Epic Hikes of the World ( PDFDrive )

© Jonathan Tichon / Alamy Stock Photo
Buddhist Mani stones
After an exploration of magical Upper Hankar, day three climbs more steeply,
leaving the ‘oasis’ villages for barren, arid terrain with crumbling erosion formations
and occasional tufts of greenery at streamside meadows. Then, beyond a small
lake, spreads an upland plain. At 15,256ft (4650m), the only shelter here is
Nimaling, a seasonal camp where pre-erected tents with mats and duvet-blankets
provide homestay-trekkers with warmth and sustenance. As it’s the only logical
place to sleep before the long last day, it’s something of a walkers’ bottleneck, and
there’s a mild sense of anxiety amongst unequipped hikers fearing, unnecessarily,
that it might prove to be full. By early afternoon the place is already abuzz. Many
of my fellow hikers here are now ‘friends’, or at least nodding acquaintances, that
I’ve passed or been passed by several times en route. There’s wise-cracking Tim
and Sophie from Belgium; Barnaby, an American Buddhist who seems more frenetic
than spiritual; And Lyudmilla, a Russian woman who decides to use the thumbtwiddling
afternoon to teach us all ‘high-altitude yoga’.
© Fat Jackey | Shutterstock
the tents at Nimaling offer shelter
Later the skies darken beneath a battlegroup of naval-grey clouds. Warm