Its been a week since we’ve returned from the trek and since I’ve written. After a day in Pokhara, we took a “microbus” (a large van in the US) to Kathmandu. Microbuses generally take 4-5 hours (since they don’t stop), but our trip lasted 9 hours thanks to tons of traffic. It was a bad start to our stay in Kathmandu.

As much as I looked forward to this city, I’m pretty disappointed. That kind of sums up my feelings about Nepal too, minus the trek. But Joylani points out to me that we came to Nepal to trek and that experience far exceeded our expectations. And for that I’m grateful and happy. On the other hand, Kathmandu has greatly fallen short of my expectations. Perhaps my expectations were too high. Istanbul was an incredible city, so I assumed that perhaps the other end of the so-called “Hippie Overland Trail,” of 60’s and 70’s fame, would be equally enthralling. Instead, I found one of the most polluted and touristy places I’ve ever been. Although relatively small with only 750,000 inhabitants, it was one of the most polluted cities I’ve ever visited. The fumes from traffic-choked alleys and constant road construction left me consistently coughing and nauseous. The other thing was that its overly touristy. I’m not just referring to the tourist district of Thamel, but the entire city. The main attraction in town is Durbar Square, a collection of buildings several hundred years old set in the middle of the city. Despite being a major thoroughfare and a public square for Nepalis, foreigners are charged to enter or even transit through the square. Not to see anything, just to be in the square. I was trying to imagine tourist police patrolling for foreigners in NY’s Times Square or SF’s Union Square, trying to make them pay. We were also asked to pay at the nicknamed “Monkey Temple,” despite the fact that it’s a religious site and Nepali’s can enter freely. Not only that, but the temple was filled with stalls selling the same junk you can buy in town. Even walking around in non-touristy areas, we couldn’t even buy fruit as Joylani was quoted ridiculous prices (higher than the US even). I don’t mind paying or paying a little more than locals, but Nepal’s really rubbed us both the wrong way. Why should we pay to transit through a public space? Why should we pay ten times the regular price for fruit? Why should we pay for things that are free for Nepalis? Again, it’s the seemingly widespread mentality of “lets leech off the foreigners” that bothers me. The thought of ‘lets provide good product/service and profit from it’ is substituted with “the foreigners are coming for the mountains, lets leech off them as much as possible while they’re here.”

I understand bargaining and all that, but lying to us is another thing. People have lied to us about everything from the weight of our laundry to lying about transportation options. We’ve met a few honest people, but the majority of people we’ve dealt with have been dishonest. And some people have been honest with us about some things, but then try to shamelessly rip us off later. We’ve traveled all over the world, both on this trip and previously, and Nepal is the first place where there seems to be so much widespread dishonesty. Nepal has really left a sour taste in my mouth. I usually try to skirt my negative thoughts on places and not to really write too many negative posts, but the preceeding paragraph is a testament to my disappointment. I truly hope that our bad experiences were anomalies and/or that the way we were treated is limited to the few places we visited.

Nepal had its positive aspects too. The trek was amazing. Trekking in Nepal is even worth dealing with all the other crap I’ve just written about. Kathmandu even had its redeeming qualities. Despite having a relatively short history, Kathmandu looks like an old city with lots of old buildings and antiquated (in a good way) architecture and artwork. Going back to my Istanbul allusion, Istanbul has about 1500 years on Kathmandu as a major city, but Kathmandu looks older is many respects. Lastly, many travelers we’ve met on this trip have commented on how Nepal is like India, but nicer. I can see what they mean- there’s less litter everywhere, most buildings have toilets, its not as crazy, and people seem pretty friendly. And its touristyness has resulted in plenty of good restaurants offering international fare. Those things have been nice, but I’ll have to end this somewhat negative meandering post by saying I’m not too sad that we’ll be leaving Kathmandu tonight.

After our last Maoist checkpoint, we came up with a top-10 list of things to say at a Maoist checkpoint. In no particular order:

1. I used my receipt as TP at high camp.

2. All the Annapurna Conservation Area Program literature says not to give to beggars.

3. My boss already passed.

4. I was born in the USSR.

5. We’re Polish. We were Communist too- can we get a discount?

6. I would like to pay you…I really would, but I can’t afford it.

7. F*#@ YOU!

8. [give them some food instead…dogs]

9. We’re American. We already pay taxes to support two wars.

10. no English…no English…

Day eighteen and the final of this trek. It’s kind of sad for me, really. We walked for two hours generally down, but it a Nepali flat kind of way, before reaching our end point at Birenthanti. Again, the only thing to note is we passed another Maoist checkpoint. This time, they were busy with a large group and probably making a killing, so we walked right through unmolested. We didn’t glance at them as we walked past and they did not even say a word to us- greedy dogs. We grabbed a snack in Birenthanti before walking the final half-hour up to a main road at Nayapul. A bus was about to leave, so we climbed up to ride on the top, which was awesome. Driving back to Pokhara, we could see the valley we had just come from and had beautiful views of Phewa Tal and Pokhara on the way down the mountain. The views from atop the bus is infinitely better than looking out a little window, while being crammed between old men, fat women, and slobbery kids inside the bus.

