I wanted to do one more post about the trek, this one talking about the various equipment and clothes that we took……

As for clothing, we basically took three sets of everything…..three pair of Trekking pants (or skirts for me), three short sleeve shirts, three long sleeve shirts and three sets of socks (both wool socks and liner socks).

The “super stylish” skirts that I wore were from Macabi 

(http://www.macabiskirt.com/shop/skirts/macabi-skirt)

I told Michael while we were gone that I wish I had the foresight to shorten the skirt just a bit and take some fullness out of it.  When I just looked at the website, I see that they have a new “slim line” skirt that would have been better.

Even without these changes, these skirts were perfect for the trek.  I selected them because they covered my knees which was the culturally sensitive way to dress.   The skirt had two large pockets that were perfect for carrying my little camera, bandana, etc.   I will definitely wear them again!!!

Other clothing items taken were…..

– Rain gear (tops and bottoms)

– Fleece jackets (these were great to have in camp)

– Waterproof Parkas – these weren’t necessary since we didn’t have any wet or snowy cold weather but we could have needed them.  With our weather, we could have just used down jackets instead.

– Snow Pants  –  same as above….not used but we could have needed them

– Wool hats and gloves – the gloves were from “Smart Wool” and were amazingly warm even when damp

– Long Johns  –  we took two sets, but only used one

 

We each had a sleeping bag and silk liner.  In the lower elevations, we often just slept with the liner as it was too hot for the sleeping bag.

We had never carried inflatable pillows but found them to make sleeping MUCH more comfortable.

We were told to bring our Thermorest sleeping pads, but the pads that REI provided were super comfortable so we never even pulled them out of the duffel bags.

Headlamps were a necessity around camp, both for walking around after dark and for reading in the tent at night and packing in the early morning hours.

Instead of carrying daypacks, we chose to take our full packs from ULA (Ultralight Adventure).  These fit us well and we knew that they would be more comfortable than a day pack.  All along the trail, Michael kept asking my how my pack felt and I could honestly answer “what pack”?   I was only carrying about 10 pounds and I really didn’t notice it at all.

One of the most necessary pieces of equipment were our trekking poles.  They were used for balance and support and often for pulling ourselves up onto that next step.   After using them for 10 days, I was amazed that I could walk without them.

I mentioned this in one of the posts, but one of the best things we did was to take a Hydration System that allowed us to carry 3 liters of water with a tube and suction nozzle that attached to the front of our pack.  This allowed us to be able to drink while we walked without having to stop!!

At the last minute we were advised to also bring a Nalgene bottle just in case the water was too hot to put directly into the hydration bag.  Since all of the water was boiled, it sometimes hadn’t cooled down much so this was a necessary product to have.

 

As for non-trekking equipment, we may have gone a bit overboard, but it certainly worked well!!!

We took two cameras, the small Sony Cybershot that I love…..

….which fit perfectly in my pocket and was always ready for a quick photo.

We decided to purchase a new DSLR and after much research, decided on a Canon EOS 70D ….

After we purchased the camera, I started looking at various accessories and found this wonderful lens cap cover from OP/TECH USA……  It is called a “Fast Cap” and it screws onto the lens with the cover on a spring that opens easily.  It meant that we didn’t have to keep up with a lens cap!!

The next thing that we needed was a camera strap and some sort of harness for the trail.   I went back to the OP/TECH USA website and found a system that attaches short straps onto the camera itself and then has  a locking fastener that attaches the camera to whatever strap you are using.   We bought the normal camera strap….

….and also the camera harness strap….

  This strap worked well as it kept the camera from bouncing around as Michael walked.   Also, the camera itself could be easily unsnapped from the harness so that I (or someone else) could use it.

We were concerned about whether or not we would be able to recharge batteries along the way so we bought extras for both cameras (5 for the DSLR and 4 for the Cybershot).   We did not have any problems with recharging so we could have probably only taken 3 and 2, respectively.

I knew that I wanted to be able to organize my blog posts while we were away and had really wanted to be able to type them rather than hand writing.  After a lot of searching, I decided to purchase an HP Pavilion 2-in-1 Laptop.

The best features of this computer were that It can be used as a tablet or a laptop, it had a USB port, and it only weighed 2.4 pounds.  Let me say here that Michael carried this during the entire trip so his view may be that it weighed 2.4 HEAVY pounds!!! 

