Annapurna Trek - Week 3
4/5/05 Day 15
From: Tadapani 2630m
To: Sinuwa 2340m
We were supposed to stop in Chomrong but we went further, to Sinuwa, with no lunch stop. The weather was not good to take pictures on that day; it was very hot and humid so also very hazy. So, there are no pictures for the day. Just after we arrived at the lodge, he started raining heavily; we were really lucky.
In the lodge we met a Dutch guy that is working in Nepal for an NGO that is helping Nepalese villages to construct water tanks.
Even though the Annapurna trail is empty nowadays due to the political events, most of the trekkers we met were Dutch. Indeed, in the end of the nineties, there were 200 to 300 tourists per village along the trail. After the assassination of the king and the increase of the army and the Maoist group and the multiplication of the emergency states, the number of tourists decreased drastically and there were days that we did'nt meet anybody.
It was really nice for us because the locals were happy to see some trekkers and were really friendly with us. We learned a lot about their country since they had the time to talk to us. In the other hand, for the economy of the country it is really a sad situation.
Lots of families in these villages invested in building lodges and restaurants for the trekkers and it is their only way to earn money there, since there is nothing else. Now the tourists are scared away by the insecurity of the political situation.
Not only do these people suffer economically from that, but also in their everyday life. Maoists come at night to the village requesting for food since they have no money either and usually threaten the villagers that have no other choice than to give.
The next day the army comes having heard that some villagers helped the Maoists and either beat them, put them to jail or even kill them. These poor poeple are oppressed from every side, so that most men between 15 and 35 chose to fled the villages and either go to Katmandu or to other countries in order not to get killed.
The Dutch guy was hiking with his Nepalese friends and he told us that they got in trouble last time they were hiking and they could not get any further. It is really hard for a Nepalese person to travel in its own country, he must either be a guide with a license or have to travel for business reasons, otherwise they do not have the right to go to another city because anyone could be a Maoist.
The king instaured rules to make it more difficult for the Maoists to move in the country and get organized. That is one of the reason of the numerous army checkpoints.
4/6/05 Day 16
From: Sinuwa 2340m
To: Deorali 3150m
Here we crossed more bamboo and very humid jungle-like forest. A nice waterfall was coming down a rocky cliff, but we couldn't see it completely due to the low clouds covering the top of the mountain. It was still misty, the sky was very cloudy and from time to time it was raining, so again no pictures.
Close to Deorali there were no trees anymore, only some little purple flowers and green little bushes.
There we saw again the Dutch guy and met two other Dutch women. When they were younger, they volunteered to teach English in Nepal and since then they come back every year, twice a year, to trek with their Nepalese friends that are actually guides.
One of the women even adopted a Nepalese child. These groups of Dutch and Nepalese poeple started to play guitar and sing some Nepalese folks songs. They even started dancing which allowed us to see how Nepalese poeple dance. It was a nice warm evening in the cold mountain.
4/7/05 Day 17
From: Deorali 3150m
To: Annapurna Base Camp 4150m
This was another big day, we were heading to the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). We started quite late since we didn't have much ground to cover.
We stopped for a break in Machha Puchare Base Camp (MBC).
Machha Puchare, also known as Fish Tail, is considered a holy mountain and it got forbidden to climb it after a whole Japanese expedition died in 1969.
The weather was clear in the morning but it got cloudy and rained in the afternoon.
There were yellow bamboo trees on the way growing in the snow.
A surprising thing was to find some nice orange butterflies over 4000m flying over the snow.
We arrived at 12:30 pm at the ABC, to go further and climb the peak, a $6000 permit is required. The sky was getting cloudy but we still had a bit of the view.
Up there was again very cold, everything was white covered with snow. We had a damn good hot chocolate to celebrate. Later, in the afternoon, it got really foggy and it started snowing.
For diner Angie had a Dal Bath Nepalese style, with the fingers.
4/8/05 Day 18
From: Annapurna Base Camp 4150m
To: Sinuwa 2340m
We woke up very early, at 5:15 am, planning to watch the sunrise from the sanctuary, a place 10 min away from the lodge where you are surrounded by the Annapurna range, but the weather was completely closed, there was absolutely no view. It was still snowing from the night before.
So we had breakfast and waited to see if the weather would clear.
At 7:30 am we decided to leave, since the weather was getting worse, the snowing got stronger and we were afraid of getting stuck up there.
For 1:30 hour we walked in a snow storm and it was impossible to see beyond 20m. But as we got to lower altitude it stopped snowing.
The trail was covered with thick fresh snow making it very slippery. Further, going down, we crossed a fresh avalanche, probably from the night before, since we didn't see it when we came up.
After a while, it started raining and the wind started to blow, it was a really wonderful day :D.
