Nepal

March 1, 2001: Kathmandu

On March 1, 2001 we arrived in Kathmandu. March 2 was our first day of sightseeing in and around Kathmandu. We started in Bhaktapur, one of the three Durbur Squares in the Kathmandu area. Bhaktapur is a very interesting city, although the Durbur square has more of a museum feel than the ones in Patan or Kathmandu. We spent some time wandering around the city and exploring its narrow streets. From there, we had a nice lunch at Dhulikhel and went to Panoati. From Panoati, we went to Pashupatinath and then collapsed in our hotel. The next morning, we met Niraj and took the bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara for the start of our trek. After meeting the rest of the group in Pokhara, we had dinner and a chance to explore the town a little bit. But early next morning, it was off to the trek.

March 4, 2001: Nayapul to Hile

The first day was a pretty light walking day, to let people get settled. Most people got walking sticks, although Mom and I had trekking poles so we passed on that. Although initially we both were not convinced by the usefulness of poles, soon we saw their value and I was very glad to have one. Around eleven, we stopped at a waterfall for lunch. After a nice lunch, we set off for Hile. We hiked along the side of a rockfall and down to the river, before starting up the other side of the valley. Hile was a welcome stop for most people, as several people were struggling with some ailments. Tek and his helpers made us a very nice dinner, and we went to bed early.

March 5, 2001: Hile to Ghorepani

I woke early, around five am, and got up. There were a few lights on near our campsite, so from my sleeping bag it looked like the sky was light. However, after I dressed and got out of the tent, I realized it was still pitch black out. No one was up except for Tek and some of the porters. It seemed silly to go back to bed, so I sat and watched the sun slowly come up over the hills. After breakfast, we set off for Ghorepani under clear skies.

We worked our way along the side of the valley, over several suspension bridges and past a few nice waterfalls. We spent a lot of the day working past donkey trains working their way up the valley too. Once we got a ways up the valley, we got a nice view of Hile and an appreciation for the work we'd put in that morning.

At lunch, we watched some clouds roll in and things started looking threatening. Soon after we started moving after lunch, snow started falling. It continued to fall until about half an hour after we arrived in Ghorepani. It wasn't very cold or wet snow, thankfully, but at the time it was a concern. Soon after we arrived, however, the snow stopped and I got my first glimpse of Dhaulagiri.

March 6, 2001: Poon Hill, Ghorepani to Tadapani

We woke up late, so it was a mad rush to make it up Poon Hill in order to see the sun rise. Snow was still on the ground, and things were pretty icy as well. There are good views all the way up Poon Hill, though, and I arrived at the top only a few minutes after sunrise. It was calm, but not long after sunrise a wind picked up and added to the cold temperatures. Nevertheless, we had beautiful views of Dhaulagiri and the Annapurnas.

After breakfast in Ghorepani, we started off for Tadapani. Because of the snow, the trails were slippery and still covered in snow. It made for a difficult day of walking, as the snow melted and turned from slippery ice to slippery mud. We were happy to arrive in Tadapani that evening.

March 7, 2001: Tadapani to Chomrung

From Tadapani, we headed off towards Chomrung. The snow had melted by now, but the trail was muddy and slippery in many areas. For the start of the day, we hiked down from Tadapani through a forest. In the afternoon, the scenery changed to a trail along the side of the valley. Finally we arrived above Chomrung, and worked our way down to the teahouse where we camped.

The views from Chomrung were amazing, and I was glad we had a rest day there. Both morning and night, we had beautiful views of Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, and Machhapuchhre. In the afternoons, however, rain came in and gave our tents a test.

March 9, 2001: Chomrung to Dovan

Despite the fact that Dovan is higher than Chomrung, we spent most of the early part of the day descending. This was a bit frustrating, as was our lunch stop as we could see the clouds building again. Niraj, our guide, was worried that snow in the Sanctuary might prevent our reaching Machhpuchhre Base Camp the following day.

True to form, the rain came in again that night at Dovan, and froze on our tents during the night making them crispy.

March 10, 2001: Dovan to Machhapuchhre Base Camp

Niraj decided to leave our tents in Dovan and stay in a teahouse at MBC. He sent Indra, our of our sherpas, ahead to secure us a spot while the rest of us worked our way up through Himalaya, Deurali, and finally into the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was amazing, and unlike any place I've ever been! The valley walls are so steep on either side, and the snow added a special element to the landscape.

At 0430, we arose and headed off in the cold to ABC to catch the sunrise. It took about an hour and a half to walk from MBC to ABC, our path being lighted by the full moon. Although I was warm enough in a couple fleeces and long underwear, my hands were not and by the time I arrived at ABC I was in considerable distress at how completely numb my hands were. I only spent about 15 minutes at the viewpoint before retreating to a teahouse to warm up and get something to drink.

March 11, 2001: MBC to Dovan

After our hike up to ABC, we had breakfast at MBC and started down to Dovan again. I was quite surprised at how much work we had done the day prior -- I guess the excitement of getting to MBC helped disguise how much uphill we had. I was also surprised at the amount of climbing we had to do to get back to Dovan -- in Nepal, you have to climb even to descend.

March 12: Dovan to Chomrung

We camped the night in Dovan, and then started back to Chomrung. As we were climbing back into Chomrung, rain hit again and continued for much of the afternoon. Wemanaged to stay fairly dry, still, and had a relaxing evening in Chomrung. I had a nice shower there, but my cold took me down a few notches and I went to bed early.

March 13, 2001: Chomrung to Ghandrung

Although this day looked like it should be easy, since Chomrung and Ghandrung at nearly at the same elevation, there was a lot of climbing involved! We had to work our way down to the Kymrung Khola, and then back up the other side. This was quite a task! As we hit the relatively flat area approaching Ghandrung, we got hit by a determined rain and hail storm. That was pretty frustrating, and the first time that most people actually got wet. It stopped as soon as we reached Ghandrung, at least, but most people were pretty tired of rain.

March 14, 2001: Ghandrung to Tolca

We started our last full day with breakfast at Tolca, then hiked down to the Modi Khola and back up the other side to Landrung. This was quite a climb, and the weather was warmer than any other day we had. We passed some monkeys on the way up from the Modi, but they were too far away to see very clearly. After a nice lunch and a short nap in the sun in Landrung, the clouds rolled in again and the rain came down once again. By this point, most people were carrying a lot of rain gear so I don't think anyone got very wet. We arrived in Tolca before the rain really started, and hail once again pounded our tents for a short time before it cleared in the early evening.

That night, Tek baked us a cake and we had a party around a fire in celebration of our last night. We also got to sample some of the local brew -- tastes a bit like alcoholic apple cider vinegar!

March 15, 2001: Tolca to Phedi, Pokhara

Our last day took us into Dhampus for lunch, then down to Phedi where we got a bus back into Pokhara. The next day we returned to Kathmandu.

Last days in Kathmandu

We spent our first evening back in Kathmandu exploring Thamal, after an excellent dinner at the Third Eye. The following day, we went to Patan, Bodinath, and Pashupathinath, and in the evening went to the Kathmandu Durbur square. That evening we had another good dinner at Yin Yang.

After a visit to Monkey Temple and some more shopping, we had a nice Tibetian dinner. The next morning, my flight left Kathmandu. Mom headed to Phidim later in the week for the health clinic. My trip to Nepal was such an amazing experience that it's hard to sum it up.

There was so much new, and so many things that I saw that I never thought I would see with my own eyes!