Trek Diary - Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed

Day 1 – Thursday 13^th September 2012

Naya pul (1,070m) to Tikedhunga (1,577m) 

It was lightly raining as we left Pokara but thankfully after a one and a half hour taxi ride it remained overcast but dry when we reached Naya Pul. Naya Pul was our trek launching point.  We left the main road, crossed a suspension bridge and were on our way. Our trekking passports were arranged prior to the trek so Ram signed us in at the tourist checkpoint. Let the slow climb begin! 

Today was an ‘easy’ day – four hours of trekking up a steady incline. I hope the mountain legs kick in soon. The climb up to our lunch spot was a tiring one. I felt like the ‘Little Engine’ – I think I can, I think I can.

After lunch we both used our umbrellas for protection against the sun. The scenery was beautiful in the hill land we had been walking in, so very green and fertile and picturesque villages.

  

Rule no. 1 when passing a donkey train - stay close to the hill side, never on the edge. Why? If you are in their way they just knock you down or over the side. They don't veer from their course. And when you are hugging the hill side pray it is a wide path or you get shoved into the rocks. I learnt from experience later the first day, just past the landslide.

 

My two downfalls today – negotiating, terrified, a crumbling landslide with a very narrow ledge and a creek crossing. The creek was approximately four metres wide, the water knee deep and surging, the mode of crossing – rocks towered one on top of the other and wobbling precariously. NO, I did not have the balance needed for this obstacle. The easiest way to cross? Take off the shoes and socks and wade through. No dramas!

 

Our first night – Chandra Guesthouse in the beautiful little village of Tikedhunga. We arrived in glorious sunshine but by nightfall it was raining.

 

 

Day 2 – Friday 14^th September 2012

Tikedhunga (1,577m) to Ghorepani (2,850m) 

The pressure is on! The real trekking has kicked in – saw more steps today than I have ever seen in my life and, today, all of them uphill.

Early breakfast and hit the trail at 7.30am in the fog. A beautiful cascading river gurgled behind our lodge and it wasn’t long before we crossed it.

A bit of headbutting in the morning mist

Then the steps started! A flight of 3,280 in the first hour! No I didn’t count them – it was a statistic that Ram gleefully announced as we mounted the first step. They were the worst. There wasn’t a break, just one after the other, going up and up. Once conquered it was Red Bull and Ginger Tea time.

We continued to climb for the rest of the day. The views would have been spectacular but we didn’t see them. The fog was replaced by rain. The rain continued with varying intensity for the remainder of the day.

As we trekked higher we entered the rhododendron forest. Water streamed across the path in many places but the path was rocky and, although our shoes got very wet, we walked through very little mud.

For the last two days we have been trekking with one Thai, Yong, an American Thai, Ken, and Samma, an Egyptian from Cairo. By trekking with, I really mean that we have been keeping company with them at the same guesthouses and trekking with them on and off during the days. We are all trekking at our own pace so we all separate at different stages along the path. Today we met another Australian, John, from Northern Queensland. He is a Queenslander sooooo ...... enough said!

Staying at Kamali Lodge. The hamstrings are a little bit tight tonight and the muscle down the outside of my left knee is complaining seriously. It would have been nice to only have to climb one flight of stairs to our room but no such luck. There is a much appreciated fire burning downstairs – time to dry out the shoes, lounge in its warmth and chat for a while.

A wet Ghorepani