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I could hear the waterfall’s roar long before I could see it, hardly surprising given the weather conditions. The heavy rain had soaked me to the skin and waterfalls, too many to count, leapt impatiently off the mountain face. I’d made my way safely past many but ahead was the highest and largest, the formidable Earland Falls.

Having woken at 5am to the freezing cold, I reflected once more on Raju’s briefing the night before. For the first time since leaving Lukla, Raju warned that this was going to be a hard day. According to Raju, we’d already had seven easy days though with the challenging climbs, high altitudes and reduced oxygen, easy was not the description any of us would have chosen. If Raju was telling us to prepare for a hard day, we’d better take him seriously.

For one fabulous week, Andrew and I wandered through the busy streets, back alleys, parks and lake district of Guangzhou stopping when we were hungry to sample the local food. Unable to speak or read a word of Chinese, we had some hilarious encounters trying to communicate with the restaurant staff who were unfailingly kind and patient with us. 

Guangzhou is where Cantonese cuisine originated and there is a veritable cornucopia of restaurants to sample Cantonese and other culinary delights.

I braced myself for the next gust, feet wide, knees bent, crouching over my hiking poles. I could see the track snaking along the ridge line with steep drop-offs on either side. We were well and truly above the tree line, if I went over, it was going to be a long way before I stopped falling.

There’d already been two hikers knocked off their feet by the wind, fortunately they’d not gone over the edge. Someone else’s pack cover took flight, a bright red sail disappearing into the grey fog.