Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Phase III - Completing the circuit and return to Pokhara

March 17. Kagbeni

Woke up this morning at 5:30, with no stiffness or other traces of yesterday's climb. Did some pushups and modified situps again, then Dhana brought me hot water to make a cup of coffee, and we walked up the street to a famous monastery / temple complex, that includes a small "eternal flame," apparently slightly sulfurous natural gas seeping out of a crack in the rock. Raj told me it was okay to take pictures in the shrine that included the flame so I did, but I got yelled at by a nun so I didn't do any more. The complex is very interesting, several very old temples and shrines in it. On the hills above the monastery are several web-like kpatterns of prayer flags; I hope they will show up in the photos I took. The entire visit was quite interesting, probably best grasped by looking at my photo blog.

After we left the temple we had breakfast, then set out for Kagbeni. Much of the way we walked along the recently built road, not much traffic except occasional jeep-busses and farm tractors pulling wagons; they always left a cloud of dust. Took a number of pictures of a couple of very old villages, and took some pictures back toward the pass I crossed yesterday; I'll post the best. I also took some pictures up the canyon toward Upper Mustang (the "forbidden kingdom" - recently opened to trekkers, entry fee about $700. (Still pretty forbidden!) It looks interesting - rather arid, steep mountains with little snow atop. By the time we reached Kagbeni, the wind was already starting - Raj says this valley is called "windy valley." In that respect, as well as the dry hills, with a low ground-hugging variety of sage brush, low cactus, abundant rocks and deep powdery dust it reminds me a lot of Idaho.

The hotel here is nicer than I've seen in several days - my room actually includes a private bath with a U.S. style toilet. I took a "hot" shower - at least it was warmed up enough that it didn't give me hypothermia, like the last one I took, back in Manang. I had fried rice again, but wished I'd had momo - one of my new acquaintances had it and gave me a taste; it was the best I've had. I had hoped to find an internet connection here, but they shut down the line during the off season. Best hope is Jomsom.

After lunch Raj and I walked into town, which is very old, and took some pictures of narrow streets, wood stacked on roofs, etc., then visited a 500 year old monastery - a few more pictures. On the way home we saw some sheep, including a ram with 4 horns; the picture Raj took only shows three of them. I spent much of the remainder of the afternoon sorting and naming pictures and catching up the blog. It has grown quite windy out, and cold, and I have a lovely view of Nirgidi Peak from the dining room. Very likely, the cold air sliding down all these snow covered peaks contributes to the chill.

A note about some technical details. Most rooms are locked with padlocks, sometimes attached to little more than a twisted wire. Many of the padlocks have a couple of annoying features: you have to hold the bar in the lock against a spring and turn the key to lock it, and the inner part of the key-hole often rotates away from the outer; together these require two-handed operation, awkward when returning from the shower burdened with towel, soap, etc. Outlets to charge batteries are often absent, and some hotels charge a lot - in one I paid nearly $8 to recharge the laptop.

March 18, Marpha

Another note about facilities - yesterday and today the toilet facilities were U.S. style sit-down rather than squat. Not coincidentally, there is an airport in Jomsom, between the two, so this area gets a lot of fly-in rich people. It was a slightly jarring note - I had got used to the squat variety.

Today we left Kagbeni early and walked to Jomsom, where I spent nearly an hour (and about $7) doing a couple of simple e-mail tasks; thus no upload of journal or pictures). Raj spent even longer withdrawing some cash from his bank - one of the banks had an ATM, but it doesn't accept MasterCard. A lot of banks here don't - very annoying. I may have to break down and get a Visa after all, if I'm going to do much more travelling. The internet cafe was willing to give a cash advance on my credit card - for a 10% fee. Raj's bank charged 4% even for a withdrawal. It only took a bit over two hours to walk to Jomsom, but by the time we had taken care of business it was after 11:30, so Raj suggested lunch at a little momo cafe. I'm glad he did; it was filled with buffalo, plus seasonings, onions, etc. and the best I've had. He also ordered a plate of a kind of stir-fried noodles with assorted vegetables and dried buffalo, also very good.

