DAY 6: Pisang to Manang
The sixth day would actually be one of the shortest, time-wise. After waking to grab my clothes and seeing the beautiful shimmer of the snow that had fallen the night before was a great start. After breakfast, I made my way out of Pisang at around 8:30am.
The day was rather uneventful, with the high point being the unbelievable views of Annapurna II, III, and IV after Hongde, where I checked into the police checkpost. Once I arrived in Manang, I looked through the potential spots to stay at. The choice ended up being the Tilicho Hotel, where I would stay for the following two nights. However, on this day, I would make my way up near the Chongarr viewpoint and get a close-up view of the glacial lake called Gangapurna Tal. The meltwater from the glacier below Gangapurna is responsible for this beautiful milky blue water.
Later in the evening, I attempted to upload a picture online - which did not work - and checked emails. Around 6:00pm, I checked through my pictures on the camera to find that mysteriously none would come up. Thankfully, they had not been lost, but the memory card was useless until I could format it, later. Manang, being the village with practically everything you would need, was where I purchased an 8gb SD card. This would have to do, for now.
This day was meant to help one acclimate to the elevation. After looking through how much time I possibly had, I chose to not go to Tilicho Tal the next day, but instead head to Kicho Tso - the Ice Lake. The easiest route there is to return south to Bragha, and then follow the markings up to the lake. This was no easy feat, as one will end up hiking around 8 km or so there, not to mention be hit with an altitude change of over 1 km in just three to four hours. The difference between 3520 meters and 4600 meters may not seem like much, but to do so in one day without going back down can lead to significant health problems.
The views about halfway up were possibly some of the most stunning of the entire trek. Seeing The three Annapurnas, Gangapurna, Manaslu, Tilicho Peak, Langtang, and many more was something you just can't forget.
About two hours later, I finally reached the Ice Lake, but also now had an absolutely splitting headache, as well as a bad cough. Knowing that getting back down would be the best medicine, I took a handful of pictures and bounded back down. The return trip down was easily just over half the time it took to get up. Once I reached the beginning of Bragha, I was greeted by a little girl of maybe three yelling "Namaste!" quite happily! As exhausted as I was, that certainly helped lift my spirits, quite a bit. An hour later, at around 3:00pm, I was back in Manang, where I took it easy for the remainder of the day. The next three days I would now be far away from anything that would remind me of civilization.
Cost: 4200Rs (for both days)
Approx. distance trekked: 29 km (for both days)
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