Day 2: BAHUNDANDA (1305m)- First day of trekking began as every day of trekking would for the next few weeks- with two cups of 'wake-up tea' from Suyra, his unique service for his clients! It certainly helped to wake us up at 6am, and after a quick breakfast, we were soon on our way! Being a trekking novice, the first few days were always going to be tricky, especially with the damn cold I had brought with me from Delhi! But today was relatively easy- our destination, Bahundanda, was still lower than Kathmandu! The beautiful weather certainly helped my sniffles as well- gorgeous blue cloudless skies brought out the green of the lush scenery even more. Patrick and I have agreed that the Bahundanda night, spent mostly in a dingey Nepalese bar under the hotel drinking lots of beer- was probably one of our favourites one the whole trek. This could have been because of SUCRATI- dried, fried masala meat bits, and the Nepalese drinking 'snack' of choice (apparently not snacking when you drink in Nepal is not an option!) But it also could've been because it was where we met Sylvan, a French guy, and Gotam his guide, for the first time- a hilarious duo that we'd keep bumping into, and keep sharing drinks with! Either way, it was a bloody good night, enjoyed all the more because we knew the real hard work on the trek was starting very soon...
Day 3: CHAMJE (1410m)- We woke up to a cloudy sky today, but this was no bad thing. This was to be the ONLY cloudy day on the whole trek, and besides, I was still feeling a little iffy, despite the amazing medicinal power of SANCHO (a stronger- and better- Vicks) in my infinite cups of hot water! Today a beautiful love affair began between Sancho and I- I pretty much recommended it to every traveller on the road! I plan to take a healthy supply of about 20 bottles with me to China! ANYWAY...today was a little tougher terrain-wise than yesterday, with similar landscape yesterday, but still brought some unique highlights on the road...
First was the surreal sight of three Nepalese toddlers perched on a high rock, with no mummy in sight. Pat knelt down to say 'namaste' to the little guys...when one of them produced a stick, and began swiping at him! We laughed for a little while, before a feisty girl at the end stood up and began hitting him on the head! these toddlers appeared to be guard-dogs of some kind, so we made a quick getaway befor they all grabbed sticks... When I looked back, they were just sitting there cross-legged and peaceful again, no doubt waiting for more unsuspecting travellers to swipe! The second highlight was seeing a gooey goat kid stumbling around amongst a herd of coats on the mountain-side, and finding out that he had probably only been born 10 minutes ago! Patrick joked that he was more steady on his feet than me, which to be honest was probably true at this point, haha...
In the night-time at Chajme, we learnt some, ahem, 'useful' Nepalese lingo from our cheeky Nepalese sods Suyra and Sau...let's just say I'm not allowed to say 'machickni', 'laddo' or 'puti' in front of Nepalese ladies in case I cause offence, and whenever I say those words, its the most hilarious thing any Nepalese man has ever heard....
Day 4: DHAPARANI (1960m)- Today the weather was back to its shining turquiose best, and I was feeling better with it. Of course, it's never as easy as that...I had managed somehow to bruise my ankle the day before, making it very painful to walk for a long period of time. Perfect on a trek, of course. But, determined not to let my bloody ankle beat me, I gritted my teeth and got on with it...just very slowly. It was a little more undulating than the previous days, but otherwise OK. Tonight was the night that we were to learn an important life skill...how to eat dal bhat like a true Nepalese native- with our hands. It's actually much trickier than it looks- you really have to have good reflexes to get the food to your mouth before it drops through your fingers! But Sau was right- eating with your hands makes it much more satisfying! All washed down with our daily medicine of rum and black coffee, of course...
Day 5: CHAME (2675m)- Both Pat and I found today tough- there were about 3 steep 20 minute uphill climbs in the space of 2 hours, one which came soon after we set of at 7am...But of course, this was all good training for the Thorong-La Pass that we were ultimately headed towards- we had to learn how to deal with our breathing, and that little steps were best...When we reached those higher levels though, we were treated to our first peek of those snowy, majestic Annapurna peaks. Up to this point, the trek had been mostly lush green mountains and plantations, so this made all the huffing-and-puffing hardship worth it. Sad news today, though- this was officially the last time we were allowed alcohol. Even sadder times- there was no rum! How would we cope without our medicine? We had to make do with whiskey and hot water, with a few beers to take the taste away! We ended the night watching Sau and Suyra bet their hard-earned rupees with the other guides in a Nepalese version of poker called 'three cards'; luckily, they broke even!
