Trekking Nepal and beyond...

Hi everyone ... 27 days later and Mike and I have completed our trekking adventure around the Annapurna Circuit and the Mardi Himal. It would take me for ever to recount all the wonderful experiences we had along the way but suffice to say, we will be forever changed from this trip. Our adventure was everything we hoped for, and more - a cliche I know but very fitting. Every day we encountered something different - different scenery from dry, arid ridges to sensational green and lush Rhoderdendron Forests - different trekking surfaces from skinny, dangerous, landslide ridden tracks, gorgeous pine needle covered meandering trails through the forest, to dusty, rocky wide (one lane) 4-wheel drive only roads. We walked through sites where locals were widdening the road by blasting the Himal (mountain) away with dymanite and only one soldier with a walky talky to advise of the danger ahead. These young men were all working on the very steep sides of mountains with absolutely no safety gear whats0ever and in thongs!! Completely astounding. And then, after the blast, the guys would go to the area that was blasted and start throwing boulders down the cliff face and into the river below. God help anyone, or any animal that just happened to be wandering down below!

It took us around 10 days to reach Thorong La which is the pass across from Manang District to the Upper Mustang and we reached a height over 5600 meters. It was unbelievably freezing! We estimated it would have been easily 15 degrees below and we were wearing absolutely every article of clothing we could find. I even had socks over my gloves!
We braved a God aweful windy walk to Karbeni in Upper Mustang with winds gusting up to 70 knots - the wind literally stopped you in your tracks. However, the walk was well worth it it because Karbeni was a treasure trove of history and amazing local surroundings. We even managed to find a few fossils in the Kali Gandaki River - a real treat.
As I mentioned in my earlier blog, Jomson was a bit of a disappointment but you can't like every place you visit. It was about here that we realised our Guide, Krishna wasn't well and we were obliged to stay in Jomson longer than we hoped. However, we were soon on our way - jumping into a Jeep (with if you can believe it - 18 other locals and one Finnish guy) for a three hour hair-raising trip to Ghasa (I think) where we then joined another 20 or so people on a local bus to Tatopani - two hours of 4-wheel driving expertise you can only see in Australia if you're a Rally Car Driver. I swear, these young Nepali drivers have no fear and hurl these vehicles left, right, over massive boulders, into divets and around each other, and any unlucky trekkers that happen to be on the road - on skinny little one lane trails. I just closed my eyes for all the scarey bits - they were closed a LOT!
Tatopani was nice, we stayed on a really nice lodge and had a soak in the Hot Springs. I was disappointed in the Springs - unfortunatey in their wisdom, the Nepalese have turned the Springs into a bit of a cement bath, but the water was hot and it did take away some of the aches and pains.
Next Ghorapani and sadly our Guide was getting sicker by the hour. We were really concerned because he got some kind of rash on his face and felt quite ill. We stayed two nights here and trekked up to Poon Hill for the 5:30am sunrise. It was very hazy and we didn't get to see the beautiful mountains, but the sun rising a brilliant red was pretty special. From here we trekked to Ghandruk and poor Krishna was no better. In fact, we finally figured out why he was so unwell - he had Chicken Pox!!! Horrible blistery welts all over the poor fellow. He had no idea what was wrong with him and it took us a while to explain he'd picked up this virus from another traveller, most likely another Porter or Guide back in High Camp (dirty place).
So poor Krishna needed to get back to Pokhara asap and we contacted his boss to arrange to get him to hospital and for us to get another Guide. Krishna had to walk 5 hours to Nayapul and then another 1.5hrs in a taxi to Pokhara - we felt really terrible saying good bye to him, he's a really nice guy and had a long way to go, alone, before he could get any treatment.
And so for the rest of our trip we had Dunbar (soon to be christened Dunbabble - he never stopped talking!) as our guide and Mardi our porter. We headed off for the Mardi Himal leg of our trek from Ghandruk which was to be a wonderful six day walk through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. Most of it, green, lush, ancient Oak and Rhoderdendron Forest with little villages tucked along the ridges of the many Himal we traversed during our trek. We even saw a big group of monkeys!
This particular trekking route is only recently opened to travellers and apart from meeting one Austrian man, we were the only trekkers on the trail. As you can imagine, the locals were facinated by us and eager to say Namaste and welcome to there little piece of untouched, unspoilt paradise. We stayed at camp sites where we needed to call ahead so the owners of the sites could come up from a nearby village to open up for us, cook for us and see us on our way next morning. This happened at three stops, Forest Camp, Low Camp and High Camp. The accommodation was extremely basic, the food very basic - Dhal Bhat for just about every meal (in fact we ate Dhal Bhat constantly for six days and it was different every time!), no hot water, no toilets and when there was one, the great outdoors was a far better option!
