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Published: October 4th 2007
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Tilicho Tal, 4,920 meters
What color is that? More than blue. After 18 days and well over 200kms of hiking, we're back. The Annapurna Circuit is located in Nepal near the small city of Pokhara. The hike is filled with natural beauty, diverse culture, and physical hardships. Starting at around 800m, the trail and the hiker make their way up to the Thorong La (pass). At 5,416 meters (17,769 feet or 3.36 miles), it's the biggest pass in the world. I'm not really sure what they mean by 'biggest', but it is huge. On the way to the Thorong La we encountered a bunch of beautiful sights and friendly people and Tilicho Tal (the highest lake in the world). So, here's a breif play-by-play.
Like the Terrence Malik film The Thin Red Line, the Annanpurna Trail can be separated into distinct colors:
***The Green***
The trail starts in green jungles filled with bananas, water buffalo, and the odd leech. Here we got lost for a second. Luckily, a troop of four naked 7 year olds came to our rescue. They were swimming in the river and they yelled at us to follow another trail. Then they showed us their acrobatic techniques as they flipped backwards off a
Bhulebhule
There were waterfalls everywhere the first few days. 3m rock into the river below. To thank them for their help we handed them some cookies and then walked on. We found out later that the kids had lead us the wrong way. Thanks kids!
***The Gold***
Three days later, the following section from about 2,000-4,000 meters looks very similar to the American west. This tan colored land is dry and dusty. This was a great place to hike because it helped dry our wet and stinky clothes. At this point we were getting used to the walking and we were also developing opinions about the food and others hiking around us. The food was suprisingly various in name, but not in flavor. You could find Mexican, Italian, Nepali, and just about anything else on the menus. At one place I ate some pizza and the next a bean burrito. Besides the addition of a few beans there was little difference between the two. Their attitude was 'just add a ton off cheese and they'll never know the difference.' I suppose at 3,800m I shouldn't complain. It really beat the peanut butter and pop tarts I lived on while hiking the AT in 2000.
Where the
Bhulebhule, Rice
There were a bunch of rice fields too. food was a bit bland, the hikers around us were anything but. Like always, people seemed to be seperated mostly by first language. We hungout with some British, Australians, Americans, a Canadian fireman, and Til an english speaking German. We spent snowed/rained in days talking about past and future travels. One British couple seemed to have a story from every corner of the world. 'When we were in the jungles of Laos, volcano climbing in Uraguay, dodging bullets in South Africa, ect.' (I kind of made up the bullets part) They had only just past 30 years old and they had already been to more than 50 countries. I was impressed. ADam and I need to get going! We also met a brother and sister duo from OZ. Like most Aussies that I've met they were friendly and way gung-ho. They were pumped. Like the British couple, the Aussie pair had been all over and had stories from the Russian mafia to a nasty Cambodian tuk-tuk driver offering an afternoon of dog shooting and boy lovin'. I hope I can travel with my brother someday. There were also quite a few French, German, and a ton of Israelies floating around
Bridges of Manang Co.
The Swiss were nice enough to build sturdy bridges across the various rivers and gorges. too. Everyone really liked the Israelies...
***The Blue***
Tilicho Tal is the highest lake in the world. It's a color that can't well be described. On a clear day it's beyond any blue that I've known. Luckily, we had weather on our side and were able to see Tilicho at its best. On the way up to the lake I really started to slow. At about 4,700 meters I was toast. My legs just seemed to stop working. ADam looked back with a 'What the f!?!' I don't know what happend, but altitude wrecked me. I had to dig deep. I kept repeating to myself, "Get up the hill! You're only walking!" After 3 dizzy hours I finally made it up to the lake. I thought I was going to throw up. I kept spitting up bile. ADam was fine but concerned. She'd seen me hurt in bicycle races before, but this was different. All the altitude B.S. aside, the lake was great and after marveling at it for about 20 minutes we made our way back down (4100m)to Tilicho basecamp for a restless night. The next day I had to drop back down to 3,700m becasue of
Annapurna; Red Fields
Out of the green and heading up. AMS (accute moutain sickness).
That's it for part 1. In short, we walked a lot and it was pretty.
We're heading for Kathmandu tomorrow at 8am. Then it's on to Bangkok 3 days later. We cut out the Everst trek...we feel satisfied and want to go get Thai massages. We've decided to added a new country to the mix rather than going to the Everest region (Cambodia). ADam and I are already planning on doing Everest in about two years, but for now it will have to wait.
So, I'll be in Bagkok on the 9th or 10th and plan on hanging around that part of the world for about 10 days. If Peter or Rob are around..let's meet up for some beer and mui thai.
Please send comments!
Mike and ADam
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Douglas
non-member comment
So you weren't in prison?
I was beginning to get worried about you and thought maybe you had lost your passports and money, and were in a debtor's prison somewhere. It's good to hear from you and good luck on the rest of the trip.