Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 9

Today was rest day with a leisurely start which was just as well because Menai had a terrible night with a combination of altitude sickness  and a cold. She went to see the group doctor who gave her a half dose of diamox for the altitude and a decongestant for her cold. 

During the morning we had a tour round the ancient walled city  of Lo Mantang.  This included visiting two Buddhist temples one dating from the 13th century and the other more impressive one from the 15th. It really incredible to think that this remote place was once the centre of Buddhist learning in the area. We also visited a monk museum, a monastery where children form the age of 7 are sent to become monks. The next visit was to a herbarium and a Buddhist doctor. He told people that they might be out of breath if they climbed slopes and might suffer from stomach upsets - no surprises there then. 

After the tour Menai went to bed and I joined some other runners for a coffee in an Illy coffee shop nearby and it wasn't bad coffee either. I even took a take away for Menai which she drank and went back to sleep until lunch! In the afternoon I want for a walk round the town with ex pilot Jim and Menai slept. 

The evening was spent preparing and fretting abut the next day which was to be a big high altitude day. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 8

So to stage 3 and the most altitude of the trip. This was a 21k race with over 1000 meters of climbing including two high passes. The running weather was perfect being cool but sunny. Our route took us past the longest prayer wall in the world. I didn't measure it but it was built on a long upward slope. Our next target was the village of Drakmar with its imposing cliffs and high level meditation caves. 

After this we had a relentless climb to a 4100 metre pass followed by a nice descent to the 700 year old temple at Ghar Gompa where there was a timed out checkpoint to allow us to look around the temple. 

There followed a descent followed by a climb of 500 metres to 4280 metres where the lack of oxygen caused problems. There was a 6k run in to our destination of Lo Manthang. I ran with George again finishing in 3.20 with Menai coming in at 4.45. A great guest house again with en suite and hot water. We had time to look around the town which is a fascinating combination of temples, narrow alleys, houses, prayer walls and religious stupas. 

Rest day tomorrow for washing and sightseeing. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 7

Today was reputed to be the toughest day of the trip at 27k with 2200 metres of climbing. The organisers had decided to change the course to make it more interesting and consequently longer and harder!  It was a 7.30 start and a brutal 500 metre climb to begin with, with great views and some exciting exposure on small cliffside tracks. 

It was hard work and I was sweating a lot after only 20 minutes. The path then went onto tracks before reaching the village of Tamar where a local had liked the look of the pink markers in the village leaving us clueless where to go. The fast runners ended up taking a completely different route to the rest of us, until half way. I ended up getting lost twice and losing a lot time. Luckily Menai reached the village when the problem had been rectified to a certain extent and she did not get lost. The next part involved crossing two river valleys and a climb to a 3800 metre pass. There followed a lovely descent to a cave temple where our time was stopped to allow us to look at it. We both used the time out to eat and take a well deserved rest. 

I had managed to catch some of the people who had overtaken me at this stage and continued on up the hill to the check point 2.5 k away. This was a stiff climb and I was exhausted again but had teamed up with George again and we kept each other going to cross a massive 4000 metre pass. From here it was mainly downhill to the village of Ghemi. I finished in 5 hours on the dot which was pretty much what I was expecting. Menai ran from the cave on her own and found the hills a struggle at altitude but kept herself going with snacks and a fear that the sweeper was going to catch her! This was not going to happen and she finished in under 7 hours. The slowest time was around 9 1/2 hours. Our accommodation for the night is first class considering how remote we are with an en suite bathroom with hot water. What luxury! 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 6

We had a scheduled start of the race for 9.30 but due to some interference from Nepali officialdom who deemed running as an illegal activity, the race did not start on time. The Police needed to see our passports and permits and all sorts of other pointless pieces of paper. We also had a police escort and I am sure money changed hands. 

 At any rate we started the race at 11.40 when it was really hot and the wind had started. The first 8k was on a dust track with a fair bit of climbing which required some walking. After the checkpoint at 8k we turned off onto a really nice hill section on footpaths past irrigation ditches and then onto exposed rock and scree. This led to a dry river bed climbing to a plateau. At this point I was running with an English runner called George and Menai was running with some Nepali runners, Erica from Australia and Pushpa, a Gurkhas daughter. 

The descent was fast back into the valley and when we reached a village to cross the  river we were told to walk past the police post because, remember, running is an illegal activity. We then had about 1k of track before another bridge and a steep 50m climb to the finish. I was 9th equal in 2.27 with Menai powerin in 40 minutes later.

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 5

Really great mroning to wake up to a view of Nilgiri like this.

We were meant to meet the other runners at 8am arriving from Pokhara by plane but of course the flights were late. So eventually we had met up with everyone for a cup of coffee by 10 o'clock and had a briefing from  the organiser Richard Bull.

 Today it was a walk to the start by a circuitous route to gain altitude and get some acclimatisation in. We climbed for about 90 minutes to get to 3,400 metres before dropping down to a lovely Mustang village. The houses all had walled courtyards to keep the animals in winter and flat roofs where firewood was stored. We were guided to a snack spot by Lizzie Hawker, no less, who is one of the course organisers and will be marking the course for us each morning. The walk was a chance to meet the other runners and there are some serious runners here who have done some major tough races. Luckily there are others who are not super hard and are more Iike us. We are not even the oldest! The second half of the walk was more adventurous as we, along with most of the other runner did not follow the correct route which resulted in an exciting traverse above the river on rocks and scree. 

The village of Kagbeni is lovely and our lodge for the night is great. We even have an en suite with hot water. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 4

Today the itinerary was a bus ride to Marpha or Jomsom but as the main group arrive in Jomsom tomorrow morning we decided to get the bus all the way there. We had a leisurely start to the day with breakfast. We were at the bus stop at 8am and eventually caught a bus at 10am for the 55k trip on very unmade roads. It was an adventurous and painful journey. The buses are all Nepali size which meant that I hit my head on the luggage rack each time we went over a bump and Menai was jabbed in her side by the arm rest. As the road is single track there has a lot of reversing and juggling as buses passed each other. As I was on the window seat I had the joy of seeing the valley bottom inches away from the side of the bus each time this happened.  After about an hour there was a sudden gust of wind and I saw a hay bale sized boulder land about 6 feet in front of the bus. A bit of a commotion but we edged round it but what if we had been a few seconds earlier. There were wonderful views of Daulagiri and the Annapurnas around every bend which took our minds of the road plagued by landslides. Our next hold up was a truck that had a broken steering mechanism. This was fixed by a team effort in 30 minutes so we could go again. 

Unfortunately another landslide further up the road had blocked the road for 3 hours meaning we had to wait until at least 50 vehicles. After about three hours on the bus the scenery changed from a deep sided tree lined canyon to more open country and a wide river bed which became our track for a while which was actually less bumpy than the road. 

We then had lovely fields of barley and apple orchards in the area around Marpha. After 5 hours on the bus we got to a very dusty Jomsom and a clean hotel. We had tea/coffee and chocolate brownies for a late lunch followed by a walk around the sights of the town. 

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.