Namaste!!!
Well, we survived. Now back in Pokhara after a week of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen. Following is a day-by-day description of the trek. Enjoy.
DAY 1 - 29 NOV - Kathmandu to Pokhara
Up early to catch the bus to Pokhara. 7 hour busride through some increasingly mountainous terrain. Arrived in Pokhara around 4pm. Stayed at Kiwi Guest House. Wandered around Fewa Lake for a bit taking happy snaps, then had some dinner at the hotel, before hitting the 'town'. It's a pretty happening place in the high season, but as its trekking shoulder season now there weren't that many tourists about. Saw an awesome live band at Club Paradiso, we were the only audience! Played a bit of pool, sunk the white off the black too many times.
DAY 2 - 30 NOV - Pokhara to Landrung
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
Up early to watch the sunrise over the Annapurna range from the roof of the hotel. Bus to our trekking start point, Pedhi (means 'low place'). First hour or so was straight up steps. Lunch at Dhampus, introduced to our staple food for the next 5 days : Dahl Baht (rice with dahl, which is a sort of soup with grains and some vegies in it, also with a nice vegie curry). After lunch, continued to Landrung, where we stayed in our first guesthouse for the trip, the Maya Guest House. Dinner: Dahl Baht (awsome!) After dinner watched Enter the Dragon and a Hindi movie called 'Hey Baby' which was obviously based (almost directly) on 3 Men and a Baby. Loved its originality.
DAY 3 - 1 DEC - Landrung to Sinuwa
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
Left Landrung 7.30am. Morning was spent on stone steps going a long way down, then a long way back up the other side of the valley. Arrived in Sinuwa (2275m) at 3pm. Stayed at the Hilltop Lodge. Best Dahl Baht so far for dinner. Sinuwa is perched high atop a ridge and gave great views of the valley we had just walked up and also the valley leading up to the base of Macchupare and then on towards Annapurna Base Camp (4130m) which was our ultimate destination. At night we could see the lights of all the small villages along the trails on both sides of the valley stretching off into the distance - very pretty.
DAY 4 - 2 DEC - Sinuwa to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC)
UP : tba DN : tba NET : +1855m
Woke 6.30am for sunrise. Brunch (Dahl Baht) at Bamboo . We were still a long way from ABC, but Hari our guide thought that the weather was going to get worse so if we didn't make it to ABC today we would see nothing but cloud once we did get there. So we decided to do the unthinkable...go for ABC in one day from Sinuwa. They said it couldn't be done! The entire day was uphill, which made it pretty tough going, but it was along the base of the valley, not straight up the hillsides, so it wasn't too steep thankfully. Early in the afternoon we left the trees behind and were now walking surrounded by nothing by apline grass and rock. Snow started to appear in the shadows and a few of the waterfalls we passed were frozen, so it was obviously getting cold! We didn't really notice...walking uphill all day tends to keep you warm. Hari made sure we had our headlamps working before we decided to push for ABC. We arrived at Machhapuchhre Base Camp (MBC) at 3pm, then trudged on up the valley to ABC, arriving at 4.45pm, just before sunset (it gets dark pretty early in the shadow of the mountains). It was a huge day of walking and we were really stoked to make it all the way to ABC. We were the only tenants at the Sanctuary Lodge. Dahl Baht again for dinner...after dinner we sat in the dining room with some locals (who run the lodge) and listened to music (some ours, some theirs). Kev hit a massive wall at about 6.30pm (altitude suspected), had a nap and returned soon after, reinvigorated. We'd bought a bottle of Royal Stag scotch in Chhomrung on the way up and it was just the thing to keep us warm. In the dining room of most of the high camps, they have blankets hanging down from the sides of the table which you put your legs under, and they have a kerosene heater under the table to keep your legs warm. It's the only heating there is in any of the places - all the buildings are very simple, drafty and cold stone buildings and you even pay Rs. 50 for the privilege of warming your legs up. Altitude didn't really seem a problem on the walk up to ABC, but once we were there we all felt a bit stupid, and I was having a little bit of trouble putting sentences together (it could have been the scotch). We went to bed at about 7.45pm (thats late in Mountain Time). Hari suggested we push three beds together to stay warm, an idea brilliantly suggested by saying : "Lets sleep three-gether for warmth". 'Three-gether' entered our vocabulary (and any other derivative...five-gether, six-gether, etc).
