Sunday

A tough day.

It had been my first night under canvas for decades. I might have coped with that better without the side effects of taking Diamox. It's a diuretic, so I had to leave my tent in a hurry 4 times in 5 hours when I should have been sleeping. At least the nearby bushes were well watered.

Diamox helps prevent altitude sickness. I'd researched and taken medical advice on it before leaving. I'd decided against taking it (one argument is that it can mask the symptoms of altitude sickness). The guides advised in favour of taking it. I took it.

The photo was one of our first good sightings of the peak on the Sunday morning. Very often it is shrouded in cloud, but dawn until 8am will usually be clear.

So after an imperfect night's sleep, it was off on an uphill trek of 3-4 hours. We passed the 10,000 ft point quite early, so the effects of thin air were already making it tough going.

After lunch - a similar trek, but this time we were traversing towards camp 2 (at 13,000 ft). Not easy however, as it was undulating terrain and towards the end the short uphill sections had me really gasping for air.

The porters carry your main rucksack (phew!) but the day pack is still heavy as you have to carry at least 3 litres of water to drink along the way.