Kothe 3500 m - Tangnak 4350 m
day 7 : 24 october 2003
  
  leaving kothe  
  another full day of climbing ahead as we leave Kothe for the upper reaches of the Ingku Valley  
  
  
  rocks and boulders  
  trekking is made difficult by the rocks and boulders that characterizes the trail here  
  
  
   
  slip slidin'  
  the trail at times cuts across the steep sides of the riverbank  
  
  
   
  contemplation  
  on a boulder with a view, Anthony contemplates about the wrath of mother nature and the insignificance of man  
  
  
   
  dark clouds  
  with the weather turning for the worse, the ambient temperature got colder and colder  
  
  
   
  scramble  
  scrambling up from the rocky riverbank to a flat gradual valley floor that was much easier on our tired legs  
  
  
   
  porters' lunch  
  the porters preparing their lunch as we passed, our own lunch point is not far beyond  
  
  
   
  smoke break  
  indulgence to tobacco, such a common ill pleasure in almost all societies  
  
  
   
  changing landscape  
  the valley floor is covered with shrubs and grasses, with multitudes of flowering colours everywhere  
  
  
   
  cottonwool  
  not snow but a wool-like fluffy inflorescence amongst the grasses  
  
  
   
  mani wall  
  unlike the popular Everest track, maini stones are a rather uncommon sight in this valley  
  
  
   
  gompa  
  it started snowing as we passed the remote gompa in this valley  
  
  
   
  snow trekking  
  within a short few minutes of the snow carpeting the valley floor, the once colourful landscape now turns into a mutted monochrome  
  
  
   
  snow porter  
  with a thin plastic sheet to shield the snow out of his load, the porter continues his journey  
  
  
   
  under snow cover  
  all dressed in white, Tangnak was like a winter wonderland of tents and teahouses  
  
  
   
  men in red  
  members of an Austrian climbing team who have already successfully summitted Mera  
  
  
 

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