Annapurna Circuit

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Happy Birthday to me! How cool to have a birthday in Nepal. This morning, Kapil tied a white scarf around my neck, a traditional Nepali birthday gift. How thoughtful of him.

Sadly, things turned a bit nasty when Lee and Seo figured out that Pasang, their guide, had been over charging them for their rooms and pocketing the difference. When they confronted him about it, it looked like there might be a fight, but cooler heads prevailed. Between this and Pasang's dangerous mishandling of Seo's altitude sickness at High Camp, I must say that my opinion of him is pretty low at this point. Lee called the company that had provided Pasang as a guide in Kathmandu, and the company recalled Pasang to Kathmandu. Seo and Lee continued trekking with us, with Kapil and Gautan helping them along. I was very lucky to get such a good guide as Kapil. He is very professional and has treated me very, very well.

We continued hiking along the road and in the Kali Gandaki river floodplain today. It was cloudy today which meant that we could not see any peaks. But on the plus side, the strong wind that blew up valley yesterday was much reduced today. Along the hike we passed a shepard with a flock of sheep and goats grazing out in the river flood plain. Kapil and Gautun broke open shale cobbles now and again hoping to find a fossil, but they didn't have any luck. Andre seemed to be coming down with the same cold that Katrine and I had had and was hiking a bit slower.

The land that we are hiking through is much different than it was just yesterday. Dry land scrub plants have given way to evergreen forests. Katrine and I remarked that we could be hiking in Germany or Washington respectively were it not for the 8,000-meter peaks. But we couldn't see them today, so that wasn't an issue.

We arrived at our destination, Kalopani, in the early afternoon. Kalo is "black" in Nepalise and pani is "water", thus Kalopani means Blackwater. Looking at the Kali Gandaki river, it is an apt name. In contrast with the Marsyangdi River that we hiked along before the pass which was clear or whitish due to glacial sediment largely derived from limestone or intrusive igneous rocks, the Kalopani is dark brown probably due to its heavy sediment load of black shale. According to Kapil, Kalopani used to be the capital of the Mustang district, but it shifted to Jomsom due to the presence of better infrastructure in Jomsom, mainly the airport.

Our altitude is now around 8,250 feet, so the altitude health issues are pretty much gone. It is nice to be able to catch my breath with ease when hiking uphill. Sleeping will also be much easier now.

After dinner, I celebrated my birthday with a glass of the local apple brandy. It was pretty good. When Katrine and Andre found out it was my birthday, they quickly improvised a birthday cake (Snickers bar), borrowed a candle from one of the boys staying at the hotel and attending the technical school, and tied a backup shoelace around the candle as a present. How ingenious on such short notice! It turned out that it was also Gautan's birthday two days after mine. He was turning 26.

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Photos

Kapil and Dan, Marpha, Nepal
I'm wearing the birthday scarf Kapil gave me.

Typical Nepali Toilet
As I have had so much experinces with the toilets on this trip (i.e. being sick), thought I would give a description of them. You squat on your feet. This has some advantages in that you never sit on a dirty toilet seat. But prolonged squatting is a bit uncomfortable if you are not used to it. These toilets don't flush very well and often stink. I believ this toilet is commonly used throughout Asia.

Typical Nepali Toilet
To flush, use the small pitcher to pour water from the big bucket into the toilet. Often, this was not enough water to flush effectively so I would use the big bucket to flush instead. And Nepalis do not use toilet paper. Instead, they use water from the pitcher to cleanse themselves, much like a bidet. It works well and leaves you much cleaner than toilet paper, but with a wet rear end. And don't use your left hand when shaking hands or serving food for obvious reasons :-).

My birthday cake, Kalopani, Nepal
A Snickers bar, borrowed candle, and spare shoe lace for a present. Thanks Andre and Katrine!