Annapurna

/I've just come back from a most amazing experience: a 10-day Himalayan trek. Terrain: rough, formidable, conquerable. Views: snow-capped, crystal-clear, terrace-agricultured. Food: Nepali, plentiful, cheap, delicious.
My 2 friends from UQ, Ben and Fiona, 1 other girl working in the hospital and another that she met took off the 10 days, hired a guide (15$/day) and set off last last Friday to Nayapur, the gateway to the Mt. Annapurna Base Camp trek.
Day 1: Nayapur to Gandruk
This was our first day and it consisted of mainly up-hill climbs and virginal glee and awe at the surroundings. The only marring event was the pathway blockaded by Maoists. Normally, I'm for the pinkos, but anyone who forces me to donate money irks me. After much yelling and annoyance, we each paid 400 rupees (8$) to these men-in-red, got our receipt so we wouldn't be assaulted again, and were on our way. We got our first glimpse of terrace agriculture: the continually-beautiful system of farms that they have embedded in the hillsides over here, like giant steps, filled with millet, wheat, corn, and other stuff. We also got introduced to the highly used pack-mule and even more used pack-human (aka Porter) carrying large and heavy bundles up the steep stairs, yet passing us with their mighty strength. We also saw a kid with a nasty leg wound and cleaned him up and bandaged him. We spent the night in a nice tea house that afforded an amazing morning vista and stuffed ourselves silly, thus setting the tone for the rest of the trip. The tea-houses/lodges are amazing. Built in remote and high-up places, they have government-mandated menus and prices and provide affordable and clean beds and delicious meals as far as we were going to be hiking. It's amazing, actually, how cheap things were considering the captured market and how much they could have charged. A bed would be between 1 and 2$ a night and a good meal (with water to drink) wouldn't be more then 3 or 4$ anywhere along the trek.
Day 2: Gandruk - Chomrong
We woke up and breakfasted outside, just gazing jaw-a-drop at the views of Machhapuchre, Annapurna South, and Hyongtully mountains. The hike started with a decent downhill and a killer uphill. We hiked for several hours, with good rests in between, and got to our teahouse. Had a shower, lots of food, some cards and called it a night. By day 2 or 3, we would predictably be in bed by 8pm.
Day 3: Chomrong - Dovan
This was a very nice day. Woke up and started off the day climbing down 2000 stairs, crossing a river, then climbing back up for great views of the area. The next 2 or 3 hours was "Nepali flat" (rolling ups and downs) through cool jungles. Saw some white monkeys and a bunch of birds and enjoyed the beautiful cool moss-covered foliage. Stopped at the outskirts/ends of the forest, as we'd reached 2500m elevation and the terrain was starting to change. This also marked the change to less-nice accommodation (eg no hot showers) and cold nights.
Day 4: Dovan - Machhapuchre Base Camp
This was a big day as we were due to climb 1200 vertical meters over the course of the day. Over 2500-3000m is when altitude sickness kicks in, so the agenda was walking half the speed at which you're comfortable. Sounds weird at first but once it starts getting more and more difficult to breathe, it makes sense. The terrain changed from jungle to rugged and mountainous, but still quite beautiful. The last leg (1 1/2hrs) was, in my humble opinion, the hardest part of the whole journey. The terrain itself was easy but the altitude and steady incline made it increasingly difficult to breath and then it started to snow. I made it to the lodge, finally, and rejuvenated myself with a hot bowl of garlic soup. Supposedly it's good for acute altitude sickness but I didn't really care since it was hot and garlicky. We were about 1hr away from the next and last leg but decided to stay the night so we could do the leg in the morning and watch the sunrise. I thought this was dumb but boy was I wrong...
Day 5: MBC - Annapurna Base Camp - MBC - Dovan
We woke up at 5am and set off along the dark track. The stars were simply amazing: it was a crystal-clear night, nary a cloud in sight, we were at 3700m elevation and there was zero light pollution. After 10 or 15 minutes of walking by headlamp, we realized that we could make better use of the light of the stars. It was simply magical: starlight glinting off frozen streams and the snow from the tremendous mountains surrounding us as we walked in a valley on a gentle incline. It gradually got a little lighter and as we neared the Base Camp, pink started caressing the tops of looming Goliaths until gold saturated the air and everything around. And it was coooooold.

