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Published: April 17th 2009
For those who want the short version of this post, which is a bit heavy on trek details and recitations of daily woes, the title really says it all! More seriously, the trek was fantastic, and I made it through relatively unscathed, with almost all good weather (minus the day of hail), great views and having met lots of interesting people. Although its not yet high season on the trail, there were still a good number of tourists doing the hike. A solo traveller, sans guide/porter, could easily meet people to walk with if desired and overall, the trail is quite well defined. Where there is a fork in the path or similar question, you can wait for another traveller or local to come along for directions if needed without losing too much time. The views on the way up were particularly amazing, and I can see why the trail is listed as one of the world's best. Choosing a "touristy" route can indeed be worthwhile. The following daily descriptions of the trail are basically rough summaries of my journal entries during the trek - so the aches and pains are all recounted in "real time!" (I know, a thrilling prospect😊 (For anyone looking for a trail guide, please note that the distances, elevations and spellings are all approximations only.) Before beginning though, I just want to clarify one thing from my last posting, which many of you commented upon - I did not mean to imply that someone in their 40s was old, too old to work as a porter or would be in worse shape than me, etc. I just meant that, given that my guide was hired as a guide, and not a porter, and especially since he is older than me, I wasn't sure I'd be comfortable asking him to carry my things. (hopefully that self-dug hole is now a bit smaller!)
Day 1: Kathmandu to Besisahar to Khudi: 7 km; 30 meter descent
I met Tsering Namgyal, the guide, at 5:30 and we set off for the bus terminal in Kathmandu. Despite long stops for two accidents/traffic jams and the need to change a tire, the bus ride was a relatively smooth and uneventful 9 hours, which included breakfast and lunch breaks. Although not a tourist bus, the vehicle was occupied by almost all trekkers with their guides/porters. The bus took us all the way to Besisahar, which is now a common starting place for the trek. It used to start about 2 days walk earlier in Dumre, but the road has been extended. In fact, the road now goes about as far as we went on the second day of our walk, but fortunately, is built almost entirely on the opposite side of the river than the trekking trail, so you don't have to worry about non-animal traffic when walking. It was about 4 p.m. when our bus arrived. Namgyal had heard that we could get a jeep to the next town, Khudi, but, as we were having problems locating a vehicle, I suggested that we walk instead. I did this primarily because another tourist had told me that the next town was only half an hour away, and I thought that would be a nice opportunity to stretch our legs after the bus ride. But once we started walking, it seemed to take forever, despite being on a relatively flat road. I figured that I was really out of shape to be taking so long to do a half hour walk, and that it might take me a whole month to do the trail! Turns out, 30 minutes was the time by jeep - it was supposed to, and actually did, take two hours by foot - that tourist is lucky I didn't see her again! Actually, it was good to do a shorter walk the first day, lets you know where your bag is unbalanced, potential blister spots, etc. We got to Khudi just about 6, as it was starting to rain. The "we" included a young German man, Dominique, whom we had met at the bus stop in Kathmandu and who travelled with us for several days.
As in every town, the lodging is primarily in guest houses. These generally consist of rooms with 1-4 beds, plus some dormitory style rooms that are generally reserved for crowds or locals. The rooms have beds and occasionally a small table. There is usually a common room where meals are served and, higher up, this may include a small stove for heat. Tonight, because the electricity went out due to the storm, we sat in the common room reading and writing by candlelight - rather nice actually. (And finally, I've gotten to use my headlamp!) Bathrooms and toilets are located in separate structures outside - often down ladders or around winding paths, making middle of the night excursions adventurous! Many places advertise hot showers, but its best to remember that these are almost all solar based, so don't try it late at night. The price of rooms and food increases as you go higher, but I never spent more than $3 for a bed (and also never bothered negotiating) and probably never ate more than $8 of food in a day. Technically, you can buy bottled water, and other necessities, the entire way up, but because of the difficulty of disposing of the bottles, its better to bring iodine tablets or something similar. (of course, read that with a grain of salt as I had an upset stomach over much of the trek😊 I was thrilled to learn that toilet paper was available the whole way as the first day was enough for me to realize that the one roll that I had brought was probably not enough for the trip (I could hear my father laughing in my head after his years of wonderment at the amount of products that a household of women can use).