By the time we finished lunch, the wind had started, so we walked against a stiff headwind all the way to Marpha - it is only a couple of miles but took over an hour, with the wind. Today's and yesterda's walking was about half on the road, half along trails that more or less parallel the road - many of them short-cutting switch-backs. The traffic isn't too heavy, mostly busses and enlarged 8-12 passenger jeeps that serve as a combination bus and taxi, plus farm tractors pulling wagons loaded with freight; in today's wind they were pretty annoying because of the dust they kicked up. Part of the way we walked on the gravel of the river-bed, while Raj and Dhana looked for fossils; apparently the monsoons wash them up from the river and down from eroding hillsides - the streets of Muktinath are filled with peddlers selling them. Raj says people come every fall after the monsoon to look for them. By now it's pretty picked over, but he did find one broken one. I'm pretty sure the guidebook warned that it is illegal to take them out of the country or into the US without a permit, and in the unlikely event I found one I would have checked with the US embassy before even thinking about it.

Marfa is an interesting, quite old town with whitewashed walls of rock and rock plastered with something, probably clay; I took several pictures. We also toured another old monastery, where I took more photos; it is partway up a hill and affords quite a view of the valley, which is quite lovely. Marfa calls itself the "Apple Capital of Nepal," and I had an apple crumble and glass of (hard) cider for afternoon tea; the cider was better than most I've had. They also specialize in apricot brandy here, and I hope to try some this evening.

March 19 Kalapani.

The hotel didn't stock Apricot brandy - disappointment. But they did stock an apple brandy that was excellent - delicate apple taste, very smooth, no unpleasant after-taste. I also had another apple crumble for dessert, with a kind of half-liquid custard over it - very good. Had another apple crumble for breakfast, along with some Tibetan fried bread that was also excellent.

We walked to Kalapani, first along the road, with the wind at our backs; that didn't keep it from blowing gritty dust in our eyes every time a bus or truck passed. About 1/3 of the way there we crossed the river and a series of lesser branches and walked the rest of the way over river rock and sand-bars left over from the last monsoon. Walking on that side of the river allowed us excellent views of Dhawalagiri, including the glacier that runs down from fairly near the top; I got a number of great photos. We also got some good views of a different aspect of two of Nilgiri's three peaks, then finally saw the third. Not long before we reached Kalapani, Annapurna I came into view. From the upper deck of our hotel I have a lovely view of all of Annapurna I as well as Nilgiri, and have already taken several photos - as the sun moves westward, the mountain changes radically. As I write, I am looking at bare, brownish rock where my earlier photos show blue shadows.

After I had lunch, we walked back to an internet cafe we had passed, a hundred meters or so down the street, and I had a frustrating half hour trying to send some small word files to LaJean. I finally had to use Raj's account, and even that was frustrating. I think the slowness of the connection caused the pdx computer to time out before all the preliminaries were completed. I gave up on doing anything else.

On the way to Kagbeni, we met an old German guy, probably about my age, slightly goofy who spoke in the sort of exaggerated soft way I sometimes associate with aging hippies - and he fit the character otherwise. He showed up in our hotel in Kalapani, and the reason for his wierdness became apparent. He claims to have spent a month or longer almost every year for the past 30 years in India and/or Nepal; he also smoked joints the size of a cigar about every other hour (marijuana and hash are legal in Nepal. I later saw one of the guides smoking a smaller, more normal sized joint.)

Along the way we saw two hikers who had taken a bridge to the other side of the river and followed what turns out to be a dead-end trail; they had to back-track nearly 2 miles. One more reason why it's a good idea to have a guide if you haven't been here before. Larger-scale high detail maps are, as far as I know, not available here.