Finally, I knew that I would want to take notes on the trek, but also knew that I wouldn’t want to have to stop every 10 minutes to pull out my notebook so I purchased a Sony  Digital Flash Voice Recorder….

The next problem was how to attach it to the pack and Michael came up with a great solution to wire it to a carabineer and let it hang from my pack strap….

This worked perfectly as I could keep walking while I hit one button, recorded my note and then hit the button again to stop the recording.  Amazingly the batteries lasted for the entire trip!

At the end of each day, I would transcribe my notes and Michael and I would go thru the photos and write up any notes about those as well.   It ended up that I was too tired to actually write the blog itself but having these notes sure made it easier when I got ready to write.

The other thing that we did each day was to back up the photos.  The computer didn’t have enough memory to store all of the photos, so I would empty both memory cards onto the computer and then save them to 2 other memory cards which we carried in our packs.    It may have been overkill, but we sure didn’t want to lose the photos!!

In case you haven’t figured this out from the previous posts, we had a MARVELOUS time.   The trekking, the scenery and the crew were everything that we could have ever hoped for!

It is amazing to realize that we were in the middle of all of these stupendous mountains…..

….and have returned to tell the tale!!!

Thanks for traveling with us once again……

 

Monday, October 12th

It was fun waking up this morning to the jangling of bells from the pack trains coming down the path by the tea house. Apparently the driver’s start getting them ready about 4:00am and then head off for their daily trip.  It makes for a VERY long day!!!

We packed up our duffle bags for the last time and met for a breakfast of boiled egg, potatoes and soft bread…..

It had been really cloudy all morning and as we finished breakfast we heard the unmistakable sound of rain…..HEAVY rain!!!

This is the one thing that I had dreaded for the entire trip and sure wasn’t happy about it happening on the very last day!!!

We all started donning our wet weather gear including rain pants and jackets and rainproof pack covers…..

We had a good laugh at Sabine and his wet weather gear….

He sort of reminded us of a trash can on Star Wars!!!

Now let me be honest and say that, as this photo was being taken…..

…..I was basically losing it!!!!

There were several thoughts going thru my mind…..  First of all, I was ready to be finished with the hiking and I figured that rain would just make it a longer trip.  Secondly, I was very worried that the trail would be slippery and dangerous.  Finally, I think that I was just tired and at a low point mentally.

As we were leaving, I asked Badri if there were steps or stones….he diplomatically said “there are steps made of stones”!!

But I shouldn’t have worried!!!   Badri set Sabine right in front of me and off we went!!!   Michael kept encouraging me to trust my boots and he was absolutely right.   The track was not as slippery as I thought it would be.  I just had to follow in Sabine’s footsteps.  And, as usual, I could count on Sera and Badri to stay close when it got really steep.

So after about an hour, I was still feeling a bit nervous but definitely doing better!!!

We passed several groups of kids heading to school in the rain….all in flip flops and not worrying about it being slippery at all. As we crossed one stream, we were all scrambling on rocks and trying to keep our feet dry but the little girls were happily sloshing THRU the water and not worrying if their clothes got wet.

We took a short rest stop in a small village and I was able to pull out the camera to take one quick photo…..

It was VERY gray!!!

After squelching down the path for about 2 hours, we hit the road and more-or-less flat ground….

From there it was a matter of following the switchbacks down the mountains.  Happily the rain stopped too!!

We walked on, breaking into little groups and talking as we walked and listening to the roar of the river next to us…..  Then all of a sudden, we looked up and recognized our tablecloth and knew that it was time for our last meal together.

We dined on a spam and mushroom stir fry, tasty pasta and egg salad and the MOST wonderful grilled cheese sandwich…..

As we were sitting at the table, I noticed some red blobs on a log across the road.   Michael went to investigate and found these interesting fungi….

 

After lunch it was time to gather for one big group photo….

These guys were amazing and we are so thankful for the entire crew who made sure that we had such a fun and safe trip!!

Badri asked if we had anything to say to the crew and most said thank you to them for all of their hard work.  All that I could think to say was that I was sorry that my duffle bag was SO heavy!!!   Once Badri translated, they all laughed!!!

Next we presented the crew with their tips from all of the trekkers.   Michael read each person’s name and they came forward and shook every one of our hands.  It was a gentle and sweet gesture.

These were our wonderful porters……

….our talented Cook Boys…..

