14 - 27th May Annapurna Trek Photos to follow asap.
We wanted to take at least one trek whilst in Nepal and set about trying to find one that would provide the best scenery for the time John had left as we obviously knew that he was leaving near the beginning of June. After some investigation and assistance from an ex-work colleague in England we decided to trek in the Annarpurna sanctuary, taking in the Annapurna base camp & Poon Hill which were both said to provide exceptional views. The trek seemed to be reasonably achievable in 10 days and that fitted well with John’s personal itinerary so the next thing to decide upon was wether we required a porter or guide.
Initially we decided to take just one porter and no guide as we found a very competent little book which seemed to clearly explain the routes involved. We asked our Hotel manager to secure us a porter and advised them that we made need 2 but committed fully to the one. We were assured that the one had plenty of experience, although he spoke little English. We were satisfied by their description and continued to prepare.
Later that day Sylvia met another guide, Casey, who we thought would be suitable as a second porter/guide. As John wasn’t aware of Casey I wanted to make sure he was happy first and agreed to return to confirm the following morning. When I returned to speak to the Hotel Manager, and to advise him about Casey, he said that he’d already secured a 2nd Porter who was also normally a guide. I stated that I’d not asked him to do that and it was an unnecessarily awkward few minutes. Against my/our better judgement, we went with the Hotel’s recommendation.
Day 1 - The Off
We were up early at 05:30 to finish packing our last bits and to take breakfast, Sylvia now unfortunately with a cold !!, and returned to the Hotel and our Taxis-The Taxi driving was crazy for the road conditions and weather.
As we sped along, the second taxi, containing the porters went by with a very boyish looking young man waving at us as if he was on a days outing with his mates or school. I was horrified. The rucksacks we’d packed weren’t heavy but when we saw how slight the young man was I was sceptical as to if he would last the trip. I spoke to our Porter/Guide who knew him, and he assured me that the lad was stronger than himself. (Incidentially, the young lad was supposed to have considerable experience-in reality he’d portered on only one other trek !!) At our final preparation point before starting properly out on the trek I happened to follow the use of the toilet by our young porter-the toilet stunk of cigarette smoke. It really did feel like we were taking a boy with us rather than him being part of a team.
On the first day we trekked from Birethanti to Ghandruk, a trek that has allegedly over 13,000 steps ! Just over mid-way we stopped for lunch and Sylvia was able to have Rosti, a Swiss dish consisting of Potatoes and fried egg/cheese on top, which she enjoyed. Overall it wasn’t a very hard day although Sylvia found it understandably hard to breath as a result of her cold. When we arrived at Ghandruk were assured that the Hotel we were staying at had warm showers but in reality they were freezing cold, and I mean freezing. Dinner was ok but mine was served cold and so got sent back to the kitchen.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589430.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Evidence of the 13,000 steps
Day 2 - Ghandruk to Chhomrong
We all slept ok that night and were “greeted” with a foul watery porridge which we managed to force down us. Our Porter/Guide told us that the day would be quite easy as we trekked towards Chhomrong, but in reality we had to descend down one side of a valley to climb back up the other. On the descent we were met by a lot of donkies carrying large gas bottles on what was a narrow and steep track, at one point Sylvia and I being forced off the path for the very real fear of being crushed by the bottles. These donkies were treated quite harshly but then the owner also looked like his life was quite harsh too. The climb back up the other side took around 2 hours. John now has a very disciplined approach to trekking now and doesn’t like to stop too often on these harder ascents as he looses his rhythm so he was off from Sylvia and I after not too long a period. Sylvia and I found it tough and I found myself asking the question why I was doing this to myself again but that soon dispersed as we got to the top of this part of the ascent. ( Call me fickle !!) The killer was that we then had to climb another too-many-steps to consider counting to get into Chhomrong, our destination for this evening. This evening we were assured that the showers would be hot but again in reality they were only luke warm which was particualry unhelpful to Sylvia as she still had a her cold. John decided to take advantage of a massage on the basis of how cheap our rooms were (about £1 per night. )so he disappeared for an hour to re-surface looking quite cold as the massage had been done in his own room.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589431.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Chhomrong
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589433.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A native Chhomrongiong woman sitting on her roof !
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589434.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Some of the incredible terracing we saw.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589435.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The donkies that nearly crushed Sylvia & I.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589883.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A friendly native that turned out to be a friend of our guide Rajindra.
Dinner for me was disgusting, a Stroganoff “apparently“, John and Sylvia fared slightly better. We were not impressed and made the point to our Porter/Guide that this was not acceptable.
I’d had a small swelling in my elbow in Pokhara which had now developed to make my left arm looked like it belonged to Popeye. There was no pain unless I knocked it but it was disconcerting none-the-less as the elbow joint was now approximaley twice it‘s normal size. As luck would have it we met a Danish couple of whom the man was an undergraduate Doctor who offered to have a look at it. He inspected it and thought it might be some kind of bite that had infected the arm but he wasn’t confident as there wasn’t any real pain. He did however suggest that taking a distilgesic could be helpful, and as luck would have it, I’d bought some for Sylvias cold-having had them recommended by a Pharmasist for drying up her cold symptoms. (Which apparently is rubbish !!) Despite the obvious benefits of meeting the Danish they were also very nice people and Sylvia were both refreshed by their company. I slept the best I had in ages.
