Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Annapurna Photos

Two hours on the computer and I'm bored of updating my blog already. Plus this is my last day in Nepal before my mom and I fly to Delhi tomorrow to meet my Dad. I best go and live it up here while I still have the chance. So, for all those interested in the life of a trekker, here are a few more photos to entertain you. Stories will have to come later!


Beware: Entering the Landslide area! I guess a rock nearly missed my head. But I never saw it! We all made it through safely, although it was a little scary at times, especially with the trail covered in snow and ice in places!



Thorung La Pass: This photo deserves a huge long blog entry. But here it is. We did make it to the top, but just barely and with lots of help and assitance from other trekkers and guides! Thank God for them! This was the big day---5416m! Never again do I hope to be that high in my life...oh, but it is kind of addicting. Anyone want to climb Mt. Kilamanjaro?


Muktinath: The day after surviving the pass! Do you see the big bags under our eyes? We are standing with our favorite non-guide. He wasn't ours, he was with our Spanish friend. But he stayed with us over the pass and made sure we didn't fall off the mountain or collapse due to AMS. Thank you Gyanu! You are our Annapurna Hero!


Jomsom: After almost a week of rain and snow, the sun finally reappared in Jomsom on our rest day. We had a fabulous view of Nilgiri from the restaurant at our hotel and the rooftop while we were waiting for our stinky laundry to dry.

Annapurna Circuit Day #6

Day 6 Sept 23 Lower Pisang (3250m) - Upper Pisang (3310m)

Rest Day


Last nights movie was a surprise (Die Hard 4) but overall the Maya Hotel in Lower Pisang was disappointing! There was a snotty nosed kid running around that would cry at the drop of a hat. There were lots of other trekkers there but the service was pretty shitty. And the food wasn't that great either. We did get big blankets which was lovely. I was so warm last night. We slept in today until about 7am. It was hard to sleep with the other trekkers packing up and moving on. Most people don't take a rest day this early in the trek, but because we are gaining altitude and JP has a history of AMS...best to take it slow. Plus, our feet and backs are killing us.

A, E & I eventually motivated ourselves to get up and ordered buckwheat pancakes with honey. JP returned from his early morning adventure to Upper Pisang and joined us for breakfast. We decided the Maya wasn't good enough to spend another night at, so we moved up to a little place at the bottom of Upper Pisang. Apparently JP saw Team Israel there (motivation to move perhaps?). So we packed up, loaded our water bottles at the station (8.5L=340rps). It was only about a 15minute walk and barely any elevation gain--perfect! Sure enough, Team Israel was there with a Kiwi we have also been following for a few days. And the night before the Spainards and their guides had stayed here.

But the best part...it has a view of mountains!!! We can see Annapurna IV (or is it II?). It is incredible! So glad we came to this side of the valley. The mountain sits just behind Lower Pisang, so it is impossible to see it. Upper Pisang has a very medieval feel about it. All the houses are built of stone and there are Tibetan prayer flags flying everywhere. After dropping our bags we climbed up through the village to the temple and then a little above it.

We could see the upper trail to Manang and it looks REALLY steep, much stepper than the lower path. But apparently it has amazing views! I think we will take the lower more traveled trail tomorrow. Not sure how much elevation we gained by goin gup but hopefully enough to be better off by sleeping lower tonight. It is so windy, you can hear it come gusting through the dining hall. I'd hate to be here for a major snow storm.

Overall, life is good on the circuit. I'm glad I'm doing it now because it probably won't be here for long. The road is slowly being built. But very slowly. Life is going to change dramatically when that is completed. I'm glad I'm seeing it and doing it now. Not sure I'll be doing things like this when I get older--hopefully, not who knows if the body will survive!


Annapurna Circuit Day #4





Day 4 Sept. 21 Bagarchap (2160m) - Chame (2710m)


7am 12:45pm


14km


Our hotel last night was GREAT! The hot water was REALLY hot. The dal bhat had cauliflower and came with a papad. Plus they had electricity and a light in every room! It made such a difference. We played cards with Team Israel last night while sitting in the dining room. The only girl in the group is actually Russian and knew the Russian game JP and I had played on our volunteer trip with GBT on Lake Baikal. Also, the woman running the place spoke amazing English and had a perfect accent. I think she must have an English speaking boyfriend or something! It was perfect but she said she just picked it up from speaking with the trekkers--yeah right! It was the first place we saw in town and it turned out to be fabulous!


This morning we were up at about 5:30 and left at about 7, later than planned AGAIN!! No idea what takes boys so long in the morning. You would think it would be the girls that are slow...but no, boys are slower in the morning! We filled up our bottles at the water conservation station--anything to save from pumping! For breakfast we enjoyed another delicious meal of porridge. But this time it was a local porridge made from buckwheat. It was really smooth and dark brown in color. We are officially in apple country. We bought two bags of dried apples from the hotel. One for an after dinner snack and one for a trail snack today.