….and our superior chef……

There is no photo, but the clapping for Badri went on for a long, long time and came not only from the trekkers, but from the crew as well.  He was truly amazing!!

So, with one last “Tick Tock” and one last “Johnny Ho”, we headed out on the last stretch.  

Even though we were officially off of the trail, there was still plenty to see, including yet another pack train…..

The road slowly turned into a small town with people living life along the street, completely oblivious to this group of dirty trekkers coming down from the wilds. 

Crossing this bridge over the Modi Kohla river….…….… meant that we were truly back into civilization….

I have often seen photos of kids playing with sticks and hoops but was excited to see it in person…..

 

Badri stopped at one of the trek checkpoints and came back out with our very own Annapurna Base Camp Passports to prove that we had made it all the way up to 13,500 feet and back down again…..

We met the bus at 1:10 and spent the next few minutes watching the porters get everything packed up.

I snagged Monise for a photo…..

…followed by one with Sabine…..

These two guys did a wonderful job of taking care of me and I had great pleasure in slipping them a few dollars extra!!!

It was quickly obvious that all of the people and gear would not fit onto the tourist bus that we were riding in, so they commandeered a local bus and started loading gear onto the top of it….. 

It was a hoot to watch them loading up…..

At last, the crew climbed on top with the gear, we climbed into the tourist van,  Badri got into the bus and yelled “Johnny Ho”,  we yelled it right back at him and we were off!!

A few miles down the road the bus passed us and we could hear the yelling and cheering of the guys on top of the bus.   We yelled and cheered back like a bunch of teenagers!!!

We stopped briefly at Phedi, the place that we had started our trek from and watched as all of the gear was unloaded so that it could be prepared for the next trek group which starts TOMORROW!!!

This place had a sense of déjà vu as the same little lady tried to sell me the same necklace that she had 10 days ago….. 

Most of the trek crew stayed at Phedi but a few who are not on the next trek climbed into the bus with us.  

After yelling many more goodbyes we headed for the hotel in Pokhara, a stellar establishment called the Atithi Resort and Spa. 

After a long shower and dressing in clean clothes, Michael and I found the restaurant and spent some quality time relaxing in comfortable chairs, catching up on emails, and generally reliving our adventure.

We did manage to completely trash our room as we tried to dry out all of our VERY wet clothes…. We had all told Badri that we would like to take him out for dinner…anywhere that he wanted to go.  Well, he picked an Italian food restaurant so we walked the eerily quiet (the strike is still in force so there is very little fuel available for vehicles) street to get to our restaurant.   It was a nice way to end the journey.

The next morning we were met again by our tourist bus and Badri….

…and carried to the Pokhara airport to make the flight back to Kathmandu.  It was a bittersweet time to say goodbye to our friend, but he didn’t have time to feel sad because the next group of trekkers arrived on the plane that we flew out on!!!

As we boarded the plane, we all hurried to get on the left side so that we could see the mountains one last time. They were just as beautiful as on the first trip and were yet another reminder of just how fantastic this trip has been.

The pilot announced that we were flying at 11,500 feet….hard to believe that we climbed higher than that on our journey!!!

The rest of the day was spent at Hotel Marshyangdi in Kathmandu.  We had the day free to explore the city, but we were both too pooped to do much exploring so instead we found a place to hang out and look at photos.   It was the perfect way to relax and enjoy our trip further.   

Now, I will say that we were disappointed in this hotel.  It was quite old, not very clean and certainly did not live up to the standards that REI had set for the rest of the trip!

The next morning (Wednesday, the 14th) we were picked up and transferred to the Kathmandu Airport for our flight back to Bangalore.   The only problem with the flight was that it was delayed by many hours and we spent a lot of time sitting in the airport and on the tarmac.   The excuse given was that it was for “official” reasons, but we noted that none of the Non-India flights were delayed so we are fairly certain that it was a way for the Nepali’s to get back at the Indian’s for the fuel blockade!!!

We finally arrived back in Bangalore at 9:00pm, were met by a driver from our hotel and were soon in our soft beds, enjoying sound sleep and dreaming of the adventures that we had experienced!!!!

