okay, so here is what i have been doing over the past 3 weeks!
Basically there are 2 options for doing the trek
. either the full circuit which
takes about 3 weeks or just the Annapurna base camp. I won't go into more
detail explaining this.
As u may recall, I was travelling with that bloke David. we kinda did it
halfway. The plan was to flow to a place called Jomsom, which is halfway around
the circuit, walk the rest of the circuit and then the Mt. Annapurna South base
camp.
As with all my adventures it seems, rarely things go according to plan. After a
rather hectic night, Tues morning we woke up at 4:30am for the flight at 6:30.
Got the taxi at 5am and were told to wait in the restaurant. 6:15 told there is
some wind at Jomsom (which is at 2710m), not safe to fly. Will be told at 8:30
what is happening. so we waited. 8:30 arrived and told still too much wind and
will have to wait until 11:20! so we waited. 11:20, the flight has been
cancelled!!! so we had to go back to the hotel and just hung out the rest of
the day.
had another late'ish night, but this time got 4 hours of sleep, instead of 3
like the night before! so again, woke up at 4:30, taxi at 5am and told to wait
this time in the departure lounge
. and guess what, too much wind again; will be
told at 8:30! during the 2 hours of doing watching the cloud formations, paint
drying and trying to sleep on the plastic chairs, I formulated the theory that
the further we got towards departure was directly proportionate to the amount
of sleep we had.
this time had a good night's sleep, and next morning, same thing, woke up at
4:30am, taxi at 5am, and this time we flew! yay! what a beautiful flight. took
off from Pokahra airport (well it has a runway) which is at 700m, and flew
through the Annapurna Mountain range up to Jomsom which is at 2710m. i won't
bore you with day-to-day accounts as it was 19 days, but try to summarise it.
first day walked to a place called Kagbeni, which is at 2800m and stayed there
the night. we had to be careful about acclimatising. basically after 2500m, the
human body needs to get used to the altitude otherwise quite nasty things can
happen to you, as well as it can be fatal. so we spent the afternoon chilling
out, then next day went to a place called Muktinath (3200m) and stayed at no
other than the "Bob Marley" logdge
. what a laugh. 3200m, in the middle of Nepal
and staying at a lodge playing Bob Marley, the person working at the desk being
some sort of she-man.
i started with this guy Dave and an Ozzie guy we met at the hotel the day
before we left called Chris who decided to join us at the last minute. we
trekked together with another english couple for 1 day, then the nex day, our
group of 3 grew to 6 as we hooked up with an israeli guy and 2 israeli girls.
we all trekked together until a place called "Tatopani" (translation = hot
water) where there are hot springs. the israeli girls left the next day, Chris
was sick and Dave had hooked up with this Israeli girl. so me and the Israeli
dude, Raanan hung out in the hot pools the next day and just relaxing.
by this stage, i decided that i didnt enjoy Dave's company and needed to split
from him, personality clash you can call it. as it happened he wanted to stay
an extra day with his new "friend" which gave me a good reason to leave
. so i
left the next day at it happened with his girl's friend, also israeli girl
called Tali. Tali and i trekked together for a few days. at a place called
"Ghorepani" she saw 2 friends of hers and the 4 of us woke up at 4:30am the
next morning to rush up to a hill called "Poon Hill" to watch the spectactular
sunrise over the Annapurna mountains. absolutely beautiful! we had bought some
rolls, yak cheese and tomatoes, so had a little picnic!
trekked with this couple until a place called Ghandruk, known as the most
beautiful village in the Annapurnas. stayed in this fantastic guest house. we
had a few drinksd that night with the locals and they sang songs for us.
brilliant!
next morning, tali had secretly arranged a birthday cake for me! so the guest
lodge owner presented it to me and he and his friends sang happy birthday for
me. definately, one of the most memorable birthday, which i will never forget.
i was really touched by this, as we had only trekked for 3 days, but became
really good friends over this time
.
