Nepal
Kathmandu, Trekking the Annapurna Circuit, etc.
22.03.2009 - 07.04.2009
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We're in Istanbul now, finally recovered from our trek (rest-wise and health-wise), and ready to write about our experience. There are a ton of pics that follow the text, so we hope you enjoy them (and watch Seven Years in Tibet if you're wondering about Erin's "Himalayas" accent)!
We arrived in Kathmandu after a good final week in India, and immediately set to preparing for our trek. We had researched the different treks in the country for some time, and the Annapurna Circuit was to be the one for a variety of reasons. For starters, it isn't an out-and-back (nice for those of us who are perpetually retracing our steps on the trail). Second, road building is drastically changing the face of the region, such that now is definitely the time to go before many of the medieval villages start to grow and develop.
The first question in our planning was whether or not to do the trek on our own; there are a myriad of trekking companies in Kathmandu, all telling you that it's "dangerous, difficult," and that "you'll get lost in the jungle." We were fortunate enough to stumble upon a slide show presentation on the trek by a British guy, who assured us that route-finding would not be a problem. Still, we weren't totally convinced. When an outfitter from whom we bought some gear told us that it's "the yellow brick road," we made up our minds - grab our packs and go. To combat the cold we bought some down pants (and gloves and mittens - think the Michelin Tire man and you'll know exactly what we looked like).
We had met a nice couple, Bryson and Megan, at the slide show (who, incidentally, are also moving back to CO), and
after a few meals and drinks decided to make it a group of four. Down jackets packed and bus tickets purchased, we were on our way. After a five-hour bus ride and then an hour-long jeep ride where Bryson and I were thrown onto the roof with about eight other Nepalis, we finally made it to the trailhead. It was around six in the evening, so we decided to spend the night in the village (Bhule Bhule) and leave the following morning.
There are a variety of ways to do treks in Nepal, but we decided to hike village-to-village and stay in small lodges and tea houses. Our reasoning was pretty simple: no tent, food, or cooking food to carry! We also hoped to meet and interact with more locals, if only by virtue of that fact that we would be staying with them along the way. This plan would have us passing several villages each day, stopping for lunch when a good looking spot presented itself. 28-days was the original estimate (we planned to do both the circuit and the Annapurna Sanctuary back-to-back), which meant starting at 2600 feet, slowly climbing up a major valley to a maximum elevation of 17,700 feet over the course of twelve days or so, climbing 3000 feet and then descending 5000 on the actual day of the pass, and then slowly working down another valley to approximately our starting elevation.
We could give descriptions of each village, but instead we'll just give some of the highlights and lasting impressions:
RELIGION:
From the lower elevations to the higher elevations, it was interesting to watch predominately Hinduism give way to Buddhism. Some of the pictures below show some of the Buddhist practices such as: Prayer wheels (to be turned in a clockwise direction), the script 'Om Mani Padmi Om' - 'Hail the Jewel in the Lotus' written over and over (also written on the prayer flags), and animism (the picture of the horns).
MOUNTAINS:
For the first few days, the valley we were walking up was quite narrow. As a result, we didn't get into the mega mountain views until 3-4 days in, when the valley opened up. The most magical part of the trip was when we got a foot of snow one night and woke up to trees, houses, swing bridges, horses, dogs, all blanketed in white. The day after this was great because it was like snowshoeing, only without snowshoes (hence, the hilarious gaiters we're wearing!). From that point the valley opened up and we had gained enough elevation to really start seeing the giants of the Annapurna Himal. We felt like we could literally touch the mountains from the terraces of the little lodges along the way, and at the same time felt smaller-than-small next to them. The most impressive mountain was Annapurna II (elevation: 26,040 ft) as its ridge lines and glaciers were unlike anything we'd seen before...plus, can you imagine how tall that is??? The feeling can best be described as follows:
"It is said that all human activities seem futile and insignificant against the backdrop of the mighty Himalayas." M.K. Limbu
ELEVATION:
We decided to carry our own packs on the trail (budget style!!), but come day 11 when we climbed from 13,000 ft to 14,000 ft we were dragging ourselves and decided if we both wanted to avoid Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and actually enjoy hiking Thorung La Pass, we should find a porter. So, we got one for two days, but couldn't convince him to hike down the pass with us (knee breaker!!); however, it was such a great decision because we climbed the pass without getting sick (only cold).
VILLAGES AND PEOPLE:
Unlike most hikes, on which we're trying to get away from all civilization, this trail is like a highway through people's lives - as the main trade and commerce route in the mountain country, it literally is the vein that connects the entire area. Along the way we saw donkey-trains, porters carrying everything from food to metal roofing and steel pipes, yaks, children going to school, drunk old men, and lovely villages. The villages themselves range from a purpose-built cluster of trekking lodges (not as interesting), to large groupings of medieval homes that are literally clutching the mountain side. It's an odd feeling to walk along the trail and see the latter of the two, because in a very cliche way it is as if you are walking back in time, seeing places that are essentially unchanged since the stones were first stacked to build the houses and the terraces were first cut into the side of the hills.
Because there were so few trekkers this season, we were often the only group staying at the lodge. On one particular occasion we found ourselves in an incredibly rugged and old mountain village, staring across the valley at the monstrous mountains in all of their glory. It was very cold that morning, and rather than waste wood to heat the eating area we asked if we could join the family in the kitchen. Wood is the primary source of fuel for those who live outside of the population centers in Nepal (which has led to an extremely high rate of deforestation), so we joined around the stove and warmed our hands while the family prepared our breakfast. That they were generous enough to let us sit there was a true highlight, in that we could both interact with them and experience such kind, generous hospitality from those who really don't have much.
FOOD:
If you like Dal Bhat (boiled lentils over rice with a small serving of curry and pickled vegetables), then you will love Nepal. Nate dared to go the Dal Bhat route much more than me. I tended to try varieties of potatoes (boiled, fried, chopped and mashed) and eggs (boiled, fried, omelet) wanting something more, but always wishing I had gone with the staple. Vegetables and fruit are lacking. But, somehow we always found enough energy (thank you Mars bars!) to hike and then sit down with a nice cup of black tea/milk tea.
LODGING:
I think we set the record for days without hot showers on this trek (total of 15 days). We got two, I think....but most times we either used baby wipes or showered in cold/luke warm water. Again, the deforestation thing is partially fueled by trekkers wanting hot showers; however, they are making efforts to supply lodges with solar heaters. As for the beds, they are fairly simple - wooden beds with a foam mattress. We really got to loving our sleeping bags on this one!!
WATER:
Iodine, anyone? It tastes great!! And, if you're lucky, you may end up with Giardia (rotten eggs, anyone??)
We could go on and on (oh, wait! we already have...), but we hope the pictures will tell a better story than what we've written. Even though we didn't do the addition with the Annapurna Sanctuary, we felt completely lucky and amazed that we were able to do this trek. We're already talking about when to go back to Nepal.
Posted by esnodgrass 18.04.2009 12:29 AM Archived in Nepal Comments (3)
