A Fellow Traveler : Nepal: Annapurna Circuit

09.11.2013 - Besisahar to Bhulbhule, 7km, 840 meters

Backpacks packed. Luggage stored. Hotel bill paid. Taxi Arrived. Now it's just another three hour drive to Besisahar, Nepal where we really begin this trip. We are all excited but poor Megan seems to have developed a cold - by reports, the first time she has been sick in years. Of course. Never the less we carried on, arriving in good time and getting our TIMS (Trekkers Information Management System) check-point pass book which we will get stamped along the entire route - a systems that allows authorities to track who is on the trails at any given time in case of some disaster. After a quick run to an ATM to get enough cash to keep us going for a couple of weeks (because mountain tea houses don't often take credit cards - imagine that!) we grabbed lunch - a fine contrast to Kathmandu this was the worst veggie burger I have ever eaten (and not finished).
Then... we were off! We had officially started what would be a 19 day trek on the famous Annapurna Circuit over Thorong La Pass! Today starts off with an easy 2.5 hour hike along the Marshyandgi river to Bhulbhule, a small village of 3,000 plus people. It was a fairly easy hike for the day without much elevation gain and few challenges. Although, the first time we encountered a large flow of water covering the road Alessandro and I navigated our way across while Megan and Gwen were offered a ride across hanging onto a tractor that was passing us. We took our time appreciating the flora and the giant spiders (sorry, Kevin). We smiled and waved as small children passing us on the road gave a slight bow with palms together saying, Namaste, a greeting which means "I bow to you" to acknowledge the divine spirit in the person you are addressing.
Tried to take the suspension bridge through the village of Khudi but found ourselves walking into a community meeting, probably a political campaign event as the country prepares for elections on the 19th. It reminds me of being in Hong Kong for their elections last year and the power that such a time can hold for a country, especially a country like Nepal which has had a challenged history of political reform and civil war.
Arrived in Bhulebule and ran into a guy from Colorado whom my friends had met at the airport. He led us to Heaven Guest House where he was staying in and we got two rooms: one for Megan and Alessandro (Megassandro, as I am now calling them) and one for Gwen and I. Our rooms were very basic, located above the dining hall, in an attic something between a cabin and a crawl space from The Shining. The walls were covered in some pretty hysterical posters - Megassandro's room with one of The Terminator! The window in our room looked over the river and another suspension bridge across it with snow covered mountains behind. We reconvened downstairs for a simple dinner of soup and Tibetan bread which was basically a fry bread and nothing like what I ate in Dharamshala, India. I added a plate of curry potato momos which were filling and happy-making. We got out a deck of cards and started a tally for the "Annapurny Journey Tourney," ongoing Gin Rummy game. End of night one: a few pots of tea gone and me way out in first place in the Tourney.
We curled up in our sleeping bags, hats on, took notes on the day, read our books, and expressed how excited we were to have started this trip which seems overwhelming to think about in advance.

