Ahh! Hot springs. Though a cement lined bath shared by all(tourists to one side-locals to the other)this was a wonderful soak and needed. Pipes pour over onto a platform for washing. Clothes and body. Plenty of little shops on this stone path and thus a bit buying. Important not to gain much in weight, however! Here the speciality of the day is chocolate cake-and we indulged in a couple of varieties after a hefty dinner. Good thing too as the next day our hike took us up and up to Ghorepani(2000m elevation gain and all stone stairways!whew)
A coolish morning, and Walter forgot his hat in the room so had to run back for it. We ascended from the valley on multiple series of steep stone steps to Ghorepani(2874m) which is a destination in and of itself. Here lies the famous Poon Hill with 360 degree views of the Annapurna range and the local valleys. It is a beautiful site. We are back to hillsides cut into terraced fields for millet. It's harvest time and thus many folks out cutting and layinig the crop out in linear rows. The homes are topped with slate, no longer flat. Large courtyards supply space for threshing and drying.
We finally made it to a little lodge-quite pooped. Unfortunately the paper thin walls here made for a tough sleep accompanied by the arguing couples on either side! Everyone is up by 4am to hike the final stretch to the top of Poon hill to watch the sunrise on the mountains. We were blessed with a very clear morning. Back to our packs and off to Tadopani. Up and along a thin ridgeline with awesome views and finally down along a cascading river/waterfall. We are seeing lovely little flowers in abundance and the stairway up to the village has primroses gowing in profusion-beautiful! From here we should see Macupuchare-but it is cloudy so just a few glimpses. Lodged with a Japanese group-some singing in the evening, they enjoyed an interesting porridge with dried fish in the morning-blah! From this location the usual route would have taken us into the sanctuary, but we decided to head out to Pokhara for a day to get a new camera and have a minirest. Thus-hiked down thru Ghandruk-a traditional Ghurung village, and ended in Birethanti(1000m)
This day was a fairly long flat stone trail gradually declining to the Modi Khola, the river that cuts the valley into the sanctuary. A pleasant reprieve from all the stairs-a fairly long but comfortable walk out. We stopped for lunch in Gandruk. I ended up with a Lassi made from waterbuffalo cream and curd with ground apples! hmm. It tasted a bit like a creamy smoked gouda milkshake with apple. Not terrible. The couple of this lodge were so excited to have us eating there that they stood around watching us eating and smiling. We did end up having some delicious momos!
We are seeing oxen used inplowing and also threshing. In places where they have harvested all of the rice, they are flooding the fields. Beautiful carving on many of the door and window frames. There are beehives which are made of short cut logs hollowed and capped at each end. The honey is very good. We enjoyed fresh popcorn and an Everest beer at the Laxmi lodge in Birethanti. Visited a local art gallery with many nice watercolors. There are a few native umbrellas on the walls(very large woven grass hats. The Thakali owner also had a nice collection of Thakali masks which they use in their every 12 year celebration. Quite colorful.
This morining a short jaunt thru Nyapul which turned out to me a dumpy shanty type town-quite filthy and crowded. It was a suprise and eyesore after all of the beautiful little villages we have been in. Hadn't expected it-but it is the "end of the road" from Pokhara-and thus Kathmandu-so to speak. Everyoune walks from here so has become the main location for commerce out into the surrounding villages. We caught a taxi to Pokhara-an hour and a half of bumping about on a winding pitted road! And our first auto in weeks.
Retired the night in the Trek-o-tel with a nice hot shower and clean dry room! what a treat! Also a great celebration of our NEW PRESIDENT ELECT!!!Cleaned a few clothes, bought a camera and packed up to go back to the sanctuary. Also pared down the packs a bit and left some things with the hotel.
