The Only Way Is Up........

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Namaste!!!!
Our final destination of Asia has arrived and it felt strange to be leaving China and not going home. We had a bit of a torrid time at Bangkok airport, being stuck there for hours with nothing to do but read sitting on cold, hard seats all night long, only to discover the transit lounge an hour or so before we were due to depart, having been told there wasn't one! Anyway, arriving in Kathmandu was something of an experience, having had to wait nervously as my bag didn't appear on the age-old conveyor belt some half an hour after landing, it finally emerged and I prayed it hadn't been stuffed with hash or worse....you never know....We were literally like pieces of meat to pirrahnas, bees to honey, moths to a flame etc...as the taxi drivers swarmed us all shouting amongst themselves where we were going and who should take us. I remained very calm and polite, even though people were literally in my face and I mean that...literally! Having made it to one apparently authentic taxi driver, we sat in the back as the guy joined the rest of the manic 6 "lane" traffic heading in various directions on the road/pavement/left right/diagonally, as his side-kick in the passenger seat,shadily swallowed some pill and donned his shady shades, he was ever so chatty though. We spent the first few days in Kathmandu, a very busy, colourful collection of outdoor trekking shops, with a Glasto hippy vibe, of chunky knitted woolly hats, mittens and jumpers, mixed with an air of sweet incense, puntuated by many a yummy German bakery. It is impossible to walk down the dusty street without saying hello (namaste) to every shop owner, being asked where we are from, how long we were staying and then invited in to "just have a look", with the guarentee of no charge to do so. It's exhausting. We made it out of the hub, to the old area of Patan, where impressive temples and squares offer a moments peace, though only a moments as it's a sure bet to be pounced upon by someone offering to be a guide, around the very clearly marked out area. It's a very in your face nation, but luckily one that's willing to have a laugh and not take anything too seriously or offensively. We also went to The Monkey Temple,a little reluctantly for fear of the monkeys, but survived with no monkey business so to speak and enjoyed the view from the top overlooking the Kathmandu valley.We collected a few things ready for our trek, having bartered our little hearts out over everything, from bags to shoelaces, nothing is a fixed or real price. It's good in one respect as you get it for cheaper, but it means buying anything takes so long and is such an effort. Even when asking the original price, the shop keeper says "1000, but with discount 800 rupees", which you then use as the starting point for negotiation. It's bizarre- why say the highest price in the first place?
We also organised our trekking permits and registered with ACAP (Annapurna, Conservation Area Programme), so it was official that we were actually bound to do it. Quite scary, setting forth dates, should we be registered as missing........In need of a change of scenery, we headed to Chitwan National Park. This is the only game reserve I know of that allows tourists in with a guide to walk around knowing full well, that there are wild and dangerous animals wandering freely. We experienced the same in your face greeting off the bus to get to a lodge, just outside the National Park itself. Needless to say we just wanted a ride to the village, but the guy insisted we just took a look at his lodge. Everyone knows someone with a hotel or lodge and nothing is ever straight forward. Still, we got a great bargain, a little cottage overlooking the river and national park on the other side, complete with a resident frog. Perfect. It was here that we first noticed Sarah's boots were beginning to wear and tear, for the front of the sole was beginnning to crack a smile. Easily saved by a dab of superglue, but with a 19 day trek ahead, this did not bode well.We opted to go on a two day trek through the jungle, in hope of seeing some real wild life. Getting up early, we met our guide Rajur and his scivvy (the one who carried all his things and helped us when we needed it), while he just carried his neat little umbrella and binoculars. It was pouring. When it rains, it pours here and being still on the cusp of monsoon season, it shows...but, no sooner had we walked 5 minutes to get the canoe across the river, we saw a crocodile just metres away, with his characteristic profile poking out of the water. How exciting!!! The scary thing was, we had to get in the canoe and slowly cruise right by him......we got safely to the other side, where we had to wait while a man riding an elephant crossed our path as it waded into the water!! I loved it, barely awake for an hour and so far I've seen loads!!Once banked, we had our prep talk. This was a little knee knocking, as it was said so seriously...should we see a rhino, keep really qiuet and climb the nearest tree, if not circle a tree, any bears, then make loud noises to scare them, any tigers, then run, and good luck and consequently we were presented with a large rock each as ammunition. Shish! My fear, was what if we saw a bear and made loud noises, only to attract the attention of a rhino, to which we would have to run, but could be chased by a tiger??!! I hoped that situation would never occur.So on we walked in absolute silence, stopping every now and then if Raj heard anything. Frequent leechy checks were made (man I hate them soooooo much). The jungle was dense and often we walked in what's known as the grass line, which went well above our heads. This makes things super dangerous as you cannot see anything that may be lurking, but the sounds are muffled too. We had a few interesting river crossings to make, involving a certain precarious tree trunk and avoiding another salty. Having had such a good start, there was a lull of activity and the novelty of exploration was starting to wear thin as the sun got very high and hot. Being covered up and trudging in boots made this a slightly less than comfortable experience, but hey, the sweat kept the leeches from sticking!!! Embarrassingly on numerous occassions, Raj stopped to cock his ear to a suspected sound and in the dead of this silence, my stomach often mimicked that of a roaring tiger....Another couple of false alarms were teasingly portrayed by Raj, as Sarah and I listened to a collection of loud snufflings, followed by tramplings and louder roars. We grew excited and slightly scared, calculating the nearest tree exit should