Day 1 Besishahar (760m) to Ngadi (890m)
We woke at 7am quickly packed and headed downstairs for breakfast. While waiting to head off a small protest march of about 50 local men passed by the hotel, most of the shops in the street still had their shutters down. We left at 9.15am, it was a beautiful sunny day and quite warm. The porters carried our main bags, Milan had mine and his own and Balaram had David's, Nick's and his own. We started off down the street and almost immediately turned off onto a narrow path winding down to a creek which we crossed, then we walked through a small village. We headed up the road and had magnificent views of 8000m + mountains in the distance. We crossed our first suspension bridge which reminded us of Indiana Jones with it's missing wooden planks. We trod carefully and made it safely across. Our first stop was at Bulbule for morning tea where we had a lovely view of the river and mountains. Our next two river crossings were over more stable metal suspension bridges and we also passed a small waterfall. The scenery was gorgeous as we passed through rice paddys and small villages with their vege gardens full of chilli, garlic and sugar cane. We made it to our 1st nights accommodation at Ngadi (Nadi Bazar) by 2pm where we had lunch and relaxed for the afternoon with the sound of the rushing water in the background.
Day 2 Ngadi (890m) to Bahundanda (1270m)
7am wake up again. Had breakfast of porridge and an omlette before setting off at 8.30am. The sun was up and the surrounding mountains looked stunning. It was very cold to start especially in the shady areas. As we walked we warmed up swapping our beanies for caps/hat. We passed through a couple of small stone villages which offer accommodation for trekkers. We feel as though we have the place to ourselves as we have not seen any other trekkers yet. We passed many rice fields terraced high up the sides of the mountains. The rice has been harvested and the fields are empty for the winter. We passed a local ploughing his field using two bullocks, it looked like back breaking work even with the bullocks. Every where we walk there are chickens, cows and goats roaming free in the villages. We had a short sharp climb to our destination in a village on a saddle with excellent views either side of the river. The sign at the bottom of the steps leading to the entrance to our hotel read "on extra 60 steps you won't regret". And we didn't! We went for a quick visit to the local school before lunch and were shown around by their teacher librarian. They have 450 students from nursery to year 12, and 19 teachers. We also spoke with the English teacher and David had his photo taken with him in the school yard. The students were sitting the first day of their final exams so it was very quiet. We had lunch of dhal bhat enjoying the mountain views then did some washing and spent the afternoon reading and relaxing in the courtyard. Around 3pm the sun was loosing it's heat so we had showers and put on our thermals. Dinner was in the small dining room with excellent views down the valley. We also met 2 Finish girls (sisters) who were doing the trek, carrying their own packs with only a guide. We finished the evening playing Uno with Pasang and were in bed by 9pm.
Day 3 Bahundanda (1270m)to Chymanche (1430m)
6.30 am wake up, the Finish girls next door set off around 6am, we know this as the walls were paper thin. Another beautiful sunny day and the temperature was quite comfortable. We had a great breakfast of Masala omlette (omlette with onion and spices), chai and porridge. We set off right on 8am. Again we had fantastic views of the mountains and farm lands built into the sides of the mountains. We passed a huge landslide that had happened over a vear ago. We walked at a good pace and stopped for morning tea at Ghermu. We had a cup of chai while watching the spectacular 111m waterfall, which had a hydro power station at it's base. It really warmed up and Nick even took his shirt and the bottoms of his pants off. We made it up a steep hill and had a rest looking over the great views of the rapids below. A 4wd with people on the roof racks and hanging on at the back passed us driving down the very steep rocky road with many switchbacks. We stopped for lunch in Jagat right on midday and shared vegetable momo and rice and vege curry. We only had another hours walk to reach or hotel at Chyamche. It overlooked a 202m waterfall flowing from Chhahare Khola (river). As we had made such good time we celebrated with a Gorka beer (David) and a Rum and Coke(Catriona). We spent the afternoon reading and watching the waterfall. It was very cold in the evening and Passang put a bucket with hot coals under the table which warmed the place up considerably. We enjoyed the evening playing Uno with everyone, we had to teach Milan and Balaram how to play. As Balaram does not speak much English we also decided to learn how to say the colours in Nepali.
Day 4 Chymanche (1430m)to Dharapani(1860m)
David was shaving on the verandah this morning and managed to attract an audience. Misal the little boy who lived there was intrigued by the electric shaver. David showed him how the shaver worked and they spoke together, Misal saying the names of the things in his local environment such as waterfall, clouds, mountains, sky etc. in English. At breakfast we had porridge and took our first diamox tablet(to prevent altitude sickness). We started walking at 8am and again had perfect weather and beautiful scenery. We crossed about 5 suspension bridges today and had many mule trains pass us as well as locals carrying piles of wood and other goods as we ascended slowly along the trail. We stopped quite a few times to rest and we passed men building the road on the other side of the valley. The sounds of their jackhammers reverberated off the cliffs. The views were again amazing with the surroundin mountains and the aqua colourd river which at times was violent with whitewash over and around the rocks and boulders. We had lunch at Tal (Lake) where we met 2 other groups of trekkers. One was a couple from Leura, Alex and Briar who had a porter and a guide. The group was a girl from the UK, Teddy and a guy from China, Cheng who had a porter/guide and onother porter who had altitude sickness and had to turn back leaving Cheng to carry his own bag. We all enjoyed a Dhal Bhat for lunch together and then set off in our individual groups to our overnight hotel called "the 3 sisters". The two other groups also stopped at the same place, funny considering Alex and Briar are from Leura. Later on we were joined by a group which included a Chek couple and a Polish guy who lives in New York who were carrying their own bags but had a guide. Catriona managed to have a hot shower and wash her hair but David just had another baby wipe shower. We again spent the night playing Uno with our group with a bucket of coals under the table and also had Teddy and Cheng join in. Teddy explained the rules to Cheng in Chinese and he picked it up pretty quickly. Due to the diamox multiple visits to the toilet at night are often taken. This hotel had their toilet outside so we managed to have amazing views of the stars on our visits tonight.