Day 3 - Chhomrong to Dovan
The following day we headed for Dovan and itstarted with a very heavy rain downpour for which John had elected not to put on waterproofs as he felt the resultant sweat from walking would make him just as wet anyway. Sylvia and I togged up and we set off. The first part of our walk started with a horrific number of steps going down the Chhomrong side of the valley(which we knew we would have to face again on the way back!) , followed by a steep climb up the other side…very depressing. Part of the way up we stopped at Sinuwa for some drinks in the sun which gave us an opportunity to dry out a bit and rest. We then continued to Bamboo for lunch. John and the two porters had arrived before Sylvia and I and managed to avoid a second down-pour that Sylvia and I had to endure for 15-20 mins. We had lunch inside the restaurant and waited for the rain to stop…but it didn’t and we had to leave in it. John elected again to walk in t-shirt and shorts whilst Sylvia and I dressed for winter !!! A few minutes into the walk and John’s Camelback emptied its entire contents over the back of his trousers and legs and into his waterproof boots. It looked awful and there was nothing he could do to stem the flow. It transpired later that the feeder tube had temporarily come off the main body and hence the leak.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589884.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
John snubbs Goretex in favour of the natural wet-look not long after we left Chhomrong !!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589885.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of many bridges we crossed.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589889.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Some more Donkies at work with empty gas bottles.
Within an hour Sylvia had stomach cramps. This now coming after she’d survived her cold !! We arrived at Dovan to the good news of a guaranteed hot shower which I duly dispatched Sylvia to have first. We all had to do some washing, along with a German and Spanish girl we’d met earlier that day, and then tried to dry it under the dining table where they put a gas fired cooker under the table to act as a heater. There wasn’t enough room for us all so Sylvia and I left our wet clothes there to be dried by the Hotel manager.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589890.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
An Amusing goat kept our spirits up on this very wet day.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589992.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A view of Chhomrong having climbed the other side of the valley.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589980.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Even with Sylvias stomach cramps we all enjoyed the under-the-table heating on offer.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589977.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
This is what's happening under the table !!!...yes they are bare flames and this, a cooker, sounded like a jet!!!!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589984.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Day 4 - Dovan to Deurali
Sylvia awoke still suffering from stomach cramps and dioreah but chose to continue anyway. Our original plan had been to trek to Machre Puchre but her cramps were forcing her to stop more frequently. Finally I decided it would be better if we stopped at Deanali to get her some proper rest & recovery time. By way of some comfort for this decision we met an English guy on the way down who had not been able to see the Annapurna range for the clouds that morning but had been able to in the evening. By changing our plan we gave ourselves two shots at seeing the Annapurna base camp(ABC) and range as we would now arrive in the afternoon (as opposed to trekking from Machre Puchre in the morning). Sylvia went to bed almost as soon as she could after arriving and John and I took off for a while for an exploratory investigation into the local scenery.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589989.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of the few precarious bamboo bridges we crossed.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590186.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of our first clear viewings of our surroundings near the end of our day.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590223.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A very kind couple who cooked us a lovely fresh lunch.
Day 5 - Deurali to Annapurna Base camp
We started the day in a particularly pleasant way. The under-table heater had been turned on for us and we had the best porridge we’d tasted on this trek so far.
We left for the base camp with the view to take it slowly in order to give ourselves a little time to acclimatise to the increased altitude and also not to kill ourselves by racing at break-neck speed. If we needed further reason to trek at a sensible speed it was poor Sylvia who still hadn’t fully recovered.
The first section was to trek towards the Machre Puchre base camp which turned out harder than we’d expected but in good weather. We took lunch in there and I snapped up a few photos whist the weather was relatively clear. Whilst we stopped there though the clouds came in and by the time we left for the ABC it was cold and misty.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590208.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of our last views along the valley we'd trekked before Machre Puchre.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590192.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The view of Machre Puchre.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590444.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A shot of the Annapurna range.
During the later part of the day we’d had to walk over snow where we could hear some rivers running beneath and had seen waterfalls ended in ice. I.e. frozen in place.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590468.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of the rivers running under the snow.
John was becoming more the mountain goat on this trek and left Sylvia and I with one of our porters whilst we struggled up with our guide. We both found breathing hard, me particularly so, as was the level of effort I was putting in for the climb I was doing. Finally Sylvia & I made it at 14:18 ! I think John was on the coffee, brandy & cigars by then ! >8;O)
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590459.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The terrain nearing the Annapurna base camp.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590455.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Sylvia & I finally make it whilst John was probably talking about the good ol' days of Elephant shooting !
For it’s position the Tea House at the top was great. Plenty of hot drinks and hot food and as many duvets as you wanted. But it was freezing outside and Sylvia and I both wanted a good wash. The best we could get was a bucket of hot water each for use in a very very cold room standing on a equally cold concrete floor. Sylvia returned freezing from her ‘shower’ which made me try to think of ways I could minimise the shock to my own system. I devised a method which worked relatively well.