            Back in Pokhara, we said our goodbyes. After finding a guesthouse, we showered, did some laundry and sent some out, and ate a good meal- all of which was awesome. It was great to be able to send our laundry out and not seeing one those generic trekking menus was equally gratifying. Unfortunately, Joylani felt sick all afternoon, so I spent the afternoon going through three weeks of photos. Browsing through them, I already miss the trek Especially the scenery between Lower Pisang and Kagbeni.

            Here are some preliminary “final thoughts” on the trek as well: Joylani said it was the hardest thing she’s ever done. It was a difficult three weeks in many ways and required tons of endurance, but it was one of the funnest and most rewarding activities I’ve ever done too. We walked for hours everyday, but we were traversing some of Earth’s most beautiful landscapes. Being outside, smelling the crisp mountain air in the mornings and enjoying the warm smell of woodstoves and fires at night. The trek was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done and I’m sad its over.

 

Woke up at 5am this morning and hiked 45 minutes to the top of Poon Hill to see the Annapurna Range at sunrise. It was cool to see the morning light illuminate the majestic peaks, but it somehow didn’t live up to my expectations. That’s one of the ill effects of traveling this much. We’ve seen so many amazing things that beautiful sights like this morning lose their magnificence. Nonetheless, it was still a beautiful morning. We descended, ate breakfast, and took our time getting started.

            By 9am, we were on our way down the mountain and out of Ghorepani. Before we were even out of town, we ran into another Maoist checkpoint. This time, Joylani and I were well ahead of anyone else. As they told us to stop, we just kept walking saying, “We paid.” “Show receipt, show receipt!” they shouted, but we just kept walking and saying, “Paid, paid.” Feigning a weak understanding of English and walking briskly, we got through the checkpoint without payment or incident. Although we’ve gone through so many checkpoints, it still pisses me off. These ideologically-bankrupt bandits trying to extort money from us to pocket themselves. The other infuriating thing is that we passed Nepali police within five minutes before and after the checkpoint, but they do nothing because they get a cut of the Maoists illicit activities.

            The next four hours were a continuous downwards staircase. Apparently someone counted the step between Ghorepani and Tikhedhunga and came up with 3820 or 3280- I can’t remember. Anyways, it seemed like we were going deeper and deeper into the valley forever. The only thing more ridiculous than going down the thousands of steps was seeing people come up. I can’t even imagine attempting to climb so many steps in a day, for the steepness seems impossible. Arriving in Tikhedhunga, I took the new best shower of the trek and am now writing and chilling in shorts and a t-shirt in the warm sun.

Today I tried something new without knowing it: buffalo curds. They came with my muesli as an afternoon snack. The appearance was a little bit thicker than normal curds and the taste was awful yet intriguing. It was part yogurt, part smoked salmonish flavor, part I have no idea what. My hunger and curiosity compelled me to finish them even though my mind told me “this is going to make you sick.” Much farting ensued. In other food news, we’ve been seeing lots of tomato trees. I don’t know if they’re actually tomatos, but what it looks like is a bunch of Roma tomatoes hanging off a fig tree. The tomato tree reminds me of a summer when my dad decided to grow tomatos. Instead of planting one or two, I think he planted seven or eight in the backyard. He watered them faithfully every day, which unfortunately led to their demise. The overwatering caused black fungus on the leaves. Fortunately, we were still able to eat some good tomatoes that summer, and Dad, those tomato trees reminded me of you. Back to the curds, they were homemade. How does one make curds you ask? Well, first the animal is milked; in this case, a buffalo. Then the milk is boiled for things such as tea, etc. (I learned this from the hotel owner’s son). The milk that’s left over is put in a pot, which is put on a shelf in the kitchen, where it curdifies at room temperature for a couple days until it is served to guests like me. I believe that most of the curd we’ve had on this trip is from cows, even though those have had a wide variety of tastes from your average plain yoghurt to a delicately sweet and icy tasting curd to more watery. And then there’s buffalo curd; thick, heavy, and with hints of smoked salmon- who knew? Buffalos.

