Day 18 - February 16, 2010 - UP

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Hille to Ghorepani

It was an early morning, we left at 7:45 just after breakfast. We walked up and up and up and up, then we took a break and walked up more, we had tons of elevation to gain. There were hordes of people on the well maintained trail, steps and set stones were everywhere. I guess they had to be well maintained or else they would wash out, plus the towns must receive good money from the tourists passing through. It was odd seeing so many people all around us after being in the deep backcountry on the other side of the Circuit.

It was really nice not having to walk in snow anymore. As we made our way along an odd feeling crept up on me, being with this "herd" of people made me feel like just another tourist. I'd always thought I was different than everyone else on the trail or at least I'd tell myself that.

We stopped for lunch after the massive elevation gain, the stop took nearly 2 hours. The place we stopped to eat had many other people there ordering "Western" food that required more prep time and slowed down our dhal bhat.

After lunch we hiked about another hour and a quarter. There were so many massive buildings build out of stone on this side. Ghorepani had so many beautiful and huge stone hotels. The place we were staying had an awesome 55 gallon drum wood burning stove.

We had quite a bit of daylight left so Khem brought out his ropes and we practiced and set up belays and slacklines inside the hotel. I had veggie momos for dinner with chapati bread and milk tea for dessert. It was a really early night, we planned on getting up at 5:30 to see the sun rise on the top of Poon Hill.






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Day 17 - February 15, 2010 - We Begin Anew

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Pokara to Hille

We woke up at 7:50 to meet Khem and the rest of the crew for breakfast. I had the "American Breakfast." Which was sausage patties and links, hotdogs, bacon, ham, and smothered in gravy with extra grease on the side for dipping. Actually, I don't remember what it was and never wrote it in my journal, so I'll just create that memory.

We took a taxi to get our new permits to enter the Annapurna Circuit area again. There were lots of other tourists there, it was really hectic and unorganized trying to get in there and apply. We were pretty early so we didn't have to wait that long. I had about 10 pictures of myself, for permits and stuff, but I left them all in Kathmandu because I didn't think we'd have to turn back and not be able to use the original permit again. I ended up getting gouged for two pictures from a local photo place. I still have those pictures in my wallet actually. I have a massive beard and long hair and have that dazed "I'm back in society for the first time in a week" look.

Sujan met us after one of his appointments and we went back to the hotel. We sorted out what gear we were going to leave, we weren't going to be hitting any snow and were going to be able to ride most of the way to the end. We threw our stuff that we wanted to leave in a massive bag that Khem had and had it stored somewhere at the hotel.

A jeep came at noon and we drove to the trailhead. We started our hike around 2:30 and stopped after an hour or so to have these thick skinned oranges. No one knew the English word for them. We had them with chili powder and sugar. I also downed a Coke, the place we were in was accessible by a road so I thought that (hopefully) the bottle wouldn't just be thrown in a nearby ravine.

We hiked until 5:30, stopping in Hille. We had fresh popcorn and tea for a snack, while taking turns waiting for a gas heated shower. I caught up on my writing too. Dinner was veggie momos and a whey drink that was like really thick milk and had a sour tang to it. Looks like tomorrow is going to be a bit difficult, we have to climb 1,300 meters (4,265 ft.) in elevation.

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Day 16 - February 14, 2010 - Out to Civilization

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Chamche to Pokara

We left Chamche shortly after breakfast, I had tibetan bread (similar to fried bread dough) and an omelet. The hike to Syange was about 2 hours and it was a warm day. We'd also been dropping in altitude like crazy so it should be warmer. It was good for our spirits to have nice weather with us.

This dog followed us for two days, he was our guardian for the really long day that went into the darkness and escorted us out to the road, we wanted to take him with us, but knew we couldn't.  I can't remember what the Nepali word that we used to call him, it was something like "white one."  I'm not a dog person, but I liked this do a lot.  It was almost as if he only existed for us in those specific moments of each day we saw him; fading in and out of reality as he appeared and disappeared throughout our time together.

Ultra steep trail down a dangerous rocky slope that was being ripped apart to make a road, rocks tumble down with the slightest touch.  Oh look, a donkey train is coming up to pass us, they'll be above us as we go down to the bottom, isn't that nice?

In  bus #1 of 2 on our way to Pokara

We arrived in Syange and had a bottle of Coke, this was my first "unhealthy" food in quite a while. I also didn't feel bad about the empty bottle, the road allows them to be brought back out and returned rather than being dumped down an embankment like in the higher elevations.

