And on to the tropics...

A one-minute walk to the airport found us at the outdoor departure lounge waiting for the airplane from Pokhara to arrive. Within minutes of landing we were whisked through quite a personal security check and on board. The flight took off just as quickly as it landed and we found ourselves at eye level with 7000 m to 8000m peaks - spectacular!
We landed in Pokhara where the temperatures were easily in the high 20's. Banana trees, papayas, pineapples and palm trees dotted the landscape. Eric and Liz decided to go for a mountain bike experience while Tanya found herself following a sweet older woman who invited her to visit her son in the drug and alcohol rehab centre. The rest of us went for a "canoe ride" in an ancient looking dory (that only leaked a little). This was Nima's first experience ever in a boat. Stuffed into her life jacket (the only one on board) she finally was able to relax and breathe on our way back from a small island that housed a temple. While stopping at the island Nima bought corn kernels to feed the ginormous (according to Maddie) fish. Maddie had nightmares of falling into the water with the 'man-eating' fish (carp).
We met for a delicious South Indian meal at the local Punjabi restaurant. The next morning we flew back to Kathmandu on Yeti Airlines and spent our last two days catching up with our Nepali friends and shopping till we could carry no more!
Stupas, khadas, incense, momos and more cups of tea sums up a wonderful adventure! Until next time... Namaste.

Escape to Xanadu

11 days into the trek we had our first showers! The medieval village of Kagbeni offered more than hot raining showers...we wandered through the alley ways and tunnel-like streets coming upon mani walls, goats, chortens, spring flowers and a fertility statue. It soon got dark and we landed back in the lodge for a delicious meal and a last wild card game with everyone. The next day marked the final leg of the trek with a walk on the river bed of the Kali Gandaki. The wind howled all day long! We spent most of the day on and off the road, passing jeeps and other travellers - a German group with a young child being carried in a basket (doko) and spent most of the day with heads looking down trying to find the perfect wish stones and saligram rocks. We landed in Jomsom, at the Xanadu hotel where we dropped our things and headed to straight to a 5-star resort (Jomsom Mountain Resort). There, as we lounged by the "pool" we had a cup of tea while taking in the magnificent view of the mountains.

Into thin air

March 16: the alarm went off at 3:45am, packing up and ready for breakfast at 4:30, hit the trail in the pitch black at 5:30am. We could see nothing but an endless string of bobbing lights strung out on the trail above us. The temperature was -10 without the wind, more like -80 with the wind. The going was slow as we battled with gale-force headwinds. As we struggled to breathe in the rarefied atmosphere we made our way to the pass at 5416m. By 9:30am we were squeezed into a tiny stone hut which may be the world's highest tea house. Quick lemon tea, picture snapping, prayer flags flapping, gusty winds and out of here.

The descent was warm, sunny, slippery, long and winding. It took another 5 hours to reach our destination at Muktinath (17 km in total). Muktinath is a lovely pilgrim's destination complete with temples and many sources of holy water! 108 spouts spew freezing cold water that pilgrims douse themselves in, a tradition that some of us took part in as well! Three eternal flames glow in another temple, all of which were visited by our group but particularly revered by Nima, Karma, Dorje (Karma's assistant), Buddhi, Suku and Dawa (our porter-heroes). Time passed quickly and after a quick lunch back at the lodge we began the Nepali-flat and dusty walk to the ancient town of Kagbeni (another pilgrim destination at the top of the Kali Gandaki valley - deepest valley in the world thanks to the Mount Dhalgiri and Annapurna I, both 8000+ metre mountains perched on its banks).

The challenge

Manang - mountain grandeur, horses trotting down the main street, ambiance of a Hollywood movie set. We expected to get a Clint Eastwood movie but got Into the Wild in the world's highest movie theatre with popcorn and sweet tea. Perfect place to acclimatize. Engaged in a practice hike to Gangapurna Lake that involved snowball fights, jumping shots and building of snow creatures at 3800m. This was our rest day.
The day began early with another delicious breakfast of porridge, Tibetan bread, chapati and omelets. The walk to Yak Kharka was one of our favourites. It was warm, and sunny (while walking), and we had stunning mountain views, saw lots of yaks, vultures, eagles, blue sheep and mountain goats. Crossed yet another suspension bridge to a higher plateau that took us into colder weather. When we reached Yak Kharka at 4050m the sun was still shining but it was cccccold. We huddled into a 'sun' room at the lodge where we spent the time playing rounds and rounds of cards. Zena and Liz dozed in the sunlight that shone into the room. Our rooms were freezing by bedtime at 8:00pm.
Woke to frozen water bottles and toilets, making morning ablutions a challenge. We started walking to what would be our highest altitude before crossing the pass. Garlic soup and ginger became the meals of choice as we climbed to Throng Phedi at 4450m. Karma pulled out the Toblerone at just the right time! We landed at base camp by noon and after a filling lunch decided to continue on to high camp 4850m to sleep (???). The walk was steep but surprisingly okay. We got there as the sun sunk below the jagged horizon. There was NO heat, the water in the toilet already frozen, even talking was exhausting!

Hey-ho, hey-ho, a-trekking we will go...