 

I think I could snack on food for the whole afternoon.  I already had a mid-sized breakfast (2 boiled eggs, oatmeal and lots of tea), and Matt and I split a Tibetan bread, fried rice and little pizza for lunch, but I just topped it off with a bowl of muesli!  Now I guess I’m full, but it would be great to just sit here in this sunny lodge and snack on my mom’s chocolate chip cookies, or Sun Chips, or popcorn…Happily after the pass we’ve had some alright food (with the exception of the Florida Hotel where the food was terrible).  We’ve had a few Nepali “Mixican” burritos, pizzas, and apple crumbles (we’ve also stayed clear of the “Japanish” food on the menu).  Despite my stomach having more problems on this 2^nd half of the trek, I’ve had a huge appetite and just try to eat as much as I can anyway, hoping I’ll digest some of it properly.  This afternoon has been wonderful.  Even though we’ve gained quite a bit of altitude again in the past few days (i.e. climbed hundreds of stairs), and the nights are getting cold again, right now there is clear blue sky and lots of sunshine.  I was able to take a hot shower and not be surrounded by freezing cold air.  The guys are all sprawled out on the lawn, asleep on straw mats.  Simone is laying across three chairs, also enjoying the sun.  One of the hotel ladies has just smiled over at me and we shared a laugh at the tired trekkers.  The last few days we’ve walked back into terraced farmland.  It is an interesting reminder to see where al the food we’ve been eating comes from—dried beans, corn, grains, spinach, etc.  I even saw a chicken laying eggs at the place we stayed last night.  There’s much more variety in the plants we’re seeing now from trees, ferns, moss, grass, etc, and even some peach trees in full blossom.  Going straight uphill the last two days hasn’t been ideal, but at least the landscape is peaceful and the sun is shinning.

It feels so luxurious to sit outside in the warm sun wearing a clean pair of pants and (relatively clean) tank top and fleece.  Adding to the luxury o my moment is my little tube of L’Occtaine hand cream I got from my friend Heide and that I’ve saved to use in a moment such as this—when a bit of luxury is needed in the midst of roughing it.  Thanks Heide!  Speaking of roughing it, we’ve been gone sixteen days now and have two more to go.  (I hear it’s all downhill form here though…literally.  Over 3000 stairs tomorrow.)  During that time we’ve had an attached bathroom just three times, only three showers that really felt warm enough (eleven in total), clean socks every few days because I’m too tired and lazy to wash a spare pair each night, hair washed four times, same pair of pants worn sixteen days in a row (plus an extra pair or two on the cold days), and the hair on my legs hasn’t been this long since I started shaving in jr. high!  I’ll spare you the rest of the details, but thankfully it hasn’t been as bad as it sounds reading that list right now.  I’ve definitely been grossed out (High Camp), tired, sore, and really cold.  I even considered going back a few days early and meeting Matt back in Pokhara, but I’m glad I stayed.  Overall this has been a good experience and Matt and I have made some good memories together as well as met some fun folks.  We’ve got two more days left until we get back to Pokhara, and I’m ready to be back but also glad to have come.

Today was day sixteen of the trek and day two of going up stairs nonstop. Four hours of going up stone steps. Like yesterday’s post, there’s really not too much to write because all I could think about was the next step. The only thing of note is that we did pass another Maoist checkpoint today. It was right before Ghorepani and Udaya told Joylani and I to just be silent and walk. So we did and when they told us to stop, we just kept walking and Udaya pretended to be a mere porter and replied, “I don’t know anything…my boss is up there,” referring to Binod, who was ahead of us and had to have passed the checkpoint already. And that was it. With no gang of adolescents to block the trail, there wasn’t anything they could do to stop us.We arrived in Ghorepani around noon and the first thing I did was take a shower- think how sweaty you’d be if you went up stairs for four hours straight. Not only did the place have a real shower instead of a bucket, but it had a gas heater too. By far the best shower of the whole trip. Afterwards, I went outside and laid down in the warm sunshine (warm sunshine has been a rarity on this trek) with Binod and Udaya. I quickly fell asleep, but moved my nap to our room when it got too hot out. It was a pretty lazy day- almost a rest day if it weren’t for the four hours of stairs. Nonetheless, it was nice to relax for an entire afternoon, since our rest day was ten days ago now. The night was pretty relaxing as well- drinking rakshi, meeting some other Dutch trekkers, and of course sitting around the fire. Joylani and I joked that its gonna be all downhill from here. Quite literally, as the next two days will consist purely of descending thousands and thousands of steps. 

  

 

We walked three hours from Tatopani to Sikha, which was pretty much just thousands of stone steps going up. Not too much to write about today as the trek was just up. A few interesting sidenotes though. First, at dinner, we heard a man yelling from outside. Our guides said that he was announcing new rules decided upon by the village council. They said that whenever the leaders in their villages made new rules, someone would go to the highest place in the village and yell the news. They said the whole village stops and everyone’s quiet and listens, because no wants to be ignorant of the new rules and get fined. The other thing was we could see a fire burning near the top of a mountain across the valley. Our guides said that when winter comes and its too cold to take animals up the mountain to graze, the herders set the top parts of the mountain on fire, so that when spring comes and the animals can go up, the plants will be new instead of old. I’m learning a lot about rural life on this trek.

