Trekking in Annapurna

Photos are here:

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You would think doing your laundry would be easy, but this was Pokhara - first place I went to the guy I think had graduated from the University of stating the obvious - me stood there with there with a bag of washing "you want laundry?" "No I'm just taking it out to see the mountains, it's been hassling me all morning" - he weighed it and then said it was 1.5kg but wanted to charge me for 2, mmh not quite the answer I was looking for. The next place said I had 2kg "but it's only 1.5 down the road" - I finally found a place that charged by the item - much simpler - but how I wished for the little old lady in Bangkok who had proper scales and didn't charge the earth for the 3 hour.

I then set out trying to find a trek but there didn't seem to be any organised groups and there was nothing like Ladakh where you used to find outside every agency notices saying "looking for 1/2/3 people to join trek to ...". In the end I booked a guide through an agency for 5 days to do the Tatapani Loop (part of the Annapurna circuit) and would pay for my own accommodation and food along the way. In the meantime I learned to bite my tongue over the 10% service charge on every meal - well I found a couple of places that had opted out which was great as then they got a nice tip off me but I did find Lakeside very touristy - worst named place had to be "Billy Bunters Kebab Corner". Visited the mountaineering museum which was cool apart from the stuffed leopard and a bit of a sod to find as I was following a Lonely Planet map - me and those never go together well. The other place I went to was the Gurkha museum right across town and next the most amazing fairy dell - the River Seti just gushed through this narrow gap fifty feet below this bridge - such an unusual sight for the middle of a a city. The museum was really interesting as I didn't know that much about how the Gurkhas came to be part of the British army - though no section as of yet on Joanna Lumley though she is quite well known now in Nepal.

The day of the trek I got well annoyed with my hotel - service charge on a room rate (!!)- now I wouldn't have minded if my sheets had been changed, bin emptied, tea making facilities and toilet roll provided - but for five namastes and fetching me a glass I thought it was a bit much. Was chuntering a bit when I turned up at the travel agents but another traveller in there said the same had happened to them - it is so stupid as usually when I check out I leave something for the people who clean my room and if they hadn't overcharged me I would have probably bought my coach ticket from them.

My guide was Kiran and if he had been guiding for more than 15 years (all the agencies had said that this was how long their guides had been in the job) he must have started at primary school - most impressed with his Beatles t-shirt though lots of people in Nepal seemed to wear them so I'm not totally convinced they knew who they were - Kiran was a bit vague on his favourite album. Taxi up to the bus station for a rip off rate and then on to Naya Pul where we were to start the trek - not so much a vomit comet as I had been led to believe. The first day's walk to Tikhedhunder (sp) was quite difficult as I was carrying my own bag (weighted down by a minus 10 (I don't think so) sleeping bag) and it was uphill on steps. There seemed to be lots of groups all kitted out in Berghaus and North Face gear - me by comparison looked a bit on the eccentric side in my baggy trousers, straw hat and Indian blouse.

I was in a bit of a state when I arrived at the guesthouse - my room wasn't on the prettiest side of the building and resembled the inside of a packing case and I think previously it had been one room that had been divided into two - but it was cheap which was a bit unusual for anything on the trekking route. Next day was an early start and it had been the day I had been dreading 3200 steps climbing over 1200m - it was real killer and it made me feel a bit small when I realised the kids did this trip twice a day to go school. I got into a bit of a pickle with the water as I thought the guy said it was 18 rupees - turned out it was 80 - I was really shocked as this was about 6 times the price back in Pokhara - I know there were transportation costs but it really seemed that they were out to get the most out of tourists. This part of the trek was really busy and full of people who were on a bigger budget than me - people who had flown in for two weeks and doing a whistle stop tour of Nepal. Luckily Kiran had offered to carry my bag so I wasn't in so much a state as the previous day when I polled up at the Sunny Guesthouse in Ghorepani. It was a lovely place with a panoramic view of Annapurna - the rooms were strangely all named after sports stars - I was in the Andrew Flintoff suite, the Carl Fogarty was opposite and the Steven Gerrard on the end. Quick shower which thankfully today was piping hot before spending the rest of afternoon round a lovely fire in the centre of the restaurant.