10.11.2013 - Bhulbhule to Ghermu, 25km, 1130 meters

I woke up sweating through my sleeping bag. This is not a complaint; it was a reassurance to think that my bag was probably going to be warm enough once we got to much higher elevation and far colder nights. Downstairs our crew gathered for a bit of breakfast, me eating rice cakes with peanut butter which has the added benefit of lightening my pack every bite I take. A quick clean up and payment for our stay and we were off on our first full day of trekking.
We walked out of town opposite direction of the commuting school children wandering down the hills to class. We passed a large power plant, navigating through construction, and climbing the hills along the river . We stopped for a snack in the village of Bahunhanda where we also had to stop at an ACAP checkpost. The officer in the booth was looking at my passport when we heard the familiar "duh na nuh nuh, duh na nuh nuh, duh na nuh nuh, na" Nokia ring tone. Even in the Nepal Himalayas. This has to be the most ubiquitous sound in all the world. Local restaurant owners guilted us for not eating at their establishments. We wondered how many restaurants were along the trek and what our budget would need to be to dine at all of them.
We carried along and stopped at a tea shop named 'Under the Pipal Tree' which accurately describes its setting. We sipped on chair overlooking, as the guidebook describes them, "golden amphitheater-shaped rice terraces" with slaty-headed parakeets swooping among the fields. We hiked into Lili Bhir and turned around to find that Megan has been held up by the herd of goats meandering down the path. We crossed another bridge, past another waterfall, and along a section of trail with guardrails donated by Kanak Mani Dixit, editor of Himal magazine after he fell off the ledge and laid for three days before being discovered and later realized he was not the first to have such luck.
We arrived in the town of Ghermu and took it upon recommendation to take a room at the Rainbow Hotel. We sat on the patio and drank sodas and enjoyed the beauty of the waterfall across the valley. We had considred walking to the next town but a cloud ahead looked ominous and we had already felt the odd drop entereing town. This, we thought, seemed like a good stopping point for day two.
There was a solo patron at the hotel, Vincent, from France. We asked him to join our table and he told us of his adventures traveling through Mongolia, China, and then entering Tibet without a permit. He hiked most of the journey and is not hiking to finish off his tour before he goes back to France and looks for his next job in the wine industry, hopefully abroad. We all chatted for a long while and Vincent became an easy new member to our foursome. He also took on the nickname Froggie after explaining to us that Brits tend to call the French "Frogs" based, he says, on their penchant for eating frog's legs.
We took showers which are run through an instant hot water unit heated with a propane burner... which ran out in the middle of my shower. The giant spider in the shower with me looked less annoyed. I consoled myself with a hot meal and another win at a long game of Gin. Our dinner table was joined by 19 year old Chanda, who works at the hotel that his sister owns. He is bright and friendly, and pretty easty to beat at Gin Rummy so I like him quite a lot. We stayed up late talking and laughing and debated a round of drinks and making our own dance party. We opted for bed instead. My bed comes with a little spray painted stencil of LEGOs in love. I took a photo for Kevin's brother who may or may not be a producer for the new LEGO movie which comes out in February. Little reminders to loved ones back home, even at 1130 meters in the mountains of Nepal.

11.11.2013 - Ghermu to Karte, 38km, 1870 meters

Our whole group woke up late. Maybe we are starting to feel the hike? I finished my rice cakes and peanut butter for breakfast. We took photos with the family who owns the hotel before saying goodbye and starting day three of our trek. We had a moneky sighting along the way but the monekys had also spotted us and decided they did not want their photo taken. Sorry about that, reader.
Froggie had left before us (he is more accustomed to early hiking) but we caught up with him in Syange just before catching a great view of Rainbow Falls which looks as though it casts colour into the valley as water cascades down the hillside. We stopped at the Waterfall Guest House for lunch which was lovely, to be sitting in the sun and relaxing. However, after an hour wait for food we decided that restaurant stops on the trail were not an efficient use of time and that snack breaks will be the norm from here to keep our desired pace. Still, we enjoyed our food, the break, and the sound of children playing around us.
We walked further, always further. More hiking. More waterfalls. Many, many more goats. We stopped at a small trailside stand for juice. We say a praying mantis on the trail. We pointed it out to a group of kids who looked on in awe. We smiled and said goodbye to the children who promptly crushed the mantis with a rock. I did something of a laugh/choke and walked on a bit disturbed by the violent end to a sweet trail encounter.
We stopped at a safe water station to fill our bottles. This is a project of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), jointly run between the 57 Village Development Committees and a group from New Zealand, created to provide safe drinking water for travelers and reduce plastic bottle waste along the trail and in communities. We decided to walk past the town of Tal to the town of Karte to make our day easier tomorrow. The trail past Tal was stunning with rock formations and trail cut into the cliffs. We took note for the first time of the wild growing marijuana as well.
We reached Karte after sunset as the light was quickly fading. We found a sweet guest house with lovely rooms and a "hot shower" which was later described as "a little warm." We dined on the best tasting potatoes with vegetables and eggs (I have taken to adding eggs to every dish). I ordered Alessandro a beer but he was not so pleased with the "local beer" I selected from the menu which was clearly a low-alcohol, home fermented rice beverage. His loss, my gain. Alessandro decided he would order the "Mars Roll" from the menu since we has now seen it a few times on menus and were curious. Yup, it's a Mars bar which is battered and fried. AKA, delicious! We were too tired to play cards but not too tired to laugh at the truly bizarre posters on the wall of the restaurant. We read in bed and slept early, the Gwen/Michael room now officially the Gwen/Michael/Froggie room.

