi
I’m really feeling the lack of oxygen. I’m always breathing heavy when I walk and whenever I try to walk faster uphill…forget it. I can almost feel my red blood cells (RBCs) pedaling away trying to get more oxygen to my brain. Billy and I have both been taking the altitude medicine Diamox since the day prior to hitting the 10,000 ft mark. It speeds up acclimatization by telling the body to produce more RBCs. As of today we are totally free of any altitude sickness symptoms. Not even the inevitable altitude headache or sleeplessness. Being well hydrated and in excellent health helps too.
I saw a lot of yaks in the last couple of days. Two baby yaks followed me down the trail a little ways. They were so adorable! Also saw a bunch of blue sheep. Four baby sheep came right up to me to get petted. Perhaps it was to get fed…hmm? The people here as well as the animals are very friendly.
Yak
Tomorrow we have a 3AM wake up call. Our guide wants to be walking by 4:30, OUCH! It should take us about 4 hours to reach the infamous Thorung Pass. The early wake up is to avoid the high winds which prevail around noon. I’m not sure I’m looking forward to this. Last night it dipped down to about 25F and I was very cold. It’s supposed to be about 20 degrees colder through the pass!
Our Tent
Annapurna II
Looking back at the way we came from with a view of Annapurna II
