Day 2 and a full days walking, the group has gelled really well and everyone seems to getting on well with each other and the challenge of a life on the trail.
First impressions of the walk are that it's very busy compared previous walks in Nepal. It's busier than the trip I did to Everest Base Camp. We are still low down and a long way from the Annapurna Massif, and we walking alongside a river heading north up the Ngadi Khola valley. The valleys sides are intensively farmed but it's clearly the business of people moving around the trail which dominates the local economy. The villages are much larger than on the trail up to Kanchenjunga and there are lots of Tea Houses for the tourists. The scenery is spectacular, a steep sided valley which got tighter as the day progressed, lots of lovely waterfalls.
So far we have been let down a bit by the weather, dry but very humid in the morning, very wet in the afternoon. Actually the rain caught us all a bit off guard, the usual reluctance to put on waterproofs, and a number of us got soaked. The rain continued into the evening with a prolonged prolonged thunderstorm.
Although it was only the first full day the pattern of activity is already established.
The day starts with a knock on the door of your room in the tea hut and a visit from two of the Sherpas with black tea. Half a hour or so to get ready, pack your bag and get down for breakfast.
Breakfast, which you have ordered the night before, takes another half hour and is then followed by the grand reckoning. This involves going through all expenditure items with the tea house owner, sometimes the lead sherpa as well who has taken your order, and settling up. This takes another half hour for the party as a whole.
Having had the wake up knock at about 6.30 you usually start walking at about 8. The porters have already gone with your bags and you usually follow after them, at a nice easy pace, with a guide in front, in the middle and at the back.
Next event is a mid-morning drink at a tea house followed by lunch a couple of hours later. Everything has to be prepared on very primitive cooking facilities and this usually takes about an hour. There is then another mini grand reckoning after the meal which takes another 10 minutes or so.
After the afternoon walk you arrive at the destination tea house where you are welcomed with a hot drink. While you have your drink, orders are taken by the lead Sherpa for the evening meal which usually starts at seven, although catering capacity is limited and there is always a struggle to produce the food. At the end of the meal orders are taken for breakfast and people disappear to bed at around 9.30.
The Sherpas and the porters all eat together, they all eat Dal Bat, and eat before us in the morning and after us in the evening.
The controversial road around the Annapurna was very much in evidence today. It's not yet complete but will soon provide an alternative way to porters and mules for the delivery of things to the villages around the trail. It's not really a road anyone in the west would recognise, more like a track you see running through a forest. It's clearly being built because the original trail, the one you walk on, is no longer big enough to cope with demand for goods generated by the walkers on the trail. Would be a shame though if the original trail falls into disrepair as the new trail is not so nice to walk on.
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| Looking back down the valley with the new road on the opposite side |
So far we have been let down a bit by the weather, dry but very humid in the morning, very wet in the afternoon. Actually the rain caught us all a bit off guard, the usual reluctance to put on waterproofs, and a number of us got soaked. The rain continued into the evening with a prolonged prolonged thunderstorm.
Although it was only the first full day the pattern of activity is already established.
The day starts with a knock on the door of your room in the tea hut and a visit from two of the Sherpas with black tea. Half a hour or so to get ready, pack your bag and get down for breakfast.
Breakfast, which you have ordered the night before, takes another half hour and is then followed by the grand reckoning. This involves going through all expenditure items with the tea house owner, sometimes the lead sherpa as well who has taken your order, and settling up. This takes another half hour for the party as a whole.
Having had the wake up knock at about 6.30 you usually start walking at about 8. The porters have already gone with your bags and you usually follow after them, at a nice easy pace, with a guide in front, in the middle and at the back.
Next event is a mid-morning drink at a tea house followed by lunch a couple of hours later. Everything has to be prepared on very primitive cooking facilities and this usually takes about an hour. There is then another mini grand reckoning after the meal which takes another 10 minutes or so.
After the afternoon walk you arrive at the destination tea house where you are welcomed with a hot drink. While you have your drink, orders are taken by the lead Sherpa for the evening meal which usually starts at seven, although catering capacity is limited and there is always a struggle to produce the food. At the end of the meal orders are taken for breakfast and people disappear to bed at around 9.30.
The Sherpas and the porters all eat together, they all eat Dal Bat, and eat before us in the morning and after us in the evening.
The controversial road around the Annapurna was very much in evidence today. It's not yet complete but will soon provide an alternative way to porters and mules for the delivery of things to the villages around the trail. It's not really a road anyone in the west would recognise, more like a track you see running through a forest. It's clearly being built because the original trail, the one you walk on, is no longer big enough to cope with demand for goods generated by the walkers on the trail. Would be a shame though if the original trail falls into disrepair as the new trail is not so nice to walk on.
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| Tea House at Jagat |
What do you get for food? You said the porters eat dalbat but what are you munching on?!
ReplyDeleteWell we are eating in the tea house and there is a fairly standard menu, same menu for lunch and dinner.
ReplyDeleteHuge choice of soups for starters - packet soup although sometimes some local veg added.
Main course, lots of carbs - things like egg fried noodles, egg fried rice and veg, roast potatoes (very nice local potatoes) and you could have a fried egg on top. Bit of an egg theme here. They also did quite nice veggy burgers and sometimes Yak burgers (although I went veggy for the whole of the Annapurna Circuit) which you eat with chips. At the big tea houses they also did Yak sizzlers
Sometimes some nice deserts - a sort of apple pie was common, sometimes a custard. They also did a snicker or mars bar wrapped in pastry and then deep fried but never tried one out.
Lots and lots of black tea