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!
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