We had another dhal bhat lunch and boarded the jeep around 1:30. The jeep drove for about two hours and made it out to civilization. Once we grabbed our bags and walked back into town, Sujan arranged a van to take us to Pokara. We rode for two hours and then got in another van for another two hours and finally arrived in Pokara around 7:45.

The end of the ride was marred by a disagreement with the driver of the van and what rate we agreed upon. It ended up working out fine though, it makes a big difference having native Nepali speakers. Elana and I would get ripped off so much if we didn't have Khem and Sujan. Everyone wants to charge the "gweilo" tax.

We checked in at the hotel and then went out for dinner. Khem picked us up some Nepalese whiskey, which if I remember correctly, had a bagpiper on it dressed in a turban. We had a snack of buffalo "chili" which is just fried buffalo meat with some peppers and onions that you eat with toothpicks. The dhal bhat came out with popadum (a crunchy cone shaped tortilla chip) and buffalo curry. We talked quite a bit about the next few days and then made it back to the hotel and went to sleep.

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Day 15 - February 13, 2010 - Changing Climates

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It was an early start, there were quite a few trekkers at the tea house, most were heading down, but some where going to take their chances going higher. Khem and Sujan did quite a bit of research and asking around about the pass, everything came back negative, the locals said that it would be at least a week before the pass is opened.

We walked for 8 hours, starting in snow, then hitting slush, then mud and finally dry dirt for the first time in days.

We had lunch at Dhara Pani and found out we would have to purchase another trekking permit for the other side of the Annapurna Circuit once we left the area. A new permit is 2000 Nepalese Rupees (27 USD), not too much but when you pay 10 Rupees for tea and around 75 for breakfast, it's quite a bit more.

 

 

We walked and walked, stopped and had tea, then walked some more. We stopped to have tea around 5:40 and then decided that we needed to push on to Chamche, another two hours down the trail. We'd be walking in darkness and it was already a long day, but we pushed on anyway. We hoped to make it out to Syange tomorrow and take the jeep the rest of the way out, making up tons of time in the process. If everything worked out well we would be in Pokara much sooner and be well on our way to Muktinath on the other side of the circuit.

It was an amazingly clear night. We lit our way with headlamps, the trail was difficult and the darkness made it that much more ominous. Finally, we made it in to the place where we had a rain soaked dhal bhat on the first wet and chilly day. We were very excited when we arrived, we agreed that it was a memorable experience, guh-zup-chaa! (excellent in Nepali). I ended up getting a cheese pizza for dinner, just for the heck of it, but once everything came out I realized that I should have got the curry instead. It was worth the experience though. We had some jar to drink with scrambled egg in it.

The shower was another experience, the solar heated water had run out so I made it a quick one. As I was putting my clothes back on my watch read 45 degrees, sleep is going to be good tonight!

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Day 14 - February 12, 2010 - The Annapurna Turnaround

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Pisang to Chame

We woke up to snow falling, it was light, but it seemed that it may get worse. We decided that continuing to gain elevation in an attempt at Manang would be very risky. If the snow came down hard again then we may be snowed in at either place (Manang or Pisang) and it would cost us time. Throng La Pass was probably snowed shut and would only be getting worse by the minute, so we decided to cut our losses and head back down. Over the next week we would circle back around the other side of the pass and still get to see about 80% of The Annapurna Circuit rather than waiting out the weather and the snow pack and only seeing less than 50%.

Preparing to brave the elements

It's definitely snowing

Mmmmm Milk Tea

The snow fell a bit harder as we trudged back down, but around 3 the sky opened up and revealed blue sky and some scattered clouds. We stopped to dry off and have some tea, but then decided to stay the night again in Chame. Khem bought another rooster for us to eat and we had a snack of it after lunch. Before dinner we had some raksi and did some rope games and team building practice. Then we had dhal bat with the rooster. They brought us some mustang coffee after and we sat around the fire with the other trekkers for quite a while.

We have an early start tomorrow, hopefully we will make good time heading down.

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Day 13 - February 11, 2010 - The Land of New York

Chame to Pisang

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The weather was good and the hiking wasn't too difficult, I think my body is getting used to the altitude and cold. There is snow everywhere, the views are incredible. It really feels like a New York winter here.

We arrived at Upper Pisang and topped out our elevation at 3400 meters, the goal is to reach Manang tomorrow depending on the weather. Dhal bhat dinner tonight.

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