Annapurna Sanctuary

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Back in Kathmandu after completing the Annapurna Sanctuary trek. Had great weather and the views from the Annapurna Sanctuary were beyond spectacular. I hired a guide/porter (G/P) for the trek, partly because the guide books mentioned solo trekkers sometimes get robbed in this region and partly to compare trekking solo vs. having a hired hand along. In short, I liked trekking solo better, but I think this was due more to my G/P being pretty inexperienced. His English was worse than most of the other G/P's I came across on the trail, and about half the time we couldn't understand each other. But the Nepalis are so eager to please that whenever he didn't understand me, he wouldn't say "I don't understand" or "No", he'd just say "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." The first day I really tried to talk to the guy, but after awhile I got frustrated so after the first day we mostly hiked in silence. But for kicks, when I was getting bored on the trail, I'd ask him stuff like "So you enjoy molesting chickens?" just to here him say, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." I kill me.

Don't get me wrong, it was nice having someone schlep a bulk of my gear up the hill, but at the same time, I didn't need someone lurking right behind whenever I stopped to take a photo or constantly watching me to make sure all my needs were met. For example, the morning in the sanctuary, when we were all out taking photos of the stunning views, when I hesitated to take a picture of a mountain because it was hidden in a cloud bank, he said, "Cloud in front of mountain sir. No view." Uh, yeah. Thanks for pointing that out. Glad you're here. There were a lot of moments like that.

But he was just so eager to please, so happy to have work for seven days, that I couldn't really blame him for being over-zealous. I paid the agency $12/day for his services, and he told me he was getting paid $6/day. He's already expressed his deepest desire to guide each and every of you, my friends and family, when you come to Nepal.

Headed for New Zealand on Thursday. After Nepal and Tanzania, looking forward to some easy traveling in an English-speaking country.

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