it be required and gripping my rock like it was loaded, only for Raj to laugh and reveal to us, wild boar. Man, they are noisy little things and apparently can be quite vicious, but pretty much just wander about destroying the vegetaion in hopes of a truffle...The climax to day one came, when we caught sight of Rhino prints in the mud...they are so big, it was like discovering a dinosaur footprint. Having skirted the grassline on the edge of forest I looked across and spotted with MY VERY OWN EYES-(WITHOUT SPECS), the first Rhino of the day!!!! Yay me! High five! So, we watched the armoured beast slowly cruise through the grass at a near enough distance to make a hasty escape if needed. It was so cool! We made our way to several hides throughout the day, ending at one, where we watched a mother rhino and her calf from above, not even spoilt by the frequent bouts of rain that poured. We were to stay in a famiily run guest house just the other side of the river, which was basic to say the least. Still, they provided us with a hot meal, whilst Raj scared us with his jungle horror stories of past trekkers that had been savagely attacked by Rhino horns and hours he'd spent up trees, throwing things at various beasts, whilst petrified tourists peed their pants and the injured have returned to thank him....nice one Raj-just what I need to go to bed on.......still, I was distracted and disturbed by the dogs. A couple had got a little too friendly at dinner time, which was unpleasant enough, but then appeared to have a slight problem, that they had separated a little too soon, leaving the male at a slightly deranged and peculiar angle and the bitch more bemused than uncomfortable. Together they shuffled about like a two-headed dog, whilst another dog panted on in watch. It's an image I'm trying to erase from my mind, but going to bed, I'm afraid it was imprinted....urgh!!! (And I had to share it)
So early to rise, and Sarah's boot had craked a smile all around-it did not bode well, now or for our trek. We crossed back over the river and discovered that rhino had also made this passage during the night, leaving their tracks...how deliciously adventurous!! More so, though was the big fat Tiger print that was also amongst them.....so on we went, again in silence until we reached a fork in the track. Raj listened and forbid us to go further, all was still and quiet, so on we went, then an interruption of crashing, twigs breaking and Tiger low moaning was heard right beside us in the tall grasses. We all stopped dead and held our breath. Raj went further, keeping us back and I held my stomach in so tight, praying that it wouldn't cry out to a hungry Tiger. It was thrilling to know it was right beside us, but so frustrating that we couldn't see it. We stood for a while until it was safe enough to go on, but soon doubled back as Raj got a whiff of a rhino being very near and that we had to go back and make a diversion quickly. It's not a good sign, when even the guide looks like he's caked his packet!
With the excitement over, we were constantly alerted for any sightings, only to be frequently shown deer, a novelty to Raj it seemed who oohed and aahed at their presence, even far away in the distance so all you see is an ear. We made a final stop at a hide by the lake. We waited and watched and in the distance through binoculars, watched a rhino make his way through the water on the far side. There were storks and Kingfishers and it was really tranquil and peaceful, but we reckon it was really so that Raj and his Junior could take a good nap after their lunch. We had a long walk back until we were out of the National Park and before getting a bus, we sheltered in the porch of some unsupecting locals while the heavens reopened again. After several crammed and rickety bus rides, entertaining the local boys with our mere presence, and a very precarious horse and cart ride in which Raj lost his pikestaff and I nearly toppled out, we made it back to our jungle lodge where our frog had waited patiently for us.
The next day, we had booked ourselves an elephant safari!!!! We had to climb up to a platform and then clamber onto the elephant's back and seat ourselves on a blanketed wooden frame, so we didn't fall out. It was quite a strange sensation, and very bumpy. You can't help but be moving about in a constant jerky circle. It was great fun. We wandered through grasslands and scrub, watching out for our heads for tree branches. The trek went through marshland and our elephant was wading stomach deep across rivers and swamps. I felt like a proper Princess being carried about, though I don't suppose Princesses go exploring through murky waters much. We had heard rumours of Tiger sightings, but unfortunately we didn't see any. We did however, get scarily close to an injured Rhino bathing in a pond, having been in a fight, it had a huge gash in it's side. It was a little morbid for other tourists to be taking so many photos of it, when it could have been its last moments.
The trek lasted about 3 hours until sunset. It was brilliant and the manhout who led the way, sitting in the groove of the elephant's neck was so gentle with her and spoke softly to her all along. He had a stick thing to tap her ears in the right direction, but it's not at all harsh, which we were worried it might have been. We had previously visited the Elephant breeding centre and were a bit put off by the training methods and practices they employ to teach the elephants to work. The centre itself is nice enough, though one of the pens remained open where an elephant had battered the fence down. This then allowed one the many cute elephant babies (calf-sorry) to be wandering around quite freely. This would have been ok, though I admit I was a little nervous as it wasn't the smallest of babies, but at that toddler/inquisitive age. It came running up towards me and snuffled at the bag I was holding, containing my raincoat and a new full carton of juice. It then took my bag in its trunk and after a half-hearted wrestle with me, flung it to the ground, trampling on my coat and squashing the precious carton of juice, which it then tried to guzzle up in its trunk. At the time, there were other visitors there and I felt bad as a major kerfuffle broke out as everyone found it really funny, but were then scared of their own belongings. The elephant got told off and my coat had to be rescued and the juice carton was confiscated from the elephant as he tried to eat it. The fact that elephants never forget I think was proved, as he continued to follow me around, I'm sure he could smell the remnant sweet wrapper I had in my bag....then I knew it was time to leave....

