My 55th Adventure

Dirty talk

debbieprince — Wed, 6 Jun 2018 01:46:00 GMT

One of the things that I was warned against was that I would get diarrhea. Before I left home I want to the travel center and got some preventative medicine. You take one before each meal. I was careful about not eating at roadside stands. Occasionally I would forget to take one and then after 11 days I ran out. NOTHING BAD CAME OUT if you know what I mean. Maybe my body developed a tolerance after a little while.

Another thing I was warned about was to not rinse my mouth or toothbrush with un treated water. At first I followed this religiously but after a while I got sloppy and again Nothing came of it.

Things not needed

debbieprince — Sun, 3 Jun 2018 00:35:00 GMT

1. Pajamas. It was too cold to change again. After my shower I wore my clothes for the next day.

2. A pump for the water. Didn't use it, just used the iodine tablets.

3. A padlock. The guidebook advised it but every hotel has a lock for the day.

Entertainment

debbieprince — Fri, 1 Jun 2018 17:39:00 GMT

Remember those dark days before the internet? Being on the Annapurna Circuit is like that. WiFi is sketchy and slow at best. Some days you will have long hours and nothing to do. I'm very glad I had my tablet which has games you can play offline and books and magazines you can read offline.

Other suggestions: a deck of cards. Look up some games you can play. YOU'D BE SURPRISED at how you forget the rules.

One place we had music and a whole group of bored cold people. So learn some simple line dances. I wish I could have remembered how to do the barn dance, a dance where you do 8 simple beats and then the girl steps to the next guy and the dance repeats itself.

Research some games that don't require a lot of paper as there isn't a lot available. Games that require some movement are good as the teahouse (Even in May and even in the lower regions can be cold and movement kept you warm.

Water sanitation on the Annapurna Cicuit

debbieprince — Fri, 25 May 2018 23:41:00 GMT

The best and cheapest way to get water on the trail is to buy Aquatablets in a pharmacy in Kathmandu. They are really cheap, come in an easy to use pack. JUST SQUEEZE OUT 1 TABLET , wait 30 min and drink. I am currently using a 2 step process that is a bit of a hassle. I have 2 water bottles, one is sanitizing and one I'm drinking. Easy. Every little village has a spigot that you are free to use. No need to carry a heavy Camelback. Sorry honey, it was a great gift. I'll use it on day hikes.

First day on trek

debbieprince — Sun, 20 May 2018 23:33:00 GMT

This will be about my porter who I thought wold be a super human. Turns out he's just a tough little guy that doesn't complain.

I was given a duffle bag from the trekking company.Inside were 2 basketball sized bags, a sleeping bag and down Jacket.

What I didnt know was that the porter would carry that duffle as a backpack. The guy looked so uncomfortable that it put a damper on my day. My advice is be kind to your porter. Buy a 65 liter backpack if you can afford it and let him wear that and the 2nd thing is find a packable down Jacket.

End of story.

Ps weigh your bag try to keep under 13 kgs.

Oh and bring a mirror.

A thing I'm glad I had

debbieprince — Fri, 18 May 2018 22:51:00 GMT

The thing that I'm really glad I took was my GPS. Why? Because it has helped me find things. It turns out that Google maps is a blank because I DIDN'T buy a local simple card. Instead I went International Service with AT&The for 50 bucks. It gives me 2Gs o for dated and unllimited texting.

I have a handheld GPS used for geocaching where you hand enter the coodinates. I also obtained a free tourist map at the airport that gives longitudemail and latitude so I just found where I wanted to go and entered the coordinates and started walking.

Today I walked from Thamel to Durber Square and back To Thamel and then to Swambouth Temple or the monkey temple.. There were a few dice parts but I got there OK.

I have two guidebooks that give really interesting tips on things to see but the problem is getting oriented to where they start. There are no street names listed. Traffic is insane, often there are no sidewalks and then there are constantly people hawking and soliciting you for everything so it's hard to think and read about where you are. For me the little arrow on my GPS pointing me the way worked best as I could walk fast but still look around.

I ended up with a guide for 750 nrs or roughly 7 bucks that was good. At the monkey temple I managed to avoid them. When I got home I found that I had missed some things outside the square but even after going there it wasn't clear where they were talking about.

I'm not saying avoiding the simple cardesign was better , I'm just saying what I did.

Things I wish I knew before my first day in Kathmandu

debbieprince — Fri, 18 May 2018 01:12:00 GMT

Here are some things I wish I knew before getting to Kathmandu

In the airport: There are 3 counters you must go to before you gon through customs. One is to get your embarkation card. Everyone flocks to this because it's first. Get to the visa computer kiosks as soon as you can because they take the longest. Then go to the bank and pay for your visa. KEEP THE VISA RECEIPT handy. I stuffed mine away without a second thought and had to get out of line to look for it. By now you can get an embarktion slip and fill it in while you stand in line.

My raincoat is the most useful thing I own. It's May and it poUrsula.

Roughly to figure out what the NRS are to the US dollar take the decimal point and slide it 2 places to the left ex. 1000 NRS is equal to 10. Dollars

Cash is king here but there are plenty of ATMS around but be sure you arrive with a big chunk of cash