Day 2; Khudi to Ghermu: 15 km; 340 meter ascent
The first full day of a hike with large backpack always makes me question my sanity. At least I've done it enough now to question when the pain will become bearable instead of will it. But at one point during the day I did think I had early altitude sickness as I found myself hallucinating, thinking that I had actually chosen to do this hike for fun and was in fact paying to be there! After reaching the first town after Khudi, the road turned into a trekking trail and passed through some really nice scenery. We were walking close to the valley floor, a bit above the river, with several "rows" of mountains on either side. I love looking at mountains covered in snow, but this time was bothered by the thought - oh sh-t, how am I going to lug myself up one of those??? Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures today, both because my camera was in a hard to reach spot and because I was dying! At one particularly steep point today I tried to follow some of Jaimee's motivational advice, thinking "I am a dolphin, I am a dolphin floating above the water, this is easy . . . ah, f-it, I'm the largest, fattest dolphin in the world and can't even get my nose out of the water and this hurts like the dickens!" (sorry Jaimee, but that trick just didn't help - I think I'm meant to wallow in misery at the start and regret ignoring all your advice about improving core strength and actually exercising prior to hiking.) At one point I thought that I was at least getting used to the flat stretches (real useful when I have to go up 14,000 feet in the next week, but better than nothing), but even this turned out to be a false positive. But at least I can find plenty to think about during the day. For instance, we crossed the river multiple times today, always on suspension bridges that are generally high and, while they have wire mesh sides, still do sway a bit. Whenever I'm on these, I closely look for holes in the side and always calculate the odds of my falling off. One such thought process went as follows - "If I fall at angle X, with torque Y, then I could . . . holy cow, I just thought the word torque - how geeky!" But this made me remember a great advertisement I saw in Bangkok, on the side of a highrise building downtown - it was for a BMW car, stating "the torque of the town." I though it was funny but wondered, in a country where English isn't the first language, how well this ad works. And so the day passed.
On most days there are small villages, or at least clusters of a few restaurants/lodges, every couple of hours, so its easy to stop for lunch or at the end of the day when ready. Today, we stopped about half an hour before our intended destination, at around 4, because it was about to start raining. To reach the room, you had to climb up a long, steep wooden ladder - just a peachy end to a painful day😊 The triple room was nice with a tin ceiling that made the rain sound extremely loud. The roof also has some cracks/holes in it, so there is a steady trickle of dirt and bugs (ew) onto the beds. Its already chilly in the evenings, so prior to dinner, we all sat and read or wrote in our sleeping bags by candlelight and headlamp (the electricity is out again), while Namgyal recited some prayers, which creates a nice rhythmic background. I realized today that my headlamp takes AAA batteries, of which I have no spares. I am, however, carrying 4 extra AA batteries even though none of my appliances use them - great packing!