We stopped for lunch only at 2 pm and had to wait for 2 hours because the rain got worse, only at 4 pm we were able to walk again.
At 5:30 we were back to Sinuwa where we had, definitely ,the scariest night of our lives.
We went to bed early, at 9 pm but were waken up around 11 pm by the noise of a strong wind and rain.
After a while it got worse, the wind got stronger and more water was coming down. The roof was shaking so much that we decided to pack all our stuff and be ready to run, just in case the roof would fly off.
Our room was at the 2nd floor of a wooden building that was built in the middle of a slope of a hill with maybe 60 degrees of inclination.
Angie was concerned about landslides since it is a commun problem in Nepal and suggested that we should move to a room downstairs.
I wasn't too sure about how much safer that would be and suggested we should wait a bit more to see if the storm would get weaker.
I went a couple of times outside, on the balcony, to check how bad it was and the storm wasn't promising to get any better.
At certain point, the electricity went off and we were left completely in the dark.
The noise of the roof shaking, the walls trembling and the complete absence of light made us even more afraid that something was going to happen. We were ready to run.
Luckily the rain got weaker and we were left only with the strong wind.
Eventually, almost in the morning, the storm lost its strength and we managed to have a few hours of sleep.
4/9/05 Day 19
From: Sinuwa 2340m
To: Pothana
Although we had a very short sleeping night, the day started early. By 7:30 am we were on the track.
This was the longest walking day, 9:20 hours. With 1.200m up and 1.350m down.
At 9:15 am we stopped at Chomrong, where we found another bakery with chocolate danish :D
After the danish roll with coffee, Angie started running like a rabbit and made me look like a turtle, far far behind. Sappa was in the middle trying to keep one eye on each of us.
After many ups and downs, it started raining.
We got to Tolka at 14:30 pm for lunch.
I was dead tired of having to run after Angie. Sappa was ok, of course.
After lunch, we went up another neverending stairs and with full stomach I fell even more behind.
There were many nice scenaries with the rainy atmosphere but no pictures for you guys since our camera is not waterproof.
At 6 pm we finally arrived in Pothana.
4/10/05 Day 20
From: Pothana
To: Phedi
This was an easy day of walk; we did only 2:30 hours in nice weather.
We woke up before sunrise, had breakfast and left for the trails.
Close to Phedi there are many rice fields.
At 10:30 we were in Phedi waiting for the bus to Pokhara.
When the bus arrived, Sappa suggested we should jump on the roof, because inside the bus would get really crowded very soon. Not only could we enjoy the nice view, but we could also watch our backpacks.
10 min before getting to Pokhara we stopped to visit another monastery.
After that, we took another bus, another roof top, to Pokhara. Went to the hotel, had a little rest and nice lunch.
Then we rented some bikes to go around in Pokhara.
Sappa took us to a Tibetan village where we visited a carpet making center. The technique being used by the Tibetan women was quite different than the ones we saw in India; the Tibetan technique requires much more time to finish one carpet.
We also visited the Devi's fall, which is a underground waterfall . This is a interesting river that is swallowed by a tunnel and disappears.
Back to Pokhara we met this figure on the street playing his flute for the Cobras and the tourist entertainment.
After we returned the bikes, we stopped by a Tibetan bar for some snacks and beer. Angie tried 'tumba', a Tibetan Beer made with fermented millet and hot water, while Sappa and I were happy with a cold Everest.
We also had a snack made of dried meat deeply fried in oil. Mmmmmm, with beer that was good.
Once we finished the beer,we moved to another restaurant for dinner where they also show a Nepalese cultural dance.
Back to the hotel we tried to rest and prepare for the next day trip to Kathmandu.
4/11/05 Day 21
From: Pokhara
To: Kathmandu
Well, here is another adventurous bus trip. The departure was scheduled for 7:30 am which was done with only 10 min of delay. After one hour of riding, we stopped and I could see from the window the military gang standing outside ...
... so we thought it was just another checkpoint, but we ended up staying there until 10:30. The reason? There was a Maoist strike happening for the last couple of days. So the royal army provided security. The so long wait was to get as many buses as possible together and to escort them all the way from Pokhara to Kathmandu.
That is how we travelled, in the middle of a more than 30 buses caravan ...
... with army trucks and tanks at the end, middle and front of the line.
It took longer than the estimated 7 hours but at least we were 'safe'.
At the gathering point there were many people selling all kind of snacks, different breads and fruits. Life in poor countries (although I'm from Brazil) can be very different then what we are used to. Our bus was stopped right In front of the house of this woman. With the doors open, we could see her single room which had only few appliances laying on the floor.
The bus made it to Kathmandu around 7 pm. We didn't see any Maoist on the way.
