Today was a long day, 17km, we walked from 8 am to 5 pm. This is the point from which their is only one trail to Annapurna Base Camp, and we will be back tracking to here. Basically its two days up a large glacial valley, climbing 1000 m per day.
Landslides are common and dangerous
It feels wilder and wilder here. The track is rough, some stones and lots of tree roots. ANd very big steps, above knee height, so I am very glad of my trekking poles.
Bamboo, birch and rhododendron make for beautiful filtered light on the trail
And we slowly grind our way up
We reached Himalaya just before dark and I am spent. The rooms are tiny, like cells, with foot thick stone walls. But gaps around the doors and windows let the cold in. Once again, thank god for good gear! We are right beside a river so the noise it lovely. Boiled rice for dinner.
Our start from Chumrung village was beautiful, you walk right along peoples porch and can see their lives progressing along, harvesting millet, tending to water buffalo, doing domestic chores.
It is spread out over a few km's of steep hillside, with many tea houses and even a medical center Oh and German Bakery, which seems to be a sign of a certain sized village as all the big villages have one!We descended on stone steps for about 45 min then spent the rest of the day on a slow climb up the valley.
We walked for hours through the wild bamboo forest, amazing green light, and so to the village Bamboo. They use the green tips for curries, and make all sorts of baskets, mats and fences from the grown plant.
Landslides are common and dangerous
It feels wilder and wilder here. The track is rough, some stones and lots of tree roots. ANd very big steps, above knee height, so I am very glad of my trekking poles.
Bamboo, birch and rhododendron make for beautiful filtered light on the trail
And we slowly grind our way up
We passed the temple which marks the start of Annapurna Sanctuary. No animals may pass here, and it used to be no women past! They say that the temple sat at the foot of 180 waterfalls but when women started to go past most of the falls stopped. All of the Nepali’s leave a flower or branch offering.
We reached Himalaya just before dark and I am spent. The rooms are tiny, like cells, with foot thick stone walls. But gaps around the doors and windows let the cold in. Once again, thank god for good gear! We are right beside a river so the noise it lovely. Boiled rice for dinner.
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