As the altitude increases, so apparently does the height of the frequently encountered waterfalls. This is due, no doubt, to the fact that the canyon I am travelling in is gradually growing narrower and deeper with each passing day. The one pictured here is actually incomplete. Missing from the wide angle photo is the top and bottom third of this unbelievable cascade. The trail now is sometimes literally carved from the rock walls and the consequence of a poorly taken step is less forgiving. During the course of a day I will typically encounter a half dozen or so other trekkers and a dozen or so locals. I have gotten to know many of the folks doing the circuit as we tend to meet up during the evenings or at lunch time. It is wonderful to share the day’s stories with each other but I still prefer to trek solo. My style is to pause only for photos and to move at a pace which I can sustain indefinately. During an ideal day, I will stop to take off my pack only twice. Once for lunch and once when I reach my destination for the evening. In between, I find myself scanning the horizon for interesting photo opportunities while my mind relaxes into what I might describe as form of meditation.

“Working Mother” is the title I have given to the image which follows. This woman was one of a dozen who were carrying huge rocks on their backs from a quarry to a nearby construction site. Back breaking labor is to be seen everywhere in Nepal and I am struck by the amount of it which falls to women and children.

My trekking ended in Upper Pisang today where a Buddhist temple is located. The monks here routinely survey the village from their high vantage point and I enjoyed a hot lemon tea with one of them while enjoying the views. The day started with a very steep section of the trail that lasted for 2 hours. So far I am having no problems with the altitude and am feeling quite strong. The trick for me is to adjust my pace so that I can always breathe through my nose even if it means reducing my stride to a matter of inches to do so. I think of this as my creeper gear and I am willing to put one foot 6 inches in front of the other for hours on end. It is the equivalent to eating an elephant one bite at a time. Younger hikers invariably zoom past me but I generally overtake them all as they stop to rest or snack. Think tortoise and the hare. During these very steep ascents is when you really get inside your own head. It is a rhythmic form of intense meditation for me during which your entire focus is on your breathing and on the next step. Nothing else.

The Annapurna tea house has long since given way to what I would describe as a guest house or lodge. Rooms are sparsely furnished with a bed, foam mattress, quilt, and occasionally a night stand. Thus far toilets have been of the Eastern (squat) variety and generally shared with other rooms or occasionally located outside the lodge building. I have started taking the drug Diamox which climbers use to help speed acclimatization of the blood to high altitude. Given the trouble I had 100 meters from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro I am taking no chances this time out. One unfortunate side effect of the drug is a need to urinate every hour or so which does not lend itself to a restful night’s sleep. Most of my non-sleeping time is spent in the dining rooms where a stove or fire pit provides heat and other trekkers congregate to pass the time. Upper Pisang offers spectacular views into the valley in both directions and tonight’s lodge was one of the nicer I have stayed in so far.