 

Sunday, October 11th

Yesterday, Badri talked to us about the Earthquake and the fact that he was leading a group that was one camp down from Everest Base Camp when the quake and avalanche hit back in April.   He decided that the group would move down one camp and, once there, he found phone reception and called the REI representative in Kathmandu to tell them that everyone was ok.  Then they continued their trip over the next seven days, not going any higher, but continuing around the mountain.  He said that some of the people on the trek didn’t want to continue, but he felt that it was the safest way to get everyone out.

Also, Michael and I found a small shop yesterday and bought a few things including a small scythe that we have seen used around here.   It is very sharp, and this morning I spent some time trying to figure out how to pack it so that it wouldn’t destroy everything that it touched.  I ended up putting the pointy end into a Tennis Shoe!

We woke up this morning to mountains in the clouds, again reminding us how fortunate we had been with weather on this journey…..

At breakfast, Badri told us that there had been a large rockslide about 3 years ago that had taken out the normal path to Ghandruk so now we had to climb UP over it and then back down the other side….

It didn’t look all that big, but it added a lot of hard work to the day’s walk and there were many times during the morning that I was cussing it!!!

We continued passing terraced farms perched on the sides of the mountains….

Regardless of the distance we still had to walk, there was always time to stop and reflect on the beauty around us….

We continued crisscrossing small streams and crossed tons of small stone bridges…..

The trail varied greatly as we walked.  Sometimes we were on nice stone steps, sometimes we were scrambling over rocks and sometime we were sliding down steep dirt trails.  It was NOT easy!!  This photo gives some perspective as to how steep the trail was at times…..

Notice that Badri is right in front of me on this part of the trail!!

Sharp-eyed Sabine once again came thru and pointed to this huge toad (or was it a frog?) on the trail…..

It was good to see this sign and know that we were back on the main trail again….

Sabine stopped to talk to one of the locals and ended up purchasing a HUGE cucumber….

…although she wanted to sell him this  massive squash….

Sabine showed his football handling skills as he toted it down the trail…..

By the way, the box below the cucumber is a solar charger that was used to power the light that hung in the dining tent.   

We crossed another long suspension bridge…..

There was a  Horse and mule train behind us and we took a short rest stop to watch them cross the river.   They didn’t cross at the bridge but instead walked thru the shallow part of the water……

A little while later we stopped for a cucumber break…..

Personally it didn’t sound all that great to me, but when Badri brought out a mixture of red pepper and salt to put on it, he won me over…..

We all enjoyed the freshness and moisture of the cucumber against the spiciness of the pepper…..

This was a pretty little village so we had to take a couple of photos…..

Michael ran ahead so that he could get a shot of us all on the trail.  Naturally, Sabine had to give us his “I’m too sexy” look…

We stopped for lunch at 11:55 after a hell-of-a climb!!  I was very happy for the rest!!!

These woman and girl were beating the hemp leaves so that they can be dried and were sweet to stop and pose for a photo…..

This gorgeous woman let us take another, more portrait style, photo….

….although she wanted to see it when we finished.

Michael spotted a deer in a far field.  Badri said that it would either be a Musk or Barking Deer. 

Lunch today was simple….soup first then Tuna, French Fries, Yak Cheese and a Cinnamon Bun….

I was particularly drawn to crocheted banners that hung in each of the doors…..

I feel sure that there was a reason for them (other than decoration) but have no idea if it was to keep bugs out or maybe for a religious purpose.

There was some yelling outside as a mule train came striding thru the town.   These were carrying large plates of heavy slate which were causing them to veer a bit from side to side.   There was a mad scramble to move everything out of their path….

As we headed out again it started to rain a bit but not enough to worry about and then, thankfully, it cleared again.

We named this the “Shop on the Edge”…..

You could tell that we were in farming country again as we shared the path with many different animals….At times we would hear the jangling of bells from the pack trains and would have to move off of the track quickly as they were heading down at a quick pace.  The guides were careful to put themselves between us and the animals

We saw a Medi-Evac helicopter coming over the area and Badri said that it was coming from ABC so someone had been hurt there.   We laughingly asked if we could get the copter  to pick us up too!!

The path curved past many interesting buildings….

We stopped for a longer rest and heard the sound of bells coming from below us telling us that a horse/mule train was approaching.   Michael took this wonderful video that gives you some idea of the sight and sound…..

https://youtu.be/iK205anXsdM

It is probably one of the iconic sounds that I will remember from this phenomenal journey!!

Michael found these interesting little bugs on a rock…..

Badri called them “Sheep bugs”, so named because they “flock”.

