After 1 week in Kathmandu, visiting the sites and dealing with my first case of sickness and diarrhea while in India/Nepal, it was time to move one to Pokhara, the 2nd largest city in Nepal. It took about 6 hrs heading west on a bus before reaching Pokhara, situating nearby at the base of the Annapurna Mountain Range and right alongside a huge lake. Right upon arriving in Pokhara I was relieved by the absence of large crowds and the presence of clean air and relatively clean streets. The town was very lowkey as it is monsoon season and in the middle of the off-season, with very few tourists. I was able to get a pretty good rate on a nice room as a result.
While I was in Nepal, the thing to do is trek, so in spite of the monsoon rains I made plans to get out into the mountains for at least a little bit to check out the scenery and have myself a memorable experience. Initially I planned on hiking out into the mountains myself or with anyone I met as I had bought a map of the region and discovered that there are various guest homes and tea houses all throughout the extensive trail system. As a result I wouldn't have to camp or bring food with me. However I met a cool Nepalese guy in town named Prakash who seemed competant enough and persuaded me to hire him out for a cheap price to be my guide. This turned out to be a wise choice, as he was aware of all the key strategic areas and stops worth staying at as well dealing with whatever other pitfalls may occur along the way.
The first day we started a big late around 11am at the village of Phedi and hiked till about 5 till it started raining pretty hard. Fortunately I was prepared for the rain and had rented myself out a full-length rain jacket covering myself and the lone bag I was carrying. Didn't need to carry too much since I was only planning on being out on the trail for about a week or so. Also didn't need to carry food or tent, although I did stock up on some candy bars and trail mix before heading out. The first stop was a pretty cool little place featuring a farm with buffalos and goats in addition to rooms and a small kitchen with clay hearth for a stove, fired by pieces of stick and wood. The guy there said I could come back anytime I wanted and walk on the hillside with him and his family. Said he has several others who stop in from time to time and do such a thing, several Europeans.
Also got to experience for first time the imfamous leeches that I had heard so much about. However they really weren't as bad as I thought they would be, as they were tiny little creatures and were easily plucked off or dabbed with salt to remove. They do however have an amazing ability to attach to your shoes, socks, and legs and begin their blood sucking business. I saw several Japanese guys later one during the trip who had leeches which had gotten in their shoes and socks and created a bloody mess.
The second day started off with rain in the morning but thankfully cleared up within an hr or so. Finally started to get into some interesting terrain and some of the climbs were quite grueling. At times nothing but uphill for an hour or two. Was an incredible workout for my legs and I'm glad I wasn't carrying more weight. It is amazing how some of the porters and sherpas are able to carry some of the incredible loads they do, typically while wearing regular street shoes and nothing much suitable for the trails in the mountains, at least according to western standards. The clouds started to disperse some come late morning, although not completely, opening up some amazing vistas. Also amazing while hiking during the rain in the middle of the monsoon was the intensity of some of the waterfalls along the way, which were absolutely raging. Seemed like a virtual waterpark during the moments of hard rain which water bursting from all over the place. Really had to be careful and totally mindful on the trails not to slip.
Fortunately the trails were in incredible condition and much work was put into the trail system. Many of the trails have been in use for hundreds of yrs I'm sure with the existance of innumerable little villages living up in the mountains farming and ekeing out an existence. The second night we stayed at a guest house ran by 3 beautiful Nepalese women and with natural hotsprings nearby. This took another 20 min hike back down the mountain to the edge of the raging river where there were 3 hot springs pools available, although one had been covered up by the rising river. Alongside the river and up the hills was dense jungle. Hard to believe such jungle is so close to the highest mountains in the world. Surprisingly there was another group of travelers down soaking at the time, including a good looking 20 yr old American girl from Idaho who was in Nepal volunteering and hiking with some of her fellow volunteerers. The springs felt great and really helped loosen up my body and particularly legs after all the hiking. At the guest house I met a guy who was currently living in the tiny yet very rich country of Monaco in Europe. Originally from Australia, he had set up some sort of business in Monaco and was making big bucks. He was able to hire out a porter to carry his gear in addition to a guide. He had a chicken killed and filleted for himself that evening by the lovely women working in the kitchen.
The next several days were lots of up and down climbing throughout the Annapurna Sanctuary. I had originally hoped to make it up to the Annapurna basecamp but reconsidered as I wasn't carrying enough money on me. The prices at the guest and tea houses along the way get more and more expensive the further up one gets, considering the work it takes to carry it all the way up that way. Many times I saw caravans of donkeys weighed down by huge loads being transported into villages in the mountains. It would have been a nice accomplishment to make it too basecamp but I was happy enough to be out in himalayas experiencing what I could, in spite of the monsoon and lack of clear viewage. I did get one look at the high peaks for about 15 minutes the morning of my 3rd day. It was amazing seeing these high peaks, reaching heights of 25,000 ft and higher, almost twice as high as in Colorado. Another vista which I had hoped to view was Poon Hill, a popular spot providing a wide and amazing view of the Annapurnas and other various high peaks in the area. Unfortunately in the morning in which we were planning to making the ascent of the hill the weather was very cloudy and foggy, cancelling out these plans.
On the morning of the 6th day I was to make it back to the trailhead, a different one than I had started from, to catch the local bus back to Pokhara. However, there was a bus strike that day which meant no busrides back to town. We would have make it to the bus stop around noon, but kept walking for several hours more to make it several villages closer to Pokhara. Around 5pm were had reached a town not far from Pokhara where Prakash wanted to stay, i'm sure to try and wring out an extra days worth of pay from me. I however had no desire to sit put for the rest of the evening and kept walking. 4 hrs later I made it back to Pokhara, extremely exhausted, tired, and pleased to have made it back to town. In all I hiked 13 hrs minus perhaps an hour or more for food break that day. The most I had ever hiked in a day and my feet and ankles were absolutely killing me. Never felt so good to lie back on my bed and relax under the fan.
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