Leather

Annapurna ii, Nepal

On our 3rd days trekking, the rain finally eased off and made way for sunshine that wouldn't leave us for the rest of the trek. However there was some worrying news at this stage. Because of the high levels of rain (unusual for this time of year), it meant that up high - the rain would have fallen as thick snow. Even worse was that rumours were filtering back to us that people had in fact become stuck at a town called Manang - 400 tourists in fact. Even worse still, was around 18 people had lost their lives whilst climbing the higher peaks that we would be passing (these people were actually climbing rather than trekking).

For us this was quite shocking, we had no idea if you people at home would know about the deaths through the news and also that we didn't know whether we would get to complete the circuit we had set out to do. All we could do was carry on along our way and hope that conditions would improve - the pass (5416metres) was apparantly closed to all trekkers...

We were really getting into the swing of trekking by now, we were overtaking everyone else on the path and catching up with the olds that had gotten up hours earlier than us. We got to Tal, Manang so I thought I'd get myself a chocolatety treat - a twix - which I opened as it practically crumbled away with melted/solidified chocolate syndrome - I checked the date "Best before 15/4/05". So, a lesson learned and we were once again on the road - the scenery had quickly changed in a matter of days from lush green hillsides with Rice growing all over the place, to high mountainous rocky cliff faces with a raging river below.

I got to the top of a hill exhausted, so I got myself a proper sugar burst in the form of a Kendal mint cake I'd brought along from the UK. I added to this some musical encouragement and as Death In Vegas played out I strode to the top of a hill with an awesome 360 panorama to see. This had been my favourite moment so far...

The rest of the day was much easier and we arrived at a town called Bagerchap for the night. With a river right out the front of our lodge, I took my book and read for a while sat on a huge boulder. It was about that time, I truly realised where I was. Once the sun dropped, I took a walk around the village and found another rock to stand on, this time next to a little shrine. I also had a great view of the local kids playing football on the worst pitch I ever saw (and I've been to Upton Park!), one of them spotted me watching and blessed me a Namaste - the staple greeting in Nepal accompanied by a bow of the head and hands pressed together like you'd imagine a Chinaman to greet you.

***

The next day, the scenery started to change once more. We were heading into the hills and jungles. Because of the heavy rain, other areas lower down had been effected. This meant landslides. Trees that would have been growing for 30-50 years were knocked down like bowling pins and mud & rocks were blocking many of our paths. Cautiously, we had to clamber over these without disturbing the earth too much incase it gave way beneath us.

We passed several of these obstacles and as we were walking along, a rock Nick stepped on snapped. The result; a sprained ankle. Luckily I had my monopod/trek stick which Nick could use for a walking stick. He also got a some supplies from the guide allowing him to hobble on to the next lodge.



Chame (2700metres) was a lovely town set against a huge cliff with the same river Marshangdi (as we'd seen all along our trek) running through. It also had a natural hotspring that I went to see. I kept up my traditon of reading on riverside boulders and then went for a walk where a few local kids asked me to take their picture - I obliged. It's quite strange that when the locals see a digi-cam, they all clamber to have a look at the picture you just took - even porters and other passers by. I had about 10 people looking over my shoulder.

Along todays trek I had been speaking to Wayne, an Australian with a tasty digi cam. He was there with his wife Jo and father-in-law Ray. They were kind enough to sort Nick out with some painkilling gel.

That evening, we overheard their guide asking them if they wanted to play a game of "seet-head". Jo had no idea what he said - and kept asking him to repeat. It was his 3rd repetition that I realised he meant the game he'd seen Nick and myself play -a popular British card game. The accent caused a bit of laughter before the game had all of us playing for Apple Brandy shots if you lost.

The next morning it was pretty cold. Gloves came out for the first time, and walking with our new Aussie friends, we passed our first snow...