DAY 5 - 3 DEC - ABC to Sinuwa
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
Up at first light - got a few good glimpses of mountains between the clouds, which Hari had correctly predicted would arrive today. Ridiculously cold!! Hari took us up about 10m walk uphill from the camp to the edge of the Annapurna glacier which was amazing! Kev and I both neglected to bring our gloves and after 10minutes out in the open at 4130m our hands were numb. We set off back down the hill at 8am, and at that moment a blizzard started. We trudged downhill (thankfully not uphill) with snow coming in horizontally for about an hour, then it calmed from a blizzard to just heavy snow. The further we went down, the lighter the snow got, until eventually it had turned to sleet, and then just plain rain. The waterproof jacket I'd hired in Pokhara showed its true colours (it was NOT waterproof) - by the end of the day I had water running down my arms inside my jacket and dripping off my fingertips. As if taunting us, the sun showed its face for the first time right as we were walking into Sinuwa (our camp for the night) at about 4pm. We tried to dry everything (literally EVERYTHING got wet - even inside the packs) under the table with limited success. Played chess in the dining room till late - had the Tomato and Cheese Pizza of the year for dinner (probably because we'd had nothing but Dahl Baht until that point!). Slept threegether.
DAY 6 - 4 DEC - Sinuwa to Jhinu
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
Left Sinuwa 8.15am - down a lot of steps, then up about the same number (one staircase had 388 steps in a row - counting is a good distraction) Lunch at Chhomrung. Spent all afternoon walking down steep, steep steps to Jhinu. 20 min from the hotel (Jhinu Guest House) there are natural hot springs next to the river. We took some beers down with us and had a very relaxing hot bath surrounded by mountain views. This was the first 'shower' we'd had since leaving Pokhara so it was all the more refreshing! After our spa, we climbed back up to Jhinu and chilled on the roof of the hotel for the sunset with perfectly clear skies - a very relaxing afternoon was very appreciated after the past two intense days of trekking. Hari beat Kev at chess.
DAY 7 - 5 DEC - Jhinu to Seuli Bazar
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
Left Jhinu 7.45am. Walked along the river down the valley all morning. Break at New Bridge. We met up with a Korean guy who we had met on the way up to ABC who was coming back down quickly because he thought he may have broken his wrist and needed to get back to Pokhara quickly. He walked with us until lunch at Bee Hive View Guest House in Kiwi. Out of gratitude for his help, the dude gave Hari his watch, which Hari was (and is) pretty stoked about! Dahl Baht got the thumbs down from Hari. Luckly I had the mixed noodles (turns out the tuna wasn't off...luckily). Played chess in a clearing on the way to Seuli Bazar.
DAY 8 - 6 DEC - Seuli Bazar to Pokhara
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
"Slowly slowly" (Hari's saying of the week) headed to New Bridge (a different one than yesterday). Passed through the Maoist checkpoint and got through showing our receipt from the checkpoint on day 2. As we later discovered, a Swiss guy had been beaten at the same Maoist checkpoint an hour before we got there, sustaining moderate head injuries (it was in the paper the next day). Apparently he had been unwilling to pay and was in the mood to fight. The Maoists sticks changed his tune...we had nothing but smiles though. Lesson learned today : pay your Maoist taxes, don't get a broken head. Arrived at the bus stop at Naya Pul (Naya Bridge) then jumped on the bus for a sleepy but picturesque 2 hr bus ride back to Pokhara. Stayed at Kiwi Guest House again. Took a rowboat out on Fewa Lake in the afternoon, saw the Barahi Temple on an island in the middle of the lake. Headed to the other side for beers overlooking sunset on the Annapurna Range. Dinner at Boomerang restaurant, saw some Nepali dancing and singing. Scotch, scotch, scotch. I love scotch. Saw our favourite live band again at Paradiso bar (and played some more pool).
DAY 9 - 7 DEC - Chillin in Pokhara
Got back on the net to check the emails and reassure everyone we're still alive, burned all the photos of the trek onto a DVD for Hari. Walked about an hour around Pokhara to Davis' Falls, which is a 100 foot waterfall into a hole in the ground, followed by a 500m underground water flow. Saw another temple in a cave next to the falls. Got back to the hotel and rested until dinner at the hotel. Had a few more beers, headed out to hit the town again, but the turnout was a bit poor and Hari was a bit sick so we headed back for an early night.
