Hot springs and dancing

7 Oct - Bamboo to Jhinu

What a great sleep! I slept soundly from 8pm to 5am. It rained and rained and rained. The TV in the dining room had flooding downstream on the news, causing damage in Nepal, India, Bangladesh. After a fantastic breakfast of dal and Tibetan bread we packed up quickly - "The porters want your bags everyone!" - and set off. 

Yum

I want this cup. Groundbreaking innovation

Intergen fanclub

Misty valley

Quick regroup

Sinuwa Lodge for tea

Retracing our steps to Chomrong

The view from Chomrong - lots of fresh snow in the col

Yes it was still raining, but warm and nice not chilly and windy. Little bit down, little bit up to Chomrong for lunch and a long stop where we perused the reading material. Hikers' Guiding Association annual with various articles of positive criticism of Nepali guides and how they could all up their game together (eg 'learn the culture of the local area you're guiding in if you're not from there!', 'Both understand and set the expectations of your guests', 'Let's make sure that altitude sickness scam gets stamped out for good'). What appeared to be a school atlas, all in Nepali. Alex and I tried to work out what the atlas was all about. Maps? Sure. But other geological and cultural maps? Not so easy. The pages of bar charts and suchlike had us stumped. 

Looks familiar

It was hot and it was yummy

Downvalley mist

Upvalley mist

After our long break we went down, down, down to Jhinu, where I discovered I'd been misspelling it (and mispronouncing it too) with an extra D for the last eight years. 

Jhinu with no D, great to be back

We got our rooms allocated and then off to the hot pools we trotted. (30 min each way. Rough track so wear okay footware - strapped on sandals, not jandals or suchlike.) WONDERFUL after our cold days. We soaked and chatted and Karna and some kids entertained us with animal impressions.

Noice

I splashed in a nice cool stream on the way back - and emerged with four leeches on my feet. (Yes, you WILL get leeched en route). 

So good being warm, dry and clean for the first time in days.

Dinner was pizza and chips. Yum. Sparse at first but then the seconds, thirds, fourths came out. Low staff (Dashain again) meant the food took a while so they got us all eating at once and then kept topping up. Great strategy.

The beers and raksie were flowing again and some of us moved outside under a porch with the porters. What fun! We sang and danced to a little UE Boom playing the Resham Firiri song . I was having a great time! But my raksie glass kept refilling itself and I decided that slipping off to bed was the best strategy. 

Bharat and Expansion share a beer

Karna and I share a raksie. Note the chili!

"Resham firiri! Resham firiri..."

 

Misty evening

Ki Garne?

What to do?

"I'm bailing." These were the first words I heard, from Atul, as the rain lashed down and the lightning flashed. Wet, windy and cold. We didn't hurry out of bed.

As folks trickled into the dining room, we talked through our options. Go on to ABC? Stay put and see what happens? Go back down? Consensus seemed to be around those last two options.

Expansion emerged. "Let's go back to Bamboo, and take the long way back via Tolka and Dhampus." The group were pretty happy with that, except for Georgina who was very keen to complete the mission; and Alex & Sarah who were happy to continue too. But it was going to be too complicated to split the group. Regretfully they joined us in the "down" plan.

At 9:20am there was still no sign of Bharat so I banged on his door. He blearily emerged. He and Bryan had slept through his alarm! 

He liked the "go down" plan.

So down we all went.

Retracing our steps, the crossings and the bridges were about the same as on the way up. Karna was happily helping us, balancing on rocks with the torrents swirling around him, in his t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. 

We stopped at Dovan for ... lunch or tea? Tea it was. I got cold during our regroup. Hmm, stopping to regroup 14 people is fun in nice weather but loses you body heat when it's lashing rain.   

We again passed the small shrine (I stopped again). A huge langur monkey swung through the trees above our heads as I contemplated the people no longer with us. Then the large shrine by the braided waterfall. As we descended the rain eased and the temperature rose. 

Raging. Look at the trees on the 'island' for scale.

When we reached Bamboo, our destination for the night, it took a long time for me to find the guesthouse. I was by myself and walked past guesthouse after guesthouse until I recognised packs and ponchos outside one near the bottom. Back to TV and maybe those delicious momo? Beers and raksie came out instead. Which was possibly unwise. Late lunch was noodle soup and potatoes and no momo. Still pretty good.

