Nepal

After spending three and a half months in India, Nepal was quite a treat! Though there were at least as many people trying to sell you their goods at a significant mark-up from the local price, haggling with Nepali's is a much more friendly, enjoyable experience. In India one must always portray a slightly angry, jaded disposition in order to get a fair price. Almost always we would have to walk away in order to be stopped on the way out and offered a fair price. When we walked out on Nepalis they just let us go. After much confusion we eventually figured out that the way to haggle in Nepal is to calmly argue with sound logic. It was frequently a very pleasant experience. We used these newly discovered skills to purchase sunglasses, a water filter, boots, trekking clothes, and all the other necessities for the trekking we planned to undertake.

While the guidebook and all the local trekking agencies will insist that it is dangerous to attempt any of the treks without a guide, everyone we met that had done any of the more popular treks told us they were completely doable without. We thought we'd be able to figure it out with a map and compass. Nepal is quite convenient for trekking because the trail has tea houses at various villages along the way to enable trekkers to sit down for all meals and sleep in a bed at night!!

And then it was off to begin trekking on the Annapurna Circuit! We took a bus to Besi Sahar (two actually) for the starting point of the Annapurna circuit trek. At the hotel we stayed at we met a couple of nice Brits, Allen and Grace, that would be our traveling companions for the next few weeks. The first bit of the trek is a little drab and has a road, so we took a jeep a short ways and cut out a couple of hours of the first day. And so began our epic journey!!

We took it slow, taking in the ever-changing views. It was rather incredible how different the surroundings would be from one day to the next:

And some interesting local plants. Some of you may recognize this one, though it doesn't usually grow wild in the U.S.:

And every day we stopped for tea!

Fortunately our trekking buddies were avid card players, so our evenings were filled with Hearts, Casino, Shithead, Pinochle, and the like. That, and of course more tea!!!

We tried to get as much of the beauty we saw on film as we could. Here's a few choice pictures:

Besides its diverse landscapes, the Annapurna Circuit was unique in that we passed many remote Nepali villages.

People here receive supplies only by donkey train or on their own backs, and we passed many porters (or rather, they passed us, in flip-flops, no less!). We also passed many friendly dogs, water buffalo . . .

. . . cows . . .

. . . lızards . . .

. . . and herds of goats!

Since the trek climbed to a considerable altitude, it was necessary to take a rest day in the village of Manang (altitude of 11,483 ft.) to acclimatize. It aids in acclimatization to hike up to a higher point and then come back down to sleep. Laura and I hiked up to a lookout point to get a good view of a nearby glacier. This got me really excited!

We spent the rest of the day eating delicious yak cheese and bread. Our evenings in Manang were kept busy consuming chyang, a local beer made from fermented wheat:

And talking with locals, some of which had climbed Everest!

With a jacket like that, there's no question he's telling the truth!!!

From here the trek started to get a bit steep. But we did get to see yaks!

After two days we stopped for the night at High Camp (16240 ft). We had to cross a rather dangerous avalanche area to get there that gave another trekker a big gash on the head and claimed the life of a horse that same day! From this height we could really feel the altitude. Just turning over in bed would cause one to lose one's breath! The following day we made the final push up to the top of Thorung La pass, a height of 17,769 ft. With the super thin air, it was slow going. It was so cold at the top of the pass we stopped for a quick cup of tea and some pictures and pushed on down the other side.

Then a knee-destroying descent of 5,597 ft to Muktinath for the night.

Recently, a road was built on this side of the pass to facilitate supply shipments. Our first day walking with a road nearby was awful. Much of the time we had no option but to walk along the road, and it was so dusty and windy that even covering up with scarves and sunglasses barely made the day tolerable! We did pass by a Yak Donald's though (and a 7-eleven):

Since Laura and I were planning on diverting from the Annapurna Circuit Trek to tackle the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) Trek as well, we decided to part ways with Allen and Grace and take a jeep to Tatopani, cutting out about two days of trekking. We soaked our sore muscles in the hot springs there and continued on our way the following day.

We ended up trekking with some Israelis (they're EVERYWHERE in Nepal) we'd seen during the trek a few days before. We didn't travel with them long. They continued on the additional couple of hours to Ghorapani, while we stopped in Chitre, one town prior. This turned out to be a very wise decision because as soon as we had taken a room in a small tea house, a fierce downpour began. It then turned into hail. Poor Israelis . . .

