Annapurna Circuit Play By Play

Day One - Trekking starts now!

And we're off - well sorta we're off. We board the bus from Kathmandu to Besisahara which we are told will take most of the day. It's the local bus and it's festival time, which means that an hour and a half into the bus ride we've picked up several extra passengers who are squatting in the aisles and we're not even out of Kathmandu.

The bus is hot, crowded, and stops frequently to cram more people on. Sitting has never been the top of Doug's skill set and he's very antsy to be done with this. We make a lunch stop for the mysterious Dahl Bhat. Other than the other European couple on the bus, we are the only white people at the lunch stop. Bishnu organizes our lunch and thankfully gives us spoons to eat with - all of the Nepali eat Dahl Bhat with their hands.

Another couple hours into the bus ride and we get a flat tire. Doug and I take advantage of this time to get off the bus and walk around a little. Several people are sitting on top of the bus and Doug looks at them jealously. With how bumpy the roads are, and the fact that we already saw one piece of luggage go flying, I am not as anxious to try out the top.

Children have been puking copiously through the bus, but nothing so horrific as what happens 30 minutes later. Apparently the Dahl Bhat did not agree with one girl and she chose to share it with another guy's lap. I remain very thankful that the girl puked in the direction she did and not the other way, as it would have been all over Doug and I had vision of Doug storming out of the bus announcing "Trekking starts now!"

Luckily also when pukey pants got off the bus to wash his pants off, he faced his pukey pants the opposite way and got puke on the guy across from Doug and not Doug. Thirdly I am thankful for the Al Green playlist Ethan loaded on my Ipod to help me tune out the rest of the ride.

Nine and a half hours later we finally arrive in Besisahara and check into our room. If only we had known at the time what luxury we had - our own shower and western toilet in the room! Thankfully Doug is experienced in the Asian toilet and knew that to flush it you throw water in the toilet.

Day Two - You didn't bring the instructions?

We wake up excited and ready to go for our first day of trekking. Bishnu tells us that it will be an easy day - only four hours of walking. We have breakfast and get ready to steripen our water. Unfortunately, the Steripen is not as user friendly as Aaron from Sports Basement indicated and about 15 minutes later we figure out that you press the button when the Steripen is in the water to get it started. Several times Doug notes that he cannot believe I didn't bring the Steripen directions. This is not the first day he notes it.

We eventually head out walking and the trekking is glorious. We start out going down one gazillion stairs and are quickly out of the rush of Besisahara and into the calm of nothing. The weather is hot and we are sweating intensely. I am grateful when at 11 am we stop for lunch. We take our hiking boots off for the hour long break and give my over heated feet a nice break. We are quickly learning that food comes at least 45 minutes after ordered, but today the break is nice.

We arrive in Bhulbhule at around 12:30. Both Doug and I agree we could have gone further, but we are happy to arrive in one piece and figure it makes more sense to have an easy first day then push ourselves too hard.

We befriend Ethan, who is traveling alone. Bishnu is friends with his guide, Thankur and it appears we are on more or less the same plan.

Day Three - The Erin Donkey.
Starting the evening of the second day, I encountered some stomach issues and they lasted into the morning of Day Three. The morning is a real struggle for me and I lag behind all morning. We see many Donkey Trains that go through. Usually there is one donkey struggling behind who doesn't want to go and we nickname it the Erin Donkey.

All morning is up, up, up and we call it the Nepali Stairmaster.

Finally we stop for lunch and we meet up with Ethan again at the lunch place. I order a blander lunch of vegetable, egg, and potato and boy what a difference does that make! I feel so much better in the afternoon - I am running ahead, scrambling up rocks and generally reveling in my stomach solidness. We declare the lunch potatoes "magic potatoes" and I am thrilled.

Ethan stays at a different hotel from us - but our hotel (the Mont Blanc) is amazing! There is a western flush toilet on our floor. We have dinner with a lovely couple from Holland who is doing the trek on their own. They are very interesting and we enjoy talking to them through most of the evening.

