Friday 13 October 1989
What an auspicious day to start our trek writes Joan!
After packing one day rucksack each for us to carry on the trek and two plastic carrier bags, one with our boots to wear and the other with heavy sweaters and trousers to be carried by the porters it was 1am. Our two large rucksacks were to be left for the duration of the trek at the Peace Cottage. The mornings alarm was set at 5:15 leaving just four hours for sleep.
Our trekking guide arrived at 6:45 with a taxi and we picked two huge loads to be carried by our porters in baskets supported from a band around the forehead. One was a young teenage boy apprehensively making his first trek, he slept all the way to Pokhara on the large bus, no doubt he had been nervous and unable to sleep the night before and no wonder being worried about such a heavy load. It made me feel I should have been carrying the large 75 litre rucksack bought second hand especially for this trip with heavy sweaters, warm sleeping bags and anoraks and little else. Indeed why we were employing porters at all to carry tenting and cooking equipment, instead of the alternative staying overnight at T-houses.
The bus ride was an experience in itself, we waited outside the empty bus before being allowed to board at 7:30am and had arrived at Pokhara by 4pm. This was rated as one of the best roads in Nepal though the middle section was very bumpy to say the least. The road was full of buses like our own the roofs piled high with luggage, the the local buses being packed with standing passengers.
There were three 30 min breaks for comfort stops and food, comfort involved our introduction for the very first time to 'Thunder Boxes in restaurants/shops, holes in the ground to stoop over, usually the last bit of even ground before one suspected it sloped rapidly into the stream below. Our re-alignment to Asia was ongoing, for the first time we were seeing the rural aspect. We passed two modern looking hydro-electric generation plants under construction by Siemens in marked contrast to the rudimentary road bridges constructed from steel I-beams carrying wooden planking.
Once in Pokhara we drove into a walled field which protected us from the crowd of touts a waiting outside displaying greeting cards for hotels at all prices between 50r and 50$ per night mostly priced upwards of 10$. The guide negotiated for a taxi and somehow tied the porter huge baskets into the boot leaving space for us five passengers each with his own personal bag/rucksack. First stop was shopping, evidently not part of the bargain with the taxi driver but he grinned cheerfully enough. The stop took about 45 minutes to buy loaves, other food and a bed roll.
After a 15 minute drive we stopped at the check point barrier beyond which the taxi was not allowed. Our guide and the driver amicably agreed the price and he drove off satisfied.
As a group we walked to the T-House and the Nepalese set up camp in the rear. We were soon surrounded by Tibetan girls and old men both laying out their wares on the floor. We bought a belt each and a bracelet made of four yak bones dividing it into quarters joined in a circle by five parallel cords of beads.
Another party arrived two young South Africans and an American who had just qualified as an attorney to take centre stage with the Tibetans. The South Africans were obviously very liberal in their views and wanted it to be reflected in the policy of their government, but they were not optimistic because the hard core were Afrikan speakers. They had been in Turkey to Eckinchik and the Dalyan river, whereas the American had been on a tour of Greek islands, Eygpt, Kenya, India and now Nepal in the past two months.
Wonderful black tea and biscuits were served before a fine dinner of rice flavoured with honey, bacon, egg, vegetables plus a salad with dressing, followed by a mixed fruit salad and more tea. In the evening moonlight the high Himalayan mountains were clearly visible. The guide warned us to keep our money, passports and trekking permits under our night shirts and to sleep with the camera between us. He said ten years ago there were no thieves in Nepal but the problem was now increasing, as we had read of India they would cut the tents with razor blades in order to gain entry.
Our guide Santabir had lived in Bhaktapur but without a local hospital his two children had died at the ages of three and five so he had moved to Kathmandu to get health care and his last child was still living. He started to teach me Nepalese.
nemaste, an exchanged greeting like hello
dani bat, thank you
ramro, good
gari ramro, very good
na ramro, no good
payla sooti, first time trek
dakshin, south
eh kup cha dinas, a cup of tea please
himal, mountain
ukalo, climbing
oralo, descending
cha kaneh, drinking tea
toolow dauga, big basket
pal, tent
sanu batto, small path
bani, water
tato bani, boiled water
usino pool, boiled egg
Tibetan bread, drop fried bread (for a long time we heard only tipton bread without understanding its derivation)
ama, old woman
didi, young woman (sister)
bayui, girl children
bhat, rice
dahl, dahl
tarkari, curry
dahi, yoghurt
We had a comfortable night of expectation sleeping simply on bedrolls, but had to leave the tent several times to get rid of the tea and nerves!
