The Trek
As we rose up, I got a nice view of the valley. It was beautiful. Since the land is so full of hills, the people have had to terrace them in order to grow crops. When looking out over the valley, these terraces are striking, especially since they are usually growing some crop on them and they are quite green. It is very dry this time of year, just before the monsoon season, so mid-morning brings a haze with it from the dust of the dry land. It does add a surreal quality to mountains, though, and turns them a shade of blue. The only time to see the mountain tops is in the morning.
Lunchtime brought a break, and I got some food and some rest and some Ibuprofen. I felt much better, and we finished our hike in a little village called Tolka. When trekking, there really is no need for a tent, because there are lodges with restaurants all along the way. The accommodations are spartan, of course, but what do you expect for $2? The amazing thing is that the view was phenomenal. You would easily pay $300 a night for a hotel with the view. I will have some pictures that I will put on to back up my statements.
I got a bit sick that night, a by product of nerves and travel, but was better by the morning. It took a few days to get back my appetite, and one night of 12 hours of sleep, and then I acclimated. Trekking in the Himalayas can be summed up in 2 words: up and down. I would say that 2/3 to ¾ of our trip was spent hiking straight up or down. It was pretty tough with 40 pounds on your back, but I am in great shape now. The views were absolutely worth it.
The Nepali people are amazing. Once up on the trail, out of the craziness of the city, I was able talk with a few of them. They are extremely pleasant people, and fun to talk to. Most of them spoke enough English to take food orders, and more than a few spoke English quite well. They are quick with a smile and a laugh. The porters are amazing. Never again will I complain about the weight of a pack. These people were smaller than me, maybe 5’6”, and weighing 150 lbs. I saw one porter carrying 3 full size packs up the hill! And they do most of it wearing flip flops or barefoot. They carry baskets in their backs with a band around their heads. I was in awe. As one porter said to us: “We are like chili powder, small but strong.”
Trekking is a great way to travel. There are people from all over the world, and most if not all speak English. Many have the same values because you are all on the same trail. Usually you are gathered around the table at night to share a meal, and there are interesting stories to tell. We were able to exchange cultural differences and similarities. It makes the world seem bigger and smaller all at the same time.
As we got closer to base camp, we got more and more spectacular views of the Annapurna range. The peaks are between 6000m and 7200m (That’s about 23,000 ft for you non-metrics). As we got to a village called Deurali, we were hiking over avalanche slides of packed ice and snow. When we reached there it was raining, and got a bit chilly that evening. The next day we hiked up to ABC (Annapurna Base Camp). The entire hike was on snow, and all of it up. We crossed rivers on bridges of logs lashed together. While sleeping in Deurali, there was an avalanche about 300m from our lodge. From Deurali to ABC and back down (a total of 2 days) we experienced 5 avalanches; only one was threatening. Most were up on the peaks, but the rumbling is an awesome sound. 2 were at night, and they all happened too quick for me to get my camera out. Nature is spectacular.
The treat was sunrise at ABC. The sky was clear blue, and we were in a bowl at 4100m, with the peaks rising up all around for another 3000m. The Himalayas are very steep mountains, jutting straight up for thousands of meters. I can’t wait to see my pictures. The sun rose slowly, illuminating some peaks one by one, then moving down and creating wonderful shadows and contrasts. It was well worth the trek.
It was much, much quicker going down than coming up. We made it back to Chomrong in 2 days (it took us 3 to get up) and decided to take a layover day. We stayed in a lodge that had just been rebuilt, that was the 2nd lodge in Chomrong. Compared to the other lodges, this place was a hotel! The food was great and it was great to finally get a day off. I had not stopped travelling since leaving Denver. We had an incredible view in the morning of 3 peaks, and I got a Thai massage from a Thai woman who was travelling making a living giving massages. I had twisted my foot on the way down to Chomrong, and it was quite swollen, so it was good timing to have a day off.
We spent 2 days getting back to the buses and taxis. The views all along the trail were awesome, and I was very sad to be ending the trek. It is quite funny, no one knows the distance of the trek, only in terms of hours. We trekked for 9 days, plus 1 layover day. We estimated that we probably hiked 70-80 miles, and most of it was up and down. It was very challenging. From town to town, you may get an altitude change of 300m, but you go down 700, then up 1000 to get that 300m change! The locals say this hike is moderate! I would hate to see a hard hike.
We are back in Pokhara now, and in 2 days, we will leave on a 2 day rafting trip on the Bhoda Koesi. It supposed to have class 4 and 5 rapids, and the coldest water in Nepal. Beats sitting in a hotel!