The Trek
So from Chitwan, we headed for Pokhara, where we were going to start our trek from. Having left all major purchases til the last minute, we had to get a few essentials like spare laces, a water bottle, a coat for Sarah, and of course a plentiful stock of chocolate and sucky sweets!!We had to repack our ruckscaks as we were leaving all other things at the guesthouse for the time we were away, as we were returning there afterwards. Unfortunately a frequent occurence of blackouts invaded our guesthouse and so we had to pack by lone candlelight. This made me even more nervous as then I wasn't sure I had everything I could think of. With the alarm set for an early enough start, they'd be little time in the morning and so a final descent shower and feed were all we could prepare ourselves with.... in the dark.
I won't go into a day by day account of our trek as I fear you'll grow old and grey reading it, as I would writing it, but.....
The first few days were abyssmal. It poured with rain as we got the bus to the starting village, where we registered your name. So the first few days were spent in soaking clothes that got cold and very smelly very quickly. Putting on wet socks and underwear at 6am, when it's cold is a very unpleasant experience and now I know why it's temting to wear the same pair of undies all throughout (FYI: I didn't!)
Day 3 sucked. It sucked so bad tHat we questioned seriously as to what we were doing, why we were doing it and should we continue. Sarah's boots were by now in a very sorry state, having unfortunately been victims on the first day when Sarah sunk in a concrete consitency mud pool, up to her thighs. It was a bizarre sight, though one we find amusing now. It meant though that her boots, having already come undone-by that I mean the soles peeling off, were even more so. Day 3 also brought about my knee injury, whereby descending the very steep and slippy stones, I somehow twisted at the knee, causing excrutiating pain whenever I put any weight upon it. Great. The rain just kept pouring and the paths and guided distance times just kept getting longer. Our progress was slow and our spirits were low. We both felt a little vacant, but surely the symptoms of AMS cannot come into play at 1500metres?! The day of termination we thought would be in the town where there was possibility to fly out: Manang, or there abouts, which was the only sign-post we had been following directions for, which is like starting a walk from Wingrave, with an arrow to Welham Green. This would not be for another 5 days, but it was at least 3 days to turn back and that is something us girls simply won't do. Going back is not an option. Particularly on my behalf as we'd had to negotiate crossing a waterfall, which I would NEVER do again. It was simply dangerous and scary and with a head for heights or not, tricky enough to tight-rope walk a twee little branch with a 20kg backpack on and a sheer drop behind. Luckily we were following some people with walking sticks to help balance, otherwise I think I'd still be standing there.

Until day 5, the trek was a route through lush green valleys, gaining height rapidly by climbing up waterfalls (literally), tributaries which joined the fast and everpresent river below us. Narrow ledges, landslides and water featured a lot. Not to mention a profuse amount of sweating. The villages had been mere clusters of guest houses, no more than 3 in some parts....hence being limited one night to staying in a place with a hole in the wall and rats for company.....bah!

Day 5, we met Josh. Josh is from Israel, trekking alone, but now to become our companion for the duration of the trek. It's very rare for someone to be accepted by Sarah and myself, being British we flaunt the British reserve fairly well and for someone to invite themelsves to join us for breakfast, we can just about cope with, but as Josh was so easy going and friendly, we all just seemed to get along and so it was we adopted him as a third member of our elite club. This day also brought sunshine at last...not you Josh! And we reached the larger "town" of Chame-meaning it's residents out-numbered the chicken population. I was able at last to send a postcard I'd been carrying for a week, having been promised in every place there was a postbox in the next village. And the cherry on top was Sarah got her boots fixed!!! It was an amusing drama, whereby about a dozen boys all crowded around in a tiny aisle sized shop and pondered over Sarah's apparently man-sized boots and negotiated several prices with each other and their friends until finally the real owner stepped forward and was able to put an end to the charade, saying they'd be ready within a couple of hours and were going to be sewn back up. Brilliant. In the meantime I went on a walking stick hunt and although I was super against having them and regretted the price they were going to be, having kindly borrowed Josh's I could see the benefits that it would bring for my knee when going downhill. Plus I really felt like a proper trekker!!!
It was nice in Chame as several little groups of trekkers we'd previously seen semed to congregate, so it was beginnning to feel like one big group. This was mainly a group of Israeli boys, who Josh got to know quite well, the Swedish couple (who may actually have been Danish, but the girl had such blonde Heidi plaits), Mum and her two boys-from Sussex (she was about early 50s with her 2 sons in their early 20s, one had done the trek before).

