Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 3

It was a difficult night sleeping in the noisy dining room not because of the porters but noisy French Trekkers and the kitchen staff. I had to get up twice in the night to close the doors that were wide open and letting in wind and snow. On the upside because the storm raged for most of the night by morning the skys were clear and we were rewarded with stunning views of Daulagiri, Nilgiri and the Anapurnas.

 The itinerary said we were to run down to Tatopani 2,500 metres below us. This was not going to happen for a number of reasons. A few inches of snow on a high mountain ridge do not make for good running and we were both feeling the effects of a rough night and altitude headaches plus the fact that it was another breakfast of black tea and biscuits. It was slow tedious work cutting a route through the snow and ice on the stones steps downhill. This went on for about 2 hours by which time Menai was suffering. It eventually took us 4 hours to get to the lovely old fashioned village of Paundaw where work was in full swing getting in the winter barley. The harvest, threshing and winnowing all done by hand in ways unchanged for centuries.

It was a really lovey place that managed to have a miraculous  effect on Menai who had a coffee and apple pancake that saw her bouncing down the hill to Tatopani. We found a decent room in a guest house where we did some washing and went for a dip in the hot springs for £1.20 each. Really nice to have a few comforts and an early night.