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Published: November 16th 2007
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yak by a lake
yak cheese, yak wool blankets, yak milk, yak burger, yak steak. There are two pages of photos.
We spent the last couple of weeks trekking in the Himalaya mountains. The Annapurna Circut, it is called, is somewhere between 200 and 300 kilometers long, depending on who you ask. The trail starts at about 2,700 feet and we hiked up to the tallest mountain pass in the world at about 18,000 feet. It was not easy, in fact it was super hard.
The first day was kind of easy. After a four hour bus ride we had lunch with some friends we met in Pokhara, and decided to take a jeep to the end of the road, where the actual trail starts. The price was a ripoff, but it was fun passing other trekkers in a jeep with a full stomach. Everything was very green and we hiked for a couple of hours and found a hotel right by a river. This is called teahouse trekking because you stay in little hotels or "teahouses" every night. These places are usually family run and they get more expensive and bigger the higher and more remote. Our first night was 25 cents. towards the end we were paying closer to 4.50. But they
make all their money on food, which gets pretty expensive. There are no roads, so the only way to get food and supplies to these remote villiages is by porters or mules.
Most days were a similar routine. Leave aound 7 or 8, and go hiking. We stop every now and then for a break, eat lunch for an hour, and keep trudging uphill. We get to a village, find a place to stay, have a cold or hot shower, (or no shower) eat dinner, and go to bed. its dark out at about 6 so there's not much to do but go to bed.
Nepal has an ongoing Maoist insurgency. We kept hearing stories of people having to give up these mandatory donations...or else. so one of the days we were hiking at the end of a brutally long day, and we saw some of these guys with communist flags standing in our path. we sort of stood there and looked at them for a minute, and we new what was up. we don't support their cause, but also don't want to know what happens if we don't support it. They said we needed to pay them
day 2 first offcial morning, Ngadi
after a night of hard sleep we awoke fresh and ready to start. 2000 rupees. I said with a sigh that i wish we could give them that much, but unfortunately we could only give them 1000. i couldn't believe it when they said ok! we paid, and even got a receipt. after that they were pretty friendly. i forgot my trekking poles when we left them, and one of the soldiers came running up the trail after me to return them. i guess they were cash drunk.
kim here. Okay, so ....trekking in nepal. many thoughts come to mind. i believe " ignorance is bliss" is probably the ideal term to insert here. reason being i dont think i would have signed up with such simplicity and eagerness if i were to know what was ahead of me....especially the pass ( the hightest point of the trek, at thorung la ). but i made it all in one piece and actually have managed to block out most of the bad parts and feel like i could actually see myself doing something similiar again someday.
My favorite parts of trekking would be the complete change of lifestyle which is always good for the heart and mind. waking up at 6am ,
mule train.
these donkeys carry all kinds of stuff. you can hear them coming because they all wear cowbells, and you can smell them because of what they leave behind...
going to bed at 7 or 8pm, not having to worry about what to wear or how i look, pushing my body physically 6 - 7 hrs a day. the scenery was obviously amazing. my favorite part was ending the first night at a lodge right near a river, i was so happy to have water so close to me in the forest, its like the cherry on the top of a sundae. i had no idea at that point that we would be following the river pretty much the entire time, which brought long suspension bridges and countless waterfalls.
There were many approaches to take for the trek depending on how much you wanted to carry yourself and how confident your navigating skills are. you can hire guides to speak and translate , order your food, arrange lodging and decide where and when to stop. as well as porters to carry your gear. which is very helpful, but some people definitely abused this privilage by taking whatever all the " what if's" that came to mind ( like UGG boots.) we decided to do the independant route, which meant strapping on your backpack, map in hand, and going
river we followed
rock sand and water simple and beautiful one step in front of the other. we managed to get away with just one backpack with both our stuff in it ( VERY basics) and a day pack for myself. so i guess essentially bobby was my porter!! anyways as we got higher up to elevation , i beleive 2700meters ( time by 3.3 to get feet) there is the possibility of altitude sickness, which is basically your bodys way of dealing with less oxegyn in the air, therefore having to expell more carbondioxide. which can lead to dehydration, which can increase your body's chance of gathering fluid in the brain or lungs, so drinking like 4 or 5 lts a day is mandatory. anyone is supceptable, it has nothing to do with previous altitude experiance, gender , fit levels, or mental strength. but with proper precautions and early signs, its nothing to get to excited about, the worst that can happen is you die if you ignore your symptoms and go higher instead of staying where you are to acclimatise longer, or even descending if it is really serious. surprisingly people 4 people died in the month of october, all from ignoring their body. so needless to say
green side
the first part of the trek was spent navigating through the forest like terrain i stayed pretty aware, maybe too aware!! especially going over the mountain pass and the hightest elevation of the trek. it was the most surreal and magical moment i think i have ever experienced. 1000mts up in the snow ( i took a horse part way ) looking around at the endless snowy mt around me , everyone had the attitude of a task at hand, get up the mountain, then get down it. it was supposed to take about 10hrs, and you didnt want to get caught in the dark. so take pressure, altitude, hard work, snow, they are all quite intense on your body, heart and soul, then try to remember you are in the himilayan mts and try to stop and smell the roses. i think it was the only time i have ever experianced vertigo.
the funny thing is , my memories and thoughts are probably sooo different then anyone else's about the whole ordeal, the annapurna circuit meets you where you are and takes you on a very personal journey. i still laugh to myself when i remember the copius amounts of people we talked to before we did the trek who told us
chickens
those chickens didn't look too happy. but they had nice scenery to look at at least. another porter. they just carry stuff. the "trek is so easy, even 60 yr olds do it " when i was at breaking points ( which happend a bunch of times) cursing thier names!! all in all, i am so happy i did the trek, and lucky to have such good company. bobby and i met so many people along the trek who played roles in our movie, but the starring role went to our friend will from oregon, who was with us everyday, he was the ideal buffer between us! we would see the same people and the end of the day almost everyday, so we could all chat and vent and eat.
i would recommend trekking in nepal but i would definately put a disclaimer on it, but i guess thats the difference between me and most people.
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Brenda and Don
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Brings back memories!
Hi Kim and Bobbie Remember when we went to Nepal with Doug and Sharon in January 1992. OUr purpose was certainly much different from yours but your pictures bring back many memories. We trekked 3 days in from Pokara. It was amazing country. We did not get to the snowy areas. We are so glad you are safe and resting. Where do you go next?