Day 3; Ghermu to Tal: 12 km; 570 meter ascent
Turns out, day 3 is not the one where it gets easier! Started out a little after 8:30 this morning and ended up walking for about 9 hours, even though the map suggested the route should take about 7 hours. The morning actually wasn't that bad, with the walk pretty bearable until around noon, of course, lunch wasn't until 1:30, but still generally okay. (I should note, that while Namgyal and Dominique continue to mock me about the amount of food that i am carrying, they have no reluctance sharing in the snacks between meals!) I did manage to pull a groin muscle/ligament, which makes stepping up with my right leg pretty painful, but it gives me something on which to focus. Happily, the scenery is wonderful, and makes it all worthwhile. Because we are still generally walking along the river, it sometimes feels like we are constantly on the valley floor, never going up, until I remember that the river increases in height as well. According to the summary information on the map, there is only a 20 meter elevation difference between the town in which we had lunch and our final destination. Of course, what this summary neglected to note was the huge amount of up and downs one must do before reaching those 20 meters, including the steepest sections of the trail so far. I know, Charles would tell me that that is what the counter lines on the map are for but, heck, that would ruin the surprise! The steepest part came near the end of the day - to keep myself amused, I thought about various comments you all have posted about the blog and other messages people have sent me. For some reason, this led me to hear Bridget's voice in my head saying, "hey kid, if you want dinner, you have to get up that hill." This led me to think about the Patriots (for those who know Bridget, an understandable tangent) and whether they got ripped off in their trade of Cassel, having to give up Vrabel as well. And then, before you know it, I was at the top. We then headed down into Tal for the night, which is a really nice town along a largely dried up lake bed. We met some people heading down today who weren't able to cross the pass because of the snow - I'm hoping that by the time we get there it will have stopped snowing and melted enough for us to get over. Fortunately, I'll be able to wait a few days if necessary for the weather to improve.
Day 4: Tal to Danaku: 8 km; 500 meter ascent
This is when it gets better. Other than the pulled muscle, I think I'm getting into the groove of hiking with the bag. The scenery continues to change, with more of the higher mountains visialbe each day. Because I was feeling better, I figured it was time to start thinking "deep thoughts," about life, careers, etc. Unfortunately, the best I could come up with was to wonder if there is a way to predict when horses/donkeys are about to shit, which was actually quite relevant given that I had to walk past many of them and have only limited clothing with me. I wonder if Aristotle and Plato ever had such thoughts? When it did get tough during the day, one particular area was a bit steep, I tried to motivate myself by thinking about Jaimee, who was hoping to do a 30+ mile race through the mountains that day - but I only concluded that she must be adopted. Interestingly, with a few exceptions, most of the ascent here is via zig-zagging paths that are sometimes rocky, but there are only a few stretches where you are walking up big rocks/boulders like you have higher up in the White Mountains. The only real negative aspect about today is that Namgyal has hurt his leg, he seems to have pulled a tendon between the ankle and knee. which likely won't get better without rest. Happily, Dominique, who is still walking with us, is a physical therapist, so can help with massages/taping and give some advice. We'll have to see in a few days if he can keep going or not.
Day 5: Danagyu to Chame; 12 km; 510 meter ascent
Chame is the largest town we have reached so far and sells lots of warm clothing. It is already quite chilly at night - I am wearing almost all of my clothing at night and considering buying another sweater since we still have about another 2000 meters to go so will get colder. Walking today we saw many more people than on previous days, perhaps because we are back to the more "standard" route - we were a little off the first day since we walked to Khudi that first day instead of spending the night where the bus left us. (We actually probably would have kept going another hour or so to the next town today except that Namgyal's leg was really hurting.) As one Israeli man I met put it, its great to travel halfway around the world and meet so many people from other places - it really is one of the best parts of travelling. At our guest house tonight, I met a young couple from France that is travelling with their 13 month old baby. They are going no higher with the baby, who they have carried the whole way along with their things, because after this we reach the level where altitude can be a problem. but they had already travelled for 3 months in India with their daughter - really impressive. That girl will have a very strong immune system when she grows up!
Our guest house tonight is near the end of the town and actually has small cottages - each with a single and double bed. Given that we sleep firmly encased in mummy sleeping bags, with no more than our noses showing, Dominique and I decided there was no reason not to share the double bed and the three of us took a cabin. Unfortunately for him, this would be the night that i got some kind of stomach bug and was sick all night (and lets just say, that's one travel bowl I'll never eat out of!) Thanks to having terrible shakes and nausea, I was awake all night, although the sleeping bag is at least good at minimizing tossing and turning.
Day 6: Chame Sick Day
The title here is obvious! Having not slept the night before, all I wanted to do was take a nap, but Namgyal kept waking me up to ensure that I'd be able to sleep that night. I finally realized I wouldn't be able to sleep, so read two book instead and finally went to bed at 6 p.m. after about a gallon of tea. I'm glad I brought a real book as well as the electronic reader as the cold is severely draining the battery and its too cold to recharge it.
