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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