Several other groups came through while we were settling in to our hotel and having lunch; Raj tried to convince several of them to stay there, where there was a spectacular view of both Nilgiri and Annapurna I as well as Dawalgiri, but they were all insistent on going on to Ghasa, which Raj said had no view at all. The next day it took us one and a quarter hours to reach Ghasa, and Raj was right - staying in Kalapani was much better. Just before dinner we were treated to a group of Tibetan women in traditional dress, dancing and singing / chanting (the kind of song where someone proposes a verse and everyone sings it.) They were on the last day of a 28 day celebration - since there was a teenage girl near the center of the group, I think it may have had to do with coming of age. I have a couple of nice pictures, taken from the second story balcony of the hotel. I also have a little video, but unfortunately didn't think of that until the group was already moving on, and seemed to be losing some of their enthusiasm. It was really fun. After dinner, we walked up the street a ways to watch the sunset, and I got several great photos showing the increasing color on Annapurna; then I took a photo of the rosy sunset clouds above Dawalagiri, marred by a power line but otherwise beautiful.

March 20, Tatopani.

The walk to Tatopani had quite a bit of pretty spectacular scenery, but we lost the views of high mountains about a half hour out. We were walking mostly along the road, inches deep in dust that fogged up every time a bus or truck roared by. The walk was enjoyable otherwise, and when we got off the road it was really nice - one narrow lane between two rock walls, with ferns, bracken, and flowers all over the place. The main attraction here is a hot spring, which is nice, but as usual I was good for only about 20 minutes. There is a view of Nilgiri, but it was mostly lost in the haze and dust - I'm hoping for better tomorrow.

I had a bit of a run-in with Raj again this evening that was rather unsettling. Tomorrow we start up hill again, a total of a bit less than 6000 feet, topping out at about 9000, looks like probably 7 - 10 miles, and he has planned to break it into two stages. I suggested we think about doing it in one stage - I have climbed that much and gone that far many times. He got in a huff and said, "You want to walk twelve hours? We can walk twelve hours. We can walk all the way to Pokhara if you want." I tried to point out the difference between walking 2 or 3 hours and 12 hours, but he was having none of it. Once again, his distinction between a "hike" and a "trek" reared its head. He assures me that in Shikha, where he plans to stay, there will be good views of 2 or 3 mountains, so I guess it will be all right. But I find it unsettling to be excluded from decision-making on a trek that, after all, I am paying for.

I am writing this on the outdoor dining / patio; lovely to have late spring weather again, even if only for a day or two. No mosquitoes that I've noticed. I could sit here writing half the night, but there is no electric outlet in my room for charging the laptop battery. Raj says I will have to pay if I want to charge it at either of the next two stops; of course I will do so; in the past it's not usually been more than $5 or so.

March 21, Gorepani

After I gave in to Raj about today's hike he apparently thought more about it - today, we walked all the way to Gorepani, which is situated on top of the pass, like I wanted to. I'm glad, because we were in Shikha, where he had originally planned to stay, by 10:30. The sky was already beginning to thicken up, obscuring the great view; it would have been a long boring afternoon. We climbed on up about another 1000 feet and stopped at a place with a nice view for lunch. I had a light lunch, vegetable fried rice, but Raj and Dhana had dal bhat, which is quite a bit heavier. A couple of guys from California hiked through; they had been doing some short one and two day hikes in the vicinity and were headed for Gorepani; when Raj asked they said they were going to just hike on through and wait to get lunch in Gorepani. Raj told them it was a 2-4 hour hike, and I pointed out that if they didn't eat they would start dragging, so they decided to stop for lunch. Raj and Dhana paid for their heavy lunches - they were dragging for most of the hike on up.

We had already seen several tree rhododendrons, and we soon saw many more. Many are 30-40 feet tall, have trunks as thick as 18 inches, covered with flowers. Raj had Dhana climb up to pick a blossom and gave me some of it to taste - to my surprise it is very tasty; like a sweet lemon. He says it is good for stoomach ailments, and they often drink rhododendron blossom tea. Will have to look into it.