Day 7: Chame to Lower Pisang: 14 km; 500 meter ascent
We broke the 3,000 meter mark today! Today's walk was a shorter one, but from here on out, the guidebooks suggest that you not ascent more than 300-500 meters per day unless you are spending a second night at your destination. When we reached Lower Pisang, we stayed at almost the first lodge that we reached, in part because a porter we had met during the day was staying there and had recommended it. The only downside was that it had good views because it was at the top of several stories worth of steep stairs, but the rooms had attached bathrooms and showers! we also arrived early enough to make a warm shower possible, which was a nice change. After we dropped off our bags, I walked to Upper Pisang, the neighboring village that is only about 100 meters higher. (Turns out, I walk no faster without the big bag than I do with it, but I do really like the feature of the Osprey backpack that allows you to attach a small day bag to the front.) At the top of Upper Pisang is a monastery, which, according to a sign, the locals all helped build/restore either via financial donations or donations of many days of work. Its amazing how much material has been brought to this location for the building. From the front of the monastery are great views of the mountains. On the way up, and down, I passed a local archery tournament - I had read that archery was quite popular in this area, but this was the first of several such events that I saw. That evening, I sat around the heater in the common room with Namgyal, two other tourists, their porter and several residents of the lodge/town. I tried a local stew for dinner - I asked first if there was any meat in it and was told no. I found out later that there was no meat because they had none, instead, there were large lumps of animal fat! Definitely something I was glad to learn after the fact😊 For desert, we ate raw garlic cloves as garlic is supposed to be very good for acclimazation (if not socialization).
Day 8: Lower Pisang to Manang: 20 km; 350 meter ascent
There are two paths to Manang - the upper one is described as "extremely steep" but with great views, while the lower one is described as "peaceful and restful." Because I'm not completely crazy, I chose the lower route. There have been plenty of great views already. I would have done this even if we did not decide to stop in Humde, the town with the airport. However, Namgyal had decided that his leg was getting worse rather than better, so it was necessary for him to fly back to Pokhara, and to take a bus from there back to Kathmandu. Happily, I had met two girls travelling together earlier that day and they had suggested that we meet tomorrow in Manang so that I could join them for the rest of the trek. My pace with the bag is definitely improving - today, I was almost able to keep up with a porter in front of me who was carrying about 5 times as much weight as me, woohoo - almost a local!
Unlike some of the other villages, Manang has a section that is largely for tourists and another section where the residents live. Because most people stop here for a day to acclimatize, there are many trekker-oriented shops/events, including bakeries, a medical center with western doctors that give daily lectures on altitude issues and movie theaters! I splurged on a hotel room that included an attached/private bathroom - I momentarily debated whether to go for it but realized, I'm 31, I've been working/saving for almost 6 years and am now travelling alone and don't need to be wandering alone at night to find a bathroom - I'll take the $3/night room!
Day 9: Manang Acclimization Day
Manang is a great place to spend a day. There are actually enough side trips to do that you could spend a few days here (I learned that for acclimatization to work, its best to walk higher during a rest day, or any day, and then sleep lower.) I debated between visiting a nearby monastery or viewing point, (I had seen the glacier lake the day before), but heard that the llama from the monastery was visiting Kathmandu so the monastery wasn't open. So I set out for the viewing point. It was a steep walk up, but the views of the Manang valley and the glacier area were well worth it. At the top, I met a couple from La Veta, Colorado who have a family member indirectly involved with the Celtic Music Festival - talk about a small world! They've been travelling for almost a year and have had some great experiences (including meeting Cal Ripken😊 I went to the daily lecture on altitude sickness, where they greatly promote diamox and scare the living day lights out of you, and that evening, went to a movie! A man has a small room with a large TV and a collection of several hundred DVDs. you can select a movie, which he shows on a large screen TV and he puts a fire in the small furnace. There are several benches covered with goat skins on which you can sit and watch. its a set price that you divide between however many people you collect to watch the film. So I sat at over 10,000 feet in Nepal and watched the Italian Job! The movie ended around 8:30, by which time the kitchen was closed at my guest house so straight to bed after a snack in the room.
