… and lychee lollipops!

Over the last 3 weeks we have covered hugely varied terrain. From the jungle of the Ruby Valley, to the well trodden Manaslu Circuit and finally the “trekker highway” of Annapurna Circuit. It’s provided Kristy and I with a mixed bag of serious challenges and cruisy days.

Since we started in April we have covered 902km and gained 62,624m elevation. You can see where we are, and where we have been, over the last 60 days here.

Below you’ll find some highlights of the most memorable days recently.

Leeches

We’d started to get quite comfortable with leeches. We were saying, “We’ve really only had half a dozen that bit us (each) this whole trip!”

After a resupply and resting in Syabru Besi we farewelled Ang, Pasang and Mingma and headed through a fascinating part of Nepal for seven days. Known as the Ruby Valley, this is where the leeches started to pick up. We had a couple of extremely wet days through Lapagoan and into Kashigaun. It was over 90% humidity when not raining, which meant Kristy’s sweaty hair didn’t dry for two days. Neither did our clothes, any of them. However the local people were wonderful, and the slopes as rich a green as Ireland, and many crops growing in abundance. We also didn’t see any other foreigners for a week.

One day the trail was fairly over grown for a few kilometres when we aimed to get to Kashigaun, and at one point the trail just disappeared. It was raining steadily. That’s when the leeches detected they should “pounce”. We were trying to hold umbrellas, navigate on the phone with wrinkly fingers, look and explore for a trail, and in the process couldn’t prioritize leech removal.

At times we were removing half a dozen attached leeches of various sizes and species, and trying to ignore the squishy ones we felt in our shoes. Kristy did not ignore the squishy one she felt on her stomach. On that day we picked our way down a steep slope on an indistinct foot pad in the now pouring rain and at the bottom we rolled into a town called Dharot, calling it a day. We didn’t reach our intended destination of Kashigaun. We had maybe two dozen bites and for me the squishy fellows in the shoes had ganged up to form a hole that bled for several hours. It’s hard to appreciate their important role in the ecosystem when your socks are full of blood!

Overall though, considering we trekked in the height of the monsoon across some of the mid hill regions, the rain and leeches haven’t been so bad. Or perhaps it’s a case of selective amnesia…

Laughs

Once we made it to Khorlabesi (a jungle village on the Manaslu Circuit trek) conditions started to improve. It was warm, but not too warm. It was wet, but only overnight while we were sleeping. And it was time for Mingma (our guide with Ang’s Himalayan Adventures for the second half of the GHT) to rejoin us!

Mingma found us a great hotel where we could dry up and wash our clothes. On our rest day we visited the local hospital and spent time with two talented doctors, learning about the challenges in the region. The most common disease is COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Local children and adults also regularly suffer from falls, with broken bones not uncommon. It’s understandable as the terrain is unforgiving for anyone, let alone children and the elderly. You can learn more about the hospital here. It was truly impressive seeing the facilities available.

After our rest day, we hiked uphill along the Manaslu circuit, where things got a whole lot easier. The three of us followed roads for a while and when single track trail reappeared the going was easy and never really too hot for hiking. We even enjoyed delicious lychee flavoured lollipops along the way. We laughed and joked with Mingma and made songs. Songs about Pani Porrio (rain) and running jokes about Kristy seeing a red panda (which was actually a Siberian Weasel). We learned more Nepali language and sang Tamang songs.

We also ate well, having lunch at teahouses along the way and slept comfortably in guesthouses at night. While we’d dreaded this section for the rain, we somehow didn’t get wet during the day once. Manaslu also showed itself in the early mornings. The major challenge of this segment was Larke La, a pass at 5160m.

Larke La

After a rest day in Samagaun at 3550m we casually made our way to Samdo (3875m). Then we got serious to do the pass. It would be 24km at higher altitudes, so we did very little besides a stroll around Samdo to find snacks. We woke up at 3.15am and the guesthouse prepared us breakfast for 3.30am. We were on the trail in the dark at 4am. Slowly we paced our way up, taking care not to go too fast and invite altitude sickness.

We also dodged the biggest yak we’ve seen yet, an absolute unit! The gain was 1300m for the day, twice what one might normally gain in the Himalaya, but we felt good and it was never crazy steep. Initially meeting in Jagat lower down, Mingma, Kristy and I were joined by guide Dharma and his client Christos, and it was fun to share the journey.

We were at the pass before 9am and, after laughs and making videos, we started the descent to Bimtang. A beautiful trail took us to a well deserved lunch (fried macaroni with vegetable and egg) on the way and we arrived in Bimtang at 3pm.

“Holiday Week”

After Bimtang we descended to the lower valley elevations and road at Dharapani. We waved goodbye to Mingma, he was back to Kathmandu for the week, and set off on the Annapurna trek, just the two of us. You don’t need a guide for the route we were taking, just the usual conservation permit.

The Annapurna Circuit was easier than we had expected and after a couple of days we dubbed it our “holiday week”. A few years ago they started building a road that has replaced the trail in many places. Now much of the “trail” has gradual grades and is wide and smooth underfoot. If you enjoy mountain biking you may want to consider the circuit by bike.

As we reached Chame the monsoon weather diminished. We had made it to the edge of the rain shadow that we had been looking forward to (blog post) and it immediately showed. Within the space of 5km the vegetation changed drastically from large trees and apple orchards and ferns to scattered pines and sparse shrubs and even dusty for our socks. In fact, as we approached Manang, it felt like we had entered the Flinders Ranges of South Australia or the Eastern Sierra of California.

Our hiking days were short, and we revelled in immaculate guesthouses with attached bathrooms and even towels! Very relaxing. At least until Thorong La, a pass with the altitude of 5400m. This still made for a more challenging day, but we had the climb done in two hours and the full crossing to Muktinath completed in six hours (after a 4am start). We were strong and felt good, and the low cloud meant less time gazing at faraway ranges.

Now Kristy and I relax in Muktinath for two days at a super cool place called Mukti Villa, which is owned by one of Ang’s friends Gyaltzen. It’s away from the hustle and bustle of the main town (which is a pilgrimage town), we can eat well, put our feet up, and mentally prepare for the next 30-35 day segment through remote Lower and Upper Dolpo and the Far West.

Our journey will end in Hilsa, which is 3-4 days walk from Simikot. We are currently eight days ahead of our schedule, with another three bad weather days in reserve for flights back to Kathmandu. It’s hard not to think about the end, but we have a long way to walk and some big days; we estimate we need to cross nine high passes over 5000m between Muktinath and the end. And, for the first half of this final segment, our average altitude is more than 4500m.

Sometimes the memories of the early days come to mind, but it’ll likely take months, if ever, to get our heads around what we’ve done walking for so many days.

We don’t expect to share another update here until we complete the trail around end August. But we will have intermittent cell service so please send a message or word of encouragement to alpinefuzzies@gmail.com We’d love to hear from you!

Furry fri-end note

Special note as we’ve made some furry friends along the way. On the Annapurna Curcuit a couple of doggos followed us out of towns. “Market Research Cocoor” or “MRC” joined us out of Manang for about 3km, asking us various questions about our stay in town.

And from Thorong La High Camp, “Mal”, the Alaskan Malamute staked us out all night and guided us over the pass from 4.30am. It was actually very helpful as in the dark, our head lamps would pick up Mal’s eye reflections, making it easier to see the trail. Mal joined us for 7km up and over the pass and the next day we saw him in Multinath, 17km away from where we first saw him! Thanks doggos!