Dear All,
I can’t believe I’m back to writing the blog already. It seems like only yesterday we were leaving Kathmandu…
Our group met on the 25th October. There were ten of us; dan and I, 7 other aussies jamie, peter, robin, murray, warren, bert and lynne and a Canadian elli. Our group leader was Roy, an Indian who has been living and trekking in Nepal for years. Our trekking team included 15 porters (sherpas are porters from a particular tribe in the Everest region) 2 cooks, 4 kitchen boys and 4 guides who walked with us and helped set up camp. Our trek was 15 days around the Annapurna region and included 5 nights at a small village called Bukha helping to build a new bridge for their school.
On the 26th we had a day tour around Kathmandu. The tour included Boudanath, which is the world’s 2 biggest stupa. A stupa is a large layered white Buddhist temple. From there we visited Syanbunath which is a Buddhist temple where A LOT of very cheeky monkeys live. Final stop was at the Bagmati River which is very holy site in Kathmandu with several temples and along the river there are daily cremations.
On the 27th October, day one of the trek, we flew to Pokhara which is a 25 minute flight west of Kathmandu. The view from the aeroplane was stunning with the mountains by our side the whole flight. We were then packed of in a bus for 2 hours up into the mountains. The bus was decked out like a casino with coloured lights on the roof and coloured tassels around the windscreen. Luckily we all had seats inside the bus unlike a lot of locals we noticed seated on the rooves of other buses. All seemed harmless enough until we noticed a very small child, ,maybe 4 years old clinging to the roof of a bus.geez, they get them use to it when they’re young. Day one trekking was a short day and only a 2 hour steep walk upstairs. I was totally surprised by the scenery, in my head I had imagined bare rocks, dusty paths and no trees or greenery. However it was the total opposite, the Annapurna region was so green I was amazed everyday, there were at 3 rivers crossed each day and the forest would tower above us. If it wasn’t forest it was fertile land the locals were using for farming or growing rice millet or vegetable crops. The goats and chickens were mostly kept behind fences however our trek was routinely stopped by fat grumpy cows or buffalos standing in the middle of the trek and noone wants to upset the holy cow..
Day two began with amazing views of Machupuchre and Annapurna South. The mountains were stunning and even though the hills surrounding us were huge the mountains still towered above everything else. Every day, really every time you turned a corner there was a different view of the mountains that was more breathtaking then the one before..Sorry if the mountain photos get a little repetitive, they looked different every time. We camped each night in 2 man tents with foam mats and sleeping bags. At 6am we were woken with a tent shake and a cup of tea, at 6.15 there was a bowl of hot water for washing, we had to clear out the tents by 7 so the porters could pack them up and start walking and then breakfast was at 7.30 and then normally we were out of the camp by 8am. Day two trek was a 5 hour trek with lunch in the middle to Landruk. We had regular stops and chatted to the guides and learnt a little nepali along the way.
Day three was a long day. Landruk was at 1600m and we trekked down to the river and then up the other side of the hill to Ghandruk at 1900m. The numbers don’t look like much but it was a long 4 hour walk up big stairs. I think the most frustrating part was while I was puffing up the hill small children were bounding past us on their way to school giggling and yelling “namaste” (hello). The paths were fairly well maintained and mostly stone slabs or well used dirt paths. In Ghandruk there was a small museum full of everyday items used by the villagers. It use to be a traditional house so the walls are stone and then covered with mud and cow poop (surprisingly very smooth).
Although the tents were small and our mattresses thin dan and I slept like logs every night after all the walking. Probably helped that we went to bed with full bellies every night. The food was amazing and even more impressive because it was all cooked in a tent with small kitchen stoves every night. Dinner included soup and then a carb packed meal of rice, pasta and potato (all in one meal) and at every meal we seemed to eat more, must have been burning it up quickly. The chef managed to make apple pie, spring rolls, apple fritters, chocolate cake and pumpkin tempura. While walking through the village the chef would pick up local fresh fruit and veg for our meals. We watched the radishes being picked for our dinner and then ten minutes later they were on our plate. The food was delicious.
Day four we walked through the rhododendron forests to tadapani 2600m. At 2600m we were already higher than any mountain in Australia! The forests were not in flower but the twisting trunks and winding paths with the mountains peaking through were beautiful. There were also several troops of monkeys with cute white faces peeking through the trees at us.
Day five was a trek to Ghorepani at 2800m. The hike followed a huge waterfall and river up the mountain. The water was crystal clear with a slight bluey tinge because it has run of the glaciers. At 2800m the mountains looked so close (in reality they are days away) however as we were getting high up as soon as the sun dropped behind the mountains at around 4pm ish the tempreture would drop dramatically and the beanies, thermals and down jackets would come out and not come off till the sun came up the next day. At nights the tempreture dropped just below zero in our tiny little tents.
Day six began very very early at 4.30am when it was still dark. We followed a windy trail uphill for an hour in the dark huffing and me following blowing my runny nose (I hate the cold, it makes my nose run and then I look like a relative of rudolf ):
We made it to the top of Poon hill 3200m to watch the sunrise. It was just as stunning there in the dark with the stars and the mountains lit by the moon and then as the sun rose they turned amazing shades of pink and orange. Definitely the most amazing sunrise…even though by 7am I couldn’t feel me fingers or nose because it was so cold. After a few snaps, even ernie made a photo we headed back to camp for breakfast.
After our early monring hike it felt like a very long walk to Ulleri at 2000m. After leaving Ghorepani and Poon hill we were on trails that are very rarely used by tourists. The towns were amazing to wakl through and almost felt like going back in time watching them harvest and dry grains and washing clothes in the rivers and drawing water. The kids were gorgeous in every village but I particularly remember 3 small kids at this village who were running up behind an old goat and tapping its bum with stinging nettles and running away and suddenly they turned on us and tried the nettles on us and suddenly it was all a big game with us running chasing them around.
There are still a few more days on the trek however I’m writing this at the Radisson hotel before we leave..and check out is in one hour and our stuff is EVERYWHERE!!! Even worse everything is dirty and I really don’t feel like touching it..but checkout is soon so I better get onto it. I will fill in the last few days of the trek and the school project before we leave Nepal.
Love to all, hope all exams have gone well,
Love jess xoxo