Once we reached High Camp it was bitterly cold and raining - we spent most of the eveningin the tiny kitchen with everyone to keep warm. It was great, we drank hot Chay Kharte (local rum made from rice and Raxi a local alcohol from millet). it was all worth it - the views were to die for the next morning! We literally felt like were were one with the mountains. So close to Annapurna South and Maccapuchare we felt we could almost reach out and touch them (well, not quite but it felt that way!!). We walked for a few hours from High Camp until we found a high peak where we hung up our Prayer Flags and happy snapped for ages. It was just such an amazing feeling - the sky was crystal clear, the mountains right near us and we had 360 degree views of everywhere! Heaven.
So from here it was a two day trek back to Pokhara - incredibly long days but beautiful country side and happy, engaging people along the way. We walked through age-old Gurung villages, with their skinny, rock paved streets and lovely white and ocre mud-rendered houses - quite a picture.
At one lunch stop we ate with a group of young local women who were undertaking a training course on how to be a Homestay host. They were learning basic hygiene and traditional cooking. They were so thrilled to meet us, all laughing and giggling - none could speak much English. Anyway, after lunch, the two young men who were running the course asked if we would like to speak with the ladies about our trek and give them some tips on how to run a good house for travellers. Me, being me - jumped at the chance, so up we got and talked about our adventures and about some of the little things that could be done to keep the whole idea of a traditional homestay Nepali style but just a couple of basic necessities for trekkers. They loved it and we were told afterwards that the ladies would never forget meeting us and would go back to their village and tell everyone about these nice Australian travellers who took the time to talk with them - we were thrilled.
That very same day, we were not too far from our destination (about an hour) when we could hear singing and music and Mardi said it was a local wedding - would we like to join them? You bet! So off we went and as it turned out it was the home of the groom and all the women of the family were celebrating the arrival of the new wife. It was a ceremony for women only so even though Mike, Dunbar and Mardi were there, I was the only one invited to join in the dancing. I felt like such a giant!! Nepalese people are quite small and I towered over these ladies. They were all dressed up in beautiful saris adorned with jewels and they were having such a great time. They were so excited that I was there, they sang songs about me and I had to dance with the two sisters and mother. It was a hoot! They even bought out food for us all! And when I got my camera out, they went photo crazy. I loved it - what a great way to finish the day.
But it didn't stop there, we finally reached Mardi (our Porter's home) where we had agreed to stop the night. Mardi's home was quite small and he has three children. The family had never before had anyone stay with them from outside their family unit and they were completely overwhelmed to have us. The kids were fantastic, they wanted to see all our stuff, look at our photos, through our bag - they were fascinated with my 'toiletries bag' full of things they couldn't imagine! Mardi works incredibly hard to support his family, one boy is a great soccer player, the other boy very academic and his two daughters are star runners. Anisha(14) is the regional champion 800 meters runner and Manisha (16) is the National 400 meter champion and soon will represent Nepal in Singapore at an international level. However, if you saw the way this family lived, you would be completely blown away by just how Mardi and Bhagwati have managed to give their children these possibilities. They are so poor but so very happy and so very loving. Mike and I bought the boys a new soccer ball because the one they had was completely trashed - it was just hanging together by threads. And more unbelieveably, Anisha runs bare feet because she has run her shoes to death. It broke my heart, but I just didn't have enough time to organise a new pair of shoes for her. When we get back to Australia we hope to arrange to support these kids somehow.
So now we're back in Pokhara and head off for Kathmandu tomorrow morning. We've had the best time. Nepal is an amazing country - it might be small and one of the poorest nations on our planet, but it is jammed packed with wonders, beauty and amazing sights and people.
So what are you waiting for - come and visit this place - it will change your life!

We're looking forward to seeing everyone back in Australia soon. I hope you've enjoyed following the adventures of the Habitat for Humanity Team Workcover. It's been one heck of an experience.

Love and hugs to everyone.
Christine and Mike