Silence is Snow Coloured

Plant and animal life on the Tibetan Plateau is very sparse, but highly varied. On the run in to our campsite last night, we saw marmots contesting, displaying, and just going about their lives; a number of small hamsters with grey fur turning to greenish on their backs, with little black and white collars; a small gazelle; two foxes; two buzzards; and a large number of small birds.

This does have implications when trekking, particularly if on one's own, as I was for much of the day. The day is completely silent, except for the very occasional sound of the odd small bird; the even more occasional sound of the odd insect - mainly solitary bees; and (when getting within half a mile of human habitation) dogs barking. But mostly silence. It is difficult to imagine just how deep the silence is until you have experienced it. There is no sound.

This was particularly the case today because this is a very slow group: normally I am one of the slowest in a group (and usually THE slowest) but this time I am the fastest - just a question of keeping going and not stopping.  It did mean I was walking by myself for much of the time. Add in glorious sunshine; high altitude; no wind; snow covered mountains - what more could one ask for?

We only covered 16Km in 7 1/2 hours, so it was pretty slow - though we did have a 1K ascent to a pass at 4600m. We are camped just below the the pass which was the first time I have seen a golden stupa.

Overnight and this morning I had slight effects of the altitude - very minor headache; sinusitis; and mouth and throat very dry. The bottle of pee I generated during the night, froze solid (estimated temperatures -8oC).

This picture captures everything about why I am doing what I am doing.