14 October We awoke at 5am to a spectacular early morning view of the Annapurna mountains, Annapurna South (Dakshin), most spectacular of all Macchapuchhare (Fish Tail) with its steep summit.
Annapurna IV, Annapurna II and Lamjung Himal. We were greeted with more tea and biscuits, then washed in the river before breakfast of Muesli and milk with a vegetable omelet, toast and a marmalade tasting of tangerine like their green, pippy and very tasty oranges. The South Africans offered us their bowl of hot water for washing and the old Tibetan returned clearly hoping but failing to sell to the African girl without being too pushy and very willing to talk. The Tibetans lived in a refugee camp and had been there since 1959 meaning the sales girls must have been born there.
A little later, say 8am we walked though their camp of huts like a typical Nepalese buildings but with a very impressive government building. We walked an hour before more tea the on until stopping for lunch at 11am behind a T-house where there was a spectacular display of marigolds, huge colourful butterflies and dragon flies .
Whilst I was writing these notes our guide and porters were preparing a fine meal. Goats meat cut into large chunks and laid out on the floor and more finely cut on the stump of a felled tree, looked appetizing in sharp contrast to that we had seen in Kathmandu.
The mornings walk had been excellent, cool at the start on the old trekking road with its continual stream of people and mule trains returning home from the mountains.
A typical train consisted of 20 mules, mostly empty but some with huge bales of wool, the rate estimated at 250 mules/hour, and realised it was their bells we had been hearing last night, having mistaken them for bells calling the people to worship.
Along the route we met one of Shyam's friends from the night before, he was an official guide taking two Europeans who carried nothing but a large camera headed to the Annapurna base camp. Our guide had no permit so he marched quickly ahead of us through each check point and waited discretely for us on the other side. This first check point was a simple hotel style registration.
Whilst having tea we were surrounded by small children showing off their school books enjoying free English and Maths lessons from me. The kids along the route ask for pens or bon-bons and we are disappointed we had not much to give and try to sell us sticks as staffs.
At our lunch stop Tibetans approached with their rucksacks full of wares for sale. Lunch consisted of cabbage soup, chips, allple fritters , rice with tomato, onion and banana, followed by slices of apple and guava and tea, we will eat well on thus trek thanks to our guides cooking.
The young porter is now happy confident he can cope with his heavy load and so happily washes up under a tree at the same time as the staff of the Nepalese restaurant, using gritty earth to scour the pans before rinsing them clean from water running out of a pipe.
After a long stop for lunch we had a hard climb up a steep high cliff, I managed OK but Joan tired so the guide took her day rucksack on his back as well as his personal small rucksack on his front, but this is not to be compared with the loads the porters carry.
I think it was here that I decided to try lifting a porter's basket on my forehead but never again for not only was it very heavy but it was almost impossible to maintain balance whilst walking.
Having negotiated the really steep section we celebrated with a Fanta for 10r then carried on climbing till 5pm. We stopped on a fine flat field to camp just behind a Tea-House. That evening we were joined by an American medical expert with his two adult sons, one of whom worked for a South American fruit import agency in Rotherdam.
The medic gave us advice about altitude sickness and suggested using Diamax daily, the first sign was a pulse rate slower than 45/min and the onset of clumsiness later signs being vomiting and death. However few people experienced problems before reaching 3000 metres. He also showed us a book on climbing in which our tablets Halazone were not recommended. He filtered water for drinking through a hand operated pump, a precaution also needed trekking in Wyoming.
A young person who doubled as guide and porter said we only really needed a porter if staying in T-houses. He operated a trekking agency in Pokhara. But we had few regrets and another fine dinner reinforced the point, Marrow soup, trekking pizza, rice , chips, n vegetables. We slept well from 8pm till 6am the following morning when we were awakened by Lalbadu the older porter, so ended our first day trekking. (His was the first name recorded in my diary, we clearly had not gelled yet!).