Super bummer...I got my period yesterday! Trekking with your period SUCKS!! But hopefully with all the physical activity it'll be over fast. The cramps are still there though--ouch! Loading up on the ibuprofen. And today...the period runs hit hard on the trail. We had to make an emergency stop after a road construction site. It was emergency poo status! I felt feverish and had goose bumps and chills, it had to come out and fast! We finally found a quiet tree, but had to let a group of pack donkeys pass before I could do my thing! Oh boy, I think that was the most amazing thing EVER! I felt like a new person.


Today was a lot of up and pretty steep in places. But there were also large sections of the trail that they are turning into a road. So there was construction and some landslides to navigate. It was wide and flat where the road has been 'finished'. We booked it when we could on the flat parts and went nice and slow on the uphill. Everyone's feet are sore. The shoulder and hip strap chaffing is getting to be a bit much too!


Right during our break (snickers and dried apple) on the landslide area (no end in sight and needed a pick me up) a man with a deep sore in his leg asked for help. We gave him some wet wipes to clean it out--lots of puss and very infected. Then Evie used a Q-tip and applied antibiotic ointment. We cut some gauze and taped it on. We gave him some band-aids to take with him--we have MANY between the four of us! He seemed happy for the help and will hopefully see a doctor. The leg looked very swollen and infected.




In Koto we stopped for tea and a snack--Tibetan bread with peanut butter. Also stopped to check in at the check-point and bought some applies. The last little push wasn't too long or hard. We walked though the town toward the end and found a great little hotel with private cottages for two. Evie and I had a romantic night in the cottage! It seemed like the place to be. Our Israeli frineds were there. As well as T&C from P-town and our Spanish friends and their guides! Everyone we knew ended up staying here. We picked the right place! It's going to be a party tonight!

This is a pretty big won. There are tourist shops everywhere and a new internet cafe. But it is SO expensive! An hour is about $15. Compare that to $1.50/hour in Kathmandu! We did buy a few postcards but I only know two addresses by heart: my family and Sara's parents. I hope they make it!

One big question that has come up a lot is about the guides and the porters. I would love to know what they think of us--our group of four without either a guide or a porter. Do they resent trekkers like us becfause we aren't paying local people? Or do they respect us because we are carrying our own weight? And what do they talk about at night? What do they really think of all of us trekkers in their country snapping pictures of cute kids and paying an arm & a leg for a coke that someone carried up the trail for 5 days! I want the real story!






Annapurna Circuit Day #1

Day 1 Sept. 18 Bhule Bhule (840m) - Ghermu (1130m)

7am 5pm

13km


I was up just before 6am and we started eating breakfast at 630am. We ate a delicious breakfast of porridge and black tea. The goal was to be on the trail by 7am. We sorta made it, but about 20 minutes out of town Evie realized her tevas were gone from the outside of her bag and walked back to look for them. No luck! They were already long gone. So she bought a used pair of flip-flops for 250rps (62rps=$1US). A total rip-off, but she needed something to wear besides her hiking boots.


Not more than a few minutes after leaving town we had to forge a river. Apparently the monsoon is still going strong and the river is raging. We waded through some high water and on the other side while we were waiting for Evie to return with her new shoes, we tested our water filter. A few hours later and up the trail we made it to Bahundanda. We ripped off our bags at the first restaurant we saw and chowed down on dal bhat for 150rps. Another delicious and well deserved meal. Our first morning of trekking and we were all exhausted...getting used to the weight of our packs, our boots, and walking UP. Maybe we should have stayed there, it was a happening little town. But our book said it was only an hour to a town called Syange. But almost 3 hours later we hadn't yet arrived, so we stopped at the first hotel we found "The Peacefull Hotel". Our rooms were upstairs in a loft/barn like area of the house and there were solar hot showers (for most of us). We ate another meal of dal bhat for 160rps. Hopefully tonight will be an early night and tomorrow will be an EARLY morning. Walking in the heat of the day at this low altitude is a killer. We gotta start out much earlier!! And hopefully no loud rainstorms will pummel the roof like they did last night. Loving the trail and the food so far!


I think we ate two snickers between the four of us today! Only 46 more to keep us going the next 260km!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Lhasa to Kathmandu via The Friendship Hwy

People often ask why it is called "The Friendship Hwy". The simple reason we came up with--if you weren't friends before the trip, you'll be friends after the trip. It is a long, bumpy, harrowing journey aross Tibet, down the Bhote Khosi river gorge and into Nepal. To top it off, we added a side trip to Everest Base Camp, another several hours of some of the world's worst roads at over 4000m. It was a 5 day adventure in a land cruiser I hope never to repeat. I'm glad I did it, but I don't think I would choose to make the trip overland from Tibet to Nepal again. At least not until the road is significantly improved. And in this part of the world...that may not be possible. The road, after it drops off the Tibetan plateau, descends very quickly following the river on a narrow, steep, muddy or rocky road that barely allows one lane of traffic let alone two. This is the major trade route as well as a very popular Land Cruiser overland route. Hence, the traffic is pretty steady and constant from both directions regardless of the road condition.

