Back in the mountains!

Kanchenjunga- the world's third highest peak
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So here I am, back on my own again, back in the mountains! Darjeeling is pretty amazing- stunning views of Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest mountain. And it's cold again! Sounds ridiculous but I was so happy to be back in my long johns and hat and fleece last night after the sweltering heat and sweatiness of the last weeks! I've found a nice little hostel that has amazing views and best of all a dog...called Spanky! I was told to call him by his name to make him stop barking...not sure I can bring myself to do that!! Just been wandering around townand taking it easy cos feeling quite fluey. Calcutta was a breeding ground for germs- al lot of the patients were obviously carrying bacteria and then all the volunteers lived in close quarters....but I bought some powerful Indian medicine and it'll all be good for tomorrow's trek, I'm sure!!

Kanchenjunga dominates the place
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And yes-  I did go for the trek, fever and all! I decided it would be better for me than lying around in bed feeling sorry for myself. Especially becasue none of the places here have any heating so it's actually colder inside than outside! So off I set, with my little guide Sandeep- a cute little 16 year old. And the trek was unreal. The views were out of this world! Kanchenjunga right there next to us the whole way along! Worth the suffering! the first day we only did 9 kms, arriving at 1 o'clock. And I pretty much went straight to bed. In all my clothes, my sleeping bag, three layers of blanket and a hot water bottle! Then I was actually quite toasty! :) And after 18 hours of sleep I was ready to tackle the mountain. Had a really good day of trekking...and ran into some crazies! Or more accurately they ran into me- they're actually running 100 miles in five days- in the HImalayas, the very same places I was trekking! I ended up walking about 8 kms with one of the guys who had given up runnig at that stage. Mental! In their little running shoes and all! Most of them are English..in fact the oldest participant is an English lady! 68 years old!!! How incredible and inspiring is that? They've raised millions for chartiy doing it aswell, and were having such a laugh. Well kind of. There was a real celebratory atmosphere in the camp that evening but on the other hand I overheard some of them calling home and it was always the same: 'oh my god, that's the hardest thing I've ever done, so awful etc etc' no REALLY??!! Funny! That night was not funny though- even colder! To the extent that in the morning everything was frozen! My toothpaste, and the bucket of water that's in the bathroom and gets used to flush the toilet!! Even the sleeping bag and three layers of blankets didn't help there...Anyways, the next day I let runners do their running ( a marathon today, just for the laugh) and descended- 2000m in about four hours. My thighs are now killing me! But it was so worht it. The sunrise this morning was just unreal- we climbed up to a little hill this morning at 5am and saw the sun go up over the Himalayan range. An unbroken 360 degree panoramic view of so many of the world's highest peaks. And a bright red ball of sun slowly getting bigger and illumintaing Everst and Kanchenjunga. Amazing!! And I feel slightly more prepared and back in the zone for the big Annapurna trek, woohooo!

I worked out that I had my first hot shower in 2 MONTHS!!!

Red panda ( admittedly in a zoo...the world's highest apparently! :) )
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On the way back we stopped in a littel village called Rimbik- and I worked out that I had my first hot shower in 2 MONTHS!!! It was such joy- it didn'[t even last that long, got cold again after a few minutes but while it was hot and I was actually able to wash my hair properly I was just laughing with pure happiness! The people outside must ahev thoguht I was a right weirdo!! But who cares?!!