15 October Landrung
A steady climb during the morning with a couple of stops for tea. I took a chance on drinking water which had been boiled the night before, though being brown in colour it clearly needed filtering. A Brit who worked for the MOD in Hong Kong often came to Kathmandu on business associated with the Gurka regiments told us to be very careful with the water since he had had bad time with Amoebic Dysentery being unpleasantly ill for several days. He recommended a powder Jee van Gel sold in blue packets for fighting dehydration and anti-diarrhea medicine to seal you up. He was going to Annapurna base camp at about 5000m.
We went through several villages which had grown up to service trekkers like us. Lunch was again at 11:45 on a terrace used to lay out clothes to dry above a T-house. Once again our Nepalese went off the prepare the meal.
They brought us two chairs and an old table they covered with the aluminium coloured plastic which normally covered their huge baskets, and topped with a blue cloth which obviously had other uses. I hung the sweaty clothes out to dry on the empty line, though by now I was walking simply in a vest and using sun cream to fight burn.
Breakfast had been huge corn milky porridge 'tsampa', boiled egg and a flan with guavas a major constituent. We were now awaiting lunch amid rhododendron trees, the hillside behind was covered in trees made alive by the continual sound of crickets.
That afternoon was a steady descent on rocky paths to Landrung. We crossed several small rivers. Landrung was a big town where many trekkers stayed, all the camping sites were full so for the first time we slept on beds in a Tea-house, simply wooden bunks with a matting cover then old defective lino and finally our bed rolls and sleeping rolls.
Three parties were cooking in the building without chimneys which was therefore full of smoke. The Americans were there again, plus an Aussie couple and someone from New Zealand who lift early at 10pm.
The Aussies had just finished jobs working with Aborigines in northern Western Australia. He had just seen a ranch from start up to break even under Aborigine management. Few whites run ranches to make money since over use of land and changing water courses meant it could support only one animal per three acres. The girl had worked as a district nurse and doctor. they had travelled in Singapore, Indonesia and Kashmir where they too stayed on a house boat for 200r/week, but were not too happy with their treatment being taken around from one engagement party to the next they ended up spending 300 to 600r/week in old style boats with a house keeper who prided himself on the level of service. Kashmir hiring boats was obviously the relaxing, luxurious thing to do, but by the time we retired and went to NW India just seven years later in 1996 Kashmir was a war zone with ownership disputed by India and Pakistan.
After another good dinner we went to bed at 8pm. I had a very sore throat from the smoke, but I was well pleased to find it was better in the morning.
16 October, Chhomro
Real porridge for breakfast but not a lot more for they too had got tired of the smoke. The morning was at first downhill to cross a river and then a steep climb up, we are told that the climb to Chhomro is one of the hardest stage but we are going to leave to go west by an trail unmarked on the map. At 11:15 we stopped at Jhinn Danda for lunch. As usual the woman was breast feeding her baby far past beyond the age they would have been weened in the UK. Yesterday we saw a woman breast feeding whilst cutting vegetables and fruit and placing them to dry in a large semi-circular basket.
We discussed the route to Muktinath convinced by now we would have to make far more rapid progress if we were to meet our objective. I think they felt we were too old (at 52 & 54) to be serious about trekking and agreed on a route. Tonight Kumnu, then Phalante, Tatopani, Kalopani, Morpha, Kagbeni and Muktinath taking 10 days to go up but in future we would have to stay in T-houses rather than camp and cook. Another fine home cooked lunch Dahl soup, lightly curried vegetables with many green beans and a spring roll with egg, vegetable, and potato filling.
After lunch was another hard climb to Chhomro where we parted roads with everyone else as they were heading for Annapurna Base Camp and went north up the hill.
We turned west on the north bank of Kyumnu Khola at first climbing but later descending to another river. The maximum height reached was about 6,400 feet, our final camp was at 5,900ft meaning we had made just a net 500ft that day. Both Joan and I are feeling well and walking strongly. Not surprising since at that sage we were active mountain climbing 12 or so miles every Sunday with the Ramblers and Gower Society usually in the Brecon Beacons. Joan had been doing a months additional training for this trip in the YMCA gym at Swansea.
We camped by the fast flowing river Zantabir our guide erected the new larger tent he had purchased from his brother, we washed sweaty bodies and clothes in the pools at the side of the river. There was a small bridge which survives the monsoon with difficulty, is secured by hawsers around a large rock.