It was a great hike - I was nicely tired by the time I saw the first houses of Gorepani, and quite hungry; climbed the street to the very top, where there is a bakery from which I bought a chocolate croissant, more like a leavened bread roll with crumbly chocolate inside but quite good - walked back down to where I could see the trail up and be sure I wouldn't miss Raj and Dhana when they showed up. I was just finishing the roll when they came, and we climbed up a steep side street, the trail to Poon Hill, to our hotel. After we took showers, we sat down over a beer and Raj discussed the alternatives for tomorrow and the return to Pokhara quite rationally. One would be a side trip, over another pass, more views, getting into Pokhara late afternoon day after tomorrow. The other would be a short trip downhill to a village between here and Pokhara with a good view of 3 mountains, then a short hike to a village where we can catch a jeep taxi into Pokhara, get there about noon. That would leave a day and a half for sight seeing, internet, banking, washing clothes, and I would leave a day early for Chitwan, so that I would have 3 nights, 2 full days and 2 half days there. I opted for that choice - I rather feel the trek is all but over, no point trying to extend it beyond its natural life span. Anyway, I have several internet chores to do, including finalizing some detailed arrangements for India and uploading as much of this journal and my accumulated photos as I can.

Recipe for Tibetan bread (the wheat avoiders will be interested in this): any flour or mixture of flours; what I had this morning was a blend of rice and barley flours. Add salt, baking powder, and an egg. Knead a little, pat it out very flat, cut two parallel slits in the center, then fry. It should puff up and look somewhat like the Greek letter theta. I have come to like it quite a bit.

The hotel where we are staying tonight is really funky. I'm on the 3d floor. I go up one flight to 2nd floor, which has a ceiling about 5.5 feet high; crouch as I walk to the next flight. My floor has head clearance, a foam pad covered with felt in lieu of carpet, feels very odd to walk over. The walls and doors are thin unpainted plywood. As soon as I got into my room I checked how long a drop it would be to the patio before in case of a fire - the place is a complete firetrap. Might break a leg but I would survive. With luck I'd at least have time to knot a sheet so I could lower myself at least partway down. The shower, on the 2nd floor, is lined with thin sheet metal. At least there is a stove heating the dining room. I don't think any place I have stayed would pass U.S. building code - in fact a building inspector would probably have a heart attack just looking at it. As it turns out there is a convenient plug in the dining room for charging my laptop while I work. Outside the mist and smog has thickened so that visibility is barely across the valley. Raj says it will probably rain this evening, but most likely clear some time after dark.

March 22, Hile

It did rain, rather hard for a while, and when the rain ended, it was replaced by a thick misty haze. It was warm enough that I only needed my sleeping bag about up to my waist. Woke up earlier than I needed to, but got up anyway, dressed, put together some of my stuff for the hike down the hill. Raj and Dhana were also up, so we joined the rest of the tourists in the flashlit procession up Poon Hill to the top, where there is a watch-tower for sunrise viewing. By the time the sun rose at least 100 people had shown up, but fortunately the space at the top of the hill is quite large. During high season, however, it would probably be rather a zoo. At first it was pitch black, but within 10 minutes or so first light came, and within another 10 minutes I could see almost well enough without the light. The top of the hill is flat and clear, so I didn't bother with the tower, even though Dhana and I were among the half dozen or so of the first people there. Several mountains were sillhouetted against the growing dawn, but I was concerned because the haze was still there, and clouds kept rising up in front of the mountains. The Dhawalagiri range floated above a deep bank of mist, barely discernable through the mist.

As the light grew, the clouds dissipated, and Dhawalagiri became more distinct. All the mountains grew increasingly distinct as the sun rose, and for about a half hour after, then either the mist thickened or it caught more light, because they began fading into the mist. So we went back down the hill, had breakfast on the patio (by now it had warmed up to shirt sleeve weather). I took several dozen pictures, but only a few of them are worth keeping - the mist was simply too thick. I will look at them all again on a larger computer screen but probably delete most of them. I will upload the best picture of Annapurna South and the Fishtail, and maybe one more of Dhawalagiri, because a couple of those are actually kind of nice. It was a little disappointing, but I got so many fantastic pictures on this trip that I really can't complain.