Well, we survived. Now back in Pokhara after a week of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen. Following is a day-by-day description of the trek. Enjoy.
DAY 1 - 29 NOV - Kathmandu to Pokhara
Up early to catch the bus to Pokhara. 7 hour busride through some increasingly mountainous terrain. Arrived in Pokhara around 4pm. Stayed at Kiwi Guest House. Wandered around Fewa Lake for a bit taking happy snaps, then had some dinner at the hotel, before hitting the 'town'. It's a pretty happening place in the high season, but as its trekking shoulder season now there weren't that many tourists about. Saw an awesome live band at Club Paradiso, we were the only audience! Played a bit of pool, sunk the white off the black too many times.
DAY 2 - 30 NOV - Pokhara to Landrung
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
Up early to watch the sunrise over the Annapurna range from the roof of the hotel. Bus to our trekking start point, Pedhi (means 'low place'). First hour or so was straight up steps. Lunch at Dhampus, introduced to our staple food for the next 5 days : Dahl Baht (rice with dahl, which is a sort of soup with grains and some vegies in it, also with a nice vegie curry). After lunch, continued to Landrung, where we stayed in our first guesthouse for the trip, the Maya Guest House. Dinner: Dahl Baht (awsome!) After dinner watched Enter the Dragon and a Hindi movie called 'Hey Baby' which was obviously based (almost directly) on 3 Men and a Baby. Loved its originality.
DAY 3 - 1 DEC - Landrung to Sinuwa
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
Left Landrung 7.30am. Morning was spent on stone steps going a long way down, then a long way back up the other side of the valley. Arrived in Sinuwa (2275m) at 3pm. Stayed at the Hilltop Lodge. Best Dahl Baht so far for dinner. Sinuwa is perched high atop a ridge and gave great views of the valley we had just walked up and also the valley leading up to the base of Macchupare and then on towards Annapurna Base Camp (4130m) which was our ultimate destination. At night we could see the lights of all the small villages along the trails on both sides of the valley stretching off into the distance - very pretty.
DAY 4 - 2 DEC - Sinuwa to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC)
UP : tba DN : tba NET : +1855m
Woke 6.30am for sunrise. Brunch (Dahl Baht) at Bamboo . We were still a long way from ABC, but Hari our guide thought that the weather was going to get worse so if we didn't make it to ABC today we would see nothing but cloud once we did get there. So we decided to do the unthinkable...go for ABC in one day from Sinuwa. They said it couldn't be done! The entire day was uphill, which made it pretty tough going, but it was along the base of the valley, not straight up the hillsides, so it wasn't too steep thankfully. Early in the afternoon we left the trees behind and were now walking surrounded by nothing by apline grass and rock. Snow started to appear in the shadows and a few of the waterfalls we passed were frozen, so it was obviously getting cold! We didn't really notice...walking uphill all day tends to keep you warm. Hari made sure we had our headlamps working before we decided to push for ABC. We arrived at Machhapuchhre Base Camp (MBC) at 3pm, then trudged on up the valley to ABC, arriving at 4.45pm, just before sunset (it gets dark pretty early in the shadow of the mountains). It was a huge day of walking and we were really stoked to make it all the way to ABC. We were the only tenants at the Sanctuary Lodge. Dahl Baht again for dinner...after dinner we sat in the dining room with some locals (who run the lodge) and listened to music (some ours, some theirs). Kev hit a massive wall at about 6.30pm (altitude suspected), had a nap and returned soon after, reinvigorated. We'd bought a bottle of Royal Stag scotch in Chhomrung on the way up and it was just the thing to keep us warm. In the dining room of most of the high camps, they have blankets hanging down from the sides of the table which you put your legs under, and they have a kerosene heater under the table to keep your legs warm. It's the only heating there is in any of the places - all the buildings are very simple, drafty and cold stone buildings and you even pay Rs. 50 for the privilege of warming your legs up. Altitude didn't really seem a problem on the walk up to ABC, but once we were there we all felt a bit stupid, and I was having a little bit of trouble putting sentences together (it could have been the scotch). We went to bed at about 7.45pm (thats late in Mountain Time). Hari suggested we push three beds together to stay warm, an idea brilliantly suggested by saying : "Lets sleep three-gether for warmth". 'Three-gether' entered our vocabulary (and any other derivative...five-gether, six-gether, etc).