After sunrise, we had a well-earned breakfast and then trekked back down, which was considerably easier. We walked back through the jungle and ended up back at a lodge we'd stayed at several days prior and the previously cold weather now felt quite warm in comparison.
Day 6: Dovan - Chomrong
Backtracking back to Chomrong was a short and mostly sweet day. We stopped by a river to have a swim and do some laundry, Nepali style. The water was bloody cold. Like it made Lake Superior feel like a warm bathtub - even I, the polar hirsute devil that I am, was only able to submerge myself for a second and then jump right out. The air was warm and sunny, though, so we lazed about for a bit before climbing back up the 2000 stairs that we'd previously climbed. Once we got the lodge, it was business as usual: hot chocolate & rum, cards, and food. Food of choice on the hikes was usually vegetable fried noodles, breakfast food (porridge, eggs, etc) and for me Dal Baht for dinner every night. Dal Baht is a huge plate consisting of a generous portion of rice, steamed vegetables, vegetable curry, a papadam, and lentil soup. The best part about it is that you can get free refills on anything you want! When one is trekking up and down hills, cold when not moving and sweating when, carrying a decent-sized backpack upon shoulders the thing you want more is food that doesn't run out. I had it I think 7 dinners in a row (the first 3 nights I didn't know about the refills).
Day 7: Chomrong - Jhinu - Chomrong - Somewhere - Chomrong - Tadapani
This was a doozy of a day. Ben and I woke up at 6 to head to Jhinu, where we'd heard there was some natural hot-springs pools. We couldn't pass it up so we decided to go early and catch up with the girls later. We walked down a very steep hill and got to the base of the valley where the springs were. What they'd done was set up 3 pools with constant flow of hot water from the spring pools. No sulfur smell either. It was right next to a mountain river, too, so we could jump in the river and into hot pool back and forth. We spent an amazing hour relaxing before 8am rolled around and we decided to head back. It was a big climb back to the lodge, made no easier by our relaxed and loose muscles. We had some breakfast and then headed off. We walked about 45 minutes before we reached a fork in the path ; we were informed that going right would lead us to our destination. The right lead up a steep hill and seemed to be a bit backtracky but we took it anyway. An hour of going up and heading in what was obviously the wrong direction - yet we still persisted, constantly awaiting the sudden turn - we ended up almost where we started. Fuck. It was noon by that time, we'd done a crapload of walking and hadn't even gotten where we were supposed to be. We walked back and found a sneaky climb over a fence that was apparently the path we were supposed to take. Finally, on the right route, we headed to the destination. Along the way were some farms that were very fecund. We noticed that actually a lot of them were growing marijuana and, since fall is harvesting time, the air was sweet with the smell. We were offered some to buy but being the upstanding people that we are, we refused (8$ for a ball of hash the size of a large marble). We got to a cool big bridge and then climbed a ridiculous hill, only to get to a plateau and then climb another ridiculous hill through a forest. It was hard work anyway but given our previous days-worth of walking, we were completely shattered by the time we got to the lodge. It was sad, too, since the walk through that forest was quite beautiful and I even got to get close to frollicking monkeys, but I was too wrecked to really enjoy it. Luckily, the lodge had a hot shower and amazing views.
Sunset...
And starry skies aplenty.
Day 8: Tadapani - Gorepani
Woke up at 6 and watched the sun rise and subsequently greet the day.

Thanks to Allah or Ra or someone, I wasn't sore when I woke up. Breakfast and then hiking. We first went up through the next tier of forest (we were climbing up again) that had a surprising amount of snow and ice along the path. It was very slippery at times and I was glad we were going up and not down, for once. The next level was awesome deciduous forest, reminiscent of the Rockies or something: beautifully sweet pine smell coursing through the air, sun peppered leaves on the ground, mountain peaks in the near horizon: it was one of the nicer walks we'd done. All of a sudden it ended at a clearing on top of a hill and the 360 degree landscape was out of this world. Himalayan mountain ranges on one side, rolling hills and farmland on the other, forest in between. We just stopped and stared for 15 or 20 minutes and attempted to soak it in.The sky was crystal blue and we could see, what seemed like, forever. It was just a short downhill amble to the lodge. It was one of the nicer lodges we'd seen: huge with an expansive dining area with couches and a fire in the middle and even a library (where you drop off a book you just read and pick up a book someone else previously left behind): I was in heaven with my book and a mug of rum hot chocolate. We watched the sunset over some locals playing a high-altitude game of volleyball.Day 9: Gorepani - Poon Hill - Gorepani - Hille
We woke up at 5 o'clock to hike up to Poon Hill (yes, it is quite the name - don't worry, many jokes were made) to watch the sunrise. This time we didn't even bother with headlamps because we knew how illuminating the stars were and how brilliant the rods in our eyes are. There were a surprising amount of people climbing up with us but we passed them and made our way to the top. It's actually dumb for me to attempt to describe what it was like watching the sunrise glimpse over the hills and enshroud the Himalayas in yellow. It did. The video could try to do it justice but it simply cannot.
We descended from the hill. That puts it mildly; actually, I ran down. I was full of energy and it was beautiful and I was happy I wasn't carrying my backpack (we left it at the lodge) so I ran down. Breakfast and then on the way. We hiked for a while and ended up descending 3000-some stairs. Everyone's knees were ruined and so we stopped at a lodge. A little dog paid me a visit.
It was only 1:30, however, and the lunch was pretty ordinary and so we decided we'd be extreme and soldier on for another hour or so until we got to a lovely spot along a river. Ben and I went in for a bit of a refresh and then we settled in the open dining area. We'd reached low enough elevation so it wasn't that cold. We ate some fantastic food and, since it was our last night, decided to celebrate a bit by sampling some fermented drink. Retired to sleep.
Day 10: Hille - Nayapur
We woke up early and started the day by a dip in the river. It wasn't as cold as the other river higher up but this one was still quite cold and hard to stay in for too long. After breakfast we set off for a very easy and nice final walk, only 2 hours or so. Along the way, we saw an awesome waterfall with a perfect pool at the bottom and Ben and I could not resist one final swim before leaving. We got to Nayapur and the guide organized seats on a bus for us to get back to Pokhara. Here, when buses are full people sit on top of the bus: there's a grate and a very short fence that you can hang your legs through. I could not resist the opportunity and thus we ended the trek on a great point: sitting on top of a shaky bus with no shocks and old brakes, going through winding mountain roads that were too narrow, with awesome Himalayan backdrop along the way. I had headphones in, listening to J5, wind in my hair and sun on my back, feeling great.

We got back to Pokhara feeling quite proud indeed.
It was difficult but, honestly, not too difficult. The pace we did was such that I was never really tired nor sore. I must say I am very happy with my body, my genes, and my gear since I didn't get any blisters or sore knees or achy muscles or any other aches. My only physical side effect was constant hunger and that I looked like a ripped mountain-man when we returned. All in all, a most-excellent trip.