We met up with the Spanish and German girls again in our Hotel/Tea House, Root & Carol were their names. We also met an Israeli guy who was a walking tornado. He’d already trekked the Annapurna Circuit in something like 2/3’rds the normal time and had belted up here as well.
We ate dinner and played some cards I think and all went to bed early with the hope of seeing the Annapurna range at sun-rise, somewhere around 5:15.
I had an awful night. I kepot wanting to pee(which apparently is a good sign !?!) and I really hurt all over with joint symptoms similar but worse than those to a bad case of flu. Poor Sylvia had her whole night interrupted with my frequent visits to the bathroom which involved the turning on and off of my head-torch every time.
Day 6 - Annapurna Base camp & trek back down to Dovan.
My alarm went off at 5:00 am and I didn’t want to get up but I had promised to be an alarm for a few other people so I had to. Whilst struggling through the night I really wasn’t sure if all the effort was to be worth it, particularly now having to get up into the cold so tired and beaten up. I stepped out of our room and walked out. Whilst the sun still hadn’t risen I could see the whole mountain range without cloud and I almost cried with relief as it was so beautiful and so worth the effort.
I knocked on all the doors I’d promised but most were already up anyway. The sun came up and we were treated to about 10 minutes worth of the mountains coming into orange sun before cloud came over and blocked everything. Over the next hour we got to see sections of most of the range in short bursts of clear sky whilst we simultaneously had our breakfast outside. After the hour had passed we’d all seen enough and got enough pictures to satisfy ourselves and so we decided to leave. The Altitude sickness was also still affecting me quite badly as I now also had quite a headache and so I was looking forward to getting a bit lower again.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591169.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
First light.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591162.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
...and the first hot drink very kindly brought to us where we were viewing the sunrise
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591060.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Views from the Base camp.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591063.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591293.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591295.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591066.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The route back down.
We made it back to Dovan without any major trekking issues and were pleased and relieved to know that we had a hot shower and reasonable food awaiting us there. There was one issue though that had been troubling us all a bit from the start but had now become too much for John, and that was the behaviour of our porter, Bosinta.
Right from the very start we weren’t that happy that the experienced porter we’d been promised with many years and treks experience turned out to be an 18 (going on 13) year old who’d portered on one trek only before. His level of cheekiness and disrespect to all of us had me already addressing the issue with our guide on day 2 or 3 of the trek. Rajindra, our guide was a personal friend of Bosinta’s family and I hoped he would have the best influence on him. But now to add insult to injury Bosinta had found an interest in Ruut & Carol and was basically trying to cajole John into walking with them, and running back and forth between John and them. John and I spoke about it and agreed with Sylvia that we would prefer to sack him and share the heavy rucksack he’d been carrying between us than continue with an immature teenager. John and I spoke to Rajindra and said that we wanted to sack him and agreec that Chhomrung was the best place as an accessible and safe place for Bosinta to return to a point for a bus back to Prokara and home.
We had dinner and played cards with Ruut & Carol and retired to the happy prospect of a later start as we didn’t have so much ground to cover the following day.
Day 7 - Dovan to Chhomrong.
This was our first morning of getting up a bit later, as close as you can get to a lie-in whilst trekking anyway ! We had breakfast at 09:00 and left at 10:30.
When we did get going Sylvia’s right thigh was giving way and so she and I slowed right down and let the others go on at their own pace. We met them later for a coffee and later for lunch.
Today was a day we’d all dreaded since initially climbing up from Chhomrong the first time. We knew there were going to be plenty of steps both down and up before we could relax at a dinner table !
On the way down Sylvia and I saw a few un-teathered donkies munching on all the bushes around them. These poor beasts had many sores on their backs from carrying heavy gas bottles up and down to the tea houses. It is a very tough life for all who live in the mountains but seeing this upset us both.
By the time we got to the bottom of the valley and crossed the river it started to rain and so Sylvia and I took cover in the shelter of a coffee shop, hoping also to get a coffee. The proprieter wasn’t present and the two woman/girls left close by had no idea what we were asking for. Eventually we gave up and just sat the shower out.
The rain stopped and we set off up the steps to Chhomrong, finally we made it to our hotel and were clapped in by Rajindra as we staggered in.
Sylvia and I took a shower and met up again with John, Carol and Rutt for dinner. We’d bought some apple juice earlier which we shared before dinner and a further deck of cards to suppliment those which Carol had. The Pizzas we had were the best we tasted so far and were accompanied(by some of us) with Banana and custard.
We had a few games of cards and generally had a pleasant evening with the one negative point that the girls had seen Bosinta trying to take a peak at them in their bedroom around shower time earlier in the evening.
