Around Annapurna Part I: Marsyangdi River

Grasshopper says: Life is not a Destination, but a Journey Unto Itself...

Amaya Says: My legs are Sore... Give Me a Ride!

Early Morning: Heavy Packs in Terraced Rice Fields

So there we were, late September in the north central Himalayas of Nepal... trekking the ever popular Annapurna Circuit, a 120 mile plus or minus counter-clockwise route around the Annapurna massif (multiple cock yer head back huge mountains). We chose to take it slow ...and spent 29 days on the trek. We began in the lush lowlands of about 2,000 feet along the Marsyandi River.

Amaya's Recliner: 85 Lbs?

Amaya was definitely an oddity on this trek--its usually attempted by the young and restless backpacker type or the more sophisticated individual on a religious pilgrimage. More common were the hoards of groups, sometimes numbering in the thirties; pre booked and driven by professional guides, very literally backed by their porters each carrying 200 pound of luggage.

The Price of Tea in Asia...

There are about 500 teahouses along the way, ranging from large capacity hotels to a simple huts. Although the hospitality was always welcome to the weary, we soon discovered that the price for a spot of tea rose exponentially as we climbed higher and higher. In fact, the competitive market had been abolished and all menu items were fixed by villages. At some point you could be expected to pay above $10.00 for a thermos of tea. All items had to be carried there by donkey or porters, but we were surprised. We ate a lot of potatoes and drank hot water to stretch the budget.

Rainy Day Friends.

Although Amaya was the youngest blond on the trek, she found many young friends along the way. We often have to remind ourselves and the folk back home: there are four year old children all along the way!

In the early portion of the trek, we had to wait out a two day deluge of monsoon rainfall. We stayed in the village Bahundanda, which overlooked lush green mountains and terraced rice fields. This was not like the rain at home, it was relentless heavy stuff: we could hear landslides roaring down into the Marsyangdi and almost considered our trek over.

Reincarnation of a Climber?

The sun came out and we continued walking up the river. As we did so, the valley tightened into gorges then opened up again.

Paradise Beauty Princess

Chorten in the Lush

Dora the Explorer; La ExploraDora!

Babysitters are very young as the parents are preoccupied with their business and fall crops. "Nani," meaning Little Sister, or "Didi," Sister, is used to address females here. In the above shot/background you can see Manaslu, one of the highest mountains in the world.

Blasted out of solid rock, the trekking route serves as the main artery of commerce for the many villages along the way. We often had to step aside for caravans of donkeys carrying all sorts of goods up and down to their intended markets. You can just see T and Amaya in the cut above; which used to be bridged by bamboo shoots before its enlargement. Believe it or not, the powers that be may soon blast even further for a road here... at which point the trek will turn into an auto tour.