Sunday, April 19, 2015

Trekking Day #6

6:25 am – When we left Deurali the sun was still behind the mountains, and it was cold, but not extremely so. The Modi valley was in shadows, but up ahead the mountain peaks above Machhapuchhre Base Camp (MBC) had sun on them, and to the east, our right as we walked, we could see the glow of the sun. After about an hour and a half it broke over the peaks and spilled sunlight onto us and the trail to MBC where we would turn west on the last reach before ABC.

8:15 am – Machhapuchhre Base Camp is just a couple small guesthouses on the mountainside. Looking back at the trail we came up on, the other trekkers looked like ants. We visited with the guesthouse manager for about 15 minutes, and he tried to convince us that the best views were to be had at his establishment. We declined though and pushed on. The view became more and more amazing as we trekked the final two hours up a valley with peaks 20,000 feet and above on all sides! It was breathtaking… and surreal.

10:25 am – Annapurna Base Camp! Elevation 13,550 feet.  Suddenly there it was, a sign and flags welcoming us to ABC. It was now just a few hundred yards scamper to the base camp. I lagged behind, captivated by what I saw and taking pictures, so technically, Nora “won.”

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Trekking Day #5

7:05 am – We left Bamboo at first morning light because we were up, and because we were excited to get up higher.

7:55 am – Within less than an hour we reached Dovan. It had some very nice guesthouses! Beyond that the valley continued to get narrower, avalanche warnings were posted in risky places, we crossed narrow streams on makeshift bridges, and we were getting closer to the snow line! We came across another interesting etiquette sign…

9:10 am – At Himalaya we took a 15 minute bread break. Mmmmm! The fresh baked whole wheat bread we had bought in Chomrong the day before was an amazing pick-me-up. After two+ hours of heavy hiking we were feeling it, so we stopped and each had a chunk of bread, and instantaneously we felt energized! I wasn’t psychosomatic, it was physiological, and we grabbed our packs and headed out Deurali with new life in us.

10:30 am – Deurali was an early arrival. We made really good time, as we had been all along the trekking route. When we compared how long it would take us to the times posted on maps we were always quite a bit faster. This segment was listed as 4.5 hours, but we did it in 3:10 without pushing it at all. My point is not to brag, or make it out to be a race, but we constantly noticed that our pace was faster than most – we decided that walking fast was just “an Oregon thing.” We were also called “the ones with the big packs.” (Well, we had no porters …and we’re from Oregon. Ha!)

We chilled in the sun and had some potato fries on the deck overlooking the Modi river, with the mountains now towering above us. We also dried socks…! At about noon a storm blew up the valley, so we grabbed our washing that was hung out to dry and retreated to our room to wait it out, look over maps, and play cards. By evening the skies cleared again and the mountains grew dark.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Trekking Day #4

7:50 am – We left Siprong, crossed the Kimrong river and headed back uphill again. Dropping down to low valleys only to climb up higher again is the theme you get used to following.

8:15 am – Shortly after leaving Siprong we came upon the actual guesthouse that had been recommended to us at Chuile. It was much nicer, but we were glad we stayed where we did.

From there it was a little over two hours to Chomrong. We often encountered thunderstorms during the day, but fortunately they were always on the east side of the valley, opposite us, or we were able to outrun them. This was an advantage of getting an early start – beating the weather that came later in the day.

10:35 – Chomrong, where took a short 20 minute rest, is a larger settlement with many guesthouses and shops. It stretches from the top of the hill nearly to the bottom of the next valley if you count all the outlying houses.

12:10 pm – Sinuwa came next. We later called this “fake” Sinuwa because found the “real” Sinuwa 50 minutes later, farther up the hill. We discovered that often there is an upper and lower section to a village, both by the same name.

Between the two we ran into a couple water buffalo guarding the trail – they kindly moved over a little. Just before upper Sinuwa we came across a sign – one of several – educating us on local etiquette. It basically said no more meat dishes from here on …or else!

1:00 pm – Sinuwa Hill Top, the “real” Sinuwa… We stayed there on the return trek from ABC.

2:15 pm – Bamboo is a busy village with many guesthouses and lots of trekking traffic. Now that we were on the main ABC route there were a lot more people at the guesthouses. We actually liked the “backwoods” route we took between Tadaponi and Chomrong because it was less traveled. While we were there, a sad event took place, the airlifting of the body of a porter that had died down below Bamboo – wondered if we might have even seen him earlier at some point, but it was impossible to know. The rooms in our guesthouse in Bamboo were plain, but dry and clean, and dinner consisted of spaghetti and chow-mien.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Trekking Day #3

After returning from Poon Hill we had breakfast and packed our packs. It was a beautiful day; sunny with clear skies. My favorite thing about this guesthouse was the people themselves. The dinning hall was a meeting place for the family, around the wood stove, and it just felt like home!

8:40 am – Left Ghorepani and headed east toward the Kimrong river. Looking back we could see Poon Hill with the tower on top and another tower part way up the hillside.

10:40 am – Deurali (one of several places by this name).

11:30 am – Banthanti (stopped here for 15 minutes).

1:10 pm – Tadapani, where we said good-bye to Peter and Marjolein and parted ways. They were turning downward and we were headed on up to ABC.

2:20 pm – We passed through Chuile, where we were given directions and a recommendation for the British Gorkha Guesthouse near the river.  From Chuile we made our way downhill the guesthouse.

3:20 pm – Siprong and the British Gorkha Guesthouse. This was the longest day so far – about 7 hours, after Poon Hill – and much of it was up/down steep hills. It was hot and we were tired and ready to rest!

We found out later the this wasn’t the British Gorkha Guesthouse we were looking for. There was another one the east side of the Kimrong river, with a school next to it. This one was on the west side, and was a small one family guesthouse, all by itself. We really were glad we stopped here though because we figured they didn’t get many guests (we were the only ones that night). It wasn’t the nicest, but it was adequate and the family was very glad we stayed. The food was literally home cooked, and her dal baht was top notch! Across from the guesthouse area was a small single story stone roofed house that belonged to the owners. The land below it was very green and lush, and out of our room’s window we watched as a man weeded a potato patch.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Poon Hill dawn trek

Before leaving Ghorepani we decided to take the dawn trek to Poon Hill. We got up about 4:00 am and got geared up, and with headlamps on started the trek. It takes 45 minutes to get to the top, which is 10,531 feet in elevation.

At 5:25 am we arrived at the top, before the sun rose over the mountains, and I have to say that it was nothing less than spectacular! Well worth the time and effort. I’ll post just a few of the pictures I took up there.