Day 8 - Chhomroing to Tadapanni
Bosinta still hadn’t been told by Rajindra that he was being sacked. Instead Rajindra told him that John had decided to carry his own bag and wasn’t required any more. None of us were happy with the handling of the affair and committed ourselves to sorting it out properly when back in Pokhara.We gave him more than enough money for lunch and his bus fare home and said our good-byes. John and I agreed to share the rucksack Bosinta had been carrying and that he would carry it uphill(the mountain goat he’d become) and I would carry it downhill (as I seem to find downhills easier with the weight)…alright I can hear you even now…….>8:O)
The first stint was mainly downhill and so I carried it first but also there were some sneaky hills put in for good measure also, the first being the start whish had a continuation of the steps we’d been walking up the previous evening !! At the bottom of the first valley we swapped over and it was John’s turn now to carry it. He sweated for England as we struggled uphill.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591846.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Me on the first stint with the rucksack taken after about 5 minutes...and..
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591845.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
....about an hour an a half later !!
We stopped for lunch with a beautiful view over a valley. The food was nice and it was a good break especially after the climb we’d just made through the rice fields.
After lunch we walked through a beautiful forest but the steepness became too much for John with the additional weight and so Rajindra took some of the load out of it and added it to his own. This made it more bearable for John and we continued finally coming to Tadapenni which was a big dissapointment. A grubby, noisy, intensely packed little village which we’d hoped would be of a better standard. We arrived there in pretty good shape albeit that John’s back was a little stiff. We took dinner, played cards and retired.
Before retiring though we all reflected on how much more peaceful the whole day had been without Bosinta.
We also commented on how much fitter we all felt too.
Day 9 - Taddapenni to Gorrepani
We started early today so we could get to Gorrepanni early to go to bed early so we could get up the following morning early to see the sun rise over the whoel Annapurna range. Make sense !?!
It was colder than it had been which suited John more than Sylvia and I. The morning had us trekking through some more beautiful forest and rivers. We stuck with the same formulae as yesterday for sharing the rucksack throughout the day.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910735.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
On the way to Gorrepanni
We arrived in Gorrepani at 14:30 and shown to 2 really nice rooms at the bottom of a Hotel positioned at the bottom of town. The rooms were called Sherpa Tensing & Sir Edmund Hilary !!! >8:O) They had en-suite facilities too !!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910848.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
We'd arrived !!.......note the names on the doors !!!
We took a snack for lunch, had some showers and had dinner along with a beer or two whilst we played cards. We took off to bed early as we were to be up at 04:00am ofr our climb to Poon Hill to see the sun-rise. 04:00 !!! What does the 0 stand for ?? (Take a watch of Good Morning Vietnam !)
Day 10 - Poon Hill and return to Birethanti.
The alarm went off somewhere around 03:30 and we struggled to our feet, got dressed and kitted up. Rajindra came down at around 4 and we set off.
We’d been told that the walk up was easy, even with head-torches. John and Sylvia agreed-I didn’t and struggled to keep pace with everybody as we went up.
Eventually we got to the top and met a few others who were prepared to brave an early morning in the hope of a good sun-rise. It was very cold and despite a few layers of clothing we were all feeling it a bit.
We’d heard that a few people operated a drink stand and were delighted to see it open. What we weren’t so delighted about was that Rajindra, Sylvia & I didn’t have any money with us, and John only had enough to buy us 1 hot chocolate each. I know we should have been grateful for that but it was freezing !!!
We watched the sun come up and amusingly watched an insensed Japanese photographer running around the view point as if the mountain range was moving position like an animal. It gave us all a good laugh.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910740.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
When I say we watched the sun come up I meant......hmmmmm, we wanted to..
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910741.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
First light
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910851.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910739.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910850.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of the few pictures with the three of us together.
Finally we’d had our view, got our pictures and descended back down to our Hotel. We had a cooked breakfast which was only just ok, got packed and set off down to our pick-up point for our Taxi back to Pochara.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910849.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
We'd got our pictures, and so had everybody else barring perhaps the Japanese photographer.....
It was a long day, eventually we walked for around 10 hours. We walked down the route we’d originally considered going up but rejected due to the number of steps. We were so pleased that we had as the steps came and came. We met others trekking up this way and they were looking for any encouragement they could get. I found it hard to give them any as I knew what was behind us and in front of them. Sylvia meanwhile heartily encourages some Americans (I think) that there was some flat coming. I looked at her as this flat lasted for about 100 metres !!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910847.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Too many additives in this boys diet me thinks....not.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910405.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
We finally made it back to the Taxi pick-up point, knackered & sweaty but pleased with our effort.
We gave the Taxi driver orders to keep the speed down as we weren’t in the mood to have our nerves played with this afternoon. To our surprise he did !!
We arrived back to questions from our Hotel managers as to what had happened with Bosinta but we deferred them until the following day when we’d had some rest.
Epilogue.
We spoke to the managers about what we’d been promised in Bosinta to which they replied that his family was poor and needed the money. We said that we understood that many were poor in Nepal but it was not their responsibility to employ the Bosintas of the world without advising the employer(us) of his possible behaviour under the guise of an experienced porter. If we wanted to show compassion(and we may well have been prepared to), it was our choice and we should have been given that before the trek, not after. They agreed and we left ‘friends’, paying only for the time that Bosinta had worked for us.