We set out about 7:40 and walked through an enchanting Rhododendron forest - rhododendron trees with trunks up to a meter in diameter, standing as high as maybe 60 feet, mostly various shades of red to red-violet, full bloom, several species of song-birds singing, a crow that didn't croak like ours but called "Hi! Hi!" The trail led up and down, more down than up, mostly paved with hand-set stones, lots of stairs of varying quality. The trail goes down, with stairs, for each creek crossing, then back up, down below vertical cliffs, up over vertical cliffs that fall clear into the creek.

About 10:30 we came to a village where Raj saw a woman butchering a chicken and decided, with fresh chicken, so he decided we should order chicken curry and have lunch there. He also ordered a couple of beers, and when I expressed an interest, asked the cook to bbq the chicken liver for me. She also chopped up the gizzard, cooked both of them with garlic, thin-sliced red and green chilis, served them with a quartered raw purple onion. It was delicious - better, actually, than the curry.

A kilometer or so after leaving the lunch spot, we started down a very steep series of stairs, over 1000 meters, to the level of the river, where we crossed a suspension, bridge, climbed 40 or 50 meters again, then walked a bit less than a kilometer to our final rest stop on this journey. After that long, knee-killing descent, even though it was not even 2 p.m., I was well ready for a hot shower.

You can tell that we're pretty close to a trailhead, because the traffic has really thickened up, with short trekkers both in 2s and 3s and in large groups, like the 20 Japanese who showed up at hour hotel just now. I am sitting in a pleasant dining room looking out on fields of potatoes and one large groujp of campers' tents - another group is sleeping in the inn but cooking their own food - seems odd to me; the inn food is not expensive and it has mostly been quite good.

Some unfortunate news: Raj ran into the guide for the five British gentlemen; two of them came down with severe diahorrea and the whole group was flown out of Manang - unfortunately the missed the pass. I'm sorry for them; it was a stunning experience.

March 23, Pokhara

I was awakened at 4:00 this morning by the porters for the Japanese groups clomping around - the cheap watch I've been using had quit for a while so it showed only midnight, but the roosters were crowing, so I lay in bed for a while then gave up on it and got up. By the time I was dressed there was early light in the sky so I put together some coffee in one of the filter packets I bought in Japan and went down to the kitchen, where a cook gave me some hot water. It wasn't much after 6; I sat there sipping coffee and watching the porters breaking camp for the large group, while they hung around waiting for breakfast. Raj talked to a couple of the porters last night - the trekking company does not provide either food or accommodation for the porters, so they were looking for a cheap or free shelter somewhere; don't know what they'll eat. They are paid $15 per day; doubt they'll clear much after paying for something to eat. Half of them were wearing cheap thongs or other type sandals. One was so disgusted he told Raj he planned to return to Pokhara the next day. As they began leaving camp I noticed many of them carrying loads that must have been 1.5 to twice their own body weight, maybe even more - they're paid by the kilo, so carry as much as they can. Raj said the Maoists are starting to crack down on it - they have check points now at many of the trailheads and turn back any groups that don't have adequate arrangements for the porters. This group included Hindi speakers, Americans, and probably British; I think the tour is probably run by an Indian company.

The trip down to Birathante, the trail-head was pretty uneventful - lower we got, the thicker the mist and smog, so I pretty well gave up on further views of mountains. At Birathante Raj hired a cab to drive us up over a probably 1500 meter ridge and down to Pokhara. The cab was I think the smallest 4-seater Suzuki makes, you can't buy it in the U.S. Very underpowered to carry four adult males plus over 100 lb. of luggage; it kept popping out of gear, died several times. We followed an even slower bus half-way up the hill before the driver was able to pass - first part of the road out of Birathante is unpaved, much like a complete non-maintained Forest Service road in Idaho or Oregon; once we were on pavement, the edges were largely eroded and pot-holed, leaving a drivable portion a little wider than one normal lane. However, about half-way up the hill the decent pavement part widened - that's where the drive was finally able to pass.