From: Tadapani 2630m
To: Sinuwa 2340m
We were supposed to stop in Chomrong but we went further, to Sinuwa, with no lunch stop. The weather was not good to take pictures on that day; it was very hot and humid so also very hazy. So, there are no pictures for the day. Just after we arrived at the lodge, he started raining heavily; we were really lucky.
In the lodge we met a Dutch guy that is working in Nepal for an NGO that is helping Nepalese villages to construct water tanks.
Even though the Annapurna trail is empty nowadays due to the political events, most of the trekkers we met were Dutch. Indeed, in the end of the nineties, there were 200 to 300 tourists per village along the trail. After the assassination of the king and the increase of the army and the Maoist group and the multiplication of the emergency states, the number of tourists decreased drastically and there were days that we did'nt meet anybody.
It was really nice for us because the locals were happy to see some trekkers and were really friendly with us. We learned a lot about their country since they had the time to talk to us. In the other hand, for the economy of the country it is really a sad situation.
Lots of families in these villages invested in building lodges and restaurants for the trekkers and it is their only way to earn money there, since there is nothing else. Now the tourists are scared away by the insecurity of the political situation.
Not only do these people suffer economically from that, but also in their everyday life. Maoists come at night to the village requesting for food since they have no money either and usually threaten the villagers that have no other choice than to give.
The next day the army comes having heard that some villagers helped the Maoists and either beat them, put them to jail or even kill them. These poor poeple are oppressed from every side, so that most men between 15 and 35 chose to fled the villages and either go to Katmandu or to other countries in order not to get killed.
The Dutch guy was hiking with his Nepalese friends and he told us that they got in trouble last time they were hiking and they could not get any further. It is really hard for a Nepalese person to travel in its own country, he must either be a guide with a license or have to travel for business reasons, otherwise they do not have the right to go to another city because anyone could be a Maoist.
The king instaured rules to make it more difficult for the Maoists to move in the country and get organized. That is one of the reason of the numerous army checkpoints.
4/6/05 Day 16
From: Sinuwa 2340m
To: Deorali 3150m
Here we crossed more bamboo and very humid jungle-like forest. A nice waterfall was coming down a rocky cliff, but we couldn't see it completely due to the low clouds covering the top of the mountain. It was still misty, the sky was very cloudy and from time to time it was raining, so again no pictures.
Close to Deorali there were no trees anymore, only some little purple flowers and green little bushes.
There we saw again the Dutch guy and met two other Dutch women. When they were younger, they volunteered to teach English in Nepal and since then they come back every year, twice a year, to trek with their Nepalese friends that are actually guides.
One of the women even adopted a Nepalese child. These groups of Dutch and Nepalese poeple started to play guitar and sing some Nepalese folks songs. They even started dancing which allowed us to see how Nepalese poeple dance. It was a nice warm evening in the cold mountain.
4/7/05 Day 17
From: Deorali 3150m
To: Annapurna Base Camp 4150m
This was another big day, we were heading to the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). We started quite late since we didn't have much ground to cover.
We stopped for a break in Machha Puchare Base Camp (MBC).
Machha Puchare, also known as Fish Tail, is considered a holy mountain and it got forbidden to climb it after a whole Japanese expedition died in 1969.
The weather was clear in the morning but it got cloudy and rained in the afternoon.
There were yellow bamboo trees on the way growing in the snow.
A surprising thing was to find some nice orange butterflies over 4000m flying over the snow.
We arrived at 12:30 pm at the ABC, to go further and climb the peak, a $6000 permit is required. The sky was getting cloudy but we still had a bit of the view.
Up there was again very cold, everything was white covered with snow. We had a damn good hot chocolate to celebrate. Later, in the afternoon, it got really foggy and it started snowing.
For diner Angie had a Dal Bath Nepalese style, with the fingers.
4/8/05 Day 18
From: Annapurna Base Camp 4150m
To: Sinuwa 2340m
We woke up very early, at 5:15 am, planning to watch the sunrise from the sanctuary, a place 10 min away from the lodge where you are surrounded by the Annapurna range, but the weather was completely closed, there was absolutely no view. It was still snowing from the night before.
So we had breakfast and waited to see if the weather would clear.
At 7:30 am we decided to leave, since the weather was getting worse, the snowing got stronger and we were afraid of getting stuck up there.
For 1:30 hour we walked in a snow storm and it was impossible to see beyond 20m. But as we got to lower altitude it stopped snowing.
The trail was covered with thick fresh snow making it very slippery. Further, going down, we crossed a fresh avalanche, probably from the night before, since we didn't see it when we came up.
After a while, it started raining and the wind started to blow, it was a really wonderful day :D.
