Trek Day 2

The morning roll call was at 5.30 AM and we had a heavenly view of the Annapurna peak and a glimpse of the Machapuchre peak (Fishtail peak) for the first time at the break of dawn. We were asked to start our day early and after breakfast we started our trek at 8 AM.

The distances in the trek route are not given in Kms but in hours taken by average trekkers. In continuation of day one my walk was labored and slow. We had to enroll in the checkpost which was a breeze due to Arjun our guide who had made the arrangements earlier.

We had been informed that the trek would be for around 4 hours today. The route was very pleasant with greenery everywhere and through some quaint villages filled with scenic waterways and pasture lands. Herds of cattle and sheeps gave us company for most part of our route.

With a few breaks for water and refreshers we reached Tolka for lunch around 11.30. We had a long lunch break. The overall speed of the group was good. By now even my cursing has reduced and I was actually begining to enjoy the trek. The path was not very steep and was alternating with descends as well. It was a pleasant day to trek as well.

Post lunch we had to trek for another hour or so to reach Landruk our break for the day around 3 PM at an altitude of 1900 Mts. Similar to

the Australian Camp we had twin room accomodation with a common bath at the end of the corridor. The food as in all tea houses was good and the choices were great too.

The day was not bad at all with regard to the trek and I believed that my body was coping with the trek. We had been advised to carry short bites and snacks for our trek and thanks to them we could muster our strength in the evenings. Our pasttime of playing Poker started that day and became a standard routine for all the evenings to come.

Usually after dinner we were briefed about our next day trek program and our breakfast order is finalised so that the food can be made ready early to avoid delays to our start in the morning. Arjun briefed us the trek program for our third day emphasising that it was the most difficult day in the entire trek as we had get to a top of a hill and had to cross more than 3000 stairs. This scary information made me sleepless for most of the night nevertheless the aching body won the battle with my mind and put me in a deep slumber.