A newer bridge just upstream has been constructed, but this one was good enough for the buffaloes.
Another nice dinner and the bed by 7pm but not before I had sewn a button onto my trousers. A young man coming back from a day hand plowing in the fields had been watching me and indicated that he wanted a needle. He was delighted with one and a small length of cotton wound around a small stick and a pack of mints for his cough. Then a woman from a local house came for one and she too went away delighted, a needle is a wonderful high tech tool if sharpening a wooden stick is the alternative.
My throat was again sore at bedtime but better again in the morning. The new tent was a great improvement with room for our rucksacks and boots.
Tuesday 17 October, Toudapani nearly Deorali
Again woke to tea but with the sunlight shining off the hills on the western end of the valley. It was interesting to watch the farm come to life with the arrival of sunlight, the kids came out and
The men brought the cattle out from the cattle shed and ushered them slowly over the bridge.
I took my day's ration of photos that morning, I had a rationed myself to six shots/day or I would run out of film and although shots were missed as the opportunity past never have I taken such a great set of a holiday. The contrast with today's shoot and shoot made free by digital cameras is stark.
I felt a lack of energy from the moment I got up being afraid of spraining my ever troublesome ankle once again, the result of foul line out play during a rugby match at university, so badly was I walking around camp. No way to face three hours of continuous climbing, though after two hours we were at least back in the shade of trees. I was walking well enough but needed to up the energy and breathe deeply to keep up with the guide. I had a slight headache which persisted as I wrote these notes during the lunch stop at Toudapani, 8,200feet, which overlooks hillsides covered in rhododendrons, and again took the chance of drying wet washing in the sun.
Fanta was 15r, up from 10r as we got further from the source of supply, they are carried uphill by porters who return with empties, in the reusable bottle style of the times, say 40's Britain.
The afternoon walk was again uphill to Banthit through dense rhododendrons, the exposed roots of which were a danger of tripping, especially in short sharp downhill sections. I persuaded him to go further to Deorali at 9,800ft but it started to rain and we stopped in an isolated Tea- House attracted by the sight of a fine wood fire.
The only other residents were a German couple and a girl from New Zealand who were resigned to living on 180r/day, but when we saw they had nothing but mashed potato for dinner we were not too envious. Our guides rice, spaghetti with sauce, vegetables and a thick pancake were nearer the mark.
At lunch that day Zantibar had asked us for 2,000r which he would repay in Kathmandu, we gave it reluctantly pointing out we had brought just 2,500r in total on the trek. He said Shyam would pay him 5,000r on return, the other 11,000r had been paid to him in advance. He said the porters were paid 100r/day. To complete the picture we had paid 21,471r with the remainder being split between Shyam and the hotel.
Joan was finding the climbing particularly hard and I didn't find it easy. Having established a good lead I went off the track for a shit and was caught with my trousers down. Later that evening I went twice again followed by a really big one in the morning, that explained why I had been so lacking in energy. I had been passing my bowels each day but obviously not well enough.
Wed 18 October, Chitre, Khali Gandarki and Tatopani
A pleasant morning after the rain of yesterday but Joan had not slept well and was a little concerned with a pain in her sternum. I think it probable that we are both feeling the effects of altitude and I am getting out of breath on the shortest climb, like the one after breakfast in order to get a view of the highest mountain, Daulagiri as Zantabir confirmed later. That morning in four hours we covered a good distance almost all downhill at first on very small tracks through dense rhododendron forest and later through clearings where cattle could graze then back uphill where they grew cereals on strip farms.
At Chitre we joined the main route and are now once again accompanied by mule trains.
In fact as I sit in this Tea house drinking tea waiting for lunch I photograph the mule trains through a door as they make their colourful way up the hill.
A German couple eat dahl bhat and vegetables from a long and well spelt menu then the dog clears their trays on the floor.Joan and I are wearing flowers given by some young girls in one of the small villages. in fact Shika where we are lunching is the largest we have seen recently.
In the early morning through a narrow section strewn with rocks I had to concentrate very hard on my footing to avoid spraining my ankle, in fact so frequently did I slip that I didn't give much for my chances of completing this trek.
The afternoon however was much easier now we were back on the mule route and it was all downhill until about 4pm when we got our first view of the spectacular deep Khali Gandarki gorge passing by a new low bridge as the higher one had been swept away.