Even Earth-Sea-Sky parkas have their limitations

I don't know WHAT is going on here

Warm soup was went down well

Learning the language

We had been following a group of families from the local embassies - Americans, British and others, with little kids who happily played and chatted. A nice atmosphere in the dining room. Jenny got stuck in with them and soon had them playing games and doing stuff with her. 

After an early dinner of garlic soup and momo (yess!!!) I felt beat. I seem to be lacking in energy [don't make me mention the foreshadowing again]. Early night with no carousing for me.

The Wednesday with a chat to Mike

 Hi,

The bog talk of Wednesday was the weather.  A cold polar snap coming up the country with snow forecast to sea level in Christchurch and Wellington.

But I can report from home in Wellington on Thursday morning, that there is no sign of snow here. Not even on top of Mt Kau kau. Nix. But I can also report - it is jolly freezing.

Yesterday I caught up with Roanne for a bagel and iced latte - and Abbie tagged along. This is to show my mother that I have friends.

Hey Abbie!

Headed home after work to find all my buses cancelled. Sigh. Eventually got on a crowded 14. And I must look old because someone gave up their seat for me.  :-o

Cats close to each  other and buried my Kindle!

I made biscuits

Mike at the highest overnight stop of the ABC trek - in a lot of rain

I got to speak to Mike at Deurali. On video chat. He looks good. Also chatted to Bharat, Expansion and Bachan. And some chap that said Mike and him were sleeping together for body warmth.  I didn't believe that last bit.

The trek had been hard - lots of driving rain and waterfalls that crossed the path. The porters were amazing support, said Mike. They push up to the base camp today! Good luck to them.

Have an awesome day.  I am off to AKL for the Womens Rugby World Cup. Woot!

Love,

Angela

Rainy morning, rainier afternoon

5 Oct - Dovan to Deureli

A rainy morning! Time to repack to try to keep everything dry. I regret leaving extra drybags behind in Kathmandu. I had to repurpose various plastic and cellophane bags that I'd acquired on the way.

People slowly emerged into the dining room wearing a range of wet weather gear. Breakfast was porridge (two takers) or pancakes (the rest of us). The pancakes weren't as good as we'd thought they'd be. Maybe Team Porridge had the better idea.

As we left (and slightly on up the track) people acquired or brought out various disposable and reusable ponchos. Hannah looked dashing in her bright yellow poncho that covered her backpack too. Chenda and Georgina showed great product placement with their Intergen plastic ponchos, if only that brand still existed (sigh, Cap Gemini have just bought Intergen and stamped their brand and culture all over it). I had my fantastic Earth Sea Sky parka, but nothing for my backpack. Bechan took pity on me and lent me his pack cover.

Why was past Mike a dickhead?

• He left his migraine meds in Wellington
• He didn't change enough money
• He didn't bring any sunscreen, AGAIN. He left it in Wellington and didn't even buy any when he was shopping for ibuprofen at a Kathmandu pharmacy.
• He didn't bring any insect repellent, AGAIN. And didn't buy any in Kathmandu either.
• He left extra drybags in Kathmandu
• He didn't bring a pack cover for his daypack

It was wet as we set off, but we were warm and happy. We walked through bamboo and shrubby forest on a gentle slope. Because of the rain we spaced out a bit. It was nice walking at my own pace and with my own thoughts - though I did miss the conversation. 

I also appreciated my boots, splashing through mud and puddles and through the rivers. Some of the river crossings started to get, interesting enough that I made sure to wait for the next person (usually Trish) to make sure they were okay. Every time I come here I think, I really should bring some light trail runners for these easy flagstone-covered paths. And every time I'm happy to be in my solid leather tramping boots.

We came across a temple with amazing braided waterfalls behind it. We regrouped here and took photos. A dog befriended me, I thought it might adopt me for the day and follow me up the hill but it was just a bit too fickle.

We started up our first proper steps for the day, and I was alone when I came across a small shrine at the top of the spur. The moment was special - I quietly contemplated where I was, my Dad, Vivienne ... before the next group of people came strolling up the hill. 