Day 5 Dharapani(1860m)to Chame (2670m)
Woke at 6.45am to the sound of the river roaring below us. Another absolutely blue sky day with no clouds. A cheese omlette and hash brown potatoes(fried potato with onion and tomatoes) for breakfast today. Started at 8am and it was very cold and windy. As we walked along the sound of the river echoed under the rocks of the overhang on the cliff beside us, it was like we had the river on both sides. We again passed throgh many small villages spinning the prayer wheels as we passed by. One village had a huge prayer wheel inside a small building that we circled 3 times. We again passed many mule trains, often hearing the bells around their necks ringing well before we could see them. We also crossed many more suspension bridges over the river and passed some amazing waterfalls. One waterfall in particular was frozen and we had to cross at the base helped over the slippery rocks by our guide and porters. As we ascended the mountains looked better and better. We could see Manasala (8137m) which was glowing in the sun, quite dramatic. We walked through mature pine forests up to our lunch stop of Thanckok. On our way we kept passing and sometimes walking with the other groups we had met yesterday. After lunch we walked for another km to Koto where Passang had our passes stamped at the police check point. From here we had amazing view of Annapurna II (7937m) in the afternoon sun. Our final destination for the day was the Shangrila Hotel at Chame. Tonight Catriona had a baby wipe shower while David braved the cool waters of the hotel shower. Great views back over Manasala at sunset, it lit up / glowed yellow to orange - awsome. We enjoyed Christmas eve playing Uno with Pasang, Milan and Balaram.
Day 6 Chame (2670m) to Lower Pisang (3200m)
Woke at 6.45 and quickly packed, then down to the restaurant for buckwheat bread and jam for Cat and omlette and freid potatoes for Dave. Called Chris and left a Christmas message then called Val's and spoke to Megan, Val, Chris and Bernie as everyone was there for Christmas Lunch. Left a message for Doris and Roger as they were out. We set off through a very shady valley with very cold hands. David held Catrionas poles while she tried to warm her hands. We passed many very old prayer rocks as we left the small village and also many prayer wheels. Today we walked through pine forests and on the way had views of Lamjung Himal (6983m) and different aspects of Annapurna II. Teddy and Cheng have unofficialy joined our group. They managed to get a local porter who will carry their bags to the top of Throng-La but they are on their own from there. We are so glad to be on this Intrepid trip, we have no problems and Pasang is always checking that we are all ok. When we get to our morning tea/ lunch / dinner stop Milan brings out the menu and takes our order. People in the other groups are left to fend for themselves. Today is another blue sky day with magnificent views of the mountains. We passed over small bridges where the small streams are frozen and we also passed a few frozen waterfalls. At lunch we stopped at Dhikur Pokhari the restaurant that Pisang wanted to take us to was closed, as are many of the places we pass, due to it being the off season. We met up with the couple from Leura and the Finish sisters and had a Christmas Dhal Bhat. We fashioned our buffs into Christmas hats for lunch with great views over heavens gate, a pilgrimage site for Hindus. We made it to our hotel at 2.30pm and at 3 we walked to Upper Pisang, a small village with a monestery. The reason for the walk was for aclimatisation and to see the monestery which ended up being closed. We had Yak, rice and potatoes for dinner and finished off with apple pie and custard for our Christmas desert. This hotel had a TV in the restaurant so we played a couple of games of UNO and watched home alone 2 and some of home alone 3 before setting off to bed at 8.30pm.
Day 7 Lower Pisang (3200m) to Manang (3540m)
Woke around 1pm for a trip to the outside toilet. We both stood looking at the stars for a short time before we started to freeze then headed back to our nice warm sleeping bags. Something I should mention is that most of the toilets have a bucket of water with a scoop so you can "flush". In many of the places we now visit the water bucket is frozen on top so you have to break the ice to get to the water, some places the water is a solid block! We got up at 6.45am as usual, packed and had breakfast ready to set off at 8am. It was our coldest start so far even though it was bright and sunny and we had our gortex jackets and ski gloves on. We walked through pine forests early on with Pisang peak to our right. Our first stop was at Humde for a hot chocolate which warmed us nicely. This town has an airstrip and another police checkpoint. Along the way we passed the Finish girls, the couple from Leura and a couple of American women who were trekking by themselves, no guide or porter. Once again we thought how glad we were to be on tour where we didn't have to plan anything. Pisang gives us a breifing each evening after dinner to let us know what time to get up and what we will be doing the next day and they give us information about what we are seeing along the way. Today we had a great views of Ganggapurna (7544m), Annapurna II, Annapurna III (7555m), Annapurna IV (7420m) and Tare Kang (7069m). THe walk was only 4 hours today and we enjoyed sitting in the sunroom of the hotel for the afternoon after washing our socks and undies in the freezing water, we put our shirts and pants in to be washed. Everyone we had met so far excluding the couple from Leura were staying at Tilicho Hotel with us. We also met a couple of guys from England, Rupert and John, who stopped in for lunch but were staying at a village a short walk away. 9 of us played Uno till around 8.30pm.