Our big adventure around Annapurna started on March 8th with a 6:30am departure and a 6-hour busride to Besisahar at an elevation of 820 m. We had a nice easy walk to Bhulbhule where we spent the night in a lovely lodge on the banks of the Marsyangdi river. The morning started off right with delicious Bodum coffee that Karma schlepped all the way up there and kept serving us fresh every morning from thereon. On March 9th we trekked to Jagat at 13oo m. Along the way we got swept up in a herd of about 300 sheep and goats. We crossed 3 suspension bridges (much to the "delight" of Zena and Jude), saw lots of natural waterfalls and enjoyed tropical scenery with banana trees, papaya, peach, mango and wheat. Checked into the Paradise hotel and lights out by 9pm. Destination for the next day was Dharapani at 1860 m. We took our sweet time to get to the lunch stop in Tal and encountered some amazing scenery, lots of donkey trains and beaches. After lunch, Karma made us hurry up a bit to get through the construction zone on the new road along the river valley before they started blasting at 3pm. March 11th we finally started to see huge mountains and dramatic rock faces and cliffs. Lunch in Timang at 2550m and overnight stop in Koto at 2640m, where we stayed in cute little cottages. This was the first night where we had a few serious rounds of our favourite card game. Trekking destination on March 12th was Lower Pisang at 3250 m where we woke up to 2" of snow on March 13th. That changed our route from the very steep and challenging high road to the much easier, yet very interesting low road to Manang, gateway to the challenge that lay ahead.

Three muskateers become the seven dwarfs

The gang arrived today, only 3 hours later than planned, but more than one claimed the title of "Sleepy". We were very happy to see Rob, Liz, Eric and Zena arrive safe and sound with all of their luggage! This may not sound unusual to the average traveler but in Nepal, you never know!

Neema and Karma took us by fancy mini bus to the airport where they greeted the gang with the local tradition of a lei of fresh marigolds.

After a rooftop prep talk by Karma about our upcoming trek the gang took a nap before their first momo (dumpling) and tentuk (noodle soup) dinner.

Shake and bake to Sermathang!

Shakin' bakin' and done... we fell into bed and were asleep by 8:00! Big storm overnight - lightning, thunder, rain and hail and woke to a layer of ice on the picnic table outside our room. After a lovely pancake breakfast we began our village tour. Visited the Gompa, the Danish friendship house, and then off to school! It was Saturday so there were no classes and we specifically asked that there not be any special "program" planned... so we had a beautiful non-program complete with performances and speeches! Madelaine's first public speech by the way... Tanya had a local dance lesson... Jude managed not to cry - even though she had to do yet another speech!

The school is doing very well. From Mads and Tanya's perspective they were amazed to see the changes and progress that had taken place since the opening in 2009. Now, 172 students (give or take) and 40 boarding students strong the school is once again thriving. Families have returned to the village and the place is growing quickly. There are plans for new lodges, restaurants and even a resort.

The afternoon was spent visiting, eating boiled potatoes and drinking lots more tea. We skipped dinner and instead had another plate of potatoes at Tashi's mother's place. We washed it down with a local brew called mustang coffee... we were not quite sure what all was in it but we were assured that it was all organic!

We managed to stay awake until 10, already anticipating the next bus trip back to Kathmandu. We started our journey at 8:15 in an obsessively freshly washed bus and shaked and baked our way back in only 7 hours.

Thirty-three cups of tea... and then some...

Here's the 'reader's digest' version of what we've experienced over the last three days. Jeep ride to start - we took a jeep from Kathmandu to Pati Bhanjang - a road that some would call an ATV trail! Who would think of driving a vehicle, let alone a bus (which we took later) along a dusty, slippery, bumpy, narrow, curvy, winding, rocky track to a place that should only be accessible by foot. The ride was a blast! From Pati Bhanjang we walked up for 2 hours until we reached the new healthpost. Furnished by a French NGO, we found 10 hospital beds (empty thank goodness), a health care assistant, and a sad examination room (photos to follow). All in all, if a villager gets sick it's better than a trip to Kathmandu. The idea is to treat nearby villagers for minor issues in a local setting.

Onward to Thakani where upon arrival we were greeted by the children of the school. They were lined up by age and height and showered us with namastes and flowers. A Canadian flag on one side, a Nepali flag on the other, we entered the village and were treated to a cola-flavoured drink and the first of many cups of tea. We played on the new playground with many of the children before a delicious dal bhat meal. We visited a house where the local women were weaving traditional Nepali bags (that we'll be selling as a fund raiser).

We spent the night, cuddled in a classroom, braving the winds that only Tanya remembers. We were fast asleep before we hit the sack... all except Tanya! It was, after all, 7:30 pm. The next morning we were on the trail by 6:30 but we were waylaid for yet another cup of tea and noodle soup for breakfast (much better than oatmeal). Caught a "bus" after only a one-hour hike for the ride to Talamarang. The road was beyond description... perhaps 'road' is not the right word. Who ever thought that making a road and taking a 2-ton ancient vehicle along a slippery dirt track would make life easier in the hills.

We spent the 5-hour layover in Talamarang visiting the school, watching the morning 'drill' and sitting in the office. Then, after cokes, teas and boiled eggs (carried from the village) our bus arrived already packed like sardines. The roof, filled with plywood and sheets of metal, seemed to be out of the question for passengers (much to Judy's chagrin). We were sucked inside and plastered into position for the 4-hour ride up to Sermathang. The ride was not pleasant... Tanya was in the fetal position wishing for the end, Mads, was dodging broken glass in the back seat of the bus bouncing uncontrollably with Tashi sleeping on her shoulder through the entire event and Jude was cursing every bag of cement (after the first 40) that were stacked in the aisle preventing any wishes of hopping off to pee.

We made it there in one piece in time for another cup of tea!