Another early start - up at 4.15 along with everyone else in Ghorepani to see sunrise up on Poon Hill. It was like Picadilly Circus at the top - one lad had camped up there which must have been magical until he was invaded at 5 in the morning with a sea of North Face, Berghaus, tripods and walking sticks. Sunrise was beautiful and the light on Annapurna amazing. I didn't find the climb too hard but just about everyone passed me scampering up and down like gazelles - I came to the conclusion I was the Duracell bunny of trekkers - I may be slow but I keep going.

The first bit of the trek to Tatopani wasn't too bad and I was followed for a way by a lovely dog. I was amazed at how much stuff people brought - the poor porters - I decided if I did this again I would bring exactly the same stuff - maybe some more Tesco trousers, Vaseline (for my toes - improvised with lip balm), washing powder and sticks. Most of the two weekers turned right at Ghorepani - no pacing myself with Japanese pensioners today - so the route was pretty quiet. It was after lunch that I started having problems the weight of bag was pushing me down the hill quicker than I wanted to go on an uneven surface and then the steps started. I could barely walk when I arrived in Tatapani and was so shattered that I didn't have the energy to argue with the guesthouse owner who was saying the two single beds were a double bed - mmh don't think so in my world.

I was straight down to the hot springs and I'm not sure how clean they were but it was gorgeous not to feel any pain though there was a bit of an audience of Nepali men. There were loads of hard core trekkers staying at the guesthouse who had done the Annapurna - a couple were in their 70's - and there's me crippled after three days as I said in the cafe later "I am a disgrace to the trekking fraternity" - but then maybe they had trained Susan and Rachel a couple of girls I met in Ghorepani had climbed Snowdon to prepare.

The next day I could barely make it to the bathroom and thought how can I walk for 5 and half hours when I can barely make three paces across the room without being in agony. As I hobbled off other trekkers scampered past me and this little girl tried to sell me oranges and when that didn't work it was down to "one pen". As the day wore on it did get easier just so long as I kept up the momentum and I was helped by this lovely old lady who gave me a stick a long the way and didn't want any money for it - there are some good people around. I finally limped into Galeshor about five and a bit hours later which to say my legs were in bits wasn't too bad (5 hours the recommended time).

I was still in pain the following morning not help by the big step into the bathroom but I took comfort in the fact it was only an hours walk down the valley to Beni from where we could pick up the bus to Pokhara. I was a bit worried that I would make a bit of spectacle of myself getting on the bus - steps were very painful - but the worst thing that happened was an oof over the seat numbers "just sit in my seat" I said to this Nepali lady but no she insisted she had to have the correst number - pain in the neck sometimes are people like that. Back in Pokhara it was rip off time again with the taxi - even Kiran was shocked - got him down a third but came to the conclusion that Nepali taxi drivers are essentially very lazy - they would rather rest and do a few rip off rides a day than do a proper days work.

The rest of my stay in Pokhara I spent trying to sort out my legs - swimming down at the posh hotel down the road and a couple of visits to the massage parlour. One time I was in there yelping away as my legs were pummelled I overheard a convo between this French woman and the owner - she was wittering on about this hair regrowth cream that she was going to buy as a present from Nepal (!!) for her follicly challenged brother - nearly forty pounds he was asking for it - one born every minute as I was pretty sure it wasn't going to make that much difference. That was the problem with Pokhara - it's setting is stunningly beautiful, set round the Fewa Tal lake in the shadow of the most amazing mountains - but the people are only really interested in getting the most cash out of your wallet - they don't want backpackers on a budget, its the two weekers who fly in with mucho spending money they want - I just think there should be a place for both of us but the Nepalis I think have gone past that stage now - no longer the Shangri La it once was!