Day Four - River time
Today's walk is a lot of Nepali stairmaster and I take many breaks along the way. We finally get close to the hotel and have some magnificent views, although then I look down and am crestfallen to see that the village is very far down. I have just walked all of this way up to walk back down again? Apparently yes.

After lunch Doug goes to take a nap. I take the opportunity to walk through town and down to the river. It is a beautiful pebble beach along the river and I fall in love with all of the stones, taking pictures of several. I spend a few hours of quite solitude reading, watching the river, and attempting to find inner peace. This is why trekking is so totally worth it.

Day Five - Shopping!
We depart Tal in the morning and it seems as though I've contracted a new stomach bug - how is this possible? I had started on Cypro the night before when it first appeared, and I'm glad I did.

The trek to Chame was not memorable other than my continued concentration on my stomach - but I was excited to get to Chame as it is a bigger town and there is shopping!

Chame is quite the town and it was fun going to a bigger city. We did some shopping where doug and I each bought winter hats for the impending cold weather (150 ruppies a piece), chlorine drops (we have given up on the steripen), tape for our feel, a journal for me, 4 bars of chocolate, 2 snicker, cookies and 4 packages of noodles. We also get 2 extra rolls of toilet paper.

Toilet paper has become quite the commodity and I'm glad we got some extra. All of the toilets have been the squat toilet types where they are basically a whole in the ground - and you have to supply your own toilet paper.

I go to bed early, but Doug stays downstairs in the dinning room and ends up hanging out with the guides. It is festival time and once everyone (but Doug) goes to bed, the guides and porters start drinking some local liquor and singing and dancing. Doug joins in with the drinking but is a bit too shy to try the dancing.

Bishnu has met up with a new guide here, Supa, which is clearly a friend of his for quite some time. We name him Bishnu's new best friend as it seems he is no longer BFF with Thankur.

Day Six - I suppose I'm a tourist

As we're leaving Chame Bishnu and Supa stop to buy some last minute snacks for the tourists. I a somewhat taken aback to be called a tourist - although I understand that, of course, I totally am. It's something about squatting in a toilet that is far from my room and walking for 5 hours a day that makes it hard to believe that I'm really a tourist - but I suppose it is true that i require far more than the Nepali - warm showers, food made to order, heating in the dinning room, etc.

The food on the trek takes forever regardless of what you order. they individually make each item and you are guaranteed to wait at least 30 minutes. The food can be quite good - as long as you don't expect what it says on the menu.

We've been enjoying the momos - which are dumplings filled with either chicken, potato, vegetable or some kind of combo. Canned tuna features prominently on the menu although neither Doug nor I have tried it.

Day Seven - Totally Worth IT

On Day Seven I seem to have finally knocked the back to back stomach viruses and I really am enjoying trekking. This morning i was able to keep pace with Doug and Bishnu ( a first for me, other than the magic potato afternoon).

We've climbed into the trees and spend most of the day walking through pine forest. At times the forest is so dense it's easy to forget you're in Nepal, however as soon as the trees clear you're back in the heart of things.

we made good time here today - slight less than 5 hours. The trail started out "Nepali flat" (i.e. not too steep up and down) for about 2 hours. Then we passed a bridge and began a slow climb up. the climb up lasted almost an hour until we came to a small village which had delicious apples for sale.

We continued for mostly Nepali flat. We were occasionally able to catch small views of the highest snow capped mountains but most spectacular are the smaller mountains whose sides have huge landslides down them that have cleared them.

The mountains are much newer and you can see how the earth has just pushed them out.

This evening I put on my newly bought Nepali hat and asked Bishnu if I looked Nepali. He looked at me and started with "No, your face looks different" which Doug and I thought was a joke at first until Bishnu started to list all the other reasons I didn't look Nepali like my clothes, the way i walk, etc.

