days, so I started popping diamox and the numbers turned around almost instantly. The only downside was the group size which was initially 14 before three bailed out after about 10 days. Although we weren't generally walking as a group, I generally enjoy being away from people when I go for a walk. So having to sit in a meal tent with the group so many times without sticking a fork in someone, was quite a struggle.
A quick reality check on the remoteness of this trip. The highest camp is at about the same elevation as Everest base camp. At times you are quite a few days walk from the nearest road. Because the trail continually goes quite steeply up and down valleys, getting on a pony in the event of difficulty just isn't possible. Towards the end of the walk, one of the crew became very unwell to
the extent that the guides tried to helicopter him out. The helicopters are based quite some distance away and won't leave base after 3 pm, and we had a low cloud ceiling and almost nowhere flat enough and clear enough for a chopper to land. The end result was the sick crewman had to walk three days to the nearest road where an ambulance was waiting for him!
Given you are only carrying day packs, albeit with enough warmer clothing to cope with the colder passes and waterproofs in case of precipitation, the main degrees of difficulty are the duration, the continual high altitude, the remoteness and the relentless steep up and down. We were doing training walks of 1000 metres up and 1000 metres down each week before we went, and although the days aren't all as much as that, realistically given the lower training altitude, if you can't do that for two days in a row, you probably need to train some more. You don't need to be fast, just capable.
Tshorim Lake, our highest camp at a little over 5200 metres
Prayer flags at The Chele La at 3800 metres
On the way down ... again
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