Mike
We wanted to take at least one trek whilst in Nepal and set about trying to find one that would provide the best scenery for the time John had left as we obviously knew that he was leaving near the beginning of June. After some investigation and assistance from an ex-work colleague in England we decided to trek in the Annarpurna sanctuary, taking in the Annapurna base camp & Poon Hill which were both said to provide exceptional views. The trek seemed to be reasonably achievable in 10 days and that fitted well with John’s personal itinerary so the next thing to decide upon was wether we required a porter or guide.
Initially we decided to take just one porter and no guide as we found a very competent little book which seemed to clearly explain the routes involved. We asked our Hotel manager to secure us a porter and advised them that we made need 2 but committed fully to the one. We were assured that the one had plenty of experience, although he spoke little English. We were satisfied by their description and continued to prepare.
Later that day Sylvia met another guide, Casey, who we thought would be suitable as a second porter/guide. As John wasn’t aware of Casey I wanted to make sure he was happy first and agreed to return to confirm the following morning. When I returned to speak to the Hotel Manager, and to advise him about Casey, he said that he’d already secured a 2nd Porter who was also normally a guide. I stated that I’d not asked him to do that and it was an unnecessarily awkward few minutes. Against my/our better judgement, we went with the Hotel’s recommendation.
Day 1 - The Off
We were up early at 05:30 to finish packing our last bits and to take breakfast, Sylvia now unfortunately with a cold !!, and returned to the Hotel and our Taxis-The Taxi driving was crazy for the road conditions and weather.
As we sped along, the second taxi, containing the porters went by with a very boyish looking young man waving at us as if he was on a days outing with his mates or school. I was horrified. The rucksacks we’d packed weren’t heavy but when we saw how slight the young man was I was sceptical as to if he would last the trip. I spoke to our Porter/Guide who knew him, and he assured me that the lad was stronger than himself. (Incidentially, the young lad was supposed to have considerable experience-in reality he’d portered on only one other trek !!) At our final preparation point before starting properly out on the trek I happened to follow the use of the toilet by our young porter-the toilet stunk of cigarette smoke. It really did feel like we were taking a boy with us rather than him being part of a team.
On the first day we trekked from Birethanti to Ghandruk, a trek that has allegedly over 13,000 steps ! Just over mid-way we stopped for lunch and Sylvia was able to have Rosti, a Swiss dish consisting of Potatoes and fried egg/cheese on top, which she enjoyed. Overall it wasn’t a very hard day although Sylvia found it understandably hard to breath as a result of her cold. When we arrived at Ghandruk were assured that the Hotel we were staying at had warm showers but in reality they were freezing cold, and I mean freezing. Dinner was ok but mine was served cold and so got sent back to the kitchen.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589430.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Evidence of the 13,000 steps
Day 2 - Ghandruk to Chhomrong
We all slept ok that night and were “greeted” with a foul watery porridge which we managed to force down us. Our Porter/Guide told us that the day would be quite easy as we trekked towards Chhomrong, but in reality we had to descend down one side of a valley to climb back up the other. On the descent we were met by a lot of donkies carrying large gas bottles on what was a narrow and steep track, at one point Sylvia and I being forced off the path for the very real fear of being crushed by the bottles. These donkies were treated quite harshly but then the owner also looked like his life was quite harsh too. The climb back up the other side took around 2 hours. John now has a very disciplined approach to trekking now and doesn’t like to stop too often on these harder ascents as he looses his rhythm so he was off from Sylvia and I after not too long a period. Sylvia and I found it tough and I found myself asking the question why I was doing this to myself again but that soon dispersed as we got to the top of this part of the ascent. ( Call me fickle !!) The killer was that we then had to climb another too-many-steps to consider counting to get into Chhomrong, our destination for this evening. This evening we were assured that the showers would be hot but again in reality they were only luke warm which was particualry unhelpful to Sylvia as she still had a her cold. John decided to take advantage of a massage on the basis of how cheap our rooms were (about £1 per night. )so he disappeared for an hour to re-surface looking quite cold as the massage had been done in his own room.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589431.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Chhomrong
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589433.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A native Chhomrongiong woman sitting on her roof !
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589434.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Some of the incredible terracing we saw.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589435.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The donkies that nearly crushed Sylvia & I.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589883.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A friendly native that turned out to be a friend of our guide Rajindra.
Dinner for me was disgusting, a Stroganoff “apparently“, John and Sylvia fared slightly better. We were not impressed and made the point to our Porter/Guide that this was not acceptable.
I’d had a small swelling in my elbow in Pokhara which had now developed to make my left arm looked like it belonged to Popeye. There was no pain unless I knocked it but it was disconcerting none-the-less as the elbow joint was now approximaley twice it‘s normal size. As luck would have it we met a Danish couple of whom the man was an undergraduate Doctor who offered to have a look at it. He inspected it and thought it might be some kind of bite that had infected the arm but he wasn’t confident as there wasn’t any real pain. He did however suggest that taking a distilgesic could be helpful, and as luck would have it, I’d bought some for Sylvias cold-having had them recommended by a Pharmasist for drying up her cold symptoms. (Which apparently is rubbish !!) Despite the obvious benefits of meeting the Danish they were also very nice people and Sylvia were both refreshed by their company. I slept the best I had in ages.
