Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 2

Another 5.30 start with just a cup of tea to get us under way.  We had fleeting views of Annapurna and Macchepuchere.  The problem today was that we were not sure where the finish point was going to be. Richard Bull had give us an itinerary that had the day ending at 3,660 metres at Kopra Danda. The guide books say that this is a 13-15 hours trek for two days. Suba was willing to give it a go but every person we met said that we would not get there. They were nearly right - more on that later.  This was a really beautiful day's walk on quiet trails with no one else in site. These are ancient rhododendron forests with orchids growing from the trunks and wild life.  During the day we saw or hear wild goat and pigs.

 The first place we came to was a very basic lodge where we fancied a cup of tea after an hour's walk. The only problem was that the owner and his friend were blind drunk on rhaksi (millet spirit ) at 7am. We ended up having to give them a hand and bought some biscuits to keep us going. After another hour the forest gave way to pine and open pastures. By 9.30 we had got to Dobato and had some much needed breakfast. 

We shared an omelette and a fried chapati and jam ( nicer than it sounds). The next stop was Bayeli (3,200metres) at about 11am where most people stop for the day.  We pressed on which meant a drop of  800 metres and a climb to Dhan Charka where we were told we should stay. Instead we had lunch and decided to press on for the 3 hour climb to Khopra Danda. We should really have taken more note of the spots of rain at lunch. After about 20 minutes of walking it had started to rain this turned to hail with associated thunder and lightning. Eventually it was snowing. We made it up in record time at just over 2 hours but were frozen if not a little hyperthermic.

 The hut was packed and there was no room for us but we stripped off nevertheless and got in front of the very warm fire where some lovely Italians made room  for us. We dried out, warmed up and had some food plus good conversations before bedding down for a rough night in the dining room with the porters.