Made it through day three of the trek, which consisted of more up and down from Jagat to Dharapani. It was only about six hours of hiking, but our total time was eight and a half hours, due to lunch and Maoists. Some Maoists had set up a camp blocking the trail and were demanding 30 USD per person. They just said they were making a collection, but gave no other explanation. We weren’t going to pay. Besides the fact that paying them may leave us without enough money to finish the trek, they were asking for a ludacris amount. Joylani didn’t want to support a organization that had killed thousands in the past ten-year “People’s War.†Knowing Maoism inside and out (after his uncle tried to recruit him), Binod questioned and argued with them. One of the guys took him aside and said to wait until all the other people had passed and then maybe they’d let us pass. So we waited around for an hour, while we watched the bloody Maoists collect over 1000 USD! A German guy tried to argue politics with them and pointed out that the Maoists had withdrawn from the government voluntarily. He said he was from Germany and understood Communism and that it was a bankrupt system. He asked why he had to pay them, since the permit fee all trekkers pay to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project goes towards improving the region. They told him “you don’t understand our problems and we’re collections donations to support ‘the fight for peace.’†He paid.
(Polish guy.)
A Polish group came and one guy replied to them, “We’re from Poland. We’re Communists too. Do we get a discount?†Apparently not, as they forked over 400 USD. The frustrating thing was that no logic or reason would work with these guys. They were just collecting money for themselves, under the Maoist banner. They weren’t educated about their party or otherwise and just wanted money. They were mostly just 20-somethings, trying to act tough behind their sunglasses. They blocked the trail and acted tough, but their nervous joking and laugher with each other while everyone glared at them was revealing. Once the rest of the stubborn non-payers had paid and the camp was empty, they told us we could pass but wouldn’t give us a receipt and would be charged double at the next Maoist checkpost, near Manang. It was so infuriating dealing with these bandits- collecting money just because they could due to fear. It was robbery really. Anyways, we passed and crested the ridge on our way to lunch in Tal.
On the way to Tal, we passed a police team going the opposite direction towards the checkpoint. Later at lunch, we saw them on their way back. Apparently they gave the Maoists a talk and told them they didn’t want to give them citations, but would if they didn’t stop. What is this, the UN? More likely, they got paid off by the Maoists (we met some people one day behind us who ran into the same checkpoint). So much money was being collected, that the police would have had to do something or take a cut (I mentioned we saw about $1000 collected during the hour we waited; the average Nepali makes $210 per month). Our guides said the police were often in cahoots with the Maoists, to make money. At lunch we met a big tough looking Russian guy and asked if he’d paid. His response: “Hell no. I was born in the USSR.†We also met a French guy who was exclaiming that the Maoists were “real bast-odds.†Other than that, I heard Joylani call them a lot different names and Binod said if getting a gun was easier in Nepal, he’d shoot them all (I should mention he’s had Maoists hold guns to his head before, when he or his clients mouthed off before).
The rest of the day was much like yesterday: a lot of ups and downs. I still cannot figure out why the path was built in a seemingly senseless series of ups and downs. Nepali flat.
We left at 8am again today and walked up and down (Nepali flat) for almost four hours until we came to a Maoist checkpoint. Usually they request a “donation†of around 100rs or so. Today they were asking for 2000rs ($31USD) per person. (Per tourist, that is. Locals aren’t asked to pay. For many Nepalis we’ve met, “tourist†and “atm†mean the same thing. Apparently the Maoists are no exception.) We didn’t want to pay. Matt more because of the crazy price and I didn’t want to support such a horrible thing. Maoists come in all different varieties from violent bus burners to bluffing bullies, but because they can be dangerous it is best not to try to openly defy their demands. So we sat and waited for a while to see what would happen after the other, larger, groups of trekkers paid and passed. Luckily the ones at this checkpoint were the latter, and as soon as they started eating lunch and the other trekkers had paid the “donation,†we were able to pass with just an empty threat of paying double at a checkpoint further on. Police we met later on confirmed our suspicions that there wasn’t actually another checkpoint in this region.
Back to the trekking part of things. Today was a lot of uphill, but there was also a lot of downhill. It is actually kind of discouraging to have a downhill section after 10-20 minutes of stairs and switchbacks going straight uphill. When we keep going up and down like that only the cooler temps and the changing scenery remind me that I am indeed gaining altitude. So what do I think about in the midst of all the walking? It changes throughout the day. In the morning when I am the freshest and can focus more, I usually think about home, the future, things I miss (my cell phone, jello, cereal, people…), and sometimes I pray or sing in my head. I try not to think or ask about the time too often because I know it would seem to pass slower. After lunch is usually the hardest stretch. Meals on the trek take a really long time to get, usually we wait for 45-60 minutes before getting our food, so by the time we start walking again we’ve been sitting for an hour and a half. My muscles get cold and a little stiff, making it harder to start walking again. The last two hours of the day I usually just zone out. Generally I’ll wonder at least once why I am doing this and if a trek this long is really necessary. Then I’ll really zone out and it gets hard to think about anything at all besides planning out the next few steps I’ll be taking around a rock or over the dry stones in a stream. If I am able to focus on one thought, it’s usually pretty random. For example, today after dodging the 400th mule poo of the day (and having gone a few times myself…yup, sick…AGAIN), I started to think of all the English words we have for poo. So far I’ve got 17, but I’m sure there’s more.
Morning view.
Waiting for the goats to pass.
The trail more or less follows the river up to it’s source. We’ll get there in a few days…to the river source that is.
Another waterfall along the trail. Just one of the many reasons why the trek is so beautiful.
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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 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.