DAY 5 - 3 DEC - ABC to Sinuwa
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
Up at first light - got a few good glimpses of mountains between the clouds, which Hari had correctly predicted would arrive today. Ridiculously cold!! Hari took us up about 10m walk uphill from the camp to the edge of the Annapurna glacier which was amazing! Kev and I both neglected to bring our gloves and after 10minutes out in the open at 4130m our hands were numb. We set off back down the hill at 8am, and at that moment a blizzard started. We trudged downhill (thankfully not uphill) with snow coming in horizontally for about an hour, then it calmed from a blizzard to just heavy snow. The further we went down, the lighter the snow got, until eventually it had turned to sleet, and then just plain rain. The waterproof jacket I'd hired in Pokhara showed its true colours (it was NOT waterproof) - by the end of the day I had water running down my arms inside my jacket and dripping off my fingertips. As if taunting us, the sun showed its face for the first time right as we were walking into Sinuwa (our camp for the night) at about 4pm. We tried to dry everything (literally EVERYTHING got wet - even inside the packs) under the table with limited success. Played chess in the dining room till late - had the Tomato and Cheese Pizza of the year for dinner (probably because we'd had nothing but Dahl Baht until that point!). Slept threegether.
DAY 6 - 4 DEC - Sinuwa to Jhinu
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
Left Sinuwa 8.15am - down a lot of steps, then up about the same number (one staircase had 388 steps in a row - counting is a good distraction) Lunch at Chhomrung. Spent all afternoon walking down steep, steep steps to Jhinu. 20 min from the hotel (Jhinu Guest House) there are natural hot springs next to the river. We took some beers down with us and had a very relaxing hot bath surrounded by mountain views. This was the first 'shower' we'd had since leaving Pokhara so it was all the more refreshing! After our spa, we climbed back up to Jhinu and chilled on the roof of the hotel for the sunset with perfectly clear skies - a very relaxing afternoon was very appreciated after the past two intense days of trekking. Hari beat Kev at chess.
DAY 7 - 5 DEC - Jhinu to Seuli Bazar
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
Left Jhinu 7.45am. Walked along the river down the valley all morning. Break at New Bridge. We met up with a Korean guy who we had met on the way up to ABC who was coming back down quickly because he thought he may have broken his wrist and needed to get back to Pokhara quickly. He walked with us until lunch at Bee Hive View Guest House in Kiwi. Out of gratitude for his help, the dude gave Hari his watch, which Hari was (and is) pretty stoked about! Dahl Baht got the thumbs down from Hari. Luckly I had the mixed noodles (turns out the tuna wasn't off...luckily). Played chess in a clearing on the way to Seuli Bazar.
DAY 8 - 6 DEC - Seuli Bazar to Pokhara
UP : tba DN : tba NET : tba
"Slowly slowly" (Hari's saying of the week) headed to New Bridge (a different one than yesterday). Passed through the Maoist checkpoint and got through showing our receipt from the checkpoint on day 2. As we later discovered, a Swiss guy had been beaten at the same Maoist checkpoint an hour before we got there, sustaining moderate head injuries (it was in the paper the next day). Apparently he had been unwilling to pay and was in the mood to fight. The Maoists sticks changed his tune...we had nothing but smiles though. Lesson learned today : pay your Maoist taxes, don't get a broken head. Arrived at the bus stop at Naya Pul (Naya Bridge) then jumped on the bus for a sleepy but picturesque 2 hr bus ride back to Pokhara. Stayed at Kiwi Guest House again. Took a rowboat out on Fewa Lake in the afternoon, saw the Barahi Temple on an island in the middle of the lake. Headed to the other side for beers overlooking sunset on the Annapurna Range. Dinner at Boomerang restaurant, saw some Nepali dancing and singing. Scotch, scotch, scotch. I love scotch. Saw our favourite live band again at Paradiso bar (and played some more pool).
DAY 9 - 7 DEC - Chillin in Pokhara
Got back on the net to check the emails and reassure everyone we're still alive, burned all the photos of the trek onto a DVD for Hari. Walked about an hour around Pokhara to Davis' Falls, which is a 100 foot waterfall into a hole in the ground, followed by a 500m underground water flow. Saw another temple in a cave next to the falls. Got back to the hotel and rested until dinner at the hotel. Had a few more beers, headed out to hit the town again, but the turnout was a bit poor and Hari was a bit sick so we headed back for an early night.
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