It all started by putting up little hand-written posters around Lhasa at some of the more popular hotels. JP and I were looking for two others to join our Land Cruiser trip to the border via all the popular stops and possibly Everest Base Camp. Our first response was from a couple from Portland, so we booked the trip and laughed at the odds of meeting someone from the same city/state in Tibet! We probably got 10 more emails of people looking to do the same thing...that's how popular this route is!

We left a few days later with a two Land Cruiser entourage, 2 Australian guys, 2 German girls, 4 Americans, 1 Tibetan 'guide' and 2 Tibetan drivers. The word 'guide' is used loosely because he barely spoke English, couldn't explain much of anything at the places we stopped and was pretty much useless. But he did handle the permit and paperwork for getting us through the checkpoints. And he did intervene when our driver threatened another driver with his sword and then almost ran him over (that story is better told in person). So, I guess he was worth the seat in the vehicle, even if he had horrible taste in music--Bryan Adams!
Each day was long and ardous--hours in the car listening to either driver's choice or plugging in an iPod connection. We stopped everyday at a town/city along the way that had an interesting monastery or temple to keep us occupied for the afternoon/evening. We also found the best Chinese food was in Tibet. We ate huge meals of sauteed vegetables, chicken and peanuts, pork, beef, and tofu dishes. The trip highlight was making it to Everest Base Camp. The real Chinese government base camp is 3km up the road, but we stayed at the tourist base camp with equally good views of Mt. Everest. The mountain was on show for us both days we were there. But as we packed up and drove out of base camp on the second morning, she clouded over and couldn't be seen at all. Our guide said that only 1 in 3 people that visit base camp actually get to see her. And he has spent 3 consecutive days at base camp and never seen even a glimpse. So we considered ourselves very lucky! We stayed in a place called Dhingrui Friendship Hotel. It was 40 yuan a night, regulated by the Chinese government. And only 4 people are allowed to stay in each hotel each night, the government officials come by every night to check and collect our money. But the hotel owners were Tibetan and very very sweet. It was a father daughter team. They kept our tea cups full and at night they tucked us in with many extra blankets and covers to keep us warm. We also ate our meals there, which while very simple were decent considering everything has to be broughtup. There must have been 40-50 similar guest houses--each run by Tibetans, but regulated by the Chinese. The tension is thick everywhere you go. The checkpoint guards hassel the Tibetan guides and drivers, the Tibetan hotel owners in turn build extra big speed bumps for the Chinese officials when they come to town. It is impossible to miss the obvious hatred the Tibetans feel for the Chinese, our guide and driver were constantly making comments...and don't forget there was that incident with the sword too.
I made it to Everest Base Camp (4800m)
Well, this quick little update about the Lhasa-Kathmandu journey has taken me almost 3 hours to write up and upload. So, the Annapurna journey is coming, but slowly slowly. Or as the guides liked to say 'no hurry, chicken curry'.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Mom Arrives in 24 hours

Another chapter of the trip is over and another is starting tomorrow. I just dropped Amy & Evie at the airport an hour ago. It was a bittersweet good-bye. Team ABC-DBT (Annapurna Base Camp-dal bhat thakali) was so deliciously fun and it came with great views too. And Team Annapurna Circuit "Waa Happen?" could never be replicated if we tried. So much fun and so many good laughs that it is sad to say good-bye to it. But I'm pretty sure it won't be our last adventure. They have strict orders to start planning our next adventure on their flight to Bangkok.

Meanwhile, my mom has just boarded a flight to Delhi and will arrive in about 24 hours in Kathmandu. The rafting/relaxation portion of the adventure is about to begin!! Exciting! And to my surprise, I just found out my mom has decided to start a little travel journal....here is the link. Should be interesting to compare mother-daughter notes!

Ann On the Loose in Asia

More on the adventures to be posted soon!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Namaste from Pokhara

We finally made it off the trail again yesterday after walking up to Annapurna Base Camp (7 days). We completed the Annapurna Circuit in about 18 days (4 days rest) and returned to Pokhara because we thought we were DONE with trekking and we were saying good-bye to JP. But after less than 48 hours (and a few massive meals) we were back on the trail and hiking up to A.B.C.. We had A LOT of rain on the circuit so not many views of the mountains but up at base camp we were surrounded 360 degrees by snow-capped Himalayas! Spectacular! More stories and hopefully pictures to be posted soon! Leaving Pokhara for Kathmandu tomorrow via bus--a 7 hour journey!

Namaste!