So into Tatopani almost a city with 3 phase electricity lines along the main street though nothing appeared to be connected to them. We camped on a small lawn under some orange trees and I couldn't resist a little scrumping though from the fallings.
Joan did not approve! The tea-house was called Daulagiri though the mountain in view was Nilgiri. There were a lot of people here but it was hard to think of them as serious trekkers for all were wearing brand new caving lamps as decoration. That evening we had the most delicious dinner, a large fritter stuffed with banana, rice and a little curry. Next morning just a handful of us were up at 6am - just as well since there was no queue for the toilets.
What an auspicious day to start our trek writes Joan!
After packing one day rucksack each for us to carry on the trek and two plastic carrier bags, one with our boots to wear and the other with heavy sweaters and trousers to be carried by the porters it was 1am. Our two large rucksacks were to be left for the duration of the trek at the Peace Cottage. The mornings alarm was set at 5:15 leaving just four hours for sleep.
Our trekking guide arrived at 6:45 with a taxi and we picked two huge loads to be carried by our porters in baskets supported from a band around the forehead. One was a young teenage boy apprehensively making his first trek, he slept all the way to Pokhara on the large bus, no doubt he had been nervous and unable to sleep the night before and no wonder being worried about such a heavy load. It made me feel I should have been carrying the large 75 litre rucksack bought second hand especially for this trip with heavy sweaters, warm sleeping bags and anoraks and little else. Indeed why we were employing porters at all to carry tenting and cooking equipment, instead of the alternative staying overnight at T-houses.
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| STOP ON ROUTE TO POKHARA |
There were three 30 min breaks for comfort stops and food, comfort involved our introduction for the very first time to 'Thunder Boxes in restaurants/shops, holes in the ground to stoop over, usually the last bit of even ground before one suspected it sloped rapidly into the stream below. Our re-alignment to Asia was ongoing, for the first time we were seeing the rural aspect. We passed two modern looking hydro-electric generation plants under construction by Siemens in marked contrast to the rudimentary road bridges constructed from steel I-beams carrying wooden planking.
Once in Pokhara we drove into a walled field which protected us from the crowd of touts a waiting outside displaying greeting cards for hotels at all prices between 50r and 50$ per night mostly priced upwards of 10$. The guide negotiated for a taxi and somehow tied the porter huge baskets into the boot leaving space for us five passengers each with his own personal bag/rucksack. First stop was shopping, evidently not part of the bargain with the taxi driver but he grinned cheerfully enough. The stop took about 45 minutes to buy loaves, other food and a bed roll.
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| SHOPPING IN POKHARA |
After a 15 minute drive we stopped at the check point barrier beyond which the taxi was not allowed. Our guide and the driver amicably agreed the price and he drove off satisfied.
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| UNLOADING TAXI |
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| JOAN'S BRACELET taken later to show off butterfly |
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| FIRST NIGHT'S CAMPING at POKHARA |
Our guide Santabir had lived in Bhaktapur but without a local hospital his two children had died at the ages of three and five so he had moved to Kathmandu to get health care and his last child was still living. He started to teach me Nepalese.
nemaste, an exchanged greeting like hello
dani bat, thank you
ramro, good
gari ramro, very good
na ramro, no good
payla sooti, first time trek
dakshin, south
eh kup cha dinas, a cup of tea please
himal, mountain
ukalo, climbing
oralo, descending
cha kaneh, drinking tea
toolow dauga, big basket
pal, tent
sanu batto, small path
bani, water
tato bani, boiled water
usino pool, boiled egg
Tibetan bread, drop fried bread (for a long time we heard only tipton bread without understanding its derivation)
ama, old woman
didi, young woman (sister)
bayui, girl children
bhat, rice
dahl, dahl
tarkari, curry
dahi, yoghurt
We had a comfortable night of expectation sleeping simply on bedrolls, but had to leave the tent several times to get rid of the tea and nerves!
14 October We awoke at 5am to a spectacular early morning view of the Annapurna mountains, Annapurna South (Dakshin), most spectacular of all Macchapuchhare (Fish Tail) with its steep summit.
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| MACCHAPUCHARE and ANNAPURNA RANGE |
A little later, say 8am we walked though their camp of huts like a typical Nepalese buildings but with a very impressive government building. We walked an hour before more tea the on until stopping for lunch at 11am behind a T-house where there was a spectacular display of marigolds, huge colourful butterflies and dragon flies .