Day 3 - Chhomrong to Dovan
The following day we headed for Dovan and itstarted with a very heavy rain downpour for which John had elected not to put on waterproofs as he felt the resultant sweat from walking would make him just as wet anyway. Sylvia and I togged up and we set off. The first part of our walk started with a horrific number of steps going down the Chhomrong side of the valley(which we knew we would have to face again on the way back!) , followed by a steep climb up the other side…very depressing. Part of the way up we stopped at Sinuwa for some drinks in the sun which gave us an opportunity to dry out a bit and rest. We then continued to Bamboo for lunch. John and the two porters had arrived before Sylvia and I and managed to avoid a second down-pour that Sylvia and I had to endure for 15-20 mins. We had lunch inside the restaurant and waited for the rain to stop…but it didn’t and we had to leave in it. John elected again to walk in t-shirt and shorts whilst Sylvia and I dressed for winter !!! A few minutes into the walk and John’s Camelback emptied its entire contents over the back of his trousers and legs and into his waterproof boots. It looked awful and there was nothing he could do to stem the flow. It transpired later that the feeder tube had temporarily come off the main body and hence the leak.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589884.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
John snubbs Goretex in favour of the natural wet-look not long after we left Chhomrong !!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589885.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of many bridges we crossed.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589889.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Some more Donkies at work with empty gas bottles.
Within an hour Sylvia had stomach cramps. This now coming after she’d survived her cold !! We arrived at Dovan to the good news of a guaranteed hot shower which I duly dispatched Sylvia to have first. We all had to do some washing, along with a German and Spanish girl we’d met earlier that day, and then tried to dry it under the dining table where they put a gas fired cooker under the table to act as a heater. There wasn’t enough room for us all so Sylvia and I left our wet clothes there to be dried by the Hotel manager.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589890.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
An Amusing goat kept our spirits up on this very wet day.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589992.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A view of Chhomrong having climbed the other side of the valley.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589980.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Even with Sylvias stomach cramps we all enjoyed the under-the-table heating on offer.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589977.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
This is what's happening under the table !!!...yes they are bare flames and this, a cooker, sounded like a jet!!!!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589984.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Day 4 - Dovan to Deurali
Sylvia awoke still suffering from stomach cramps and dioreah but chose to continue anyway. Our original plan had been to trek to Machre Puchre but her cramps were forcing her to stop more frequently. Finally I decided it would be better if we stopped at Deanali to get her some proper rest & recovery time. By way of some comfort for this decision we met an English guy on the way down who had not been able to see the Annapurna range for the clouds that morning but had been able to in the evening. By changing our plan we gave ourselves two shots at seeing the Annapurna base camp(ABC) and range as we would now arrive in the afternoon (as opposed to trekking from Machre Puchre in the morning). Sylvia went to bed almost as soon as she could after arriving and John and I took off for a while for an exploratory investigation into the local scenery.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283589989.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of the few precarious bamboo bridges we crossed.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590186.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of our first clear viewings of our surroundings near the end of our day.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590223.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A very kind couple who cooked us a lovely fresh lunch.
Day 5 - Deurali to Annapurna Base camp
We started the day in a particularly pleasant way. The under-table heater had been turned on for us and we had the best porridge we’d tasted on this trek so far.
We left for the base camp with the view to take it slowly in order to give ourselves a little time to acclimatise to the increased altitude and also not to kill ourselves by racing at break-neck speed. If we needed further reason to trek at a sensible speed it was poor Sylvia who still hadn’t fully recovered.
The first section was to trek towards the Machre Puchre base camp which turned out harder than we’d expected but in good weather. We took lunch in there and I snapped up a few photos whist the weather was relatively clear. Whilst we stopped there though the clouds came in and by the time we left for the ABC it was cold and misty.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590208.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of our last views along the valley we'd trekked before Machre Puchre.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590192.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The view of Machre Puchre.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590444.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A shot of the Annapurna range.
During the later part of the day we’d had to walk over snow where we could hear some rivers running beneath and had seen waterfalls ended in ice. I.e. frozen in place.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590468.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of the rivers running under the snow.
John was becoming more the mountain goat on this trek and left Sylvia and I with one of our porters whilst we struggled up with our guide. We both found breathing hard, me particularly so, as was the level of effort I was putting in for the climb I was doing. Finally Sylvia & I made it at 14:18 ! I think John was on the coffee, brandy & cigars by then ! >8;O)
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590459.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The terrain nearing the Annapurna base camp.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283590455.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Sylvia & I finally make it whilst John was probably talking about the good ol' days of Elephant shooting !
For it’s position the Tea House at the top was great. Plenty of hot drinks and hot food and as many duvets as you wanted. But it was freezing outside and Sylvia and I both wanted a good wash. The best we could get was a bucket of hot water each for use in a very very cold room standing on a equally cold concrete floor. Sylvia returned freezing from her ‘shower’ which made me try to think of ways I could minimise the shock to my own system. I devised a method which worked relatively well.
