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Saved: February 12th 2011
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The best preparation is always the worst preparation. This nicely ambiguous statement is my new motto. It was certainly on my mind as we four intrepid adventurers (Alastair, Simon, Aimee and I) set out that brisk August morning for the town of Besisahar and nearly 3 weeks of hard slog around the Annapurna Himalaya Massif. It wasn't so much the month of partying that preceded this moment, but more the discovery the night before of a cover band which played nearly the same music as the one and only DSO, and who invited yours truly to sing along for a set. But somehow, 17 days and 350km of trekking later, and yet another 2 weeks of bliss in Pokhara, I'm here yet again to tell the tale.
Yep, thats right. I got fit again. The round Annapurna trek is the most popular trek in Nepal, and it certainly didn't dissapoint. Circumambulating the Annapurna Range (with the 8,062m Annapurna at its heart), and ranging in altitude from 800m at Besisahar to the 5,416m Thorong La (pass), the trek certainly was an epic adventure. Not that it was all hard slog, given the frequent appearance of luxurious guesthouse/restaurants selling everything from lasagne
to apple pie, and offering us 'heartly welcomes' and informing us that although we may 'come of a girtur', we wil certainly 'leave and a friend'. Oh, and 'german' style bakeries (its a Nepali thing, I don't understand either).
The first half of the trek was essentially a steady climb up the valley of the Marsyangdi Khola (river), under a healthy cover of fog and rain, through landscapes ranging from North Queensland style rainforest (only multiply the mountain sizes a few times), to Colorado style pine forests, all the way up to the desert like landscapes (and blue skies!) of the tibetan plateau on the north side of the Himalaya. The first such 'tibetan' town was Manang, in a valley at the foot of the towering Gangapurna and its glacier, with the Annapurnas II and IV mountains chiming in as well. These were our first snowcaps of the trek (serves us right for doing it out of season I suppose) and they certainly didn't dissapoint (didn't I use that word somewhere else?). Unlike the much awaited hot-chocolates at the hotel, but as Simon so succinctly put it, "thats what you get for dealing with in-breds". The tibetan culture, prayer
flags, chortens and prayer wheels in every town in this region were certainly a happy reminder of my last visit to the mountains from the north.
From Manang, things just kept getting steeper and steeper until we reached Thorung Phedi (meaning "foot of the pass") and we were stuck in a large basin. "Where does the path go?". "There!" smiled the guesthouse owner as he pointed at the seemingly vertical climb to our left. And so it was that my worst possible preparation was put to the test as we slogged our way in one day up 1000m over the Thorung La pass, and down 1600m to the holy settlement of Muktinath. I failed. I was truly screwed. But attaining yet another new high altitude was reward enough I suppose. Oh, and another reward, a new drinking partner!
Stuart the messiah, whom we thought we had buried just days before as we left him to the cardiograms, treadmills, and cute german medical students at the hospital in Pokhara, appeared. He'd flown to Jomsom (our next destination) and walked up to meet us! "Your heart and lungs are fine!", they said, "its just a swollen liver, so lay off
Machapuchre and the bus station
The mountains come out the morning we leave of course! the beer and bidi's for a while". Naturally we celebrated with a few of Mukintath's finest ales that evening.
The pace picked up on the home stretch down the spectacular Kali Gandaki valley - the highest in the world with the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri 8000+m peaks on either side, as we raced past apple orchards, mule trains, angry buffalos, haughty herds of goats, while fording freezing rivers, surviving dust storms, all the while gazing at the amazing mountain scenery of this gateway area to the ancient Mustang Tibetan Kingdom. Of course the pace had to slow a little in Jomsom, where we found we could have a rest day that included not only fresh Chocolate Apple crumble and yak steaks, but a day watching the Godfather trilogy on DVD!! (Mountains, what mountains? It wan an offer we couldn't refuse).
The last few days of the trek were supposed to be the easy downhill ones as we descended back into more tropical climes. That was until the sudden 1600m climb to Gorepani for absolutely lovely views of the beautiful clouds covering what is supposedly the most stunning mountain scenery in the world. Ah well, at least they sold Snickers
Rice terraces
Near Bahundanda there, and I didn't die. And Pokhara was only a quick downhill trek and bus-ride (on the roof of course) away. It nearly brought a tear to my eye when we first glimpsed the city by the lake, and it did when I bit into the first of many 'Everest Steak House' specials, and of course the first guzzle of Everest Beer.
And so life was back to normal in Pokhara. Only better. People had missed us and we'd missed them. And I knew the guys in the band now. And did I happen to mention cute German medical students earlier? Lets just say singing a few songs on stage, and then politely asking "Wo sind de Elefanten?" really does seem to do it for Bavarian lasses. Christine, es war schön.
But it all had to come to an end, and after the slow disappearance of all our comrades: Alastair to Thailand, Aimee and Simon to Kathmandu then India, Ronan the oirish hippie to India, Matt to China, and Robin Gibb to Idia, Stuart and I bit the bullet today and have arrived in Kathmandu ready to do it all over again - tomorrow we fly to Lukla
Gorillas in the mist
trekkin', just trekkin' in the rain and are trekking up to the top of the world - Mt Everest itself!!! (we plan to make it to within 3500m of the summit, all going well). It is certainly the saddest of feelings leaving the likes of David (oh come on) at the AM/PM coffee shop, Hari at the Love Kush, the lads at the Amsterdam, and of course Chandra at the Busy Bee (although, after last night, I don't think its mutual. Yeah sorry about that). But fantastic memories remain, not the least of which being an act of absolute expertise in comic timing when a young medical student from Melbourne named Simon chimed in, during one of our many lessons in random useless German phrases, with his own offering: "Mein Luftkissenfahrzeug ist voll mit Aalen besetzt". I salute you, comrade.
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Jamie
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nepal raamro chha
hey, my eye was caught by your photos. i was in nepal last year and did not get to do any trekking. but it is so beautiful. i love the place and the people. enjoy it fully, and if you have a chance, drink a papaya smoothy for me at Just Juice 'n Shakes. cheers and happy trekking!