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| MARIGOLDS and BUTTERFLIES |
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| EARLY ON TREK |
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| MULE TRAIN |
Along the route we met one of Shyam's friends from the night before, he was an official guide taking two Europeans who carried nothing but a large camera headed to the Annapurna base camp. Our guide had no permit so he marched quickly ahead of us through each check point and waited discretely for us on the other side. This first check point was a simple hotel style registration.
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| ZANTRA, JOAN, ZANTABIR (guide) and LALBADU |
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| BON BONS? |
The young porter is now happy confident he can cope with his heavy load and so happily washes up under a tree at the same time as the staff of the Nepalese restaurant, using gritty earth to scour the pans before rinsing them clean from water running out of a pipe.
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| FIRST UPHILL CLIMB |
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| TWO PORTERS LEAD JOAN FOLLOWS |
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| BASKETS RESTED AS USUAL ON WALL, to EASE LIFTING |
Having negotiated the really steep section we celebrated with a Fanta for 10r then carried on climbing till 5pm. We stopped on a fine flat field to camp just behind a Tea-House. That evening we were joined by an American medical expert with his two adult sons, one of whom worked for a South American fruit import agency in Rotherdam.
The medic gave us advice about altitude sickness and suggested using Diamax daily, the first sign was a pulse rate slower than 45/min and the onset of clumsiness later signs being vomiting and death. However few people experienced problems before reaching 3000 metres. He also showed us a book on climbing in which our tablets Halazone were not recommended. He filtered water for drinking through a hand operated pump, a precaution also needed trekking in Wyoming.
A young person who doubled as guide and porter said we only really needed a porter if staying in T-houses. He operated a trekking agency in Pokhara. But we had few regrets and another fine dinner reinforced the point, Marrow soup, trekking pizza, rice , chips, n vegetables. We slept well from 8pm till 6am the following morning when we were awakened by Lalbadu the older porter, so ended our first day trekking. (His was the first name recorded in my diary, we clearly had not gelled yet!).
15 October Landrung
A steady climb during the morning with a couple of stops for tea. I took a chance on drinking water which had been boiled the night before, though being brown in colour it clearly needed filtering. A Brit who worked for the MOD in Hong Kong often came to Kathmandu on business associated with the Gurka regiments told us to be very careful with the water since he had had bad time with Amoebic Dysentery being unpleasantly ill for several days. He recommended a powder Jee van Gel sold in blue packets for fighting dehydration and anti-diarrhea medicine to seal you up. He was going to Annapurna base camp at about 5000m.
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| HAND PLOUGHING WITH BUFFALOES |
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| ZANTARA and ZANTABIR COOKING |
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| LALBUDU ROLLS BREAD DOUGH |
Breakfast had been huge corn milky porridge 'tsampa', boiled egg and a flan with guavas a major constituent. We were now awaiting lunch amid rhododendron trees, the hillside behind was covered in trees made alive by the continual sound of crickets.
That afternoon was a steady descent on rocky paths to Landrung. We crossed several small rivers. Landrung was a big town where many trekkers stayed, all the camping sites were full so for the first time we slept on beds in a Tea-house, simply wooden bunks with a matting cover then old defective lino and finally our bed rolls and sleeping rolls.
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| TEA-HOUSE ? |
The Aussies had just finished jobs working with Aborigines in northern Western Australia. He had just seen a ranch from start up to break even under Aborigine management. Few whites run ranches to make money since over use of land and changing water courses meant it could support only one animal per three acres. The girl had worked as a district nurse and doctor. they had travelled in Singapore, Indonesia and Kashmir where they too stayed on a house boat for 200r/week, but were not too happy with their treatment being taken around from one engagement party to the next they ended up spending 300 to 600r/week in old style boats with a house keeper who prided himself on the level of service. Kashmir hiring boats was obviously the relaxing, luxurious thing to do, but by the time we retired and went to NW India just seven years later in 1996 Kashmir was a war zone with ownership disputed by India and Pakistan.
After another good dinner we went to bed at 8pm. I had a very sore throat from the smoke, but I was well pleased to find it was better in the morning.