As we have walked these last 8 days, Badri has often burst into song or whistled a tune or even picked up a leaf and turned it into a Kazoo.  It was always the same song and often the other guides would join him as he sang.  So today we asked him about the song and he told us that it was an old Nepali Folk song that goes like this…..

https://youtu.be/gnMVBD-ZUB4

After that concert we were off again, but before we knew it, we were walking down a nice, wide path leading into the town of Ghandruk.   Badri had told us that we could spend a bit of time looking around the village and seeing how the Gurung people live.   

As Michael stopped to take a photo of this simple flower, a little girl passed and said “that’s a flower”!!!……

She must have thought that all American’s were dunces!!!

At our first stop we found out that they were in the process of shooting a movie
(called “White Sun”) in the town so we were seeing a mixture of residents, actors and crew.

We stopped and watched this woman cleaning wool…..

….and getting it ready to be spun…..

….and then woven on a backstrap loom…..

The windows and doors in this village were intricately carved…..

 

…providing some exciting new quilt pattern ideas for me…..

Most of the buildings were made of rock and were fun to look at…..

This was a typical gate at the front of the house courtyards…..

This beautiful young woman smiled shyly for a photo….

In one of the courtyards we could hear snorting  in a small barn behind us and found this cute little guy…..

As if on cue, another mule train moved thru the village….

However, these had already been relieved of their burdens and were headed to the barn.

We passed this group enjoying some tea in the afternoon…..

We enjoyed watching the woman on the right play with a baby goat!!

The view over the top of the village was amazing, especially with all of the slate roofs!!

Many of the houses had deep blue accents in the architecture and most had corn drying on the eaves…..

If you blow this photo up you can also see a big dog resting happily on the table on the porch.

We passed this interesting gate…

…and Badri talked a bit about the symbol on the top right.   He told us that the various political parties have symbols such as this and that if people cant write, they just draw the sign when they vote.

This shrine was striking…..

We left the village, heading toward our home for the evening.   Along the way we passed two gentlemen plowing the terraces using Bovine power…..

As we watched, one of them walked up the slope with his plow on his shoulder…..

The dirt looked rich and ready to grow any plant!!!

We passed this very short entrance into one yard….

Badri said that there were two reasons why doors were short.  The first, obviously, was because people there are short.  But, many also believe that if you go away you might pick up bad things which fall off when you bend over to enter your home!!

Signs of the agriculture basis of this village were everywhere, from these forage beans growing WAY up in the air……

….to this corn crib built on stilts to keep the crop safe from rats….

…to this chicken family sunning themselves on the front porch…..

I heard a sound that I know well…. the whirring of a sewing machine, and followed it to find this young lady hard at work in her shop…..

This wood pile was incredible….

We stopped in one courtyard where Badri had friends and watched this woman using mud (probably mixed with cow dung) to re-seal the spaces between the courtyard stones…..

This very happy woman was one of Badri’s friends…..

….and we enjoyed listening to her laugh and enjoy her life!!!

And, as you can imagine, I was very excited by this “patchwork” house…..

Michael was especially happy with this photo as he caught the rooster in mid-crow…..

We passed this little boy who wanted to wave and say hello…

…although he scared us to death as he came closer and closer to the edge of the roof that he was standing on.   Michael said that he had already figured out how he would get to him if he came off of the roof!!!

At last we arrived at Hotel Sherpa where we were told that we would, once again, be sleeping in a room rather than a tent…..

It is nice to be indoors again, but it is sad that we didn’t get to say a proper goodbye to good ole Tent #32!!!

Sera pulled out all the stops on dinner and we dined happily on vegetable pasta, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots and coleslaw…..

And then the pièce de résistance…..

After dinner, Badri stood up and said that he had a few things that he wanted to say since this was our last night together.   He said that he has two feelings….happy that the trek is almost finished but sad to see our group break up (he used the word divorce).  He thanked us for turning it into a family atmosphere and said that the porters and everyone else felt the same way.    He specifically thanked me for spending time in the kitchen the night before.  It was a sweet speech and a great way to end our night.

One more day!!!

 

Saturday, October 10th

This morning none of us were bounding out of bed to look at the view.  I think that we almost all slept until Bed Tea time at 6:00.

We dubbed our morning breakfast as “Egg McTrail”…..a nice tortilla-like bread with a fried egg and beans….

