Holed Up In The ´Du

Nepal seems to be in the process of combustion. Tourists staying in Pokhara were being evacuated out of the town yesterday after a series of demonstrations and strikes, predominantly from people working in the tourist trade. Hotels and restaurants were forced to close their businesses. The strikers were claiming they were not receiving the new minimum wage - just over US$2 a day or $60 a month.

Even the capital city is now operating with just 6 hours of electricity a day, due to low water capacity.

I´m stuck in the ´Du as i await the arrival of my Indian visa (at least 5 working days!) and trying not to squander money unnecessarily.

Playing A Round

Fancy a game of golf in the world´s highest mountains? Just 6kms from the centre of Pokhara, the Himalayan Golf course offers an excellent 18 hole golf course with some of the most dramatic mountain scenery. For US$35 you can play 9 holes, pay green fees, hire clubs and get a caddy. Fortunately, I was adopted by some paragliding fanatics who have membership and invited me in as a guest for US$20. A respectable 54 meant I came in 2nd. The greens and fairways were pretty rough in parts, but an excellent way to spend my last day in Pokhara. On the 4th hole, the clouds parted and the full Annapurna range opened up. Check it out - www.himalayangolfcourse.com

K. Kevin and I were fortunate to play in the acclaimed highest golf course in the world in December 2002 which is actually a private Indian army course in Leh, Ladakh. There the greens were made of sand mixed with oil and you had to carry your artificial grass with you as the course is just made of dirt. It´s amazing how far you can drive at about 3000 metres.

Back off The Trail

No wonder Mountain People believe that the Gods live in the mountains. The majestic peaks of the Annapurna range are an incredible sight. Towering summits rise above the clouds offering tantalizing peeks of the peaks.

The Sanctuary trek is a beautiful hike along the Modi valley. It narrows the higher up you go and culminates at Annapurna Base Camp where over 10 peaks present themselves in an amphitheatre ranging from 6 – 8 thousand metres.

Armed with LJ´s much-used Annapurna map and a dodgy compass, I headed back onto the trail. The trail leads up the valleys offering different biodiversity at the altitude strata. Villages arise every couple of hours offering coca cola, varying strengths of Nescafe or even, on occasion, fresh challis for the weary hiker. I slowly meandered onwards and upwards missing the power of green capsules, but still looking not unalike Gandalf the Grey with my black hiking pole. Never again will I moan at the 270+ stone steps leading from our home to the village in McLeod Ganj! Clusters of green birds chatter in trees, glacial waterfalls some with 50 metre cascades and chimes of trekkers´ pony harnesses provide the auditory backdrop to MP3 player for I have to ration out the limited battery life carefully.

The pace of life is very different in the mountains. Up at the dawn (around 6:15am) hot drinks usually start the day for the villagers. A light breakfast might be taken at around 9.30, lunch at 1, dinner at 7 and bed by 8pm. It´s cold at night and there is not much shit to do. Interestingly, several of the villages enjoy 24 hour electricity, unlike either Kathmandu and Pokhara. My schedule fits around this. Wake at dawn, breakfast by 8am and hit the trail by 8.30. I stop at every opportunity for some type of sustenance until by 1pm I am on the lookout for lunch. I carry on until my legs tell me to and have usually “holed up” by 4pm. As the locals like to serve up before they eat, its dinner at 7 and bed by 8.

The concept of “two hours” is clearly standard for journeys varying from half an hour to three hours. Just ask any local on the trail. It really is not worth asking

Walking up-hill on stony 60 degree gradient trails for hours on end, with no respite, you feel every muscle in your body working and something not replicable in a gym. I did try and minimise my inventory, but my camera stuff weighs close to 6kgs for a start. Too uncomfortable to carry separately, it was perched at the top of my rucksack for the most of the trip. The weather patterns of the day are also consistent. Always clear for about an hour in the morning before the clouds come down with grey skies and sometimes raining during the afternoons.

At Chhomrong I stop at the International Guest House, run by the amiable proprietor, Mr D. M. Gurung. A Gurkha for thirteen years seeing service in Düsseldorf and England, he was the third guest house to open here 30 years ago and is happy to run it with a couple of helpers whilst the rest of his family live and work in Pokhara or Kathmandu.

He clearly loves his life. I asked him if he had thought of moving to England following a recent UK court ruling allowing former soldiers right of abode. “No...it´s too expensive. Anyway three years was enough”

He is relieved by the Maoist succession through parliament as he no longer “obliged” to pay monthly “donations”. All trekkers over the last 10 years were also making obligatory Rp5000 (US$20) payments. Like everyone else I have spoken to here, he is sceptical of any change. “It´s all bullshit” and Mr Gurung certainly does not use the word lightly. He tells me he turned down 9 Nepalese people from his guest house today; they requested a discount and he didn´t like their faces.
“Not international enough?” I query.
“Well...something like that”.

