>>1834479I did the same trek in 2017 and when approaching the Thorong La pass I felt a strong urge to shit. The "your pants or the floor - your choice" kind of urge. Right next to that one hut where they sell overpriced tea and snacks they had a small vertical shack that was clearly intended to be a toilet, but had no doors or even a hole in the ground. The floor and walls were covered in semi-frozen shit though, so I dropped trou and unleashed the fury while pushing against both walls for support. Luckily the doorway faced the ascent, so people going up weren't inclined to look back. Otherwise they'd see me in an interesting position.
I have some shit luck with >5km mountain passes, it seems. Went on a trek around Ausangate mt in Peru, with a detour to see the Rainbow mountain. This route involves going over 5k meter high passes 5 times over the course of less than a week. Again, during the second part my bowels decided to take a sabbatical due to unfamiliar food and lack of oxygen. On the second to last 5k pass, while my friends were celebrating and taking pictures, I went over a bend to take a leak. No shacks this time, just a bald, somewhat sandy ridge. As I take out my junk I realize that if I relax just a bit, I'll shit my pants. Drop trou and release a stream of hot, caramel-colored sludge that makes a pie a cow would be proud of. Tried my best to cover it with some dirt. Then waddled back while clenching cheeks to ask friends for some ass paper to wipe.
The diarrhea persisted for about a week, even after the return to Cuzco and resulted in a fever, after which I said "fuck it" and started taking antibiotics. Still, had a fun interaction with a toilet that somehow refused to flush while on a tourist bus that dropped us off near Titicaca and continued on it's way to Bolivia.
Now I can easily see how people died of diarrhea in the old days.