Day Eight - More Walking
We walk to Pisang today and you can start to tell that the air is getting thinner. The walk is lovely and I really enjoy all of the pine trees around. Doug and I alternate hanging out with Ethan, who walks with us most days. Some days Ethan walks up with Doug while at other times he hangs back with me. Doug and I maybe walk together for one hour to two hours in the morning based on my ability to walk fast and Doug's ability to slow down. Eventually gravity gets the best of us and I lag back while Doug pushes forward.

The afternoons are filled with lots of free time and we play many, many rounds of cards. we're continuing our Rummy game which started in the Bangkok airport, although Doug didn't bring our Thailand scores so we've started again. We discussed playing to 27,000 which is the cost in baht of my plane ticket to Kathmandu.

Today we played an intense game of Go Fish between Doug, Ethan, and I although we got kinda stuck at the end when we couldn't remember all of the rules. I would recommend for anyone trekking that you review some card games to play that don't involve drinking. Doug, Ethan, and I vaguely remember that there is a game called Crazy 8s, but none of us know the rules.

The nights are starting to get cold, and we stay at an Ecolodge where we each have our own little hut. The huts are insulated which helped to keep them warmer at night.

Day Nine - A Morning Without Doug

There are two routes to Manang - an upper more challenging route and an easier lower route. Doug decides that he wants to take the upper route and I am happy to take the lower route. We tell Bishnu in the morning and Bishnu looks at us and goes "but I am one Bishnu". We laugh and tell him we've agreed that Bishnu will go with me and Doug will walk alone. Supa, Bishnu's friend, and guide to the Finnish couple, is also taking the upper route, so if Doug runs into any trouble he can find him.

Ethan, Thankur, Bishnu and I start out on the lower route and it is absolutely lovely. We walk at a pace closest to a stroll that I've walked all trek. We start out in the pine forest still, but as we continue to walk up the pine forest thins and we are soon above the tree lines. The views are still majestic and everyone is content to take many water breaks and stop and appreciate the view.

The walk to Manang is not terribly taxing - it was mostly flat with a few steep climbs. I arrive relaxed and in great spirits around 12:30. We are checked into our hotel and Bishnu has scored us a great coup - a room with our own toilet! It is a squat toilet - but a toilet none the less, and now that it is quite cold outside at night, it will be a relief to not have to venture outside for the toilet. Plus we are here for 2 nights so I can even unpack a little.

I head up to lunch to peruse the menu and another pleasant surprise - we can get Maxican. It is funny to me how many English words are misspelled on printed menus, but Maxican in was. I ordered some enchalades and was thrilled to be eating something different. As I mentioned before, the food is quite tasty as long as you aren't expecting to eat something like an enchilada.

Shortly after lunch Doug arrives. As he was on his own, he crushed the trail and made amazing time. Grateful to have new things to discuss, he reviews some of his days events and I catch him up on my morning.

It is the main night of festival for Bishnu and all the guides. Bishnu gives Doug and I glass of the local wine to share in honor of festival and it is quite strong. We also agree to a later start of 8:30 am tomorrow so we can sleep in. Woot!

Day Ten - Rest Day in Manang

Today is our rest day in Manang as our bodies get used to the altitude.

We ran into the Holland couple again at our hotel yesterday. They are one day ahead of us on the hike.

Today we did our acclimatization hike up to see the 100 Rupee Lama who gave us a good blessing for the pass along with necklaces to wear. The incline was very steep, so, of course, I lagged infinitely behind on the way down. I do not like the steep pebbly down hill. I am going to have to get way better at the way down as we will be doing a lot of down the pass day.

The afternoons are getting boring. They are filled with infinite amounts of cards. We have exhausted our current ability to play rummy and move on to Shithead.

Shithead is played as follows:
Place 3 cards face down for each player and the 3 cards on top. Each person is dealt 3 cards. Before play begins you can exchange any card in your hand for a card that is on top of your face down cards with the goal being to put the best cards face up for later play.