Day 6 brought us our first view of the Annapurnas, the actual range that we were circuiting. When we reached our destination of Upper Pisang, we had the most magnificent view from the cosiest terraced lounge, although seated on Yak fur, which I soon laid elsewhere. It was picture perfect, having a pure white mountain peak, (Annapurna II) framed by the bluest sky, with a landscape of buckwheat fields and marijuana hedges. Awesome. Our day had taken us indeed through "dramatic scenery and a cliff of granite that loomed like a gigantic wave"- I quote from our guide book by Bryn Thomas-the only thing he'd actually got right so far, as his timings were rubbish. He must have been on speed. Although the place was nice, it involved one of the most freezing cold bucket washes ever (there were a few more yet to come mind!!)

Day 6/7 apparently is the time when the first signs of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) can be felt, as we were now above 3,300 metres. Luckily no signs so far, but it kind of makes you paranoid as to thinking about the symptoms. Especially at this stage as both Sarah and I were absolutely bricking it about what is known as "The Pass". This is the hardest part of the trek and comes on Day 11. It is the highest altitude and the steepest ascent and neither of us were convinced that we were ever going to make it. I did not want us to be the statistical 2 persons per year, that die over The Pass. Anyway, with a few days yet, we had to troop on, which I think was particualrly aided by Josh's presence. In some cases this is very literal, as I wouldn't have been able to keep a balance in some places had Josh not been there to grab onto. Just shows that boys can be useful sometimes. So we made it to Manang!! The ever sign-posted haven for Trekkers!! This is THE most developed spot round the circuit before The Pass, where people stock up on necessities and indeed spend a compulsory rest day to help acclimitize. Though it wasn't as developed as I'd expected, I guess for it still being low season. We stayed with Mavis-a very accomlished cook from Calcutta and she proved herself true as we put her to the test. It was so nice to have a hot shower (solar powered and bizarrely constructed involving a hose and wooden stick.....) and as we were in a rain shadow, the skies were frequently clear and the sun was very strong. Much washing was able to be done, having carried around wet pants and socks that had been swinging freely from my rucksack, we were able to prop up our sticks and rest at last. This was secretly quite a crucial decider for me, as my knee was absolutely caining (ssshhh, don't tell Sarah!) I've never had such an injury before and to know what to do for the best was really quite a dilemma (I don't have that nick-name for nothing). Had I not been on the walk, then I probably wouldn't have started until it mended, but having got so far, I was not going to be the reason to terminate our trek and fly out. No sireee, so I learnt to embrace the pain! Channel the energy I like to say.

It was a luxury not to have to get up at 6am, although we awoke like clockwork, we lazily rolled over. It's suggested to go for short walks or mini side treks whilst here to help with the acclimitization, but really, with a scheduled day off, how many trekkers really do??!!! Most hang about in cafes or guest houses smoking weed/hash, drinking tea or beer. Sarah and I compromised and went for an explore around the cobbled alleys and gained some height to get an incredible view of the Ice Lake below us. It was so still and such a turquoise hue. I also invested in the coolest rude boy cap, that had Annapurna trek embroided on the front, as the sun was just unbearable...even for me (felt such a loser wearing it!) Then we spent a good while having afternoon tea in the bakery with Josh, eating the most scrummy jammy dodger style cookies ever. We visited 3 times I think, in the one and a half days of being there...ooops!

Day 9 and we started to follow signs to Thorung La (aka. The Pass).....bah! We made it to the appropriately named Yak Kharka, where indeed we saw our first Yaks! It was a desperate place and really not far from where we'd come from, but as the air gets thinner, we had to stop at the recommended destinations. There were literally only 2 guesthouses there. I got freaked out as Josh had a headache and we got talking to a lady there with her mother who had AMS and had been there for a couple of days. They were leaving early next morning (like 3am) to go straight over The Pass by pony. (Now there's an idea....)
Although it had gradually been getting colder, particularly at night, this was noticeably colder even during the afternoon. We heaped 2 blankets on our beds and had the frequent dreaded task of getting ready for bed by candle light, running back in the dark hoping not to bump into a Yak.

