Oct 26. Lake Tilicho. Annapurna Circuit, Nepal.

Lake Tilicho is perched high above sea level at 4919m. It is a glorious complement to the Annapurna circuit.

It was 2 hours walk up to Lake Tilicho. Spectacular views all the way. Saw a lady hyperventilating, because she was told to deliberately breathe in and out. Well, she was going overboard to the state of hyperventilation and panic. After calming her down and showing her what to do, I think she made it.

I think it was well beyond her comfort zone as the track was cut into land slip an the surface was quite friable. One mistake and it's a long clamber back up with little will power for any rescue.

It was freezing up here ! My fingers turned as blue as the lake, I could barely operate the camera. A hot chocolate warmed my hands and interior.

Our moment of glory ! It catches on, the rest of our party and others jump for joy too.

Here is a small amount of facts about Lake Tilicho (wikipedia):

4km long, 1.2km wide
85m average depth
156 million litres
one of the highest lakes in the world
some crazy bunch of Russians went scuba diving in it in the year 2000.

It ends too soon, time to leave.

Crossing this small stream I slipped on the ice and took time to admire the icicle formations. I am very glad not to have done an ankle in as there is still a bit of hiking to do.

We were down in time to order a dahl blat for lunch. Due to the elevation, food takes a lot of time to cook up here.

Solar power is being used up here as fuel is a precious commodity. Not sure how long it takes to get a cuppa.

The butterfly is covered with an insulating layer of fur.

No more delay, I said that we should push for Yak Kharta as the weather looked to be closing in, and the radio forecast confirmed it. It was a tough walk in some big valleys, ending at 4:30pm. We stopped briefly at this old abandoned settlement - old Khangsar.

It was still a huge walk from here and we are tired. We go down into the valley, cross the river and back up the other side, and follow the track as far as the eye can see.