The Stunning Adventures "Not all those who wander are lost." Tolkien

After our death-defying ride on the "Gateway to Hell", schlepping our way across the most interesting of border crossings on the "The Friendship Bridge", and smartly negotiating a ride for less than 10 bucks apiece , we finally arrived in Kathmandu.

We welcomed the congested streets of Thamel, packed with hotels, guesthouses, and restaurants, after our challenging (but excellent) overland trip from Lhasa. The core of our little group had remained together, Peter Flockhart (the Ozzie), Dorothy and Peter (aka Dorota and Piotr-the pair of Pols), and US. We all had decided to trek around the Annapurna Circuit together so opted to have a leisurely week before our departure, full of good meals, sleep-ins, and Greg's Birthday. Yes, Mr. Gregory Jerome Cunningham hit the old 3-0. We all celebrated right with delicious food and Greg even had a Nepalese dance lesson in front of the entire restaurant that all of his party-goers thoroughly got a kick out of. We sat on the roof of our hotel 'til the wee hours of the morning enjoying our libations. It was a fantastic thirtieth in Kathmandu.

During our week of relaxation, we purchased our permits for the circuit and purchased van tickets to Besisahar. We had a problem with our lift; our microvan. The five of us had jumped in a taxi and headed to the "bus station"--a conglomeration of buses and micro-vans clumped together on a pothole filled dirt road. We tried to find our van. Others tried to help us find our van. We found our van-chock full of 20+ Nepalese...but the fact that there was no seat for us was not the problem. Apparently there was no contact information on our voucher so the guy at the gate couldn't get his cut of the profits, and therefore, couldn't put us in a van. We soon learned that we should always buy tickets on our own. We went back to the copy center/tour agency, found the guys we had purchased our tickets from. They then kindly came with us to the loosely organized bust station, and we finally got into a microvan. Aha! On our way to Besisahar.

Ok, so the trek took us 15 days, and we will not drag you through each entire day. The Annapurna Circuit, for those of you who don't know, is a circular (hence circuit) trek around the Annapurna mountains in the Himalayas. The trek covers 220 kilometers (140 miles of terrain) reaching a height of 5416 meters (17,927 feet). The trek starts out in terraced rice fields that slowly blend into green deiciduous forest that is actually quite similar to the forest in the Great Northwest. The forest eventually melts away into rocky terrain and that is where we started to see our first inklings of snow...snow that covered the tops of these famous mountains. The only time we trudged through the snow, was when we were going over Thorong La Pass, at the above mentioned height. Of course the views were astounding, and variety in the landscape was extremely satisfying. At some points, we would look out around us and we found we were perched above fields of Himalayan mountain tops covered in snow and glaciers. Despite the beauty we had seen, we do have to say that after 15 days of trekking, we were not overly disheartened to say goodbye to our trekking days (at least for a short time).

Each night, we would stop in a small village where there there were teahouses/guesthouses to sleep. Accomodation was anywhere from 50 rupees (less than a dollar), to free, under the agreement that we would purchase our evening meal there--often times Dal Baht--a local dish consiting of rice, lentil soup, greens, and a vegetable curry all of which should be re-filled to the consumers content. Although, we must say in the beginning, being the thrifty backpackers we are, we tried to head out for a local little place for some tasty bites rather than eating at our guesthouse, and soon realized, that this was not customary, nor appreciated by the guesthouse owners. Surprisingly, there were showers to be found (or basins of hot water as we got closer to the pass) but they were solar, and being that the sun would sink behind the mountains by mid-afternoon, we found them to be quite "refreshing" to say the least. Needless to say, the showers were overlooked on most days. We should note here, how extremely cold it got in the evening. We would layer on all of the warm clothes we had until bedtime which usually came around 7, or 7:30 pm--not just because we were knackered from that day's hiking, nor because we wanted to rise at 6:00 am, but because we were so damn cold there was nothing else to do but bundle up in bed. Many times we woke to the temperature in the room being freezing or just a few degrees above (this knowledge is thanks to our handy compact alarm clock). We did come across a hot spring in Tatopani on our descent from the pass. It was a lovely rock-slabbed tub constructed right beside the river. It seemed as though every trekker that had come through Tatopani, had the same idea about the hot springs. The tub was full of tired hikers sporting their skivvies and drinking slightly over-priced Nepalese beers. A number of Nepalese also flocked either to ogle at the entertaining foreigners or get a nice bath. We were required to rinse off before entering, so we opted to have a nice scrub with a hose before jumping in the overwhelmingly hot water. It was fantastic. We seriously considered staying another day to rest our weary muscles, but alas, decided to plug on. Another highlight in one of our villages was when staying in Manang. We thought it wise to stay an extra night there to have an acclimatization day; we went for a brief hike nearby to gain some elevation and get used to the altitude. We had a hankering for a movie and had seen some signs outside a couple of little venues in this regard, so on our second evening in Manang, we chose to give it a go. The "theatre" was a tiny room downstairs full of benches covered in yak hide and fur with a central wood-stove. We were in HEAVEN! We were the only people that showed, so we had the 36" screen all to ourselves. We could buy bottles of "rakshi"--homemade Nepalese wine made from rice-for 50 rupees each which our proprietor would kindly warm up for us on the stove. So, we all sat back with a warm glass of rakshi, and watched, oh yes, "Seven Years in Tibet".

The trek-the landscapes and time for personal reflection-was incredible in and of itself, but the time we got to spend schlepping through tiny Nepalese villages; to see how many people live out in the rural areas (which is most of Nepal) was pretty incredible as well. Although, we will add, that after seeing some of the other places off the beaten path (whereas the circuit is pretty full of travellers), we realised how so many of these villages are tailored to hikers and maybe not quite as authentic as we had originally thought. Regardless, it was very interesting to see the rustic architecture, simple dwellings, and lifestyles that these mountain dwellers embrace. Not to mention, the laborious manner in which they tote goods from village to village by supporting the load on their backs but the brunt of the weight is placed on their necks due to the large strap that is taughtly slung around their foreheads; impressive. Many porters were seen carrying ridiculously large backpacks (many carrying two) for trekkers who wanted to lighten their own load. As we were making our way around the circuit, we did come upon a few areas where it appeared a road was being built. So needless to say, in a matter time, maybe a year or two, there will be a paved road where Landrovers and Jeeps will be cruising along instead of lumpy dirt trails packed with porters, donkeys, and trekkers...as it goes, in developing areas. We can't deny that in many ways it is better for a lot of the villagers, but in regards to these unspoilt areas, well, who knows what will become...tour buses that will shuttle people around the circuit in a matter of a few days? Trekking on a paved road full of cars will not be the same. So, luckily we made it around the Annapurnas before the road did. All in all, it was a fabulous and challenging two weeks. After finishing our trek in Naya-Pul, we clambered up onto the rooftop (the Nepalese way) of a local bus, and sailed on into Pokhara for a well celebrated finish.