Play stars with whomever has a 4 and you go around playing clockwise from there. You always keep 3 cards in your hand until the deck goes out, at which point you can start playing from your top facing cards. Once those are played you can one at a time play your face down cards, although you cannot see what the card is until you play it.

You must play a card equal to or greater than the card played except for the following special cards:
7s - if a 7 is played, you must play a 7 or lower
2's - restart play - play whatever you like
3's - are whatever the card below them is (for example if a queen is played and a three on top of it, the card is considered a queen)
10's clear and the player of the 10 can then play whatever card they want
8's reverse play

Doug and I also added the rule that if two people in a row play the same card, it skips the next person.

Doug and I play this with either Ethan and Bishnu most of the afternoon.

We head to bed and I have a special treat - Carrot Cake bought at the bakery down the street. It's definitely not Grandma Mary's Carrot Cake - but a pleasant surprise none the less and we have a final nosh before bed.

Day Eleven - Come Hither Red Blood Cells

We left Manang and are 200 meters north. The morning trek wasn't too bad. A steeper start up and then mostly Nepali flat from there on out. The village we're in is very small - just 3 or so guest houses. It's certainly not Manang anymore. TP here is 85 rupees a roll compared to about 45 rupees in Manang.

There is an Israeli family here who brought two young children who are about 8ish. I can't imagine doing this as a child (I mean, most days I can't believe I'm doing it myself).

Once we were here and lunched we went out and did an acclimatization climb. Pretty much Bishnu pointed at a large hill and said walk as far up that as possible. We scamper up the yak tracks and try to follow whatever path we can found. Ethan and I walk slowly up while Doug runs off ahead. My heels are doing much better these days, as my shoes are more worn in.

Ethan and I loose Doug for a while - who has gone completely out of sight. We decide we have gone far enough and sit on some rocks and chat. Eventually Doug comes running back down the mountain and we catch up with him.

Day Twelve
Day Thirteen
Day Fourteen
Day Fifteen
Day Sixteen
Day Seventeen
Day Eighteen

Day Nineteen - 3, 180 Stairs Down - and that's just after lunch!

We were woken up early by Bishnu to make the trek up to Poon Hill for a sunrise view of the Annapurna. The mysterious bump on my leg that had appeared yesterday had been painful over the night and I had not slept well. I opted out of the Poon Hill trip for more sleep while Doug lazily got out of bed and went up. He came baack to announce it had been very crowded and difficult to get a good picture, and it sounded like I hadn't missed much (although others had talked fondly of it).

Due to the Poon Hill trip, we started a little later and were out the door by about 8:30. After having spent two days walking straight up hill, it was now time to walk down, down, down, down. And walk down we did!

Bishnu thoughtfully got me a walking stick before we started out, which was very helpful. It's all straight down stairs, but the stairs are all carved out random rocks and some have rather steep drops that I used the walking stick on. I did the best I could, but I often heared the clatter of other walkers behind me and would allow them to pass. My legs and body were so sore from the two days of uphill that I really struggled all the way to lunch.

Today was the famous day of 3,280 stairs down and by the time we got to lunch I thought we must have finished most of them. Not so, Bishnu informed me. We had actually just only done about 100 of the stairs, and still had 3,180 to go before we could stop for the night. Already exhausted at lunch, I ordered some potato soup and chapati hoping it would have a magical effect.

"How much longer after lunch?" I asked Bishnu.
"For a normal person, 45 minutes to an hour, but for you I think one hour thirty minutes." He answered. Doug and I just laughed, I was walking so slowly today and was so tired, I was no where near a normal person.

After lunch, we gave up any pretense of walking together and Bishnu told Doug where to stop. I did my best to make it down all of the stairs and finally we arrived right before town to find Doug laying on some rocks by the path. I had made it down in only one hour! I had done it in a normal amount of time.