so she left that morning back to Pokhara as she had been trekking for a month
already and i left to head towards the base camp. along the way, i hooked up
with this group of people from ACAP (Annapurna Conservation Area Project - they
oversee the Annapurna circuit and maintain it). trekked with them that day and
the next day went back on the trail myself until i got to the Macchapuchre base
camp (3800m), only 1.5 hours from the Annpurna base camp (the end of the
trail). i was quite naughty as i walked up 1.5kms that day, breaking all the
altitude aclimatissing (i just can't spell this word!) rules. but was fine. I
bumped into Dave there who was trekking with this Dutch dude and his guide.
after a literally freezing night of -5 degrees, the next morning we woke up at
4:30am and trekked (well more like fumbled) in the darkness to the Annapurna
Base Camp (4130m). several Mars bars, cursing, tripping over and 2 hours later,
we got there. the sun rose while we were walking with the full moon shadowing
us
. as we left the full moon cast it's light over the snow-capped mountains
giving them a luminescent hue, which i just cant describe. we stayed at the
Annapurna Base Camp for breakfast and a guided tour by the dutch dude's (Mike)
guide then back down to Macchapuchre base camp. the plan was to head down from
there. i found the Annapurna Base Camp so amazing, i decided to go back up
again and Dave and Mike headed back down to Pokhara.
for a few days, i had seen a package tour of 50+ years old Germans walking as
well and each night had successfully stayed at the same village each night, but
different lodge. my luck finally ran out and i mistakenly chose the same lodge
as them. as the lodge was quite small, it was pretty much me and them, and they
were loud and rude. my only other companions were 2 Japanese guys and 1
Canadian girl who always seemed to have a joint in their hand and totally
stoned. so i went to sleep about 18:30. err, this was the plan. because of the
altitude it was quite difficult to sleep as every now and then i found that i
actually lost my breath, quite a scary feeling as i was just lying down
.
coupled with my freight-train sounding snoring German room-mate, some Nepal
playing the flute until some crazy hour of the night, i didn't have a good
night's sleep.
got walking the next day at 7am, breakfast at the Macchapuchre base camp, then
walked the rest of the day until 16:30 to a place called Jomsom. It was a very
long day as i had normally walked 5 or so hours a day taking rests and this day
walked about 10 hours, with breaks for breakfast and lunch.
the next day i trekked with a Dutch couple i met the night before back to
Pokhara. another long day, walking from 7:30 - 17:30. might have taken less
time if this crazy dutch guy hadnt taken the wrong trail and we ended up
scrambling up a 20m landslide almost falling over twice. but that's another
story.
took a bus back to Pokhara, which took about 1.5 hours and had a bloke sitting
next to me who seemed to have never-ending supply of loose phlegm which needed
to be spat on the floor every 5 minutes
. heh, got to love this place!!
so yeah, got back last night, had dinner with the Dutch couple and celebrated!
and now, just relaxing and nursing my wounds. just before the trek, i manged to
break one of the cardinal rules of trekking and bought a new pair of leather
shoes! what a muppet thing to do. so the first few days of the trek were spent
in utter agony. i can tell you hopping along for 5 hours a day is not fun!
from here will probably head to a game park called Chitwan, and possibly a 3
day rafting trip between this. from there to Kathmandu for a few days, then fly
to Delhi to hang out with my brother's Indian friend for a few days hopefully,
then leave Bombay December 23rd for Singapore, then to Sydney for the night,
then to Aoteroa the next day.
i have to tell you that this has been one of the most memorable experiences of
my life. spending 3 weeks trekking in the mountains, walking every day through
villages and meeting locals is an experience which i just cannot convey
. Nepali
people are so friendly and welcoming, with a country of unparalled beauty (yes
Kiwis, sorry). i have been fortunate enough to spend a night at the very base
of an 8000m moutain, with it's majestic beauty.i could go on for sentences with
this philsophical stuff, but i won't!
Whew, this is a long email. so sorry for all those in London with your exciting
jobs that I had to tear you away from and spend your hard earned pounds reading
about my adventures in Nepal!
Namaste
In the Shadows of Giants
Tuesday, December 04, 2001
Pokhara, Nepal
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