The past 2 days was nothing compared to Day 5. Today was the starting of the " Steep Steep Steep" journey! When my guide said it was flat & easy journey, it would still meant some climbing & descending. However, when he said it was steep, you can be sure that it was REALLY steep.. It was literally vertical upwards.. *Sigh*

Indeed, there was a lot of climbing. I really hate descending =_= I felt as if I was at The Great Wall of China, a vertical one, neverending. However at this point, my bf was feeling unwell, suffering from mild heatstroke. Slow but finally, we reached the lunch point. Phew...

We were supposed to go to a natural hot spring that was down the lunch point. Yeah, at least 30min - 45min of descending to the river bank where there was a natural hot spring. My bf decided to give it a miss, so I went ahead with the rest.

It was really weird, standing by the river side shampooing and bathing. Well, with our swimming constumes of coz, what are you thinking?! Given that we did not have proper bathing facilities for the past 2 nights, it felt so wickedly good to have running hot water available for "shower".

There were also 2 "square pools" with hot spring water of different temperatures. Dun ask me why, coz seriously I dun comprehend why there are hot water just beside the river bank. In fact, some of the "adventurous" ones ran to the river bank to dip in the icy water, and then ran back to the hot pool. Therapeutic effect, so they said...

The climb back to the top, i.e. the lunch point was tedious. I think I took more than an hour to climb up. By the time I reached the top, I regretted going down to the pool ~ I was sweating and dirty AGAIN, this time with additional weight of the wet clothing.

When I reached the lunch point, bf was not there le. The guide had sent a Sherpas with him, so that he can slowly make his way up the Steep Steep Steep route ( approximately 2 hours) which would eventually lead to our final destination of the day. I got to admit, I was a bit uncomfortable then, seeing that my bf was not around. But I just had to follow the rest of the team and proceeded to the final destination.

It was an understatement to say that the route to the final destination was miserable. Dunno bad luck or what, the sky darkened and it started to pour when we were not even mid-way up the mountain. As the rain seemed stubborn, we were advised to seek shelter in one of the local's house. Dilapidated wooden house which offered little comfort & warmth as we stared at the stubborn rain. It was already 4plus, we really needed to proceed on before it turned dark, and the clock was ticking fast.

I was there, without water and waterproof jacket, feeling damn cold and worried. Worried because even when the weather was sunny and good, I was already slow. It would be harder now, since the weather was bad. I was worried also because I dunno whether my bf had reached the destination or kenak stuck somewhere. It sure dint feel good without technology ( mobile phones) now..

After what seemed like centuries, the dark clouds slowly moved to other areas, and we slowly made our way up again. The soil was muddy and wet, the rock steps were slippery and the final destination seemed so distanced... My mind was blank and my legs were senseless, as the Sherpas helping me kept urging me to go forward. Really felt like a zombie going through the motion.. ha

It was almost 6pm, when we saw the first guesthouse. By now, the sky had already darkened. It was  another 30minutes or so, before we finally reached our guesthouse.  I was trying so hard not to cry, I was dead exhausted and dyhrated. But I was glad that my bf was standing there, safe & sound. It was indeed a "traumatizing" day with the "Steep, Steep, Steep" path, the rain, the few hours away ( & uncontactable) from bf...

Day 6

Morning came, and my bf was still suffering from diarrhoea. So, we decided not to proceed further to the base camp, but to stay put, and waited for the rest to come back instead.

I was not exactly disappointed, in fact, there was this hidden relieve that I dun have to go on coz I was so exhausted. But again, it was such a waste not to continue with the journey when we were already so near...I could see the Annapurna peaks when it was clear sky from where we were. I would have love to step on the snow though...

But I guessed that it was fated that we were to stay behind, since we were never really prepared, in fact, zero training, before the trip. To go on,would mean assistance from the rest and the Sherpas. We had disregarded the mountains by not being well prepared, and probably the mountains had "prohitibited" us from continuing.. well, just a thought...