We met up with the Spanish and German girls again in our Hotel/Tea House, Root & Carol were their names. We also met an Israeli guy who was a walking tornado. He’d already trekked the Annapurna Circuit in something like 2/3’rds the normal time and had belted up here as well.
We ate dinner and played some cards I think and all went to bed early with the hope of seeing the Annapurna range at sun-rise, somewhere around 5:15.
I had an awful night. I kepot wanting to pee(which apparently is a good sign !?!) and I really hurt all over with joint symptoms similar but worse than those to a bad case of flu. Poor Sylvia had her whole night interrupted with my frequent visits to the bathroom which involved the turning on and off of my head-torch every time.
Day 6 - Annapurna Base camp & trek back down to Dovan.
My alarm went off at 5:00 am and I didn’t want to get up but I had promised to be an alarm for a few other people so I had to. Whilst struggling through the night I really wasn’t sure if all the effort was to be worth it, particularly now having to get up into the cold so tired and beaten up. I stepped out of our room and walked out. Whilst the sun still hadn’t risen I could see the whole mountain range without cloud and I almost cried with relief as it was so beautiful and so worth the effort.
I knocked on all the doors I’d promised but most were already up anyway. The sun came up and we were treated to about 10 minutes worth of the mountains coming into orange sun before cloud came over and blocked everything. Over the next hour we got to see sections of most of the range in short bursts of clear sky whilst we simultaneously had our breakfast outside. After the hour had passed we’d all seen enough and got enough pictures to satisfy ourselves and so we decided to leave. The Altitude sickness was also still affecting me quite badly as I now also had quite a headache and so I was looking forward to getting a bit lower again.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591169.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
First light.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591162.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
...and the first hot drink very kindly brought to us where we were viewing the sunrise
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591060.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Views from the Base camp.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591063.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591293.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591295.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591066.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The route back down.
We made it back to Dovan without any major trekking issues and were pleased and relieved to know that we had a hot shower and reasonable food awaiting us there. There was one issue though that had been troubling us all a bit from the start but had now become too much for John, and that was the behaviour of our porter, Bosinta.
Right from the very start we weren’t that happy that the experienced porter we’d been promised with many years and treks experience turned out to be an 18 (going on 13) year old who’d portered on one trek only before. His level of cheekiness and disrespect to all of us had me already addressing the issue with our guide on day 2 or 3 of the trek. Rajindra, our guide was a personal friend of Bosinta’s family and I hoped he would have the best influence on him. But now to add insult to injury Bosinta had found an interest in Ruut & Carol and was basically trying to cajole John into walking with them, and running back and forth between John and them. John and I spoke about it and agreed with Sylvia that we would prefer to sack him and share the heavy rucksack he’d been carrying between us than continue with an immature teenager. John and I spoke to Rajindra and said that we wanted to sack him and agreec that Chhomrung was the best place as an accessible and safe place for Bosinta to return to a point for a bus back to Prokara and home.
We had dinner and played cards with Ruut & Carol and retired to the happy prospect of a later start as we didn’t have so much ground to cover the following day.
Day 7 - Dovan to Chhomrong.
This was our first morning of getting up a bit later, as close as you can get to a lie-in whilst trekking anyway ! We had breakfast at 09:00 and left at 10:30.
When we did get going Sylvia’s right thigh was giving way and so she and I slowed right down and let the others go on at their own pace. We met them later for a coffee and later for lunch.
Today was a day we’d all dreaded since initially climbing up from Chhomrong the first time. We knew there were going to be plenty of steps both down and up before we could relax at a dinner table !
On the way down Sylvia and I saw a few un-teathered donkies munching on all the bushes around them. These poor beasts had many sores on their backs from carrying heavy gas bottles up and down to the tea houses. It is a very tough life for all who live in the mountains but seeing this upset us both.
By the time we got to the bottom of the valley and crossed the river it started to rain and so Sylvia and I took cover in the shelter of a coffee shop, hoping also to get a coffee. The proprieter wasn’t present and the two woman/girls left close by had no idea what we were asking for. Eventually we gave up and just sat the shower out.
The rain stopped and we set off up the steps to Chhomrong, finally we made it to our hotel and were clapped in by Rajindra as we staggered in.
Sylvia and I took a shower and met up again with John, Carol and Rutt for dinner. We’d bought some apple juice earlier which we shared before dinner and a further deck of cards to suppliment those which Carol had. The Pizzas we had were the best we tasted so far and were accompanied(by some of us) with Banana and custard.
We had a few games of cards and generally had a pleasant evening with the one negative point that the girls had seen Bosinta trying to take a peak at them in their bedroom around shower time earlier in the evening.
