Naya Pul to Hille

Asia » Nepal » Annapurna » Annapurna Circuit
April 29th 2010

Published: May 21st 2010

April 29th: Naya Pul to Hille (will update with photos later: taken from journal notes w/o internet access)

Bliss. I’m not climbing anymore. And I’m dry. And I’m drinking mint tea. And I’m swearing off Diamox.

Up at 6 a.m today, quick breakfast, but by the time we’ve gone through logistics & are in the car (arranged by 3 Sisters) to Naya Pul it’s after 9 a.m.. My porter/guide in training, P, looks to be about 20 years old, weighs all of 100 pounds soaking wet, vomits in the car on the way to the trail head, has a bright beautiful smile.

I can’t imagine how she’s going to trek, never mind carry my backpack. But she does, hoisting it up upon her shoulders and cheerfully setting out. “A bit car sickness” she explains. “No bother.”

I don’t feel all that great either. I’ve taken Diamox, as suggested by the physician at the travel clinic, to assist with altitude acclimation. Without proper acclimation, trekkers in Nepal are susceptible to Acute Mountain sickness (AMS) : a failure to adjust to high altitude. HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary oedema, one form of AMS) is caused by fluid leaking from the blood vessels of the lungs, progressing to the production of frothy spit in which the trekker eventually drowns. The other form of AMS is HACE (High Altitude Cerebral oedema), caused by fluid leaking from the blood vessels of the brain, the fluid build up leading to headache, loss of appetite, lack of coordination, coma and death.
I didn’t mention any of this to my mother before I left.

Truth be told, I’m barely going high enough to worry about any of this & I am allowing plenty of time for acclimation. Common wisdom is to ascend slowly (about 300 meters per day), spend the first night of the trek @ no higher than 2800 meters, and if you’ve got any signs of AMS descend.
I’m having most of the possible Diamox side effects. This drug helps to prevent AMS by increasing respiratory rate & depth, mimicking the breath of one who’s acclimatized. Tingling fingers, tingling nose, which, for me, leads to a kind of disorientation, coupled with the fact that this is a diuretic (increased urine output) & and occasionally causes diarrhea. What fun.

We start our trek around 10. The Naya Pul “trail” is ~20 feet wide, mostly dirt path, with 2 story structures on either side: upstairs living space & downstairs store fronts, tea stalls, selling bottled water, mo-mo‘s (dumplings), toothpaste, live chickens, fresh vegetables, & Hindi film music . Trekkers usually end the Annapurna Circuit here, the road is busy with trekkers & donkeys.

{insert Down Town NayaPul photo #1}

There’s a slight business to the town (which is maybe all off 300 meters long), and I’m glad that within 15 minutes we’ve registered at the ACAP checkpoint (Annapurna Conservation Area) & we’re out of town & starting the steep climb up the stone stairs toward Hille. The Mido Khola flows clear & fast on the left. We climb up past a large waterfall, banana trees, bamboo forests, lime trees, corn, rice, barley and potato fields. The heat is miserable, the air humid, the sun strong & intense. At one point a detour (because of a rock slide) leads us to take an alternate path down to the river. As we cross over the river I get shooting pains in my stomach (diamox reaction) which cause me to lose my balance. My boot slips off the rock & plunges into the river.

Right about now, I’m not loving this.

After another 30 minutes, P suggests we stop for lunch. I’m fatigued from the initial climb, the heat & am increasingly uncomfortable with body tingling & other diamox side effects. I choose carefully (noodle soup & ginger water). I’m served the best ramen noodles I’ve ever tasted, along with a cup of fresh ginger & hot water. Coming back to life, I notice what’s around me: picture perfect, rolling hills, terraced fields of corn, potato, barley. There are donkeys with bells around their necks, carrying loads up & down the path, the lead ones decorated with bright red head dresses.

{insert Naya Pul photo #2)

After lunch the climb up the rock stairs starts again. I huff, puff, cough, spit & wheeze my way up, recalling what I’ve been told before, this time refreshed by Rishi, my latest yoga teacher : breathe through your nose, not your mouth. I take long calm breathes, disturbed by numbness in toes, fingers, nose, then start hacking & coughing (have been unable to lose the Kathmandu cough); I wonder when I have my heart attack if Y will feel responsible. The sky blissfully clouds up, white cumulus against the brilliant blue sky, giving some relief from the punishing sun and we continue to climb for 40 minutes. The clouds now abruptly grow dark, then near black & rush towards us. Without warning we’re in a torrential downpour.

So this must be the pre-monsoon weather I’ve been told about.

Everything is quickly soaked. I pull out the cheap waterproof windbreaker picked up in Pokhera. $16 well spent. We hike for another hour. This trek is classified at “easy to moderate” - the Mustang trek is classified “moderate to hard”. Oye! What’s harder than this? I entertain more heart attack fantasies, & consider that I’ll trek to Jomoson (6 days away) and will fly home, skipping the Mustang trek and camping all together. So what if I’ve waited half my life, paid thousands of dollars & traveled half way around the world for this. At least I won‘t be dead.
After what seems like an eternity (but is actually only 5 hours) we arrive in Hille, at 1510 meters (about 5000 feet, well below the 2800 meter AMS-prevention recommendation) . It’s 3 p.m. We’ve ascended only 540 meters (1800 feet). The little tea house (the Dipak Guest House) is quaint, clean, painted white with bright blue trim & has only a few other guests. The view from the front porch is pastoral lovely: rolling hills, cultivated farms, a bright red barn across the path. This is the beginning of the Himalayan foothills.

(Insert photo #3 View from DIPAK Guest House, HILLE)

The owner greets P with a delighted hug - P tells me “we are sisters”. My bedroom is on the second floor of this 2 story structure. Two simple wooden single beds, thin mattress, plywood walls, a single naked low wattage bulb hangs from the ceiling - though when we arrive there’s no electricity. I order a large pot of hot mint tea & change into dry clothing. P comes with the menu & asks me for dinner & breakfast order - what time do I want to eat? I order the national Nepali meal of dal bhat (rice, lentils, veggie curry) for dinner at 6:30 p.m, and arrange breakfast (oatmeal, coffee) at 6 a.m.

Although there are many things on the menu, dal bhat turns out to be a best choice because all the Nepali’s are eating it (easier for the kitchen to cook one thing) and because there are always 2nds .
One of the other guests, a handsome long haired techno musician, Utah from Japan, is smoking a joint on the porch outside my bedroom. “Want some?” he asks.

I politely answer “no thanks”.

I can’t think of anything I want less.

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