To stay in the guesthouse was another "feat" to concur. We had absolutely no entertainment means, no iphone, no book, no tv.. all left in the city hotel. Bf was still a bit sick, so he went to sleep after breakfast. I, on the other hand, was absolutely refreshed. My legs, were now as fit as a fiddle, having to know that they dun need to climb until another 3 days later.  So I took my camera and went around taking photos but time was extremely slow here, and it was still morning when I was done. Nothing to do, I went back to sleep also.

As you guess, the rest of the day was spent sleeping and waking up, hoping that it was meal time. I probably slept more than 12 hours... Meals were simply settled with dishes such as soup noodles ( aka maggi mee), fried rice, fried egg etc.

The next day we decided to "explore" around the area. We went down to the so-called village, which was just as boring as well, with only some wholesale shops which looked just like the ma-ma shop at my block. The place was my only chance of "entertainment" but it was "worse" than my guesthouse. Abit disappointed, we made our way back to the guesthouse.

The rest of the afternoon was spent staring at travellers who would pass by at times, or taking note of the school bells sounding the start or the end of the lessons, counting the donkeys, or sleeping.

It was raining at night. and I woke up feeling a very damn dry throat. I was starting to develop sore throat symptons. It was also the very night that I appreciate the well piped water in Singapore. I woke up with minimal water in my bottle. No choice, I went to the kitchen to ask for refill. The nice auntie, helped me to boil water with a saucepan that she had used previously to cook maggie mee. Without suspecting anything, I made my way up back to the sleeping bag. When I wanted to take a sip, I realized the water tasted greasy and maggie mee. It was definitely gross, and the greasy water didnt help to sooth my dry & sore throat. However, since I was already in the mountains, I shouldnt be so fussy and expect crystal clear water from the Alpines, and so I tried to go back to bed with my bottle filled with greasy water.

I woke up shortly later, desperate for water again. This time, when I drank the water again, it was totally disgusting. No choice,  I went back to the kitchen to request for another refill, explaining the problem. They had nicely boiled a fresh pot of water using another saucepan. However, I realised the water was still greasy becuase my bottle was already "contaminated", although it tasted less maggi mee. I just drank a bit and forced myself to bed.

By morning, my throat was on fire and I was feeling so desperate for water. I was close to my tears as I disposed the remaining greasy water and attempted to wash my bottle clean, so that I can request for fresh pot of clean water. Alas, the water source was cut off, probably due to the rain, and there was no water to wash my bottle!! No bottle = no water... Tell you, I totally freak out and started to cry.. Dramatic huh?

Thinking back, I guess I was abit too emotional about water at that time. Probably those who stayed in countries who frequently experienced dry seasons or little water source would be able to empathize with me better. Obviously, my scenario is not as bad since I "choose" to dispose water, even though I was damn thirsty.

Anyway, I finally got my reasonable clean water to drink and the nice auntie who knew I had a terrible sore throat, made lemon honey drink for me as well...

It was another gloomy & raining day again, so we stayed indoors and literally do nothing. I cant even recall what we did or had tried to do... hahaha..

Oh ya, it so happened that bf needed to call a fren in Singapore, so we switched on the only hp we brought to the mountains ~ my nokia hp. Then I realised, I had some mp3 in the hp!!! I was so happy to listen to Jay Zhou in the mountains.. Then again, it was a pathetic list of only 12 mp3. Heh, it was meant to be a spare phone nia, so I never update mah... Regardless the fact that there was only 12 songs, we quietly "savoured" the songs as I tuned it so loud, trying to silent the deafening silent in the mountains..

Very drama again ah.... =p

We waited impatiently for the team to come, just like small kids receiving their first results. I was worried that the team may take another day to come due to the bad weather. It was such a relieve when one of the Sherpa came running to find us. And yes, after scaling the mountains to the base camp, the Sherpa was still able to run to find us.. Sherpas are that strong... As a note, it was not until an hour or so later, did we see our first team member arriving...

Suddenly, the guesthouse seemed to be noisy and robust again. We quickly bathed and packed, and waited for the team to gather so that we could proceed to the lunchpoint down the mountain together.

The way back down to the mountains was relatively easier, as we took another route which was supposed to be less scenic. We passed by fields of vegetables and flowers, cows and cow dungs, innocent children and before we knew it, it was back to civilisation again...