Day 8 - Chhomroing to Tadapanni
Bosinta still hadn’t been told by Rajindra that he was being sacked. Instead Rajindra told him that John had decided to carry his own bag and wasn’t required any more. None of us were happy with the handling of the affair and committed ourselves to sorting it out properly when back in Pokhara.We gave him more than enough money for lunch and his bus fare home and said our good-byes. John and I agreed to share the rucksack Bosinta had been carrying and that he would carry it uphill(the mountain goat he’d become) and I would carry it downhill (as I seem to find downhills easier with the weight)…alright I can hear you even now…….>8:O)
The first stint was mainly downhill and so I carried it first but also there were some sneaky hills put in for good measure also, the first being the start whish had a continuation of the steps we’d been walking up the previous evening !! At the bottom of the first valley we swapped over and it was John’s turn now to carry it. He sweated for England as we struggled uphill.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591846.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Me on the first stint with the rucksack taken after about 5 minutes...and..
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283591845.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
....about an hour an a half later !!
We stopped for lunch with a beautiful view over a valley. The food was nice and it was a good break especially after the climb we’d just made through the rice fields.
After lunch we walked through a beautiful forest but the steepness became too much for John with the additional weight and so Rajindra took some of the load out of it and added it to his own. This made it more bearable for John and we continued finally coming to Tadapenni which was a big dissapointment. A grubby, noisy, intensely packed little village which we’d hoped would be of a better standard. We arrived there in pretty good shape albeit that John’s back was a little stiff. We took dinner, played cards and retired.
Before retiring though we all reflected on how much more peaceful the whole day had been without Bosinta.
We also commented on how much fitter we all felt too.
Day 9 - Taddapenni to Gorrepani
We started early today so we could get to Gorrepanni early to go to bed early so we could get up the following morning early to see the sun rise over the whoel Annapurna range. Make sense !?!
It was colder than it had been which suited John more than Sylvia and I. The morning had us trekking through some more beautiful forest and rivers. We stuck with the same formulae as yesterday for sharing the rucksack throughout the day.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910735.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
On the way to Gorrepanni
We arrived in Gorrepani at 14:30 and shown to 2 really nice rooms at the bottom of a Hotel positioned at the bottom of town. The rooms were called Sherpa Tensing & Sir Edmund Hilary !!! >8:O) They had en-suite facilities too !!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910848.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
We'd arrived !!.......note the names on the doors !!!
We took a snack for lunch, had some showers and had dinner along with a beer or two whilst we played cards. We took off to bed early as we were to be up at 04:00am ofr our climb to Poon Hill to see the sun-rise. 04:00 !!! What does the 0 stand for ?? (Take a watch of Good Morning Vietnam !)
Day 10 - Poon Hill and return to Birethanti.
The alarm went off somewhere around 03:30 and we struggled to our feet, got dressed and kitted up. Rajindra came down at around 4 and we set off.
We’d been told that the walk up was easy, even with head-torches. John and Sylvia agreed-I didn’t and struggled to keep pace with everybody as we went up.
Eventually we got to the top and met a few others who were prepared to brave an early morning in the hope of a good sun-rise. It was very cold and despite a few layers of clothing we were all feeling it a bit.
We’d heard that a few people operated a drink stand and were delighted to see it open. What we weren’t so delighted about was that Rajindra, Sylvia & I didn’t have any money with us, and John only had enough to buy us 1 hot chocolate each. I know we should have been grateful for that but it was freezing !!!
We watched the sun come up and amusingly watched an insensed Japanese photographer running around the view point as if the mountain range was moving position like an animal. It gave us all a good laugh.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910740.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
When I say we watched the sun come up I meant......hmmmmm, we wanted to..
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910741.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
First light
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910851.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910739.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910850.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
One of the few pictures with the three of us together.
Finally we’d had our view, got our pictures and descended back down to our Hotel. We had a cooked breakfast which was only just ok, got packed and set off down to our pick-up point for our Taxi back to Pochara.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910849.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
We'd got our pictures, and so had everybody else barring perhaps the Japanese photographer.....
It was a long day, eventually we walked for around 10 hours. We walked down the route we’d originally considered going up but rejected due to the number of steps. We were so pleased that we had as the steps came and came. We met others trekking up this way and they were looking for any encouragement they could get. I found it hard to give them any as I knew what was behind us and in front of them. Sylvia meanwhile heartily encourages some Americans (I think) that there was some flat coming. I looked at her as this flat lasted for about 100 metres !!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910847.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Too many additives in this boys diet me thinks....not.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18079036/283910405.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
We finally made it back to the Taxi pick-up point, knackered & sweaty but pleased with our effort.
We gave the Taxi driver orders to keep the speed down as we weren’t in the mood to have our nerves played with this afternoon. To our surprise he did !!
We arrived back to questions from our Hotel managers as to what had happened with Bosinta but we deferred them until the following day when we’d had some rest.
Epilogue.
We spoke to the managers about what we’d been promised in Bosinta to which they replied that his family was poor and needed the money. We said that we understood that many were poor in Nepal but it was not their responsibility to employ the Bosintas of the world without advising the employer(us) of his possible behaviour under the guise of an experienced porter. If we wanted to show compassion(and we may well have been prepared to), it was our choice and we should have been given that before the trek, not after. They agreed and we left ‘friends’, paying only for the time that Bosinta had worked for us.
Mike