…if it had sported a little Picante sauce it would have been PERFECT!!!

I wanted to make sure that I got a good photo of this ever present teapot…..

I loved the shape of it and even more, the goodies that came out of it….from boiled water and tea to hot juices.   It was always in use!!!

This morning I timed Sabine and Monise to see how long it took them to take down and pack up one of our tents.   They did it in 2 minutes and 45 seconds….utterly amazing!!!  We laughed and said that it took us that  long just to get the tent stakes out of the ground!!

We started the morning with several long ascents……

….they seem to be a bit easier this morning.

Once again, I can sense that Sera is always at my left shoulder when things start to get rough, but he never actually helps unless I need it.

Oh and look….there is Fishtail…..

….but no one seems to care anymore!!!

As I walked I started thinking about how the small things make all of the difference, like the fact that I have clean socks on this morning!

Since we were climbing again, we took rest stops every 15 minutes.  We also went a bit slower since one of our team was fairly sick.   I felt bad for him but I greatly appreciated the slower pace.  Badri stuck close by him and even carried his pack for a lot of the day.

We passed one local resident coming up the trail with basket full of the morning’s shopping including a box of tea, washing powder, bag of rice, etc.  It is humbling to realize how far they  have to walk to get to one of the small stores….

We took a long break at 9:20. Sabine  pointed across the valley and said that we could see the evening camp site and that further up was tomorrow’s camp. It was fun to be able to see them, but was both encouraging AND discouraging as it meant that we have to go WAY down and then WAY back up again.

As we returned to the trail it seemed like a highway as so many trekkers moved up and down the trail.  There was lots of stopping and waiting for others to pass.   I took a page out of the encouragement book and tried to let those who looked downtrodden  know that it was all worth it!!!  I know that a few words of encouragement can really help!!!

Before we knew it we were back into the farming communities and started seeing terraces again…..

A quick stop in Sinuwa gave us a chance to photograph this row of drying corn…..

….and this Tree Tomato plant….

 

As we walked, Michael and Badri talked about the trip and Badri quietly told us that he was very proud of our group!!

We crossed over the long suspension bridge….

….that marked the bottom of the valley and the start of our 2,800 steps up to Chomrong!!

We shared the trail with several pack trains…..

 

We came to a Mama and Baby Water Buffalo and, naturally, Michael just had to pet the baby……

I was standing by Badri and could hear him quietly and repeatedly intoning…..”Oh Sir….be careful”.    When the little one started shaking his head, Badri loudly says that it is probably enough for now!!

The trailed finally evened out and widened as well and Michael and I enjoyed walking side by side into our campsite at Chomrong, arriving just a few minutes before noon……

It had been a fairly short day of walking, but we had descended 2,130 feet and had climbed 1,485 feet in the process.

It was good to see our “home away from home”!!

The first order of business was  lunch…. Weiner stir fry with onions and bell peppers, potatoes with Bok Choy, Carrots, Cucumbers, another yummy bread….

One of the effects of Altitude Sickness is that people often lose their appetite and I had found this was the case for me during the last three days.  We had been told that “food was fuel” so I knew that I needed to keep eating, but nothing tasted all that great and I would have been perfectly happy with eating nothing. 

But today, things were starting to taste good again and I had seconds of the stir fry, surprising everyone as I had consistently said no to seconds for the last few days.

The second order of the afternoon was to have a SHOWER.   When we last showered (5 days ago), Badri had said that we shouldn’t plan to shower while we were up in the higher elevations because it was too hard to get warm afterwards.  So, this shower was much anticipated!!!    The Tea House Proprietor showed us another bathroom upstairs and we got to enjoy a wonderful, warm shower.   I had saved clean clothes for today and realized that this was the first time that all of my clothes had been clean since day 1!!!

It seemed that everyone was interested in getting clean and Michael found Sera doing some personal grooming of his own….

Michael and I spent some time in the “battery recharging” room, sharing it with a table of tea leaves laid out for drying…..

We hadn’t realized that there were tea plants just outside of the building….

One of the highlights of the afternoon was that Michael bought me a…..

I gobbled half of it down but saved the rest to have with afternoon tea….yum!

We had laid a bunch of REALLY dirty clothes out on the tent to dry, but it started to rain and I went hurrying to the tent to move them.  I got there to find that Monise and Sabine had already pulled them in for us.   I gave them a hard time about touching our yucky clothes!!!