Day 10 and we were at Thorung Phedi- the eve of the dreaded day. This is the final place before the pass and where everyone accumulates to spend the night. This was actually really nice as we finally all got a chance to meet up and talk. While Josh was getting a Hebrew fix with the other Israeli boys (poor guy, he'd put up with us for so long I'm surprised he was still with us), we got talking to a brother and sister from New Zealand, Shaun and Nancy and her husband Alex, who was originally from the likes of Aylesbury himself! They were super nice and we sat drinking copious amounts of tea exchanging stories and building up nervous excitement for The Pass. They had porters, who they'd termed their entourage, a motley crew of 11 men and boys who were ever so smiley and chatty, as we'd frequently walked at a similar pace to them, even though their luggage was probably twice as heavy as ours. Scarily, a helicopter had come the previous day and taken one of the guys to Kathmandu hospital that we'd seen a few days previously. He luckily wasn't suffering from AMS, but a nasty bite had got infected and he couldn't continue, leaving his friend up at the lodge. Unfortunately, this chappie didn't know if was suffering from AMS or not and so had been taking Diamox for the last couple of days whilst he'd been staying there. This played on my mind even more, especially as I'd felt a mild headache late afternoon, I prayed that I would be ok for the morning. So with a very broken night's sleep, not helped by the noisiest mouse that was trying to get into Sarah's bag, we heared the early risers that would be making The Pass in the twilght of 4am....poor Kiwis! We opted for daylight hours so that we could see, not having head torches and so started out at 5.30am. I cannot describe how nervous I felt, which is stupid as I kept reminding myself that it was only walking....but, I'd seen photos of the scary mary steep shale ascent and worried about the height, combined with potential AMS, then knowing the other side was a steep descent dropping 2,000 metres, with a gammy knee that had since affected by right hip and left foot as it counterbalanced the limp I'd perfected. Exciting eh?! So it began and to make things just that little bit more interesting, the guy who didn't know if he was suffering AMS or not, decided to join us and attempt the Pass....fab!(gotta love that extra responsibility)
As the sun came up, it illuminated the mountains and gave such a sense of beauty it was hard not to appreciate it. Having slowly made our way to high Camp, we trudged onwards and upwards. It got very hot and at one point really uncomfortable as there were some sheer drops that made my knees even weaker and my palms sweat. I needed one of those halters that mules wear to block any distractions from their side vision. I just hid in my cap as best as I could. As the height increased so did a slight pain in my head and I felt a little shaky and dizzy, as did Sarah. It was comforting to know we weren't the only ones as we had confirmation from Son of Mum that he had a cracking headache. Josh and Co were all perfectly dandy romping on ahead, which was good as the lad who didn't know if he had AMS or not was with them and seemed pretty fit. The marvel was the Great Dane (again, think he was actually Belgian) but he was so tall and big that Sarah had numerous times tried to instigate a plan of doubling her backpack onto his so he would carry it and not notice as his massive strides took him at a speed of about 30m.p.h. He had actually been suffering from AMS though and hence he was eager to get over The Pass...interesting approach... So, we'd got to the point in the guide book of the "numerous false summits and peaks", where we were surrounded by moonscape and the path just went on and on and on.....and on.....I'd developed an interesting little wheeze in my chest and tried to pretend it wasn't a symptom of AMS, but I was not going back and the only way down was to go on up. It was only when the colourful prayer flags could be seen blowing in the wind ahead that I knew we'd reached our destination and I was safely comforted by the fact I knew I wasn't going to die here. I could see ahead of me Mum and her boys posing in front of the summit, capturing their achievement forever and I felt really proud to see it and be a part of it having achieved it myself.(How sentimental am I??!) When Sarah and I united at the same point I must admit that it was a bit emotional, having had the build up of the past 10 days and all we'd endured to actually have made it to the top was something I seriously didn't think we'd be able to do. I was elated and all of a sudden, any feeling of fatigue went and we were full of energy. The sweet thing was that Josh and his Israeli tribe had waited for us (a good 45 mins), so we were all able to unite at the top. That was brilliant, especially as we'd been with Josh for days beforehand. What was interesting was Mum had said she'd had 2 goals-one to get to the top by 10am and the other to get there before us! She achieved them both! Well, she did start about and hour before us...we let her....:-) Let me just remind you...20kg backpack, 50% oxygen, the steepest gradient ever, at a peak of 5,416metres....higher than Everest base camp! That's 1.5 Mount Cooks and 4 Ben Nevices and higher than The Matterhorn. Enough said.
So, my hard work was just about to begin, going down. With my knee fully strapped up, I hobbled as best I could, with both sticks (I nicked Sarah's) I was able to make skiing motions to make the hairpins. It was like a piste. I hated it. As we were coming down, the scree was so slippy and my grip has gone on my boots and there was such a drop centimetres from my feet...oooh, I get panicky just recalling it. (That walk in Devon that time folks, when I had that little issue with the height??...Nothing compared to this!) Funnily it was interrupted by The Nepalese Army making their way up to camp. It was lucky that we arrived and left when we did, as they were stopping people from going over the Pass for the next couple of days because of the Army. There was a troop of about 100 or so and as Sarah and I perched precariously on the edge of a slope to let them pass, we got a hello from every one of them and every other stopped for a chat. Some were real cool dude rude boys with caps tilted at an anlge over bandanas and walking with hands in their pockets like something out of a 50 Cent video. When the Officer reached us he proudly told us how his boys were carrying 25-30kg up to the top. We smugly informed him of our 20kg and likewise. He was more than impressed and lifted both our packs to see, almost tilting Sarah over the edge. He invited us to join his Army and I said I would if I could get a uniform. So, I'm staying here in Nepal!!! Surprise!!
Only joking.....So from a peak of 5,416meteres, we had to descend to 3,800. Eventually Muktinath was in sight and even though I could see it, I wanted to crawl, my knee and legs had just had it. I became Mr Soft. Once settled in our dwelling for the night, it was blissfully numbing. We had the hottest shower ever, so hot that it burned and tingled yet felt so good, penetrating our weary muscles. We'd earnt our saved Mars bar!!! With the feeling that all hard work was over, we still realised we had 10 days left of the trek. It was sad though as Mum and her boys were flying out of the next town and the groups seemed to have dissippated. We didn't see the Kiwis again either. But, we carried on strong as ever and the landscape was really different on this side. It was very dry and dusty and approaching one town the winds really pick up and so we had to time it just right. It was so hard to turn against them, if I'd not had my backpack on I swear I would have taken off. There was also a lot of river crossing to do. We'd seen where people had crossed and they appeared to be dry, but when we got there, it was a clear case of getting wet. Sarah and I had token rocks to forge a dam, but then opted to take off the boots and wade. Man, it was freezing, but I guess that's glacial water for you! It was sooo painfully cold and numbing and then just painful from the rocks. I'm glad I'm no shorter as it went up to mid thigh. We also negotiated some awful, awful landslides on this side. I cannot tell you how petrified I was of crossing these bad boys and had Josh not been there to hold my hand...yes I am a big girl, I wouldn't have made it. Or would have had a fun slide down to my death. My legs just freeze, then when I do move, they go to jelly. But these were scary mary slopes and one involved rock climbing. Yes, imagine having to get your leg by your ear with a backpack on, with a gammy knee strapped up and therefore very restricting. I did not relish those "challenges and adventures" as Josh so quaintly termed them. I'd need blackout shades before those memories become faintly rose-tinted.

