Thin Air.

After a breakfast of pancakes and honey we are off.  Another six hours of walking today and I will go over three thousand meters above sea lever.

As we make our way moving past a herd of animals that are half cow half yak (yow?) we wind our way alongside the river still amongst the tree's.  After seeing yet more monkey's dangling from tree's we come across some very tall and straight tree's.  These are Himalayan pine tree's ad they only grow in the Langtang Park.  It is illegal to cut these tree's down.  A little while later Geljin points to some dug up earth "Wild boar did this" he exclaims "Are they dangerous?" I ask "Oh yes" he replies and carries on walking.  I find out there are lots of dangerous animals in Langtang Park including the Black Bear although they are few and far between.  Geljn tells me that when he was about fourteen he was with his brother collecting leaves for their families livestock when a black bear dropped on him.  He ran and ran without looking back and escaped unharmed.

It is the Buddhist New Year today. and every lodge we stop at offers us Tibetan bread and tea, their brand new prayer flags flapping in the breeze.  It is custom to replace these flags every new year.  Our first break is at Ghoda Tabela which at three thousand meters is the highest I have ever been with my feet on the ground.  It is a beautiful clear day with not a cloud in the sky.  The further we walk the fewer the tree's and the greater the yak.  I see lots of baby yaks they are very cute.

We lunch at Thangsyap.  I have vegetable noodles and black tea.  The sun is out but the wind is strong up here.  We have climbed one hundred and fifty meters today and it was easily the hardest section yet.  I was more than happy to break for lunch.

Shortly after lunch just outside of Langtang village at a place called Gumba we are invited in to have tea and bread.  The last hour has been fairly easy going allowing time to adjust for the altitude.  The family at Gumba are very friendly and the oldest boy insists on posing with his bow by their new prayer flag and the lady that offered us tea poses by their New Year offering of food that every house has in its dining room.

It is not long to Langtang and we stop at a hotel just outside the main part of the village called 'The Peace Full Guesthouse' it almost lives up to its name but the strong winds in the night make it far from peaceful.  The rooms are nice and clean and after more bread and tea I have a quick wash and give my clothes a clean. I hope my trousers dry in the sun as I will freeze in the evening if I only wear shorts.

There is a Swiss guy doing more or less the same hike as me with his own Sherpa, as well as a couple who are either German or Austrian who are doing it all off their own backs and were on the same bus as me from Kathmandu.  They all seem very nice and I have chatted with the Swiss guy a lot.  He has a bad stomach probably food poisoning but is carrying on regardless, after Nepal he is off to Australia.  We are also joined at the lodge by a friendly French family.  I am really starting to enjoy this trekking lark.  Like all the lodges the dining room has a table offering special bread and cakes as well as drinks to God in return for peace and prosperity for their families and village.  I feel quite lucky to have been here during Losar seeing all the brand new prayer flags waving in the blue sky and getting to see some of the rituals.

At this moment the sun is out in force and I have spent the day surrounded by snowcapped mountains.  It doesn't get much better.