Finally, Part IV!

The Annapurnas from Muktinath

Mayla and Amaya: Soul Sisters

We finally met the perfect little trekker to hangout with Amaya. Mayla is almost exactly two years older than Amaya. Her parents were heading down the Kali Gandaki River; same as us, so we teamed up for some great conversations and walks.

On the Road Again...

Shopping Tibetan Style

Stringing up a Very Long Scarf?

Girl in Pink

Amaya overlooks Jharkot

The Main Street of Marpha

The Nilgiri Group obove the Kali Gandaki River, one of the deepest river valleys in the world.

Hey, how'd that get up here? Over the past few years, Jeeps, moterbikes and tractors have been flown (or packed?) past massive and extensive landslides to transform the Jomsom portion of our trek. While the hikers' path varied at times, we realized that there are only a few seasons left before the entire river valley becomes an auto tour, possibly one day connecting China and India.

Dawn's Laser Beams through Annapurna I.

Walking through Kalopani

Portions of Lete's Maize Harvest on the Rooftops

When You Need a Helping Hand...

A motorbike ahead of porters on a Suspension Bridge.

The Dasain Festival has children returning home to their villages for a month long holiday. The villages all had these swings built up.

After almost a week of walking with Mayla's family, we separated paths; as the Busby-Frey contingent decided to make it down river for the Out (and comforts of the tourist town of Pokhara). Above, Mayla's Dad makes final negotiations for a pony to carry her up to Gokhara.

Suspension Bridge below the village of Tatopani. After 29 days, we were ready to Get Out of the Trek.

Cute as a Daisy

The Thinker

Perhaps, Amaya wonders what will they make me do next? India? Back to Southeast Asia? OR is it just that Dad puts this dumb blog together and left out all of the good stuff?

Around Annapurna Part III: Thorung La

Reaping Havoc with the Locals

We finally got up the gumption to leave the Manang Area and head for Thorung La. We often called into question the dilemma of heading over the pass to continue the circuit verses turning around and heading back down. Amaya was showing no adverse affects of high altitude: diet: obviously good; sleep: averaging 10+ hours/night; hydration... check; mood... check... I had spent the time below tending to my reconstructed left foot (c.1995) which I had since rolled and sprained while in Braga (not pictured). All things considered, we decided to do that which had been recommended every day: hire a professional porter.

Plem

Our hotel operator recommended Plem. He had these amazing climbing boots and had worked in the woods. He immediately became Amaya's personal assistant. So Plem would carry our bivy gear while we would trade off carrying Amaya, if she could not be bothered to walk...

Yaks!

As our sign to go for it, the harvest in the Manang valley had finished, so that all of the animals could be led back down from their summer pastures to spend (and fertilize?) the valley all winter. The yak was a favorite, just behind the unicorns (not pictured).

Naa: Tibetan Bharal

Blue Sheep aka Bharal aka Marco Polo Sheep...? Finally, we ran into these guys. Perfect attraction for the Snow Leopard (not pictured, we only had the book).

Home Schoolin'

Amaya works Mama on her letters with the Gangapurna massif in the distance.

Tierra with Autumn Fire

Our Camp at Thorung Phedi, 14,600' (Before)

Camp During Snowfall

After spending the nights at Gunsang, 12,795' and Letdar, 13,780' we walked up to Thorung Phedi, 14,600' for the last night before the pass. The place was packed as in high season, so we put up the tent. That night it began to snow. At 3a.m. people started marching to the pass in a blizzard. We hunckered down, declared it a snow day, and then took over a vacant room.

SnowBunny in her Natural Habitat

Acclimitazation Again. We took a hike in the afternoon above 15 grand as the snow stopped and windows of Himalaya opened. We woke up early again; the stars were out this time so we went for it. After dealing with the morning cold, we warmed up to a beauty day!

Kick it up to the Pass, Ma!

Perfect day in the Himalayas

No wind; as if we were centered in a fat layer of high pressure.

The obligatory postcard shot. We met and walked with the Johnsons whom live about twenty miles from Longview---Ya travel half way 'round the world to meet folk from home...

Stringin out some prayer flags at 17,769'. We said goodbye to Plem, packed up all of our gear and slowly began the long wet heavy descent of about a mile vertical down to the next village of Muktinath.

Around Annapurna Part II: Manang District

Picking apples under Prayer Flags and the Himalayas; Annapurna II rises about fifteen grand in vertical feet above our path.

Tidal Wave of Granite: The Paungda Danda

Gateway to the Manang Valley, aka gateway to heaven, among many other names and religious connotations, this massive granite wall (maybe 4,000 vertical?) marked our turn up the Marsyangdi valley to the higher altitudes.

Mani Wall

The Manang District is characterized by its higher and drier elevations and various aspects of Tibetan Buddhist culture. We walked along an ancient salt trade route connecting Tibet and its many descendants living in Nepal. The Manang area opened to tourists in the 1970s.

Good morning Campers!

We packed quite the kit, and one night Amaya demanded that we use it. We camped near a lake at about 10,500 feet. I had an altitude headache, while Amaya chased the local goats and ran around oblivious to our decreased oxygen. This was a great time to slow down and acclimatize. We were going to spend the next couple weeks monitoring ourselves for the affects of altitude.

Giving the Prayer Wheels a Spin

Chandra's Kitchen

In the village of Humde, 10,925 feet, we found the greatest cook. We had to stay a couple extra nights to savor his inventions. Enchiladas, lasagna, homemade breads, apple pie, etc. etc... I even enjoyed a savory Yak steak in mushroom gravy. But of course, Amaya was Chandra's favorite guest and had run of his kitchen.

Early Morning Harvest

The villages of this area were working all daylight hours harvesting grain, buckwheat, pumpkins and potatoes before winter sets in. We were amazed to see the amount of work going into the bread we ate. A connection with community and the environment that we lack back home.

Braga and its 500 year old Gompa

We moved up the valley a bit, but then discovered more apple pie and the fascinating village of Braga, 11,319 feet. The hillside Gompa is believed to be at least 500 years old; dark, mysterious and "powerfully atmospheric." We had a great view out of our guesthouse window: the gompa, and then in another direction a few peaks rising 11,000 feet above the valley floor...

The Gurung family owns and operates The New Yak hotel. They cared for us very well as we stayed with them for about a week. Numerous acclimatization hikes were made--and their bakery offered excellent trail food for the journeys. Amaya and Tierra loved playing with Dorma Chiring, the little one in the photo.

The village of Ngawal, with flat roofed buildings, typical of older Tibetan architecture, then further down is Braga. We hiked up to about 14,600 feet on this daytrip, just to see how it would feel to be "above" Mt. Rainier back at home... worlds away.

Amaya, high above the valley

A woman carrying huge bulk of wheat to the gompa with Annapurnas III and IV

Preying for good coffee in Manang

After the Harvest

Between Annapurnas III and IV

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.