12.12.2013 - Karte to Chame, 56km, 2710 meters

Our group met for breakfast. My first bowl of porridge on the trail which is really just oatmeal which I fill with apples... and sugar. We checked out and stopped at another ACAP checkpoint. I played with a kid while we waited who had a balloon that I made gas sounds with to his delight. We hiked in the cold trying to get some heat in our bodies. We had snacks in the sunshine after starting the section of the trek through the Manang Valley.
Starting early meant we arrived early in Chame though our location deep in the valley meant that we were still hiking without direct sunlight and with a strong, cold breeze. We checked into a hotel in town where we did all we could to try to warm our frozen bones. We agreed later that this was the first time we began to worry about the temperatures on this trek as we were still only half the elevation of the pass.
I put on all of my layers and sat in the restaurant where I drank tea, took two bowls of soup, and had an omelet just to warm my insides. The hotel owner's children made a wild game of chase around the place and got themselves into trouble wherever they could. I tried to drown out the noise by turning up the volume of the read-aloud voice in my head with Faulkner's, Sound and Fury, which might prove to cause permanent damage to my psyche.
I was eventually joined by my Super Friends (my new name for the group). Some had managed a hot shower. Colorado guy from our first night was at the hotel was the one in the shower when the propane ran out. Poor, cold man. Alessandro asked if the hotel owners would close the doors and if there was some possible heat source. We were delivered a bucket of hot coals which immediately drew a crowd who huddled around the life-giving glow with desperate excitement. We ordered more food and a round of popcorn and a slice of apple pie - another first sample of a regular menu item. First of many.
I chatted with Alan from Ireland about Faulkner. I eavesdropped on a conversation between Colorado and a woman named Kelsey, occasionally interjecting my thoughts or corrections from my table and eventually apologizing for being their uninvited third which they both laughed off. Kelsey is from the Carolinas and had been working as a teacher in Baltimore before coming to work with teachers in Nepal for a few months. She is considering an MSW degree which means we has plenty to talk about. Super Friends played cards. I still lead. This makes me happy. We went to bed not nearly as cold and slightly less afraid of chilly nights to come, which they certainly did.

13.11.2013 - Chame to Upper Pisang, 70km, 3310 meters

Another oat porridge breakfast. A conversation with Kelsey about her options to join Colorado's group or the Super Friends. Was there ever really a choice? And then there were six.
Today we hiked through pine forests and amazing mountain vistas. We made a few big climbs and looked in in awe of porters for other trekkers who did the same climb with sometimes four times the amount of baggage and in flip flops! One one hand, they are badasses. On the other hand, they face a number of health and safety challenges in a country with an already low life expectancy and have often been working as portes since they were children. Jealousy ends quickly.
Our hike today took us past cows, horses, football fields, and forests into Upper Pisang. The trail split at one point with a shortcut (a very steep shortcut) taking us more directly to the high mountain town. There was some debate in the group as to whether or not to follow my lead. Guess what? I won! We arrived safely and in good time. Alessandro now owes me a drink, which I makes the win even sweeter, or warmer anyway. I had been ahead when we got to town and I set off to find us lodging but was not satisfied until I had reached the topmost, Himalaya Hotel, where Froggie and I got a room. By that time, I had lost my group who had already checked into another lodge not wanting to keep climbing to look for me. All was well and everyone had an amazing view of Annapurna IV and II mountain peaks.
Not having had a hot shower in a while I opted to freshen up. Of course, the solar hot water does not work pretty much any time I am trying to use it. Instead, I was offered a bucket of hot water which I gladly accepted. Crouching in the shower room with a window overlooking the golden, November sun floating over the Himalayas as I poured steaming hot water all over my tired, filthy body made for, perhaps, the most incredible shower experience of my life. Who needs water pressure?!
After changing, Froggie and I walked up the hill to monastery and temple which boasted amazing views of the sunset as we sipped hot tea offered by the monks for a small donation. Froggie and I say for a long time inside the temple, taking in the tranquility of our surroundings and set to Tibetan prayer music. The community has been working to rebuild the new monastery for years with individuals from the village providing either financial support or hour of labour toward its completion.
After a restful time at the monastery, Froggie and I joined the Super Friends for dinner at their hotel. Alessandro has been complaining about his neck hurting and I offered him the benefit of my massage training which offered the rest of the group a number of giggles as he moaned at the table as my elbow dug deeper into his trapezius muscles. We ate and played cards. Soup came with enough spice to melt a candle and I made the mistake of rubbing my nose after taking a pinch of ground pepper. More amusement for the group. Another apple pie. Another round of Gin Rummy. Froggie and I walked home up the hill and stood outside enjoying the view of white mountains lit by the swelling moon. There was a grandness to the scene which was amplified by its silence. This trek is easily the most beautiful thing I have done in my life. I went to bed all smiles, frozen in place by the chilly night air.