The next day we took a short cut, cutting diagonal through a thick rain forest to get to the ABC. It wasn't on the map. But ıt had some crazy lookıng trees!

Now, we were well past the ideal trekking season for Nepal, so sometimes there was a bit of haziness or dustiness, or a bit of rain, but we were very fortunate as well. There were an incredibly small number of trekkers compared to the peak season. Even still we passed by a number people every day. Until this short cut. For two hours we walked without seeing a single other foreigner.

We only saw two Nepalis. But we saw hordes of water buffalo! And we sampled the local fruit: seabuckthorn berries!!

And we got to use our compass for the first (and only) time yet! It wasn't all berries and buffalo though. At one point I was standing on a slightly mossy rock, taking a photo of a stream, when I slipped on the moss, taking a couple of steps in the water. I sat down on a log nearby, cursing my clumsiness, for now I'd have to finish the day in my flip-flops. When my shoes came off I noticed a fat leech on my sock, an inch and a half long and thick as a pencil. Thank goodness I was wearing my thick snowboarding socks and he didn't get through. Or so I thought. When I took off my sock he was still there! Somehow I pulled him through my sock!!! After Laura pulled the leech off me we noticed there were a lot more on the moist path, on our shoes, trying to latch on to my heel. We got rid of the ones we saw and retreated further from the river to dress my wound properly. Though it was quite small it took a great deal to stop the bleeding. But for the day of unhindered serenity, it was easily worth it.

From here we were back on the travellers circuit. Afternoon showers were a daily occurance, so we started getting up with the sun in order to get far enough by the time they started. With only two people in our party now, we naturally settled into a much swifter pace, so it was easy to make good time in spite of the rain. But we never lost sight of our main goal in undertaking the ABC trek: to catch a glimpse of Himalayan thar! Sadly, we arrived at Annapurna Base Camp without thar pictures. : ( Fortunately we had breathtaking mountain views encircling the tea house we stayed at:

And if nothing else, they gave us a lovely new recipe!

Then it was back on down. We walked less than an hour, when what should we see along the ridge of the mountain in front of us? Himalayan thar!! YAY!!

We stopped in a town further on (Jhinu) for a second sample of the Annapurna region's hot springs. While this one was smaller than in Tatopani, it was also along the river instead of the road. In addition to wonderful scenery for a soothing hot dip, we could jump in the freezing cold river when we felt overheated. And we met a couple from Oregon, Jason and Kim, an Irishman named Steve (he's not in the picture, but his drink is!), and a Mexican named Guillermo to share the evening soak with:

Guillermo and Steve took on the role of the evening's entertainment. Steve spent half an hour rolling a superjoint using four rolling papers and equipped with wings! Meanwhile Guillermo enthralled us with stories of their trekking mishaps and justification for their countless smoke breaks!

The next day we left prior to our crunk friends. After 20 days of trekking Laura insısted I take a sexy picture of her ın her trekkıng outfıt:

Though we left separately for our final day of trekking, we spotted them arriving in Pokhara (the nearest city to the trek's termination). Jason and Kim even stayed in the same hotel as us. So we spent a few days lounging with fellow Americans, eating steak and socializing with our stoner foreign friends in the evenings. It was rough.

But it was time to move on. We headed back to Kathmandu to set up a trip to Royal Chitwan National Park. We decided to see if there was any merit to all-inclusive packages and signed on for one to Chitwan. It definitely cost more than if we had organized it all ourselves, but the convenience was quite a treat, and we celebrated by overeating every meal and taking full advantage of the all-you-can-drink-tea included in the price. The first day we went for a short hike, saw the elephants, watched the sunset, and went to a presentation of the locals' various dances. The next day we began with a visit to the elephant breeding center to play with the baby elephants. So cute!!! This was followed with a canoe trip to spot all the park's bird life and crocodiles (two crocodiles and a gharial). This left just enough time before lunch to bathe with an elephant! This consisted of hopping on the elephant's back and having him blast us repeatedly with trunkfuls of water to wash us (quite a powerful blast!). Then the elephant dropped down into the water and we washed him. Here's a picture of us in between trunkfuls of water:

After a change of clothes and a plateful of food it was time for a safari on elephant back! We saw Indian rhino, wild boar, musk deer, sambar deer, monkeys, wild chickens, and a wide variety of bird life. Unfortunately we had a camera mishap that left us with only one picture of Chitwan (above). Lame! But we had a blast so who cares?!

Yeah, Nepal is so sweet it could make a wolverine purr!!!

--Jason