Calculations are made rapidly, checked and re-checked and I am unable to make it to Annapurna Base Camp and get my Indian visa rolling by the end of the week in Kathmandu. Somewhat disappointed it is time to turn back, although a Norwegian guy attempts to console me that he took a reading of - 18 degrees at ABC. The track is also covered in snow, icy in parts, and appears to vanish at times. I take a different valley down the trail which is almost entirely downhill – for me, always the best kind of hiking.

It is rare these days for me to appreciate the journey – I am always desperate to get to the destination as soon as possible. This was something completely different. I have also reached my healthiest point in several years. After a shave and shower I look like a man in his thirties. My legs don´t hurt like hell either.

Some photos from this trek are now available at http://picasaweb.google.com/aubreygroves67/annapurna

Back in Kathmandu on Thursday to sort out my new Indian visa. Stories vary from three days to a working week. Kathmandu is expensive and certainly when compared to life in McLeod Ganj.

Ketchup with LJ aka Sniffy and Wasta

An enjoyable time has been spent with Lost Johnny over the Christmas period. Despite some confusion on his part on when he was due in to Pokhara, we successfully met up at the Hotel Tropicana and spent the afternoon in hazy discourse. Time is of the essence as LJ calculates we have 3 days on the trail before he has to make his way back to work in Hong Kong. Fortunately the Annapurna Park permit office was open on Christmas Day and we soon hit the Ghorepani trail.

LJ rightly boasts about completing the Annapurna Circuit in less than 8 days, a trail that reputedly takes 21 days. I am a little anxious that I´m going to quickly fall behind, especially as the trail is all uphill. This is clearly unfounded as we both huff and puff up the trail. The weather remains overcast.

LJ has certainly come prepared, and his experimentation with a wide variety of pharmaceutical products is clearly bearing fruit. He provides us with green capsules to assist our progress. We enjoy a dal bhat and mashed potatoes with cheese for Christmas Lunch before continuing up to Sudarne where we hole up for the night. LJ bravely ploughs into another dal bhat.

Next morning we head on up about 8am. The path is very steep in parts and after lunch, rain further disrupts the pace as the stones on the path become more slippery. Despite the weather and pain, it is a really worthwhile experience tramping through the Nepali countryside. Rather than continue to Ghorepani (and Poon Hill look-out point) a place we have both been to before, we opt to end the day in Nangge Thanti. It´s very cold and we know we have to repeat our trail in reverse to get back to Pokhara by tomorrow. LJ can´t get enough dal bhat which he eats with vigour. It´s too cold to stay up so we head to bed early. We both sleep erratically. LJ is not looking good, his face is rather crumpled and face very ashen. We take the remainder of the green capsules and head down the trail stopping at some of our favourite break points on our assent. Cheese is expensive in Mcleod Ganj so I buy a kilo of delicious yak cheese for US$10. Rain is falling sporadically and legs are feeling the sharp impact of rock underfoot. I lose my footing three times, but the worse that happens is I graze my hand. We miraculously get lost from the main trail, which results in fording the same river twice. I was reticent to spend GBP120 on North Face Gore-Tex boots in the summer, but they have been worth every penny.

We are close to trail-head at Birethanti when LJ informs me he feels sick and heads into an alley between two houses where he proceeds to vomit vociferously. We head out of the village rather sheepishly. With good fortune there is a bus waiting at the trail-head in Nayapul that takes us back at nightfall to Pokhara. I sleep like a baby. We have recognisable Chinese food at Lua Hua´s (my first duck in six months) and LJ heads to a pharmacist for a wide selection of colourful pills to cure his ailments.

It transpires that LJ´s flight leaves a day later, so we have a day in Pokhara to hang out. It is also the first day of the Street Fair celebrations and a large parade led by an elephant passes through Lakeside. LJ is still on the frail side and waiting for the flagyl and friends to take effect. There are CD shops, Internet places, cafes and restaurants aplenty – indeed a mini-Thamel (Kathmandu). Between us we have four really sore and aching legs.

I´m insistent that LJ takes me to Bistro Caroline for our last night together. This swanky restaurant would not be out of place in Mid-Levels, Hong Kong with the bill totalling less than US$30. Unfortunately it stays in LJ´s body for less than 20 minutes. We stay up late and he heads off back to Kathmandu for an early flight this morning.

My legs are still in pain, but I thought i´d do a solo hike into the Annapurna Santuary. A 10 - 12 day hike into glaciers seems too good an opportunity to miss.

Lonely Planet Bible?

I am often familiar hearing from other travellers they “have The Bible”. Useful as it can be, a Bible it is not.

I checked in yesterday to the “View Point Lodge” in Pokara. Highly recommended by LP as a “charming” retreat in the quiet end of Lakeside. “Guests tend to be bookish types in search of peace and quiet.” It rents rooms by the hour.

I am now perched in the penthouse suite of the Hotel Tropicana (circa 1990) paying US$5 a night in the penthouse lake-view suite. It is a little chilly and overcast, but it´s nice to be back. I have a visa to extend here before meeting up with Lost Johnny aka Wasta for another short hike, this time in and around Annapurna.