Up and over!

 For yours truly this was the first real test, a huge slab of rock to negotiate, vertical in places. Now the rational hemisphere told me that they would not risk tourists lives so in effect this was going to be a complex walk, but I also knew that gravity loves to be a winner and so a slip- here would end the mission.

 Lets face it from this angle it looked impossible, but from early doors you could see small groups making their way up.

 Jim Royal was preparing himself for the challenge by sitting in the sun and puking

 while Dom got on with personal admin.

During breakfast someone stole our tent!

 Then it started, up close it looked pretty easy as can be seen by the confident expressions on the faces of the happy campers.

 As far as I could see no one was falling off.

 Then it was our turn to begin the climb.

 Hugging the rocks was common

 as was waiting for the one in front to get out of the way!

 Some of us needed a helping hand on the steeper bits

 and Dom who always takes the lift did particularly well conquering his fear of falling.

 Which is a good thing

 as there were plenty of places to fall from.

 As usual the porters showed us up

 as we got above the clouds again the views were amazing.

 Close to the top it got a bit easier

 which means a massive difficult bit

 had been saved for the last

 but our guide showed the way

and soon we were happy on the top of the Burrenco Wall. Well most of us were.

 Beth was so happy

 that she felt the need to have a

 dance

 which gave our lead guide Mr President a chance to show his moves too.

 After an insane descent in to a hidden valley and a massive climb back out we were at our next campsite around 4300 metres up and in plenty of time for a wash and brush up

 and a lie down with a luxury can of pop and a good book. I had problems reading as I had broken my only glasses and the first aid kit repairs were not holding up well.

 So it was snooze time until dinner.

My inner workings were suffering so I decided to forgo the usual 3 course meal and and asked for cheese beanos which is not on the menu so a few mimes as to what was needed produced a plateful of beans and a toasted cheese sandwich which was deconstructed to achieve a good likeness of what was actually needed. Another night in a freezing cold sleeping bag in thin air (imagine dropping off to sleep in a freezer and feeling like you are being suffocated so you panic and draw a deep breath that wakes you up, repeat endlessly, mix in the sudden urge to use the toilet at least 3 times in the dark and you have the recipe for a restful night) was made even more appealing by the warning from the guides to stay in our tents as there were no guards this high up.