Annapurna Circuit Part I

April 7 Bhulbhule I left Kathmandu on a local bus bound for Besishar. All I can say is that it was like being a sardine in the canning process for 8 hours. It was soooo hot. Once there I took another bus to Bhulbhule. This trip was about an hour over extremely rough road. I didn't think a bus could be so crowded. It was so crowded that I was unable to drink from my water bottle because someone was basically sitting on top of me. I arrived hot, sweaty, jet lagged, exhausted and hungry. I stayed at the first hotel and tried to eat right away (5pm) but it wasn't possible. I went to my room, ate a few granola bars and waited until 6pm when I was able to eat. The nice guy from the counter actually came and knocked on my door at 5:45 to say that my dal bhat was ready. It is a common dish here consisting of rice, dal (lentils), veg curry, and a papadam. Perfect for me. I hit the sack soon afterward to recover from a rather unpleasant day.

April 8 Chamje I was up early and had a bit of Tibetan bread for breakfast. It a fried bread. I hit the trail at 6:45am. The morning started with a long, long walk up the hill to Bahundanda (a 500m climb). On the other side I met Eric and Emily from Oregon. They had already done Everest Base Camp (EBC) and were full of info. Emily and Eric stopped in Ghermu for breakfast/ lunch. I continued on. It was downhill to Syanje. There I was taking photos of a suspension bridge when I noticed an armed (with a machine gun I think) army officer heading across the suspension bridge towards me. Uh Oh! I wondered if I had taken a photo of some military strategic location and I was in trouble but no he was just crossing the bridge. I breathed a sigh of relief. I crossed the bridge at Syanje. The other side of the river was a bit of a mess as they are building a road all the way to Manang. One section of trail was really just a bunch of boulders and it was very exposed to the sun -- so hot. I lunched in Jagat where I viewed a donkey traffic jam in town. One donkey train was heading uphill and the other downhill and they got congested in town. How different is that from the life you live? Leaving Jagat I bumped into Roz who I had met on Bus #2 the day before. We walked together for the rest of the day. She is studying abroad for a semester and was doing a paper on the people of the Manang region. We almost missed the trail when it turned off from the "new road". It was almost impossible to pick up. Luckily a guy called us back and sent us on our way. Our hiking day ended in Chamje, a small village perched on the steep hillside across from a gorgeous waterfall. The only downside -- a cold shower. It rained in the late afternoon and evening.

April 9 Bagarchap I tried to get out early the next morning but disorganization struck as I misplaced a number of things and had to pack and repack by pack a number of times. I was out at 6:15am which is early by most people's standard. On the way out of town I met up with Emily and Eric again. We walked to Tal and had breakfast there. There was supposed to be a bakery but none was found. We ate breakfast at a lodge next to another waterfall. During breakfast it started to rain again. We got out our pack covers. Emily and Eric also got out their rain gear. I as quite warm and the rain was not heavy so I didn't. (Not one of my better ideas).

On the trail we saw a group of porters carrying musical instruments. It turns out that Nepali New Year is coming up. We think they are going to Chame or Manang for the celebrations. On the trail are numerous trains of donkeys bringing supplies to villages. It becomes and objective to stay in front of them. Today while passing some donkeys one must have gotten a bit antsy and gave me a good bump from the back. Emily told me later that she got completed knocked over by one. Note to self -- stay on the uphill side of the donkeys no matter what.

The rain continued to come down for the next couple of hours increasing in intensity and the temperature dropped. By the time I realized that I should put my rain gear on it was too late. I was soaked. I preserved on. As we entered Bagarchap it had started to hail. Eric joked about the snow in my hair. We stopped at the first lodge. I really thought it would stop raining but it didn't even ease. We stayed in Bagarchap. The lodge owners were really, really nice. They let us come into the kitchen and warm ourselves by the cooking fire. The son of the owner was in town visiting. His English was very good. He had studied in Singapore and was working for an HIV prevention organization in Kathmandu.

April 10 Bhratang There is new snow an the mountains above us. Today is a beautiful blue sky day. All around are clear mountain views.

From AC Part 1

There are no words to describe it. Chame was my destination but I arrived very early. I found a cybercafe (dial up) and sent a note home. It was 10 rupees per minute = $2 for 15 minutes. I ate lunch at the same place and met an interesting guy from Germany - Florian. He is mountain biking the Annapurna Circuit (AC). He has to carry his bike in certain areas and push it in others. I am not really sure how much he actually is riding it, especially on this side. I can't even imagine how it was carrying his bike over that section the other day when they were "building the new road". He plans to do the whole circuit if the weather cooperates. Two Scots turned back yesterday due to the snow (rain down here) - they didn't want to wait for the pass to clear. Florian had to pay $10 / day for a bike permit on top of his ACAP permit.

The hills are getting harder and since my pack weight isn't changing it must be the altitude. I picked up a pair of gaiters for <$5 in case I might need them later. I arrived at Bhratang at 2:30 and decided to call it a day. It had snowed here last night. There was about a foot left in the shade under the table out front of the lodge I stayed in. I took a shower (a bucket of hot water) in the coldest room ever. During this so called show I spilled about a third of the Dr Bonners. Oh well maybe that will lighten my pack but I may not be able to clean myself or my clothes towards the end of my journey. To my surprise the sun dropped behind the mountains an hour later and it really cooled off. Luckily there was an indoor dining room and around 6pm they built a fire in the stove in there to help heat the room. The downside is that my room is nowhere near this and it will be chilly.

Additional photos here or in slideshow below.