When we left one guesthouse, the lady put silk scarves around our necks as a symbol of Good Luck. This was so kind, though they had to come off as the wind kept whipping it up into my face. We were also now on the side of The Pass, known as The Apple Pie Trail. Every Guesthouse and Bakery advertises a variety of baked Appley goods and Chocolate Cake. Unfortunately travelling out of season, many of these promised delights were not available, but upon entering the Apple County, we soon introduced ourselves to Nepalese Apple Pie. Mmmmmm....apple pie.......anyway, negotiating more landslides and river crossings, we approached the area affectionately advertising their rock stability, or lack of it. I thought we were in for thunder, or that the Army were doing manoevres, but it turned out one area seemed to be constantly dynamiting the rocks. This severed my nerves as I'm aware that reverberations alone can cause landslides and unstability and I feared for our path to be either blown away or covered by further landslumping. It's awkward enough crossing these areas, witout having numerous pairs of eyes follow our every step, as the workers have to stop to let you pass. Talk about pressure.

Bizarrely, at one place we stayed at, a newlywed couple from Israel joined us, (Boy, it's a travelling Nation!) as Josh had a mutual friend with the guy (what a small world eh?!) They were very friendly, though I think the girl was new to trekking and trekking life and was a bit out of her comfort zone, though to be fair, she wasn't carrying a bag, had a guide and was only walking for 3 days and that was downhill...not that I'm belittling her efforts or anything!... We adopted a dog along our journey too, (though Macy, she was nothing compared to you) and indeed she was so fickle that she scarpered off with the Israeli couple as soon as they headed into a restaurant.