Day 6: UPPER PISANG (3200m)- It was slowly getting trickier and trickier...you could tell we were getting to higher elevations now. No altitude sickness yet...but plenty of High Alcohol Sickness for Patrick! Yet another day of up-and-down- as soon as you think you're getting somewhere elevation-wise, the mountain tricks you and leads you to river-level again! I knew I'd be dreaming of these days though when it was just up-up-UP! The hardest part of the day was the climb from Lower to Upper Pisang- pretty much up a vertical mountain face...As soon as we got there, we realised that it was worth it for the views...the mountains opposite rose high above us like protective guards, and the milky-blue-lilac sky as the sun hid behind them was stunning. We all had 'yak curry' for dinner, which despite the odd long black hair from the yaks (at least I hope it was from them!), was chewy and tasty. The American couple staying alongside us had seen the dead yak being carried upside down up the mountain as they walked up before it was distributed to the different guesthouses- so we knew that the meat was fresh!
Day 7: MANANG (3440m)- 'Manang' was the one place name that had stuck in out heads until this point, as we knew we'd be taking a rest the next day! I don't know if it was determination to get there nto maximise our resting, but Patrick and I powered through. Today, for the first time, I truly enjoyed the actual trekking experience, and felt physically fit to do it. Of course, this was proabably helped by the mostly-flat terrain, with beautiful snowy mountains either side and a sparkling blue sky above us. There was something about those huge, eternal mountains that really makes you feel small, yet think big...my body was walking on the ground, but my mind was flying high to those mountain peaks, touching every and any subject...
Day 8: REST DAY IN MANANG (up to 4000m)- Well, not so much of the 'rest' part- we still had to trek! The morning had quite an amusing start- a sightseeing helicopter landed in the wrong place, creating a massive dust storm and peeing off all the local hotel owners, who were not shy about running up to the helicopter and letting their feelings known! Our walk that day was only for acclimitisation, up to 4000m- and for the views we saw, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Saying that, it definitely wasn't easy. We've been gradually feeling the rise in altitude, but we really felt it walking up that 500m- noses running constantly, the thinner air making you pant faster, the contnual uphill...but when we got to the top, no headache! Great success- first altitude sickness test completed! Then we could properly breathe in those views...the grand Annapurnas 2, 3 and 4 stood lined up opposite us, Gunapurna Glacier lied just below them, with the impossibly exquisite turqouise/green blue of its glacial lake at the bottom. You could stand there for a whole day, and not get bored with that view. However, we had not only climbed the mountain for the acclimisation and the views. Inside a tiny mountainside cave, a 94 year old Buddhist monk was waiting to bless us and wish us luck foe Thorong-La. He placed a braided necklace over our heads, said 'Me 94 years old, good luck for the Thorong-La!', then touched our heads with a mantra book. Neither Patrick and I are huge believers, but we both agreed there was an aura about that man, a spirituality in the room. As we sipped some sweet black tea, we even got to find out a little bit about him. He sleeps down in Manang in the winter, but unbelievably, come spring-time, he always walks up the mountain! The only difference now he is in his 90s is that he 'uses a stick'! What an inspiration- true strength in old age!
In the evening, we headed to the local cinema to 'Touching the Void'.You might think that given our position, the story- a guy that breaks his leg when decending down a mountain- might be a little unnerving. However, the narrator's tips on how to climb the mountain- little by little- was actually to stay with me with I climbed Thorong-La! The free popcorn and strawberry tea were pretty good too...
So, half-way through our trek- how were we feeling? Optimistic after that acclimitisation walk that we weren't going to get sick- it was all about Positive Mental Attitude! Awe-struck by the majesty of the beautiful snowy mountains. Proud that we'd made it this far, despite minor setbacks. A nervous excitement about the more challenging trekking days ahead. And last but not least, HOPE that all four of us- Suyra, Sau, Patrick and I- would successfully reach the highest mountain pass in the world!
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