Because it's there" - climbing a mountain in nepal

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  Annapurna range, Nepal
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

I just finished an eight day trek in western Nepal, in an area called the Annapurna range.  If I had been any good at math (meters to feet conversions) I am quite sure I never would have chosen to go to anywhere near the the Annapurna Base Camp.  And really, I have no business going ANYWHERE with the words "base camp" attached to it, unless it's some sort of Ann Taylor or Macy's base camp (which, of course, don't exist). 

I hired a guide (Mohan) and we set off early on a monday morning.  All I remember is that we went uphill, for nearly the entire day, in the rain.  Those of you that know me well understand how well this went down for me. (sigh).  Luckily, I invested in a $4 poncho that covered both me and my backpack, and Mohan and I walked and walked and walked. Uphill.  Then stopped, ate, took a bucket shower, slept, got up, and walked again. In the rain.  Only this time, we went downhill, for 2 hours

getting instruction on getting down the mtn

.  See, even if I didn't really get the meters=feet conversion quite right, when I looked at the map and saw that my current locale was 1800 meters, and the next locale was at 1900 meters, I thought to myself "Cool, mostly flat path tomorrow!".   Well, as you can probably imagine - I would have to go down approximately 1700 meters, and then climb UP another 1900 meters before we could stop along the way.  It was grueling, but really very beautiful, especially after day 3, when it finally stopped raining.

The trekking path is a functional path used by villagers, so we weren't exactly whacking down tree branches to make our way through, but all the same, it was hard work, and I was humbled hourly by a) people 3 times my age blazing up past me, and b) porters carrying at least 80 lbs on their heads/back (see photos) as they sailed past me. 

Day 4 we were heading to the Annapurna Base Camp - only 2 days away - but we kept running into people on their way back "'ABC' is closed b/c of the avalanches".  You see, as many Nepali people told us in an animated manner "This is crazy weather .... blah blah blah ... never rains in March ... blah blah blah ... first time in 35 years ...." etc.  Is this EVER supposed to make you feel good?! Like you won the lottery for picking the freakish time of the year to embark on a trek? It reminded me of the time my friend Nickie and I went to Florida in November in search of some sunshine, and got the same response - "The coldest November ..

guest house where I got sick

. blah blah .... history of Florida ... blah blah"   Nevertheless, we decided to see how far we could get. 

Day 4 included passing over the remains of 3 avalanche sites and passing numerous potential areas, all having to be done before 10am when the sun gets strong (b/c that triggers, apparently, an avalanche).  We heard rumblings and saw snow tumble down the mtns in the distance.  Amazing - just when you think you have nothing left to give, you hear/see something like that, and instantly you are ready to move at wharp speed up a mtn in 4 feet of snow.

We arrived at our destination at noon, and I spent the afternoon curled up in my sleeping bag, with another blanket over me, shivering, dizzy and sick from the altitude (3200 meters = a million feet, or at least well over 10,000 ft!), and there was nothing we could do (couldn't descend) b/c of the snowstorm that had developed around 1pm.  We never reached the base camp b/c I was too ill.  (I should note, as well, that on day 3 I discovered, a bit too late, that there was a rock in my curry rice, which wound up shattering parts of a back molar.  So I got to add "trip to the dentist" to my list of things I get to do in Kathmandu. Oh, and while I had to pay for the curry rice, the rock was, apparently, free of charge

look - the shangri la

. (sigh))

We changed the route, descended a bit, and saw many beautiful views, and met some fantastic people.  On our last morning, I awoke to realize that my money belt was missing, containing my passport, money, credit cards.  So, we hiked uphill 2 hrs back to the place I last remember having it, but no luck.  Then my guide instructed that, in order to make up for lost time and make it back to the city that evening (which I was then adament about - had had enough of no showers, and was frankly exhasted!) we'd need to go along the path of the buffalo. This is not a joke.  A villager led us uphill (by this time we were around 3400 meters (1 meter = 3.3 feet , I think?) and I was crying (which makes it difficult to both breathe and swear when you're going uphill, at altitude) and thigh high in snow. We finally reached the top and were seated above the clouds.  He showed Mohan the way down.  Sheer cliffs - I really shutter remembering it.

11 and a half hours later (and a nearly 9000 foot descent ) we reached the "town" where we filled out a police report on my moneybelt, and then another 20 minutes, and we were ready to catch a taxi back to Pokhara.  But we didn't.  No, after a day like that, what one really needs is a 2 hr ride on a Nepali chicken bus, with nowhere to sit.  Finally I started to see the humor in things, and sang and danced along with the other passengers.  It was a nice ending to an - for lack of a better word - incredible journey.  I discovered a lot about myself and am (all bad things aside) glad that I went.  Thanks to mom and dad for helping calm me down, and for, of course, paying heaps of money to Western Union so that their daughter could have a place to sleep and something to eat after this tiring trek!! :)

ps - title of this entry is Sir Edmond Hillary's response when asked why he wanted to climb mt. everest.

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lower altitude and a break in the rain	me and the mtn	me in the moutains near base camp	passing an avalanche area
the mountains	the top of a mtn with nepali peace flags	village kids and their pets along the way

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