It was another early start today at 6am as we had a big day ahead of us. We were still so full from our enormous plates of egg noodles the night before, and had to force down some breakfast before we got on the track at around 7:15am. We are yet to actually be walking by 7am despite our best intentions.

Mayla had warned us that today would be a harder day, so we set out at a good pace and stopped less than the day before. It was amazing how much energy we had from our carb loading the night before!! We felt amazing and once our legs had warmed up we started making good progress. 

As we started walking we joined with a pack of donkeys heading to the same place as us, and for most of the day we walked nesr them. They are amazingly strong and move so quickly up the steap rocky sections. We continued following the river up the gorge which was still quite narrow and sheltered from the sun. Walking early in the morning is best because the sun isn't fully out yet and the temperature is much more pleasant. We are definitely starting to notice it getting cooler as we gain altitude.

Today we saw some amazing bridges high above us that connected some of the villages from one side of the valley to the other. We also crossed a lot of bridges ourselves, but none of the big ones!

I thought the circuit would be totally remote with no civilisation nearby, but that is not the case! There are villages dotted all around the valley, often way up above where we are walking in the mountains. Mayla told us there is a monastry perched way up above us in a remote valley where 100s of monks live. It's quite incredible how people are able to live in such remote places. They are very self sufficient growing most of their food and farming animals. Anything else they need is transported by donkeys up the small village trails.

Speaking of donkeys, today we saw 100s of them carrying all sorts of goods up the trails, and then coming back down again. It must be a hard life being one of these donkeys, as they do this all year round and carry around 80kg each!! Mayla said he said he hopes they will come back in the next life as someone very rich who never has to carry a thing.

After a delicious lunch of dahl bhat in a small village called Ghap, we started out on the afternoon section. We still had a decent climb ahead of us, around 550m climbing to go, but fueled with "dahl bhat power 24 hour" it wasn't hard. We kept following the river until it got very narrow and the rapids were tremendous. At a final bridge crossing we said goodbye to the river for now and began a steep climb up to our home for the night, a gorgeous town called Namrung. Near the top we found a lovely little stream, and decided to take a dip as we might not have many more opportunities once we go higher and it gets too cold.

The ecosystem has totally changed now and we spent a lot of the day in primarily coniferous forests. It feels much drier, there aren’t as many bugs around, and the undergrowth in the forest reminds us much more of home than the lush rainforest feel lower down. Lots of ferns, mossy trees and other plants that resemble five finger, hebes and other species we are used to at home.

We powered up the last part avoiding endless streams of donkeys returning from their delivery run, and soaking in the scenery which had finally become a proper forest. We even spotted a dear which seemed like it was being chased by something (there are bears and snow leopards in this area!!)

We arrived in Namrung just after 4pm which was so nice as it gave us rest of the day to relax. When Mayla told us to follow him in to the accommodation we were a bit shocked, as the place is a full on resort!! Our first thought was that this can't be where we're staying, it has to be far expensive for us!? But we were proven wrong, the room price was the same as everywhere else. The beds are so comfortable, and they even have duvets so no sleeping bags needed! Also, the WiFi is fast which helps us a lot with posting the blogs, yesterday's blog was a bit of a nightmare to post with bad connection.

After skipping the 3,500 ripped sauna (much to Alice’s disgust) we went for a walk around the village. It was interesting to see how this village is totally catered to trekking visitors, rather than a mix of local life and some guesthouses. Another quandary for us in the world of the ethics of travelling, especially in these remote areas. The place we are staying is so lovely though, and they have lit a very efficient pot belly stove we’re sitting around while writing this. It clouded in this evening, and we are really hoping to wake up to clear skies in the morning, especially as tomorrow we should get some views of the big mountains for the first time!!