Bishnu quickly found us a room and I immediatly crashed on the bed. I was beyond exhausted. I had to pee, but there were only squat toilets available and it took me laying down for 45 minutes before I had the leg strength to use them.

Thank god we only had one day left!

Day Twenty - We Made It!

Today was our last day of trekking and then a taxi to Pokhara.

We started a bit later than usual - around 8ish as we knew we only had 3 hours of walking to go. It started off up some stairs most quickly leveled out to mostly Nepali flat and back into the forest. I tried to relish as much as possible of our last day, and for the most part the trail was relatively quite. We stopped about 30 minutes before our final destination for a last crushing of Dahl Bhat and a leisiourly lunch.

We got to town where Bishnu spent some time negotiating taxi prices before we hopped into a taxi to Pokhara. What and odd feeling it was to be in a car - we hadn't been in one in almost three weeks! I happily looked out the window as the kilometers passed by and we headed down into Pokhara. We had changed from our hiking boots into flip flops while Bishnu had done his negotiating and I spent the car ride down amazed that the trek was over and excited for a few days of rest.

Day Twenty-One - Relaxing in Pokhara

I woke up today with my right leg swollen, bright red, and aching every time I tried to stand on it. It was time to seek some medical advice.

I walked to the local Pharmacy who claimed to have a doctor on call, but the doctor could not come so I got advice on how to get to the Clinic for Foreigners. The pharmacist tried to convince me that he would drive me, but for reasons I can't explain to this day, I was dead set on walking.

The clinic was rather far, but large and everyone was very nice. When I arrived I showed my leg to the receptionist who called the doctor on duty. He offered me tea while I waited and told me not to worry, that they have very good medicine here.

I was very relieved when the doctor arrived quite quickly - I hadn't even had time to finish my tea. He looked at my leg and took my temperature and diagnosed it as an inflamed infection. I had a low grade fever, which made sense as my body was trying to fight the infection. He gave me an anti-biotic as well as an anti-inflammatory, and a third medicine in case my fever got worse. He gave me his phone number and email and told me I could call him at any time. His english was very fluent and he was incredibly nice and professional. The whole experience, including the doctor visit, three types of medicine, and the ability to come back for a follow up visit cost me 40 US dollars or 3000 rupees which I thought was unbelievably cheap. I made an additional donation to the medicine for the poor fund and went hobbling on my way back to the hotel.

As I hobbled back to the hotel, I ran into Bishnu and Doug who had come looking for me. Feeling relieved to have some medicine to help things, I was in far better spirits than earlier in the morning. We hung out at the hotel where Bishnu sent someone from the hotel off to find ice for my leg and played some cards while I kept my leg elevated.

When the hunger pains for lunch set in, we went into downtown Pokhara and had a lovely lunch on a rooftop bar. From there we headed to the canoeing area where we spent the next few hours on the lake with Doug doing most of the paddleing. Pokhara is very beautiful, particularly on the lake, and I contributed by serrenading Bishnu and Doug with a rendition or two of "My Paddle's Keen and Bright".

After canoeing, Doug and I went off to internet while Bishnu went back to the hotel. We interneted for a little while - my first time online after I had finished trekking and tried to get caught up on email and do a little blogging. We headed to the Bistro Caroline that I had spotted earlier for a splurge on a swanky dinner. The Bistro Caroline was quite a step up from where we had been frequenting - but it was totally worth it. We started with splitting an appetizer of mozerella, tomato, and pesto. I had the gourmande de mer - which was a delicious shrimp and fish dish and Doug had chicken. We each got a glass of wine and split chocolate mousse for dessert - although it was really chocolate jello pudding. All of this for $30 or $15 a person. It was quite the splurge in Pokhara but I was definitely longing for a nice meal and this was perfect.

The next morning it was up early for a bus from Pokhara back to Kathmandu and trekking was truly over.