Taking directions from the monks, we are told that there are two paths up to the Lumding La pass, but the higher one has no water. Taking the lower path, we meander around the valley side through thin pine woodland. This is one of the few obvious examples of deforestation we have come across and it's clear that the Gonpa has consumed all the wood for quite a large radius.

The path soon peters out and we are forced to lose height once more, much to our irritation. Presently, we come across another small village, where locals tell us that the trail to Lumding starts in earnest.

The trail is initially clear, due to large numbers of yaks having been driven down it only a few days before. This makes the conditions underfoot muddy and uneven. The vegitation becomes thicker as we ascend, and the trails soon starts to disappear. The only way of knowing that we are still following it are the periodic tent-shape wooden frames left by the herders which they use as temporary shelters while they move the yaks.

Alan struggling through forest near the Moro Karka Photo © Jeremy Thomson 1998

Worse, the path is trending further and further west, away from Lumding La and traversing the valley rather than climbing it. After lunch at a little karka that looks like the 97 Glastonbury festival made a brief stop here, we struggle on through dense rhodedendron jungle. Staying together is difficult and the sherpas whistle, whoop and beat on trees to guide the porters. After a particularly difficult stretch we are about to abandon hope when without warning we break out into a large clear area. With luck we have stumbled across Moro Karka, and are now on the main trail to the Moro La, which although it wasn't the pass we were aiming for, will do fine.

Pasang makes an admirable attempt at pretending he knew where we were going all along, but he's not fooling anyone. It is already 2.30 and there's a long way to the pass so we press on through the diminishing rhodedenron trees towards the pass to find a campsite. There aren't any.

Finally we find a nasty hollow just a few hundred meters below the pass as night falls. Collecting dead wood, we make a fire against the increasing cold. More and more porters keep disappearing off with our torches to see what's happened to the last lot that disappered to find out what happened to the ones who went for water. We start to fear the worst, when they all return safe.

We're two days behind shedule, and if the Lumding La exists we certainly never found it. I recommend anyone headed for Lumding to use the Moro La.