Blogs from Gorepani, Nepal, Asia - page 2

(Jeff) After a few days of getting oriented, settled, and geared up at a few of Pokhara's ubiquitous outdoors shops, we were ready to set off on yet another fantastic adventure within an adventure; we decided to go on a trek in the Annapurna region of the majestic Himalaya mountain range. We acquired all the necessary permits and a trekking map, checked in with the embassy, packed one bag with our essentials (plus a small daypack full of provisions), and early one morning we caught a taxi then a bus and headed for the hills. We decided on a trek called the Ghorepani - Gandruk loop. We'd read that it was possible to do the trek in 5 days, but it turned out that this was only if one had superhuman hiking abilities, and no interest ... read more

Day 6 - Poon Hill and Ghorepani to Banthanti I was awake early for the start of our VERY EARLY hike up Poon Hill to watch the sunrise. A bleary eyed, head torch wearing group set off in the dark. What a strange sight it was. We discovered that Ghorepani must have a hell of a lot of accomodation as there were what seemed like hundreds of people all processing up the steep stone steps in single file. The steps were huge and it was hard going as there was a pretty important deadline to hit - SUNRISE. So everyone was pushing themselves really hard to make it up in time. Falsh summit after false summit but eventually after a tough 50 minute climb the watch tower came into sight and we all gathered in a ... read more

A week ago I was getting ready to leave to go on my "trek" and, as ever, updated my facebook status before I left, something along the lines of "Lisa is off trekking, which is the same as walking..." This may have been slightly naive, and with hindsight I realise I should maybe have written something like "Lisa is off trekking, which is the same as walking... on a stairmaster - level 12, with hiking boots, 2 pairs of trousers, 4 tops, a fleece, scarf, hat, mittens, carrying a rucksack and in hail and snow". That might have been slightly more accurate. It is really hard not to go overboard with language sitting at a computer screen, but having returned from 5 days trekking, I honestly think it was one of the most memorable weeks of ... read more

Determined to attain vengeance upon the Deutschlanders for the thrashing at rummy, Mantos and I gave them a 30 minute head start before commencing the devlish clamber that is the Ulleri steps. Ever been on a stepper in the gym? I can tolerate about 5 minutes - this was an unbroken 2 hour climb under sweltering sun - literally thousands of steps. Still, we passed both the Germans and an equally pleasant (and physically inferior) pair of Aussies - there are no better folks to beat as far as national pride is concerned! Thankfully the trail leveled out, insofar as it ever does here (i.e. drag up, roll down but no steps) via a 1st dip into the jungle, depositing us eventually at Ghorepani, a splendid petite village commanding magnificent views of Annapurna South and Annapurna ... read more

"Some dance to remember, some dance to forget." This song is partially stuck in my head, even as the song has changed to Hindi in the background I've finally come to understand the true meaning of Cam's words as I sit here admist a place he would despise or would possibly remind him of his home. I'm missing him some now - had a dream of him last night although I'm not sure what it was about. He said that he'd see me in a year and to some extent the more I miss him the more it really does seem that long. There is very little to do today. It's raining outside and we've long reached our destination for the day and had lunch here. We walked most of the way with a man from ... read more