Day 6: Dzhyptyk pass

I'd slept peacefully in the yurt and woke up to the sound of the river. I completed my water purification tasks before heading to the breakfast yurt. I stirred the sour horse milk porridge, building up the courage to fuel up for the day ahead. My stomach was still very sensitive, so I opted to take another Immodium to be cautious. I knew there was a long day of Russian marching ahead of me with no chance to stop for a rock or bush based toilet. Today's aim was to initially hike through alpine meadows to Dzhyptyk gorge before ascending a steep scree slope to a mountain pass. Today was our first opportunity to gain some serious height, with the pass sitting at 4100m. We were provided with a lunch bag from our local family that had been supporting us; some chunks of bread, hard boiled eggs, juice and sweets.

The initial hike out of camp was straightforward and we made quick progress towards the base of the mountain pass. Everyone was in good spirits, hiding any traveller ailments with a breakfast cocktail of immodium, paracetamol and diamox. After a couple of hours we reached the base of the mountain pass, a series of intimidating switchbacks ascending a steep scree slope lay before us. A few sharp intakes of breath were taken at the challenge ahead, surely promoting a little motivation from our guide. Roman was focusing on sheltering from the wind to light his cigarette and when he heard our comments about the challenge ahead he simply nodded and confirmed, "Steep part, hard!" Patrick, in his enthusiastic American style, took over encouraging everyone saying "We've got this, just take it nice and slow! And I'll see ya all at the top!" Patrick led the way and I followed as Roman continued to smoke and showed a complete lack of interest in his guiding responsibilities. Sergei remained at the back, assisting those in need which made me wonder why he was not in charge of the operation.

The gain in altitude was noticeable on my breathing and significantly slowed my pace. We all hiked in silence, focusing merely on breathing and foot placement. The route took around 2 hours of slow purposeful movement to ascend, only with the occasional stops to encourage or assist each other. Patrick, Darren and I made it to the top first and cheered on others as they continued their trudge. Alex arrived 10 minutes later, panting for breath, sarcastically calling out "Try hards" to the three of us that made it to the top first. I opted to dive into my lunch bag, whacking my hard boiled eggs on the nearest rock and enjoying the sugary juice. Ascending the pass felt like a significant achievement, one designed to assess how our bodies were adapting to higher altitudes and begin practicing steep ascents on challenging terrain ready for the coming days. Roman paid no attention to how his team were coping, simply arriving at the top of the pass in the nonchalant style and immediately lighting a cigarette. Patrick and I laughed at all the physical preparation we do to ensure our bodies are fit and strong enough to handle the altitude, then our guide is on a pack of cigarettes a day and vodka to wash down dinner.

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After taking photos, catching our breathe and refuelling - we began the descent. The scree slope was steep and slippy, every step was accompanied by the sound of rocks trickling down the mountain. It was a challenge to remain upright and a few members of the team fell, adding to the growing collecting of cuts and bruises. It was unclear how much further we had to camp, mostly because our guid hadn't informed us. I asked Roman how much further, as I wanted to assess if it was worth the effort to find a toilet rock or I could hold out to camp. "Little further" he replied. I enjoyed his ability to constantly withhold information and reply in as few words as possible. Patrick informed me that the trip itinerary said today was a 10km day but his watch had recorded a total of 13km so far. We didn't ask any further questions, deciding to simply follow and behave ourselves.

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After a couple more hours, we arrived at camp. The day totalled to 17km, 1100m elevation gain across an 8 hour period. We'd be staying in yurts again, managed by the same family so we made ourselves at home and paddled in the cold river water. A few members of the team were struggling following the difficult descent from the pass and their pace had significantly slowed. Roman explained to us that certain members of the group were "too slow" so he will "send horses" to pick them up. Despite only being 2km from camp and enjoying walking at a slower pace, given the length of the day and the altitude, we later learned that for the slower members of the group it was not a choice to get on a horse. Roman had bluntly told them that they are "too slow" and must complete the remaining distance by horse. Alex and I found this hilarious that he'd created a cut off time despite there being many hours of daylight remaining. We spent most of the evening in tears laughing at how surreal our time in Kyrgyzstan had been so far.

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After a blunt briefing for the next day, a horse based meal, several cups of tea and fits of giggles - it was time to head to bed. The initial acclimatisation phase of the trip was over and across the next days we'd venture further into the Pamir range begin preparations for Yukhin peak.