 

Today felt like the hardest day, although it wasn’t even close. Most likely I was so fatigued because my dinner last night was bad and breakfast this morning was so bad I didn’t even finish it. So it was with very little energy that I began the morning. The trail was rocky (hard on the feet) and mostly up and down. Those factors plus the new blisters on the back edge of my heal caused me to be the slowest today. It was three hours to Dana, where we ate lunch and then another hour to Tatopani. I don’t really have much to say about today because the only thing I could think about was walking and getting to Tatopani, although I did notice it was a lot more humid today and we’ve made the transition from forest to jungle again.

The first thing we did in Tatopani was head down to the famed hotsprings (tato pani translates to hot water). We’ve been looking forward to these hotsprings since about Pisang and counting down the days. It felt so good to immerse my tired and aching body in the hot water. We all went down right after arriving and then Udaya, Binod, and myself headed down again right before dinner. Ahh, hotsprings. Can’t really describe how good it felt after how many days of cold trekking. We finished off the night with a great dinner and the brandy that Franky and I bought yesterday, some rakshi that our guides bought, and Simone’s bottle of local rum (it actually was much tamer than those numbers indicate as they were quarter bottles and there were seven of us). Nonetheless, hotsprings and few drinks to celebrate how far we’ve come.

The next two days will be up, up, up to Ghorepani, and then the final two days will be down, down, down.

 

Yesterday was a relatively fast and easy walking day to Marpha, with the only obstacle being the dust and wind the last hour.  I think we could have made it further today, but instead we spent an hour slowly meandering along a dried riverbed searching for fossils.  It was a comical sight—all of us spread out, periodically stooping with our backpacks to pick up a rock and throwing it down against a larger one to break it open.  In the end, all the fossils we found were already exposed and the best specimens came from close to where the river still flows (not by the road where I was looking more forward to lunch than fossils…).

            Today was a longer walk to the village of Ghasa.  We had a couple of stops along the way for a snack at the famed Tukuche Dutch bakery and a few minutes later at a brandy distillery down the road.

 

A little while later we stopped for lunch.  I finally had dal bhat again.  It was my first big meal since getting sick again after the pass and much needed after all this walking.  The dal bhat is starting to get a little bit tastier with a few more spices in the dal and veg curry, and more variety than just potatoes.  The landscape is starting to get more lush again, the air more humid, and we saw our first monkeys in a week.  Right now it’s about 4:30pm and we just got to our guesthouse.  I’m hungry again and Matt and I are waiting for beverages (apple tea and hot chocolate) and a Tibetan bread (like a flat cakey donut with slits instead of a hole in the middle).

Today was a long, but fun day. Unsurprisingly we left Marpha around 8am. By 9am, we had reached the village or Marpha, which warranted a stop to visit its Dutch bakery and brandy distillery. The Dutch bakery was delicious, as its run by a Dutch-Nepali husband and wife. We met a German guy there who was stoned out of his mind and being outrageously funny as he talked about the apple crumble and “real coffee, real filtered coffee!” Imitating him is far funnier than writing down everything he said and did, so you’ll have to ask me about it whenever you see me. After the bakery, we headed farther into the village to the distillery. It was rudimentary to say the least, but the lady that made the brandy had a half-dozen different flavors of brandy. I’d sampled the local apple brandy in Muktinath and Marpha, but I decided to buy a small bottle of cherry brandy for Tatopani, where we’ll be tomorrow.

 

Today was an interesting day.

 

It was a really short walk, but we spent an hour walking around a rocky floodplain looking for fossils. We’ve seen them in Pokhara and a few little stands along the trek, but today we actually found a few. Pretty much we just looked for blackish rocks, picked them up, and threw them at the ground. Like Joylani mentioned, all the ones we found were halves that were already broken. I guess we just thought maybe we’d find whole ones with both halves like the ones found in the shops. However, Udaya said those are really difficult to find.

 

Anyways, we stopped for lunch in Jomsom, which is actually a town. It has an airport/airstrip that people fly into or out of to begin or end the Jomson Trek. FYI, From here on, the Annapurna Circuit Trek is the same as the Jomsom Trek. After lunch, we made the short, but incredibly windy and dusty walk to Marpha. Marpha’s a larger village with large monastery. All the buildings have piles of firewood and corn on the roofs. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day, but we met some cool Belgians, Franky and Belinda, at our guesthouse. I guess they had been trekking with Hans, Sky, and Cal, but had separated along the routes as us, Pete and John. So we hung out with them a bit and watched the sun disappear behind the mountains, leaving us in the cold again. Even at this lower altitude, it still gets really cold at night.