I was happy that Georgina was the person ahead of me. Every fork in the path she was there waiting, like you should, usually making an educated guess which way it was because the person in front of her didn't wait!

Just 2 hours later, Himalaya Village suddenly lurched into view. We happily tucked into masala tea.

The stopping meant that I started to get cold in my wet clothes for the first time. I put my trusty beanie on and that was all it took.

Regrouped and replenished, off we set again. "Pleasant" is possibly not the word I'd use now. The rain got harder, the bush got sparser and the wind picked up. I was still warm ... enough, but I was definitely focussed on the destination not the journey now.

Rain means waterfalls and the steep sided mountains we were passing through meant the waterfalls were incredible. Puts Milford to shame. Water under so much pressure it rocketed off cliffs into mid air. Mighty cataracts flowing into a raging brown torrent in the valley cleft. 

It's hard to get the scale on that river,
 but it is raging

We had several quite sketchy river crossings. The bridge that was simply four narrow steel box sections attached to rock abutments scared the rest of the group the most. But for me it was the wider more stable bridge just beforehand, with raging torrents hammering against, through and over the hand built abutments. I ran across that one! Other fords were okay to cross, but with a raging torrent below. No margin for error.

Rabi and Anmol really stepped up, going back down the track, still with the 30kg bags hanging off their foreheads, to help us through the river crossings. Other porters scampered merrily over the rocks - but one lost the contents of his basket down the river! He could fortunately see the funny side of it as bottles and containers washed away and smashed against the rocks below.

Fortunately Deurali was right there and we gratefully made our way to our dining room and tried to dry out somewhat. We put on warm clothes and read and chatted about all sorts of topics. Including OnlyFans that, it seemed, only Sacchi and I knew anything about and I had to awkwardly explain what it was and then awkwardly explain how I knew (not from personal experience!! Nobody seemed to believe me but you've got to keep informed about social media trends, yes you do).  And then all the tests and poking about that should be done to a man my age. Hmm. Okay. I'll call the GP and make an appointment [As I'm writing this up a month later I haven't made any appointments].

Chips and momo and Dal Bat really hit the spot for dinner. It was still raining heavily as I wandered off to bed, sharing the room with Sacchi and Atul, with not a little trepidation about what tomorrow had in store for us.

The Tuesday at work with no Mike

 Hi,

OMG - what a day Tuesday was. I rode my bike in! Yay! Crisp morning - I was wishing for full fingered gloves at one point.

Got to work, changed into gym gear and headed to the gym to meet Quentin. Noticed the WoW exhibit outside TSB.

WoW has started in WLG

WoW

Bench day

Oosshhh

Quentin focused on upper body. An hour. I did 5 sets of 6 reps at 35kg. That was hard work. Then accessories.

I drank a lot of iced coffees. By the afternoon I was talking fast. Celia laughed and said it was obvious I had had a lot of iced lattes.

Morning iced latte

Afternoon iced latte with Stefan

It's Stefan's last day at work this week - so I caught up with him. He's off to Parts Trader. Too funny. He'll love that.

Pic of Mike from Chenda - thank you!

Negotiating a swing bridge

I also got some pics from Chenda with Mike in them! Happy to see those.

Yesterday was a lot of physical activity. Rode in. Run at lunch time with Erin. We also did some sprint work. It was tough work - but a gorgeous day for it.

After work, Barb took me home on my bike via Sar St. It was up and up. Took an hour to get home. I collapsed in the bath. Didn't sleep well - again! Gah!

Up for bus and PT session - but I was stretching and getting quads massaged, Hahahah.

We're expecting snow later today to 300m. Currently not that cold - but a southerly change is coming. 

Have a wonderful day.

Love,

Angela

Dovan where the weather turned

4 Oct - Chomrong-Bamboo-Dovan

It's going to be another hard day! Woke up at 4am, couldn't get back to sleep. Feel well rested though and my body feels better today than yesterday. Peered out the window at 5:30am and saw clouds - okay, no sunrise view for us this morning. I stayed in bed.

Bharat says that the first half is up and down, but latter half of the day will be okay... 

the "long steep stone staircase" marked on the map makes me wonder

There's little evidence of the Dashain festival here. We are definitely on a hiking route, not a route through where people actually live. 