Since I had extra time to relax, I decided to wander over to the kitchen and watch some of the dinner preparation. 

I was immediately invited to come in and repeatedly urged to pull up a chair and sit but I finally convinced them that I could see better if I was standing!!!

There were three kerosene stoves lined up along one wall and, once fired up, they were all constantly in use. 

As soon as one pot of food came off, the big tea kettle went on in its place so that there was always hot water brewing.  As soon as it was well boiled (and thus safe), it was poured up into Thermos jugs to make tea or water for coffee…..

When this was filled up, the kettle was refilled and put back on the stove.

I was interested to see that they poured the water thru a double strainer before it is ever heated.   They are extremely vigilant about our health!!

I happily watched as Sera went to work prepping the food for our upcoming meal.  He mostly worked sitting down with the other Cook Boys handing him what he needed and cleaning up after he finishes with a task……

When I had first come in Sera had been chopping chicken, making it almost look like it had been ground.

Now, I noticed a pot of other chicken bits……

One of the boys started chopping these bits up to be used in the Dal Bhat for the crew this evening…..

Another young man came in and started mixing up a dough of some sort…..

There was never any recipe and as he kneaded, Sera would come over and stick a finger in it and then tell him to knead it some more!!!

When I saw this pot…..

…I realized that Sera was making Momos (Dumplings) for dinner!!!  They were very labor intensive as he patiently rolled out the dough, cut it into circles and then carefully formed each dumpling….

They were things of beauty…..

Sabine had been holding the steamer pan and all of a sudden Sera said something to him and he moved to another spot.   I looked at him and he said that the wind from the door was drying out the Momos so he was now blocking the wind off of them.

All of a sudden, there was a lot of yelling outside and Sera told me that they had found a snake.   I ran over to try to see it, but it had already slithered off.   I asked about it and Sabine told me that it was originally over by our tent but not to worry because it hadn’t gone in!!

It had been getting cloudier as the afternoon went on and it finally started to rain hard.  Immediately the guides were all outside at the tents making sure that everything was dry and secure. 

Then about 15 minutes later, Badri decided that we would move out of the tents and into a room at the Tea House for the night.  We all offered to pay for the room ($16), but were told that it was included in the trip cost.

Badri also told us that if it is raining here, then it is probably snowing higher up.  It once again reminds me how wonderful our weather has been!!

So, we moved out of our little tent and into this spacious (7 ft by 7 ft) accommodation….

Interestingly, we enjoyed this as much as any 5-star hotel that we have ever stayed in!!!

Dinner was enjoyable as we had a delicate vegetable pasta, Chicken Momos with tomato sauce and steamed cauliflower

Afterward we returned to our room, spent an hour or so reading (WITHOUT a headlamp) and then fell asleep in our dry beds!!!

 

Friday, October 9th

Our fears about the clouds obscuring the mountains were unfounded as we woke to clear skies once again.   We did however wake to a hoard of Korean tourists tramping thru our camp to get to the ABC shrine at sunrise.

….and they were not the only ones getting in on the picture taking…..

I love this one with the flags and the mountains……

Way too soon, it was time to pack up and start our long descent out…..

So, with one last photo….

…we said goodbye to the beautiful Annapurna Sanctuary!!   We all seemed quiet as we began our descent, each savoring the views and experiences that we had encountered.

We passed the signpost where we had taken photos yesterday, never realizing that there was another message on the other side saying Goodbye and Thank You…..

Badri had told us that today would be hard trek as we would descend 6,000 feet in just the one day.   I had mixed feelings about this as I knew that going down would be so much easier physically, but I also knew that descending is much tougher mentally as you have to constantly be thinking about where you place your feet and trekking poles so that you get the best traction.   I also try to protect my right knee so am always shifting my feet around so that I take the steeper steps on my left knee.

The first hour was a nice walk thru the meadow to Machapuchare Base Camp.  When we got there I knew that I needed to change out of my long johns before continuing on the hike.   I went running on up to the teahouse with the idea of going to the bathroom to change.   Instead Badri pointed to one of the Lodge Bedrooms and told me to use that instead.   It was SO much easier to change in there!!!

As we came to one descent that was a bit crumbly, Sera moved in front of me and started kicking rocks off of the path so that I wouldn’t have to worry about slipping down.