Day 10: Manag to Yak Kharka: 9 km; 510 meter ascent
Although I have a certain pride in carrying my own bag, I hired a porter in Manang to go over the pass, as far as Muktinath. This was in part to make the way easier for myself, but also to have someone along who knows the trail. Unlike the lower parts, I've heard that the pass can be very difficult to navigate if there is snow because the path is no longer visible. One of the benefits of hiring a porter this high up is that there are many fewer concerns about his ability to handle the altitude, have proper equipment, etc. since he lives here, as opposed to many guides and porters who come from much lower altitudes. Throng Lama (and I'm spelling his name phonetically), was very nice and helpful, he spoke about the same amount of english as I speak nepalese, but we managed to communicate just fine. if you are ever in the area and need a porter, you can ask for him at the Yak Hotel. After leaving Manang, many people spend two more nights on the trail before crossing the pass. However, the medical center recommended spending 3 nights as it greatly reduces your chance of having problems, so the girls with whom I was walking and I decided to go the 3 night route. Also, because you are not supposed to ascend large amounts in a day at this height, our walking days were on the shorter side. For instance, we left Manang around 9 in the morning but were done for the day around 12:30. Fortunately, cards, books and journals keep you busy in the afternoon, though its best to keep sitting in the sun to stay warm. This evening, around 9, the temperature in my bedroom measured 32 degrees Celsius. At these higher lodges, you can request a blanket at night to use in addition to your sleeping bag, its a nice bit of extra warmth. I had about an hour of light-headedness tonight, and a complete loss of appetite, so with the dire warnings of the manang medical staff in mind, I started taking diamox to hopefully help with the altitude. One of the downsides to this medication is that a side affect is that it makes you go to the batrhoom a lot - tough when walking as there are now very few villages along the way, so batrhoom stops are outside behind non-existent shrubbery while dealing with often strong winds. Makes you concentrate!
Day 11: Yak Kharka to Thorang Phedi: 6 km; 400 meter ascent
Another short day of walking. Halfway to Thorang Phedi, we passed a small tea house, from where we saw three yaks walking with loads. One yak threw off its load, and spent some time stomping on the bags, before its handlers could get it to stand still and resume its load. In Thorang Phedi there are only two lodges and, interestingly, at this height, I no longer see any women or children, mainly just young men working at the lodges. I don't know if its the lack of the big bag, or just that I'm now used to hiking, but it would be easy to do these sections quickly, except that I remind myself that oxygen levels are getting lower and its better not to over-exert, but to keep a slow steady pace instead. Even with this approach, the walk doesn't take more than a few hours. The inn that we selected has a nice solarium room where we sat for lunch and the afternoon. In the evening, there are small furnaces under the dining room tables in the gathering rooms to keep you warm. The one bathroom is a several minute walk from my room - they should really have chamber pots! A bunch of us did a short walk up this afternoon to gain a little altitude beyond the level at which we were sleeping.
Day 12: Thorang Phedi to High Camp: 3 km; 400 meter ascent
While many people go from Thorang Phedi directly over the pass, we stopped at the High Camp for an additional night of acclimatization. The walk up was very steep and is, in fact, the most difficult section of getting over the pass. It took about 1.5 hours and, even with a latish start, we were up there with plenty of time before lunch. We are quite fortunate, there are only small sections of snow, and some permanent icy areas, so we should be fine to go over the pass tomorrow. Even with our short excursion for extra height, there is a lot of time to kill here so I'm quite happy at how much I like Crime and Punishment.
