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We got picked up at our hotel after meeting up with our guide, Dilman, and our porter, Shiva, and then learned what a joy it was to drive in Kathmandu....got caught up in a massive traffic jam (apparently a daily occurrence in the city). Our capable driver cut through some side streets and then drove through an area clearly designed for pedestrians or carts and finally got us out of the city. The road to the mtns was really windy (some white knuckle moments when our driver would decide to pass a truck on a blind curve, beeping his horn as warning to oncoming traffic) but the countryside was beautiful.....really green and covered in trees. It took several attempts to refuel on the way -- one place had gas but no power to pump it, one had no gas but power, then finally we hit the jackpot. Though we were only allowed a few liters so had to stop at another place along the way. I guess that's typical. We got into Besishahar, the starting point of our 18-day trek, and settled into our guesthouse after a long walk through the town. Our trek began the next day, and we walked
along the road next to the Marsyangdi River...the river we'd be following for the next 10 days or so. We walked from village to village along the trail, passing beautiful farms and terraced fields of corn, rice, and buckwheat. Besides a lot of the teahouses and vendors pandering to tourists, the scene was similar to what it probably looked like hundreds of years ago....donkeys, chickens, and goats all around and people working the fields with simple tools. After 7 hours on the trail, we made it to Bahundanda by mid-afternoon, right before a huge rain and hailstorm hit. We did catch our first glimpse of snow-covered peaks before the clouds rolled in. The ceiling over our hotel bed leaked, pouring a stream of water into the room, but it made the experience all the better.
The next day was a long one, hiking all the way to Tal. We had lunch in Jagat, where we were undercover during another big rainshower. Monsoon was apparently coming early this year. It eventualy let up and we continued up the trail past some sketchy sections where they were blowing rock up with dynamite to make a road. The slope was nearly 90
degrees, so they really had their work cut out for them. The valley continued to impress, with huge steep mtn sides covered in trees and some big waterfalls. Mixing in all the farm villages, we felt like we were walking through the Shire or Oz or some such fantastic land. This sensation was heightened by the fact that Shane was a good 1.5 feet taller than anyone of the native people. When we got to Tal, Shane realized he had been parasitized by a leech on his ankle (the leeches are found on the ground in this neck of the world), which he took as a badge of honor. That night, however, he was sick as can be (we're talking both ends here) and would continue to feel ill for the next two days. Not that it slowed us down too much, as we hiked a good 8 hours to Chame the next day. All this hiking was at Shane's request, however, as Chame had a cellphone tower, allowing Shane to have a garbled phone interview with Nature Conservancy. It went really poorly, considering his mood, inability to hear what they were saying, and the fact he was sick and
it was the middle of the night. Awesome. We spent an extra day in Chame to recuperate and visited a hot spring. A cool little town and a really friendly family ran the guesthouse we stayed at. We taught Dilman and Shiva to play Rummy, which would be a staple for the remainder of our evenings on the trek (Shiva usually won).
Next we hiked to Pisang, which was home to a Buddhist Monastory in the Tibetan side of town that was incredibly beautiful (see all the colorful shots) and also allowed great views of snow-capped Annapurna 2, 7939 m in elevation. It looked snowy and cold and the clouds all around emphasized how near we were to the top of the world. We hiked the long way to Manang the following day, one of the most beautiful sections of the trail with sweet views all around of big mtns. We stopped in Ghyaru for a break and to enjoy the views and then got some lunch in the Tibetan village of Ngawal, which was a beautiful town with all the buildings in the Tibetan style...stone interspersed with a few beams of wood. Finally made it to Manang (3540
m), where we would spend 2 nights to acclimatize as we got ready for Thorung Phedi.
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