Since we were no longer focused on the mountains ahead of us, we all started noticing other things along the path like flowers and grasses…..

I heard one fun interchange between Michael and Badri.  Michael pointed to a large white flowers and said to Badri “Let me guess… tall white flower”.  Badri’s answer…“Exactly!!”

It was fun seeing the stream winding down the valley below us and then to realize a few minutes later that we were now even with it, showing how far we had come down.

As we walked further and further down into the valley, I  really had trouble believing that I had climbed UP all of this only 2 days before!!

About two hours into the morning, Sera left us as we plodded along the path and headed down the track in front of us, almost skipping as he went.   I don’t know how these guys can be so carefree in their walking!!

The valley below us was gorgeous, a fact that had eluded me when we were climbing up it……

 

We arrived at the town of Deurali and found the replacement bridge that had been quickly built after the avalanche 2 days ago (wow, was that ONLY two days ago!!)……

The “dirt” that you see in this photo is actually ice mixed with dirt.  The area had a surreal feel to it and it was quite a scenery change from the “before” photo….

You can really see exactly how much dirt and rock fell from above and how much it filled in the valley.

We again reached Hinku Cave after about 3 hours of hiking,  meaning that we had already descended 2700 feet.   We took a long rest break there, enjoying the views and the people, including two sweet Aussie women….

Even though it was a busy place, there was still a place for a quiet chat….

…and there was great cell phone coverage…..

Speaking of cell phones, coverage was spotty during the entire trip.  We marveled at the places where you could get coverage and where you couldn’t!!

And, naturally, the view was still awesome!!!

We left Hinku Cave at 11:05 for the last push before lunch.

We arrived at Himalaya  at noon for lunch and found that it was completely overrun with people, mostly the Korean group.  We were wondering exactly where we would be able to sit to eat, but that problem was solved when we saw OUR tablecloth on a “Reserved” table under a shelter.   Michael turned to me and said “I am so glad that we bought the “Ritz Carlton” of treks”!! 

Lunch started off with a Ramen soup with Bok Choy and onions added.  It was delicious and since returning home have made our own version of this soup…..

although it didn’t have quite the same ambiance of eating it out of a red plastic bowl and looking at spectacular view!!

Back on the trek, the meal continued with fried Spam, french fries, coleslaw and more of the marvelous Gurung fried bread……

I have noticed that Badri  never gets to eat a hot meal as he is always jumping up to serve us more or to see that we have enough of everything.  Lately he has started leaving the lunch table after the soup course and going away to eat Dal Bhat for lunch instead of our food.  I can imagine that he gets tired of eating non-traditional stuff day after day!!

We talked to one Australian woman after she used the term “No Worries”….that is a dead giveaway that someone is from Down Under!! 

We left Himalaya at 12:50 and now started a bit of ascending.  On the trip up, I used to make up time on the descents, now I am faster on the ascents….go figure.

We had a stand-up rest about an hour into the afternoon.  It is interesting that we are taking less rest stops while descending but that makes sense since we are not taxing our breathing as much.

Sabine was leading the walk and, as always, was on the alert for anything that he could show us.  This time he found a troupe of Langur Monkeys in the trees to one side of the path.  We stopped and watched, fascinated as they moved around the trees.  I was especially enamored with a large male as he sedately climbed across a vine to join the others.  Unfortunately, the foliage was too dense to get photos, but it is definitely imprinted on the photo board of my mind!!

At 2:20, we had another rest stop at Dovan and then arrived at Bamboo Village (altitude – 7,760 ft) at 3:15 where our camp was waiting…..

Our wash-up water arrived immediately followed by tea at 3:45.  Since we were all pretty pooped, Badri suggested that dinner be earlier than normal (at 6:00) so that we could get to bed faster.  We all agreed!!

Dinner started with Tomato soup and popcorn, and then continued with Spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce, and freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, fried Pakora (potato and something) and a fried egg!!   It had been breaded and then fried and had an interesting texture and taste.

The big treat of the night was APPLE PIE for desert and this was no ordinary Apple Pie.   It had a caramel flavor to it and was served with chocolate sauce….delish!!   Unfortunately, I had left my camera in the tent and was simply too tired to walk over and get it so there are no photos of this amazing pastry!!

We all headed happily to the tents and most appeared to have gone to sleep immediately.  It was a happy sleep knowing that we were so much further down the mountains!!!