16 October, Chhomro
Real porridge for breakfast but not a lot more for they too had got tired of the smoke. The morning was at first downhill to cross a river and then a steep climb up, we are told that the climb to Chhomro is one of the hardest stage but we are going to leave to go west by an trail unmarked on the map. At 11:15 we stopped at Jhinn Danda for lunch. As usual the woman was breast feeding her baby far past beyond the age they would have been weened in the UK. Yesterday we saw a woman breast feeding whilst cutting vegetables and fruit and placing them to dry in a large semi-circular basket.
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| LALBADU and YOUNG ZANTARA ON HIS VERY FIRST TREK |
After lunch was another hard climb to Chhomro where we parted roads with everyone else as they were heading for Annapurna Base Camp and went north up the hill.
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| THE AMERICANS ? |
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| ZANTABIR, ZANTARA and LALBADU |
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| CORN DRYING |
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| JOAN RELAXES BY THE STREAM |
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| JOAN CROSSING BY TYPICAL BRIDGE |
My throat was again sore at bedtime but better again in the morning. The new tent was a great improvement with room for our rucksacks and boots.
Tuesday 17 October, Toudapani nearly Deorali
Again woke to tea but with the sunlight shining off the hills on the western end of the valley. It was interesting to watch the farm come to life with the arrival of sunlight, the kids came out and
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| MORNING at FARM CHILDREN PLAY ANIMAL FREE |
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| BUFFALOES CROSS RIVER ON WAY TO GRAZING GROUND |
I felt a lack of energy from the moment I got up being afraid of spraining my ever troublesome ankle once again, the result of foul line out play during a rugby match at university, so badly was I walking around camp. No way to face three hours of continuous climbing, though after two hours we were at least back in the shade of trees. I was walking well enough but needed to up the energy and breathe deeply to keep up with the guide. I had a slight headache which persisted as I wrote these notes during the lunch stop at Toudapani, 8,200feet, which overlooks hillsides covered in rhododendrons, and again took the chance of drying wet washing in the sun.
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| RHODODRENDRONS and ANNAPURNA PEAKS |
The afternoon walk was again uphill to Banthit through dense rhododendrons, the exposed roots of which were a danger of tripping, especially in short sharp downhill sections. I persuaded him to go further to Deorali at 9,800ft but it started to rain and we stopped in an isolated Tea- House attracted by the sight of a fine wood fire.
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| TEA HOUSE and DONKEYS |
At lunch that day Zantibar had asked us for 2,000r which he would repay in Kathmandu, we gave it reluctantly pointing out we had brought just 2,500r in total on the trek. He said Shyam would pay him 5,000r on return, the other 11,000r had been paid to him in advance. He said the porters were paid 100r/day. To complete the picture we had paid 21,471r with the remainder being split between Shyam and the hotel.
Joan was finding the climbing particularly hard and I didn't find it easy. Having established a good lead I went off the track for a shit and was caught with my trousers down. Later that evening I went twice again followed by a really big one in the morning, that explained why I had been so lacking in energy. I had been passing my bowels each day but obviously not well enough.
Wed 18 October, Chitre, Khali Gandarki and Tatopani
A pleasant morning after the rain of yesterday but Joan had not slept well and was a little concerned with a pain in her sternum. I think it probable that we are both feeling the effects of altitude and I am getting out of breath on the shortest climb, like the one after breakfast in order to get a view of the highest mountain, Daulagiri as Zantabir confirmed later. That morning in four hours we covered a good distance almost all downhill at first on very small tracks through dense rhododendron forest and later through clearings where cattle could graze then back uphill where they grew cereals on strip farms.
At Chitre we joined the main route and are now once again accompanied by mule trains.
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| CHITRE? |
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| PASSING MULE TRAIN |
In the early morning through a narrow section strewn with rocks I had to concentrate very hard on my footing to avoid spraining my ankle, in fact so frequently did I slip that I didn't give much for my chances of completing this trek.
The afternoon however was much easier now we were back on the mule route and it was all downhill until about 4pm when we got our first view of the spectacular deep Khali Gandarki gorge passing by a new low bridge as the higher one had been swept away.
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| FIRST VIEW OF KHALI GANDARKI GORGE |
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| OUR FIRST EVER CLOSE UP OF BANANA TREES in TATOPANI 900m |
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| CORN DRYING |
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