Today was our first real day of trekking. We walked from about 8a until 3:30p, with an hour stop for lunch. (I realized Joylani already covered these details in her post, but this is what we’re thinking about all day: how long we’ve walked, how much longer we’ll walk, and of course the 1 meter ahead of us We increased about 500 meters in altitude, but there was much more up and down than that figure indicates. Its kind of frustrating to hike up a steep path for a half hour and then down for a half hour and then up for an hour and then down for twenty minutes. Why they didn’t build their paths flat, I don’t know- I guess that’s why they call it Nepali flat. Anyways, I was drenched in sweat by the time we reached Jagat.

We walked 6 hours today, leaving at 8am and stopping for lunch just after 12. We started walking again at 1:30 and reached our guesthouse at 3:30, still falling and hour and a half short of our original stopping point, Chamche. It was harder today, not just because it was longer, but it was also steeper. There are lots of stairs and rocky paths—kind of like walking on a rocky riverbed. We crossed many streams and saw many waterfalls. Tall waterfalls, dropping down steep inclines, similar to Bridal Veil falls in Yosemite only not gaining as much recognition because there are so many of them. There was a lot of mule poo on the path today as there were many pack mules we passed along the way. Hazard: walking on the cliff side of a mule train. Always stay on the mountain side. Our guide once saw a mule knock a woman over the edge. In addition to big packs on either side of their bellies, the mules have big metal bells around their necks. Each one is a slightly different size and as they walk it sounds like a wind chime. The temperature is already starting to get cold. Granted, the sun is down and we’re not moving anymore, but I’m a little worried about the higher elevations and the pass. Did we bring enough warm clothes? Will we get soaked from the snow? At least colder temperatures will mean less bugs. Last night we saw the return of the Godzilla spider in the outhouse (two of them!)…it was a little unnerving deciding which was worse—keeping an eye on them or turning my back as I went (I chose the latter…they’re just too freaky to look at). There was another on in our room tonight, but it escaped to the next room through a crack in the plywood wall before Matt could work up the nerve to squish it (he said it’s just too big). Only 16 more days to go…

Crops and goods are often carried in these big baskets, carried with a large strap along one’s forehead.

An old man we met along the way.

More terraced fields.

 

Today we began our three-week trek of the Annapurna Circuit. We met our 23-year-old guide-cum-porter, Udaya, in Pokhara and then took a four and a half hour bus to our starting point of Besisahar. After a quick lunch, we walked about four hours to Ngadi, where we are now. The walk today was relatively flat and easy. The first three hours or so, we trekked along a somewhat motorable path, which a few jeeps and motorcycles passed us on. Once that ended though, we walked the last hour on a rocky path. It’s beautiful already though. We crossed a few simple bridges and passed some really nice waterfalls, but the entire day was along terraced rice patties.

Most of the rice is yellow and the harvest is in full motion, with dozens of villagers cutting and threshing the rice. Potatoes will soon be planted in their place and will be harvested three months thereafter. Ngadi is nice and we’re staying right next to the river (which is nice to listen too, as its all rapids). We are paying approximately .79 USD, which I think is the least I’ve ever paid for a room (of course, its not much more than a bed surrounded by boards and tarpaulin).

Factoid of the day: I asked Udaya how far we’d be walking today and on average for the duration of the trek. He replied that he didn’t know. He said Nepalis don’t measure distance in kilometers or miles, but in hours. Kilometers are meaningless in mountainous Nepal. A kilometer could be covered in five minutes on a flat stretch or it could take over an hour if traversing a steep and windy path. But we’ll walk 5-6 hours at lower altitudes and 2-4 hours at higher altitudes. We also learned the term “Nepali flat,” which basically means walking up and then down…and then up…and then down…and then…you get the point.(postnote: We met our guide Udaya’s cousin, Binod and his Dutch client Simone on the trail the first day. We got along with them and trekked with them for the duration of the trek. We also met an Irish guy, John, and a Kiwi, Pete, at dinner and trekked with them through Muktinath.)

 

So today was day one of our adventure: the Annapurna Circuit Trek. I was pretty nervous before starting and am still a little unsure about how I’m going to do this. But I know that Matt will wait up for me and God will help keep me going, and I’ll just take it day by day. Eighteen days is a long time to think of all at once. I try to tell myself, “It’s just walking,” which it is. So hopefully I’ll make it through! Besides, the obviously amazing scenery, what is already making the trek fun for me is that Matt loves it. After the 4 hour bus ride this morning we walked for a few hours through a couple of villages and past dozens of rice paddies. We saw pack mules, porters carrying heavy loads (even chickens!), dusty little kids playing in the road, and a woman feeding her chicken rice from the palm of her hand. It will be interesting to see what else we pass by as the trek unfolds. And now as the sun drops behind the mountains I am sitting here outside our little guesthouse—refreshed from a hot bucket shower—and smelling something delicious being cooked for dinner. It was a good day.

 

We tried our best to prepare for the trek. Hats, scarves, granola bars, thick socks, walking sticks, iodine tablets for water, “Gor-tex” gloves were all checked off our shopping list…we read about the route in our guidebook, and asked questions of a few locals in town, but nothing we found came even close to giving us an idea of what the trek would be like until we actually started. We took a bus to Besisahar where we started walking. After the first day, other than the emergency helicopters and a few planes, we didn’t see another vehicle until crossing the pass (day #10). For eighteen days we walked between 3-7 hours a day, we covered over 200km, changing altitude as much as 1700m in one day. We stopped in a village each night, staying in small “teahouses.” The landscape changed each day, the temperatures decreased as the altitude increased, and we made many fun memories along the way. For me (Joylani), it was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. For Matt, he was in happy trekker’s oblivion. It was a good time. And here’s our story.

The past week has been half-interesting and half-frustrating. I’ll begin with the interesting. This is Joylani and my first time to Nepal and experiencing/learning about it has been interesting. Although it shares many similarities with India, a few subtle differences were evident from the moment we crossed the border. From the 15-minute time change to the happier Nepali border officials, Nepal is different. Sure the religion (80% Hindu) and traditional dress (saris and kurtas) are the same, the language (Nepali) and ethnic makeup (Indo-Aryan and Mongoloid) is different. Nepal seems to be generally cleaner and nicer than India, this could either be due to the fact that we’ve been confined to uber-touristy Pokhara or that Nepal is less developed than India. We’ve tried to get out and see a little too though. One day we walked north along Fewa Tal, just to get out of Lakeside (the touristy area of Pokhara).

Fewa Tal, the lake.

Another day, we took a bus into town to run some errands.

Around Pokhara.

And yesterday, we took a boat across the lake and hiked up to the World Peace Pagoda.

And now for the frustrating. I actually typed out two paragraphs of the frustrating just now, but have deleted them in favor of something shorter. Joylani and I have both been sick for the past week, our hotel owner lied several times to us and was rude to Joylani, our trekking agency was super-shady, and pretty much everyone in Pokhara makes us feel like nothing more than walking dollars. I don’t like being distrustful of everyone we meet here, but we’ve had really bad experiences with people so far and the past week in Pokhara has left a really bad taste in my mouth. The silver lining? We changed hotels, changed trekking agencies/guides, and leaving on a 3-week trek tomorrow!