Day 13: High Camp to Muktinath: 14 km; 560 meter ascent, 1400 meter descent
We started at 5:30 this morning, as soon as it was light enough to walk without headlamps. Many people start earlier, in the dark, but the risk didn't seem worth it, particularly given the narrow/ledge-like aspect of the trail at many points. The main point is to get over the pass earlyish in the morning before the strong winds start. For us, it helped that we had done the hardest part of the walk yesterday and saved a bit of time for today. The day seemed to start fortuitously as it was the first morning since I began trekking that I wasn't sick. I was doing all right for about the first hour of walking, but twice the porter and I stopped to give the girls a chance to catch up (we wanted to make sure to stay together until after the pass to make sure everyone was okay). Each time we stopped, I became really light-headed and had to sit down to avoid passing out and falling off of the path. I was pretty concerned, and unsure what to do, but a guide from another group very kindly stopped to check on me and told me that there was a teahouse about 20 minutes on, and that it would be best to keep going there and then make a decision. I was fine walking there but felt sick again once I stopped. This guide and his group, several folks from Spain, were really helpful - pumping me full of tea, glucose tablets and candy bars - they also spent lots of timing trying to warm up my hands because they seemed to think they were excessively cold. I didn't have the energy to explain that I always have cold hands - that's what they are like every time I shovel! It seemed pretty much that I just had low-blood sugar, probably from not eating much over the last few days and being dehydrated, but because I was also nauseous there was a concern that it was a problem with the altitude. We only had about 300 meters of ascent left, probably about a 1.5 hour walk, and I really didn't want to have to go back down! A small part of me wondered whether I could make it walking, but I knew if I had another round of faintness, I'd have to turn back. So I made the practical, yet somewhat humiliating, decision to ride a yak the rest of the way up. (better than coming down unconscious, I know, but I was so close to doing it on my own that it was disappointing.) There were two yaks at the teahouse whose owners were selling rides to the top. Another woman took the second yak - I don't think she was sick, she was quite cheerful actually, and kept chatting. I felt badly but I couldn't talk to her - it took all my will power to focus on not throwing up - I kept thinking, "don't throw up on the yak, it will piss it off and then it will dump me off and trample me." Really not a particularly pleasant ride😊 Plus, its kind of hard to stay on - yaks are big, and the only thing you have to hold on to is the edge of the blanket on which you are sitting. (Of course, this is from the girl who quit horse back riding lessons once we reached the trot.) The woman on the other yak seemed to figure it out (although I wanted here to stop kicking the yak because if it went off on a tear, mine was bound to follow), but one of the yak herders had to keep walking behind me to push me forward/hold me on as I kept slipping off.
But, with the help of the yak, I made it to the top, where I had another cup of much appreciated tea. Despite the delay at the prior teahouse, we were all at the top by 8:30/9 and, after spending a few minutes for pictures and looking at the view, started the trek down. Although it was a really long descent, it wasn't as tough on the knees as I had imagined because we took it slow and it fluctuated between being very steep and more gradual descent. Plus, you break up the descent by stopping for lunch a few hours down (although I still couldn't eat anything it was nice to sit). I reached Muktinath around 2:30 in the afternoon. It started raining a few hours later, which meant snow on the top, so our timing was really good - a day later and we might not have been able to cross. The Mona Lisa guesthouse, where we stayed, had an electric hot shower (for $1.25), which was fantastic - actually the first time since Manang that there was enough non-freezing water to merit taking out the towel!