The cloud slowly peeled away and suddenly Annapurna South and Himchule burst into view. Over the next 30 minutes the whole range cleared with just enough lenticular cloud, thermals and mares tails to make the view interesting. 

We could see the river flowing from the glacier under Annapurna South, and above it the whole valley leading to the col between Annapurna South and Himchule.

Chenda shows her skills

We had breakfast outside, looking at the view. Noodle soup, Tibetan bread and boiled eggs (that I gave away).

Boiled eggs are not for me but everything else is meto

8am saw us heading down to Chomrong Khola, the river that comes down from that col between Annapurna South and Himchule. Steep down, a swing bridge to navigate across the river, then steep back up. We had a big variation in pace - I was firmly middle table - so plenty of rest stops to regroup.

Checking our trekker passes

Chomrong Khola from the new bridge.
Hmm, I can see why they replaced the old bridge. 

At the first tea stop I got to play with a gorgeous floppy kitten - her charms overcame my strict rules about touching animals. Skinny but not unhealthily so, she was completely trusting and totally chill - every single muscle was completely relaxed and her whole body was floppy. 

But, the call of "Chalou! Chalou!" went out and so off we all went.

Now we were walking through forest, still steeply up and with big wide flagstone stairs. A little bit busier now we were on the 'there and back' track. We were getting to know the people in the other teams walking with us. The Bangladeshi women. An Indian man with five friends from the same company, who have gone hiking in the Himalayas every year for the last twelve years. And, lots of Nepalis which is great to see.

Jenny heads up

Bamboo took longer to get to than I expected. We spent a long time chatting and eating and regrouping. We chatted to Expansion and somehow the topic got onto castes. He reckons that the caste system in Nepal is breaking down; marriages across castes are more accepted and there aren't barriers to lower caste people becoming professionals or businesspeople.

Meanwhile Chenda, being more observant than the rest of us, noticed that our itinerary ... included a "31 September" date. Oh. Bharat quickly rejigged things. We lost an (unnecessary) day in Kathmandu at the end of the trip.

Lunch was pasta in sweet tomato sauce - and the best momo of the trip. Meto meto! Rabi enthusiastically cut bamboo walking poles for everyone that wanted one. I thought nah, on the way back for me - until all the steps back to Bamboo were pointed out to me! Chenda very kindly gave me one of hers. 

Eventually, off to Dovan we set. A much gentler walk than we'd had up til now. Sarah found a lizard (Agamidae family, maybe, she said) - she was just the right person to do so. She gently handled it and showed it to a succession of passers-by.

Suddenly, Dovan! Much earlier than I expected, like 4pm. I bought the rs300 wifi, old school modem speeds but ok to get text messages in and out and let Twitter update. And Wordle of course. This was when I discovered Bryan's detox - he had brought no electronica at all. Bharat assured him we'd supply all the trip photos he needed, and he'd left Expansion's contact number before he went totally off grid for three weeks. Maybe I should try this sometime.

Dovan

A cup of Raksie appeared in front of me, courtesy of Bechan - with a chopped chili floating in it. I couldn't smell or even taste much of it [foreshadowing again] but it made my tongue and lips tingle. Good stuff.

Bharat had brought a pulseox meter with him, and it was interesting playing with it. My pulse ox levels were well down, and my heart rate was correspondingly higher. Because of the altitude. If I had had covid, it would be at the point where I'd be ringing an ambulance! [so much foreshadowing]

PulseOx at 2600m

As we settled into the common room, it started raining hard and got much cooler. My down jacket came out for the first time. Tonight I'd be zipped into my sleeping bag instead of laying on top of it. The forecast for the next few days is rainy and cold. What will happen to our views?

I was struggling through reading stuff and Bharat lent me some reading glasses. All of a sudden everything snapped into focus and it became much easier to see. Hmm. Maybe I have to face facts and use reading glasses.

Bunk allocations were a little bit fun again - only 3 or 4 bunkrooms for all of us. Somehow I ended up with a single room. Maybe they know about my snoring.

Apparently it's a short easy day tomorrow. But rainy and cool. Time to crack out the merino and the parka.