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We left Kalopani and began to the trek to Tatopani. Tato means "hot" and pani means "water", and Tatopani is so named because of the hotsprings that are found there. The hike began with a bit of a descent. Soon we were coming alongside the Kali Gandaki River. Kali is the feminine form of "black" is appropriate because the Kali Gandaki is dark brown with sediment. At one point, the river cut a deep slot canyon into the metamorphic rocks in the river bed. This gorge is billed as being the deepest gorge in the world because on one side is Dahlugiri and on the other side is Annapurna I, both peaks over 8,000 meters in height.
The climate was changing rapidly as we descended. The elevation changes are so rapid along the Annapurna Circuit that in three days trekking you can be in three different climate zones. Were Muktinath was so high and dry that most of the vegetation consisted of scrub plants, and Marpha was wet enough to support orchards and other agriculture, the weather as we approached Tatopani was becoming rapidly hot and humid. In Dana, we passed orchards of lemon and orange trees. We saw our
first monkey; it had a white face and a dark brown body. The monkey was a bit shy, so I couldn't get a good picture of it. We also saw a number of lizards on the road side. I was also finding plenty of garnets in the metamorphic rocks making up the cliffs along the road.
The going was getting a bit tough by lunch. It was hot and humid, and I was in the last stages of my cold and had very little energy. Katrine was also feeling pretty zapped and the outside of her right knee was hurting her on the downhill sections. I guessed that she might be having illiotibial band issues, and a test I did later that evening suggested that the IT band was indeed the problem. That evening, I showed her some stretches that she could do that could help.
We lunched at Rupse Chhahara where there was a spectacular water fall. While we ate, we saw an Irish couple, the male of which had hiked the Thorung La in Birkenstocks and wool socks and had flown by everybody. Then Lee and Seo showed up. Lee had had to run back to
the hotel earlier in the day because he had left his bag containing his and Seo's passports, airline tickets, and money under the mattress in the hotel room. Fortunately, their stuff was still under the mattress when he got back to the hotel, and the only loss was in time spent retracing his steps. We were about to leave our lunch spot when they arrived, and Lee and Seo decided to push on without lunch, just snacking on cookies. Lee and Seo quickly left us behind on the afterlunch hike. At this point, I think they had decided to go it alone, finding their own places to stay and controling their trek without input from Kapil or Gautan. If I had had their experience with Pasang as my guide, I would have done the same thing.
We arrived in Tatopani in mid-afternoon where we checked into the Hotel Karmala. I was exhausted and collapsed in my room, taking a two hour nap/lay in bed session. When I got up, I hobbled down to the dining area where I found Kapil, Gautan, Katrine, and Andre hanging out. Katrine was having a slice of delicious-looking chocolate cake, and she said it
Langur monkey, south of Kalopani, Nepal
Look carefully in the center of the photo. tasted pretty good too. Kapil had me order dinner, and I could not resist ordering steak with pepper brandy sauce as my body was starving for protein. While we were relaxing in the dining area, we saw the Irish and Austrian fellows that I had encountered on the way to Phedi before the Thorung La pass. There plan was to soon embark on the several day hike to Annapurna base camp. That is one advantage of not having a guide: on a whim you can change your plans and throw in a side trip where you please.
After waiting for the temperature to drop a bit, we made our way to the hotsprings. I had been so hot earlier during the day that I wasn't convinced that sitting in a hot spring would feel good, but boy was I wrong. Entrance to the hotspring cost 30 rupees. There were two concrete and stoned-lined pools that were filled with warm water. It felt magnificent to soak my aching, tired muscles. And they also served beer and other drinks as well. Since I was recovering from a cold, I just had a Sprite. There were also lots of folks that I
recognized. Ville and Ana were there as were Saxton and his brother Marcus, the two Australians that we had met at lunch on our second day of the trek and had not seen since. Saxton and I chatted for a while about rock climbing in the US and Australia. I got the impression that Saxton is a very good climber, and I think I heard that he had recently been setting routes for a climbing competition in China. I also met Eusmaan, a young brit of Pakistani descent who had been born in the US while his father was working in California and then returned to the UK with his British parents. So this meant that he had dual US-UK citizenship, lucky guy. I would put his age at about 20. Eusmaan had just finished his A levels and was doing three months of travel before starting university at Leeds where he intends to study history.
After a thorough soak in the hot springs and bit of a wash afterwards, it was back to the hotel for dinner. I am not much of a steak person, but boy did that steak taste good! The steak came with fries, rice,
and cooked vegetables (carrots and cabbage) and I demolished the entire thing. I was still hungry afterwards, so I ordered mint tea and a slice of chocolate cake, as I had not had any cake for my birthday. I chatted with Andre and Katrine and learned that they were going to take a slower pace than I the next day, hiking only as far as Sikkah whereas I was going all the way to Ghorepani. So again, we were parting ways, and hoped to meet up again in Pokhara. Lee and Seo were in a completely different hotel, and I did not see them again after the hotsprings. I retired to my room after the cake and went to bed. It began raining, so I put in some ear plugs and slept soundly.
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