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Published: April 30th 2019
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Today was our first hiking day of the Annapurna Circuit. We had to pack our day packs with whatever we would need during the day and the rest was put into 3 large waterproof duffel bags which the porters would carry. I honestly don’t know how they do it, carrying up to 25kgs by wrapping rope around it and then attaching it to their heads and back, bloody hard work if you ask me.
We had breakfast at 07:30 and whilst we ate, the porters collected the duffel bags and started the trek ahead of us. The weather today was not the best and there was light rain so Krissy decided she needed to buy waterproof pants so they went to the same shop we purchased from yesterday and she got them for just $AU20 which is a bargain.
We set off at 08:30 and crossed the bridge again. Sudarshan said that today would be between 5-6 hours and we assured him it would 6 for us. Todays hike would be a gradual climb to Upper Pisang which is at 3,300m with our start in Chame at 2,700m. Thankfully there were no steps just some short steep sections which
we took slowly. Our first photo stop was the frozen waterfalls which we noticed marked on the map. We weren’t sure if we would see them but we did. Luckily the rain stopped as well and we ended up taking off a layer or two as we heated up with the hiking. So the first part was quite pleasant to walk in with a cool temperature and no rain. We also had a short morning tea break at around 11:00 at the Bratang Teahouse before reaching our lunch spot, the Kamala Hotel, at 13:20. The food on offer at all the teahouses is pretty much the same everywhere and besides the Nepalese staples Dhal Bhatt and momos, you can get pizzas, different types of noodles, curries, rice, Tibetan bread etc. The prices get more expensive as you go further up the mountains but the government has a strict control over the prices
We finished lunch at 14:50 and proceeded upwards again to our final destination, The Royal Nyeshang Hotel in Upper Pisang at around 16:00. Unfortunately, the weather turned for the worse and we had constant rain for the last 70 minute hike. Rooms are quite comfortable with attached
bathrooms with western toilets so you can’t get much better than that in the mountains. We all decided to sit in the dining room as there was a fire and the temperature has certainly dropped from last night. Sudarshan took our dinner orders and we ate dinner at 18:30. I wasn’t that hungry so just ordered potato and veg momos , but Vicki had heard that the apple pies were really good in the mountains so I tried one of those and it was a bit like a giant McDonalds hot apple pie. It had cinnamon as well and was quite nice.
Mitchell was still in recovery mode so wasn’t hungry either but Sudarshan told him he needs to eat to get strength for tomorrow. Mitchell said he hadn’t seen how much Sudarshan ate and said look how skinny you are. Sudarshan said, “Yes, but I am very strong”, so I suggested they have an arm wrestle and they were both putting up a good fight but Sudarshan ended up winning. This meant that Mitch had to eat another momo, Sudarshan had one as well. Very amusing.
Over dinner we discussed with Sudarshan the options for our hike
and given the weather is not good, we decided to take the easier lower route to Manang. The upper route would take an extra 2-3 hours and we all agreed on the easier route.
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