Now I am installed in what is, by comparison with the past 3 weeks, a luxurious hotel room in one of the tourist sections of Pokhara - carpet on the floor yet, clean towels, reliable hot shower, big double bed with sheets (bye-bye to the sleeping bag). After Raj and Dhana have showered and done a bit of laundry we will go out for lunch, look for an internet cafe and ATM that accepts my card, and I will look for a pair of shorts and tropical-weight shirt for the next phase, Chitwan.

General assessment:

Overall I feel that this was a very successful trip. Some of the time I was bored, often cold, but much of the time was interesting, enjoyable, and at times ecstatic. I don't think I would do this every year, but I think I may do it again some time, though if I do I will be inclined to look for a slightly less famous and popular route. Raj has suggested several alternatives in Nepal that sound quite appealing.

In the category of "if I had known then what I know now": The itinerary Raj provided for this trip is pretty well identical to those provided by all other independent guides and trekking services I checked, including REI. Even though it is rated "very difficult," it is designed for a typical American or European in moderate physical condition, with limited hiking and back-packing (day hikes, maybe a few 1-2 nighters, little or no experience on very steep or rugged trails). The early part of the hike, which frustrated me so much, is clearly designed to allow the not-quite-in-shape to get hardened up a bit for the more difficult later parts. Anyone who is a strong hiker in top condition with extensive high-country back-packing experience is likely to find it quite frustrating, as I did. I tried to convince Raj while we were in negotiation via e-mail that his planned stages of 3-4 hours were too slow for me; once I finally convinced him and he agreed to combine some of the short stages into longer ones, I began to enjoy the trip much more - my three happiest days were the 6 hour trip from Lower Pisang to Manang, with a detour by way of Ghyaru, the trip over the pass itself, also about 6 hours, and the trip from Tatopani to Ghorapani, in which we skipped one of Raj's planned stops. I wish I had been more forceful and insisted on skipping at least 2, maybe 3 more of the planned intermediate stops. (In almost every case, the hours estimate was 30 to 40% over-stated; what he said would take 4 took 2.5, etc. When we combined 4 + 5 = 9 it usually came out to about 6 or 7, which is a very comfortable, enjoyable hike.) This morning Raj admitted that we could have done that and, already acclimatized to high elevation, we could have hiked from Ghorapani into Annapurna Base camp in no more than 3 days, back out in another 3. Had I been more forceful I could have had both the circuit and the base camp for maybe one or two days more - and I think that would have been the perfect trip. The trip I had was excellent, and I enjoyed it very much, but a somewhat more vigorous one, more walking and less loafing around, would have been even better.

The other word of caution to future trekkers - there is one ATM on the whole circuit, in Jomosom, and it does not take master card. Several outfits will take credit cards, for a 10% fee (plus the bank's foreign transaction fee.) The little treats you may want, which are rarely included in the guide's costs, cost about the same as in a larger U.S. city - $4 or $5 for a large bottle of Tuborg beer (small bottles are rarely available), $2.50-$4 for a pastry from one of the many German bakeries (the're good, and often worth it). You need to carry cash amounting to at least $10 or $15 per day.

The guide-books warn about the lower elevation smog, dust, and haze, and they're right. For those who can, autumn or early winter (bring lots of warm clothes) would provide better views - although in the higher country, above maybe 8000 feet, it doesn't matter as much. On the other hand, the most popular treks, Everest and Annapurna Base Camp and Annapurna Circuit, get really, really crowded in the fall, which is not at all appealing to me.

No comments:

Post a Comment