Day 16 and it was decision day for Sarah. She had unfortunately become really chesty, finding it hard going uphill. It's at this point though that having gone downhill, we had a secondary peak to 3,000 metres to ascend. How cruel a trek is this??!! There was however, another alternative, to walk to the next village and get a bus back to Pokhara and call it a day. But, knowing Sarah and her determination, she decided to continue. It was a really shitty day, I'll be honest, morale was low the rain was heavy and we'd had to take a diversion to avoid another landslide, putting another 2 hours onto our already long day and had to climb all the way uphill, only to go all the way back down, to then have to go all the way back up again...I mean really...some things are so sent to try us aren't they?! And, Sarah's boots were beginning to find it all funny, cracking a smile again ....bah! The ascent to this peak was much different, being stepped all the way. I have never before imagined an endless flight of rock steps that just go on and on and on, into the sky it seemed. We were all tired, hot and seriously pissed off. I'd re-worded a song as my mantra, the rather provacative "My neck, my back..." has never been so useful. Even upon entering a village marked on the map, it's deceiving as they extend for a long way off, at least another half hour to the centre. At times like these however, I had to check myself and stop to look around at the beautiful scenery and remind myself what it's all about. The valleys were so green and lush terraces interlocked to the river below, aided by the numerous trickling waterfalls, all surrounded by the massive snow-capped mountains in the distance. It's amazing to see all the little villages surviving so way up high and houses in the middle of nowhere (recall The Enchanted Forest Game??).
We made it to Gorepani, the base town for Poon Hill. This is a well known viewpoint for trekkers to ascend at dawn or sunset for impressive photographic views of the Himalayan range. We went at 5.30am, and although it was fairly cloudy obscurring a perfect view, the clouds added a serenity and soft colour to the mountainscape that really was very beautiful. They cleared a little as we waited and had the whole peak to ourselves by 8am, as everyone else had gone with the notion of 4am and therefore got cold or bored waiting for a better view. I loved it and it was well worth the extra effort. Having fuelled up on yet more gallons of delicious tea (my ultimate heaven) and cornbread mmm....we then had the repetition of a downhill slog, which was to be the remainder of our trek. It was at this point I took the plunge and downed a serious looking pain killer given to me very kindly by Alex should I ever need it. The Mother of Ibuprofen apparently, prescribed for pain relief after an operation....should be good!!!
On our descent, we had the usual Mule Motorway, which has been frequent throughout. However, it appears that the Mules on this side of the Pass have a little more attitude. They are fiesty, nippy little buggers and seem determined to try and bowl you over. "There was this one time", I perched patiently at the side of the path, careful not to be hoofed, to allow one stubborn mule to pass, laden with heavy cargo I couldn't blame it for a breather. The mule man motioned for me to go, so I did, as the Mule wasn't moving, but then it too, decided to go and in doing so knocked me clean off my feet backwards into the hedge, so that I lay there on my back, wriggling like a bettle trying to get up. In between my spread eagle legs, I could see Mule man look horrified as to what he'd been responsible for, but soon recovered as I just about got to my feet laughing my head off. I'm just lucky I was the right side of the path, or else I could've been a gonner. Luckily Sarah and Josh were not around to see this exploit, they missed out there I feel.

The descent became so much easier once the painkillers kicked in and I literally flew the rest of the way, somewhat fuzzy headed maybe, and a little clumsy but no pain. As we approached the end, sickly sweet smelling day trekkers with their Gucci shades and clean clothes sprightly romped passed us. I stick by my assumption claiming them not to be 'Pass People'. To me, that's the deepest insult I could conjure in my jealousy towards their cleanliness and smugness.Our trek was terminated by a final signing out and then a bumpy bus ride to Pokhara, too soon plucking us from the tranquility of the Mountains, back into the busy hassles and rubbish littered roads of society.......So sad already and not even taken my boots off...

The next few days we just chilled out in Pokhara, claiming every visit to the bakery was well deserved and justified for the amount of trekking we'd done. I really ought not to still be using this as an excuse, almost 2 weeks later and indeed I'm undoing all the hard work of almost achieving Kylie's derriere. The fab thing was that we met The Kiwis back in Pokhara!!! Hurrah! A neat little reunion, able to catch up and put their minds at rest that we'd survived. Having got clean hair and looking slightly more like ourselves, it was a shock to Josh who we also met up with for dinner. It was sad to say goodbye as we'd been travelling together for about 16 days. But probably a relief to the dear boy, much in need of Hebrew conversation or male company. We at least owed him a beer for having saved us from certain fates worse than death and we found a very appropriate cocktail called a landslide!