We stopped for lunch only at 2 pm and had to wait for 2 hours because the rain got worse, only at 4 pm we were able to walk again.
At 5:30 we were back to Sinuwa where we had, definitely ,the scariest night of our lives.
We went to bed early, at 9 pm but were waken up around 11 pm by the noise of a strong wind and rain.
After a while it got worse, the wind got stronger and more water was coming down. The roof was shaking so much that we decided to pack all our stuff and be ready to run, just in case the roof would fly off.
Our room was at the 2nd floor of a wooden building that was built in the middle of a slope of a hill with maybe 60 degrees of inclination.
Angie was concerned about landslides since it is a commun problem in Nepal and suggested that we should move to a room downstairs.
I wasn't too sure about how much safer that would be and suggested we should wait a bit more to see if the storm would get weaker.
I went a couple of times outside, on the balcony, to check how bad it was and the storm wasn't promising to get any better.
At certain point, the electricity went off and we were left completely in the dark.
The noise of the roof shaking, the walls trembling and the complete absence of light made us even more afraid that something was going to happen. We were ready to run.
Luckily the rain got weaker and we were left only with the strong wind.
Eventually, almost in the morning, the storm lost its strength and we managed to have a few hours of sleep.
4/9/05 Day 19
From: Sinuwa 2340m
To: Pothana
Although we had a very short sleeping night, the day started early. By 7:30 am we were on the track.
This was the longest walking day, 9:20 hours. With 1.200m up and 1.350m down.
At 9:15 am we stopped at Chomrong, where we found another bakery with chocolate danish :D
After the danish roll with coffee, Angie started running like a rabbit and made me look like a turtle, far far behind. Sappa was in the middle trying to keep one eye on each of us.
After many ups and downs, it started raining.
We got to Tolka at 14:30 pm for lunch.
I was dead tired of having to run after Angie. Sappa was ok, of course.
After lunch, we went up another neverending stairs and with full stomach I fell even more behind.
There were many nice scenaries with the rainy atmosphere but no pictures for you guys since our camera is not waterproof.
At 6 pm we finally arrived in Pothana.
4/10/05 Day 20
From: Pothana
To: Phedi
This was an easy day of walk; we did only 2:30 hours in nice weather.
We woke up before sunrise, had breakfast and left for the trails.
Close to Phedi there are many rice fields.
At 10:30 we were in Phedi waiting for the bus to Pokhara.
When the bus arrived, Sappa suggested we should jump on the roof, because inside the bus would get really crowded very soon. Not only could we enjoy the nice view, but we could also watch our backpacks.
10 min before getting to Pokhara we stopped to visit another monastery.
After that, we took another bus, another roof top, to Pokhara. Went to the hotel, had a little rest and nice lunch.
Then we rented some bikes to go around in Pokhara.
Sappa took us to a Tibetan village where we visited a carpet making center. The technique being used by the Tibetan women was quite different than the ones we saw in India; the Tibetan technique requires much more time to finish one carpet.
We also visited the Devi's fall, which is a underground waterfall . This is a interesting river that is swallowed by a tunnel and disappears.
Back to Pokhara we met this figure on the street playing his flute for the Cobras and the tourist entertainment.
After we returned the bikes, we stopped by a Tibetan bar for some snacks and beer. Angie tried 'tumba', a Tibetan Beer made with fermented millet and hot water, while Sappa and I were happy with a cold Everest.
We also had a snack made of dried meat deeply fried in oil. Mmmmmm, with beer that was good.
Once we finished the beer,we moved to another restaurant for dinner where they also show a Nepalese cultural dance.
Back to the hotel we tried to rest and prepare for the next day trip to Kathmandu.
4/11/05 Day 21
From: Pokhara
To: Kathmandu
Well, here is another adventurous bus trip. The departure was scheduled for 7:30 am which was done with only 10 min of delay. After one hour of riding, we stopped and I could see from the window the military gang standing outside ...
... so we thought it was just another checkpoint, but we ended up staying there until 10:30. The reason? There was a Maoist strike happening for the last couple of days. So the royal army provided security. The so long wait was to get as many buses as possible together and to escort them all the way from Pokhara to Kathmandu.
That is how we travelled, in the middle of a more than 30 buses caravan ...
... with army trucks and tanks at the end, middle and front of the line.
It took longer than the estimated 7 hours but at least we were 'safe'.
At the gathering point there were many people selling all kind of snacks, different breads and fruits. Life in poor countries (although I'm from Brazil) can be very different then what we are used to. Our bus was stopped right In front of the house of this woman. With the doors open, we could see her single room which had only few appliances laying on the floor.
The bus made it to Kathmandu around 7 pm. We didn't see any Maoist on the way.
posted by Adriano and Angie | 10:48 AM
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