Day 14: Muktinath to Kagbeni: 11 km; 1000 meter descent
Within a large walled complex in Muktinath there are several important Hindi and Buddhist sites, to which many Nepalis and Indians make pilgrimages. Around 7:30 this morning I went over to walk through the complex, which included a monastery that has a grate on the floor through which there is a natural/continuous flame, from a natural gas source. One of the Hindi sites has 108 water spouts (there is a sacred river in the area) and cold bath areas in which some people bath for good health/luck. Fortunately, I had found some good descriptions of the sites that I brought with me on the trek so I knew what I was looking at as I wandered around. Because today's walk was relatively short, we didn't leave until close to 11, reaching Kagbeni in mid-afternoon. The path was a mix of road and trails that are steeper but shorter. The scenery on this side of the pass is different - there are fewer large mountain ranges, although still some, and today, at least, was very brown with a few green exceptions (usually rice fields) near villages. We did see to the side a series of caves that archaeologists have been exploring in recent years - apparently, when used, some of them were as high as nine stories, so quite complex structures. Today, they are used largely for certain religious retreats. Kagbeni is a really beautiful village in a quiet setting. The town has a monastery that you can visit, with some interesting wall paintings and a good collection of ceremonial masks, and several other religious sites that you can see just by walking through the village. Also, the guest house in which we stayed, which was next door to a former castle that is now privately occupied almost in an apartment building fashion, had an extremely large Buddha statue - larger than those in the monasteries - in a separate room that was set up as a shrine. I wonder if this was always a private possession or if the lodge was built around a former monastery.
Day 15: Kagbeni to Jomson: 9 km; 80 meter descent
People typically go farther on this day, but we liked Kagbeni enough that my group didn't leave until around 11 and stopped in Jomson. Today's walk was the first that was actually almost boring - the scenery was not particularly impressive and the almost completely flat walk was either along the road or a dry river bed. Also, we learned that the reason people recommend starting early in this region is that there are very strong winds starting around noon, which make walking a bit more difficult. Jomson is a very large town, with multiple schools, a hospital, large army base and an airport. The entire Jomson trek is now accessible by road, so many people either jeep up or fly into Jomson and just walk a few days from there. If I was doing this again, I would have walked farther that day to get back to one of the smaller villages for the night, although that lacks the convenience of an ATM machine!
Day 16: Jomsom to Kalopani: 23 km; 200 meter descent
This was the first day in which I had to walk in the rain, and then hail. However, thanks to the folks at Goodwin, I managed to stay relatively dry as my rain pants are fantastic (thank you!) And besides, after Martinique, it would take a lot for a day to be more miserable than that. About 80% of the walking is now on the roads, which is a bit less interesting. I think the scenery here would be better later in the year, when the many apple orchids are in blossom or the rhododendron forests are in season. While there are still definitely beautiful moments, the scenery is not as captivating as on the way up. This combined with the rain and general fatigue have me thinking about taking a jeep back part of the way as opposed to walking the rest. We found a nice lodge in Kalopani where I spent several hours talking with a couple of local men who were working in the area for several months. They had many good questions about American policies, etc. and had me stumped several times. For instance, about 5 minutes into the conversation they asked me, "excuse me, ma'am, but what do you think should be done by America and the international community about North Korea?" Yikes - made me realize that I was a bit out of touch on politics! Fortunately, I had my own room tonight as I had another round of food poisoning (or some undiagnosed ailment with similar symptoms😊
Day 17: Kalopani Sick Day
I was so wiped out this morning that I had to spend the day in Kalopani while the others continued. The people working at the lodge were very nice, they checked in on me every couple of hours, asking if I wanted the doctor or needed anything. (probably its a nightmare for them to get stuck with a sick trekker.) Other than having no appetite, I was feeling better by the end of the day but decided to take the jeep the rest of the way back, thus foregoing the last 3 potential days of walking. I think there were some nice spots on the way down, but I've had enough for this go! Despite getting stuck next to a very "hands-on" Indian man on one of the Jeep rides, I think this was the right decision. I somehow managed not to find a single tourist bus, and in fact was the only trekker on any of the three vehicles that I ended up taking, but the trip was pretty easy to figure out. The last bus ended in Pokhara, a very nice, highly visited city built around a beautiful lake where I stayed for several days. After that, it was a 7 hour bus ride back to Kathmandu, on which I learned that the locals are right - you really shouldn't sit at the back of a bus unless you have an iron stomach - its a whole different ride back there!
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Bob Cammett
non-member comment
Glad you're sll right
Dear Aladdine, After not seeing any posting,omn the blog,was concerned you fell down a crevass. You are seeing many things,which folks(Americans) don't have the time,or initiative to do. Stay well.