So, Sarah and I stayed in Pokhara for 10 days after the trek, biding our time before returning to the mayhem of Kathmandu. Pokhara is more peaceful and relaxing and offers fantastic views of the whole Annapurna range when the weather's clear.....every morning I set my alarm (although my natural body clock was now in tune with it) for 6am, in hope of a clear enough day to make the trip over to another elevated viewpoint. Would you believe it, we had rain solidly for about 4 days, then sporadic, but very cloudy for the next 5. In this time, we became I think, as close to being local as possible, making friends enough with that many shop keepers and restauranteurs, that we would pop in for a cup of tea and sit and chat with no intention or pressure to buy anything. It was nice as we were able to relax and read ( I've started on some Classics!!) and having been there so long, people knew not to hassle us into their shop!
The day before we left I woke to the clearest sky and picture perfect view of the mountains. This was a race against time now to get over to the viewpoint before the clouds came. Indeed we made it and quite a slog it was too. We had the peak to ourselves as most people go to another . But this was awesome. Prompted only by the clouds rolling in and engulfing us in mist, we made to go back down. However, not so easy. We took a different path back, going through woods, all rather pleasant until the path disappeared. It was at this point we noticed buffalo with huge horns looking scarily close to us and so skirted around them carefully. Within moments things got bad. I looked down and noticed a leechey on my sock...bah! How I hate them, but then noticed that my boot was ALIVE with them, all crawling towards me.......Sarah had flip flops on which wasn't good as they got in between her toes, but she could pluck a few off, we ran through the woods, trying to get down, breaking huge thick cobwebs and getting horrible spiders in our hair and faces. It was just grim, until we reached a point of no return, a promentary jutting out into the lake below, with no way down and all the while I was aware of just how many leecheys were in my boots and socks and could visualise them all growing fat, gorging themeselves on my blood and there was nothing I could do about it...I felt so, so...violated!! Alex, my Kiwi drugs supplier will back me up on this! Luckily, we noticed some little canoes coming around below and I shouted out. We followed to where they would bank and we made it down, tripping over a snake in the process! We reached the bank and appealled to 3 lads in one canoe of being damsels in distress. They very sweetly offered to take us back over to Pokhara on the other side of the lake. We were so grateful. And, how grand, we got a cruise on the lake!!! Having reached dry land, I had taken my boots off to reveal....ugh...about 5 leecheys per foot, one on each had gotten so big, it sickened me. I picked, flicked and rolled them off as quick as possible, finding more inside my boots and socks. They had literally sucked my feet white, I'd lost so much blood and it just wouldnt stop flowing. Walking back through town I was quite comforted by my shop keepers' concerns as I looked like I'd had nails drilled into my feet, like The Son of God himself (not that I'm saying I am Jesus Christ or anything....don't quote me on that).

Anyway, our last day, the morning of our bus offered again, typically a cloudless sky and waiting in the what must be the most picturesque bus park in the world, we left our mountians behind for the madness of Kathmandu. So that's where I am and on our return we have been recognised by many a shop keeper, bakery and locals, who remember us from previously. Not sure if that's a good thing, but we're enjoying ourselves and escape to a little retreat up the road that has a swimming pool and gym! We attended a yoga class, opting to enrole on a course, but it was just too funny. The guy was wearing a mauve, silky ensemble and spoke in very hushed tones, even whilst breathing in which I find near impossible and equally hard to understand. He was very good and remarkably flexible, but it didn't really do anything for me!!! Sounds rude....re phrasing, Sarah and I had to constantly hold in our giggles, as we had to pretend to be dead and to imagine cosmic forces from our hands being trasferred into our eyes. All the while being reminded of INHAAAAAALLLLLLLEEEEEE AND EXHAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLEEEE. Still, I've learnt my sun salutations for future reference!!!!That pretty much sums up Nepal and my last blog for Asia!! Hurrah I hear you cry! Looking forward so much to coming home, after our few days in China. I hope South America offers us as many adventures and a better tan...well, I have been trekking and had the colour sucked out of me!
Take Care all,
Emma xxxxxx

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Photos

Himalayan Range
View from the Peace Pagoda, Pokhara.

Patan
Temples of Durbur Square in Patan.

Monkey Temple
The Buddha Stupa at The Monkey Temple; Kathmandu.

Naughty Nellie
She may look cute, but she's a trouble-maker and bag snatcher!

Croc
That there ain't no log!

Rhino
A great find during our safari in Chitwan National Park.

Elephant Safari
Through the marshland and grassline....

Happy Hiker
It must be Day 1, Sarah's still smiling!

Prayer Flags
Typical prayer flags and painted stones near a shrine or Mani wall.

Trekkers
How Pro do we look with our sticks and backpacks?!

Ice Lake
Our acclimitisation day at Manang offered this view..... in between the bakeries....

Annapurna Peak
Making our way to Thorung Pedi from Yak Kharka, we have a peek at our peak...hahaha!!

Long and winding road....
From Yak Kharka to Thorung Pedi, a zig-zag path is typical of this journey.

Sunrise at Base Camp
Our view at 5.30am, as we started the ascent from Thorung Pedi towards The Pass.

Thorung La
A.K.A.The Pass - 5,416m.

We made it!
What a Motley Crew!

Just to prove it!!
4.5 hr ascent for a quick 30 second pose, we were making the most of it.

Deepest Gorge
On our way to Jomsom, the exposed Gandiki gorge is one of the deepest in the world and where the wind can really pick up.

My....my...my.....toes are ffffrozen...
Travel on, travel on to the river that is flowing, the river that is flowing night and day.......

Under pressure...
Landslide workers look on in amusement as we make our way through them......where's the path i hear you ask?!

Dalagiri Dawn
View from Poon Hill; Gorepani.

Poon View
Surrounded by mountains, they disappear into clouds.

Sarah's Himalayan Diet
The results are obvious, just trek 200km in 19 days.

Peace Pagoda View
The Annapurna Range from the Peace Pagoda; Pokhara.

Mount Macchupuchure
Also known as The Fishtail and this was the view from our guesthouse rooftop.

Leechey Attack
Look what they did to me!!!!

Comments

[anonymous]

you continually amaze me! That was outstanding. Thanks.