7am : Today is the 12th day and we got hopefully only 3 more days to hike down. Because of the restricted area we cannot separate unless we find another guide or porter. While I’m writing this, I can hear Dain’s terrible coughs… I hope he can move. Sandip made a new itinerary with only 5 hours of hiking down each day. Let’s hope Dain can and will manage or that we can find another guide. I gave up on the “as soon as possible” going down and I focus all my energy on seeing the happy things and making fun with Sandip. But this does not mean that I’m not struggling. The trekking is taking long now, and I’m longing for my home, friends, a shower(gosh a shower please) and just celebrating arriving! Wish us luck!

8pm : And then suddenly everything changes. One decision brought me right back to spring. We were supposed to have breakfast at 8am (very late but in line with Dain’s wishes) but there was no Dain. When Sandip went to wake him up, he was too ill to get out of bed. The poor man had nothing left, he said, to walk. I did feel bad for Dain, I really wished him to feel better and he made little effort to take good care of himself and to recover the best he can, he didn’t want any help or a heli and he had no awareness of his surroundings. He just wanted to take it slow. And that is when Sandip became my hero. He proposed to Dain to take at least 2 days rest in the Jungle hotel where we stayed that night while, in the mean time, Sandip would hike down with me so that I could go back home to Kathmandu. Sandip would then come back for Dain. The plan was far from perfect because the best guy Sandip, who deserves much better than to be stuck with me and/or Dain, would climb Manaslu twice in one week. However, he became my hero because he would get me down from the mountain. The decision was made and so we ate our breakfast and left Dain to rest, while we made our way down.

Never in my life have I hiked at this speed or even thought I could keep it up. I was so determined to get down ASAP, not even for me but for Sandip because the faster we would get down, the faster he could go back and start the challenge of getting Dain down… I managed to hike at Nepali speed or even faster. For the first time during the trek we were faster than the mules, faster than Nepali and we didn’t have to turn around every 5 seconds to wait hahaha. I was so happy. The weather was cloudy but dry and we hiked all the way to Pewa 1850m before lunch. After the lunch we had another 4.5 hours of hiking to go to Jagat 1340m, the end of the restricted area. We arrived in the dark. My feet are sore, my muscles aching but my spirit is high. We did 2 days of hiking up in one day hiking down. A nice 35 km up and down in one day. From Jagat the restricted area of Manaslu ends which is why we decided that tomorrow I’ll hike the last 5.5 hours alone and Sandip returns up up up to Dain. I wish I could make it up to Sandip. When he is back in Kathmandu, we will celebrate and I wish I could give him the world. I am so thankful and can’t wait to start the last hike tomorrow morning to go down. Sleep well