Sign of life - back from the wilderness, back to the wilderness

I just came back from Sagarmatha or Mt. Everest into what is called civilisation in this area just to go back into wildernes for another 6 days, trekking from Nmache Bazaar to Jiri. From there, I’ll catch a bus to Kathmandu. Stay there until the 4th of april, when I have a flight to Beijing, where I have to meet a friend to drink a beer.

Annapurna Circuit part2 and a little outlook

19-02: Nangethanti (2430m) to Poon Hill (3200m) and Chitre (2390m)

Waking up for a sunrise over mystical forest. And a long, well merited breakfast. As well as the hot shower which comes as the do-it-yourself model: a bucket of hot, well not cold water. Anyway if you just have been through purgatory or just don´t really mind you´re fine with it. Then up to Gorakhpur. Everything seems so easy, gentle, compared to yesterday. Through lush, friendly, magic forest, passing Rhododendron – the national flower of Nepal – as red as can be.

From Gorakhpur, we take the little side-trip up to Poon Hill (remember, it´s just a little bit over 3000m of altitude, so, it´s just a hill) to indulge in the famous views. On the way up, there´s a little bit of snow along the way. And the combination of two grown ups, adults and snow knows only one possible result – snow fight! After all, why should we leave the fun to the kids?

Although we´re a little bit late – clouds start closing in around noon – the views are fantastic, limiting your language to superlatives. Dhaulagiri, Tukuche, Nilgiri, Annapurna South, Machhapuchre – breathtaking views of some of the most famous mountains in the world. We´re indulging, taking in the scenery. Moments of pure joy and happiness. So, obviously we end up leaving late, having to rush. But there´s always time to set up a prayer flag on a beautiful spot (I mean, who are we tu judge who´s right? It could well be the Buddhists…). I always liked the little ones – I just didn´t know that they were also rather short. Rather very short. Anyway, it´s the thought that counts.

After hopefully securing some protection from high places we continue to rush down further to Chitre. There we decide it´s time for an early stop – we don´t want to end up walking in the darkness again. After all, we had just entered (former) maoist territory. The graffiti feels odd – knowing you´ve just crossed the front lines of a very recent conflict.

There´s only one guesthouse open in Chitre (it´s the very beginning of the season) and, being the only guests, we get the best room with perfect views of Dhaulagiri through one window front and Annapurna South through the other. And, as to proof His existence (although, what kind of god would let himself proof?) - just for the few minutes of sunset, the clouds, which had until then hidden these two mountains, disappear. A perfect, divine timing. There is a god. And life is good.

A little preview on the following days:

20.02.: Chitre to Tatopani (1190m)
Last day with Amelia, rushing down. Remembering, there´s a gps, keeping track of our movements. So far we walked 51,65 km, reached an altitude of 3206m, ascended 4773m and descended 4630m in total. Not bad for just 3 trekking days.

21.02.: Tatopani to Ghasa (2010m)
Sore legs from rushing down yesterday. First day in ages I travel solitary. Try chhang, home-made rice beer. Tastes like cheap white wine. Total km 69,44, total ascent 6092m

22.02.: Ghasa to Marpha (2670m)

Long trekking day (26,63 km, 999m ascent) with legs still sore. Beautiful views of Dhaulagiri Icefall.

23.02.: Marpha to Kagbeni (2800m)

Short trekking day due to bad weather – I consider it a half rest day (16,29 km, 508m ascent).

24.02.: Kagbeni to Sher Dak (3750m) to Kagbeni to Muktinath (3760m)
Walking only from Kagbeni to Muktinath felt not enough for a whole, sunny day, so I decided to do a summit too. Added up to 23,43km, 2136m of ascent and 950m of descent. Ringing the trip to a total of 135,79km and 9735m of ascent.

25.02.: Muktinath to my Highcamp (4600m)
Crossing Thorong La from the “wrong side”, I had to set up tent to acclimatise. I´m pushing acclimatisation, going to the limits. Mild AMS in the night. Sleeping all geared up, so I can leave within minutes if necessary.

26.02.: Highcamp to Thorong L (5416m) to Thorong Pedi (4450m)

No more AMS, so I decide to do the pass. Leaving a little bit late, as I couldn´t sleep until midnight the night before. No problems until 5200m, then mild AMS again. Decide to move on , crossing Thorong La at 14.30. On the other side of the pass, the descent is gentle, so I suffer from some headache until Thorong Pedi. Some things you only accept if you learn them the hard way.

27.02 – 02.03: Walking from Thorong Pedi to Bulbule, the end of my trek ( 276,69km in total, 14274m up and 12732m down)

Leaving for the wilderness again

This will most likely be one of my last messages for the next 3 weeks, as I´m leaving for the Sagarmatha Nationalpark to trek the Everest Basecamp (as mentioned earlier). After that, I´ll fly to Beijing on the 4th of april, meeting a friend for a beer. 

As there´re about two hours of electricity during daytime in Kathmandu (there´s always electricity between midnight and 5 o´clock in the morning, but that´s not really helpfull) I managed to do way less writing and photo editing as planned - ok, I´ ve been lazy too, but still, I updated my photobucket account a little bit and also added a few pictures from the Annapurna Circuit.

Tungba

Another culinary expedition – I drink tungba, nepali hot beer. Sounds strange, but that´s the way it is. I wonder who it´ll taste. But that´s what travelling is all about – keep on exploring. Bravely facing the unknown.

And here it comes – a wooden bowl, filled with something resembling brown seeds and a thermos with hot water. You poor the hot water on the seeds, stir until the water turns milky – done. Now you just have to be brave – or stupid – enough to drink it. Salut! When you´ve finished the first fill, the game just starts anew. Fill up, stir – and there you go again.

Now for the taste. Well, it tastes like – tungba. Definitely not like beer (might be good, considering it´s hot). A little bit fruity, a little bit sweet. Rather winey. Like light, cheap, italian white wine. Or sake. Just a little bit better, so you can actually drink it. Plus it´s an exotic, local thing.

Future travelplans - Meine weiteren Reisepläne

Back from the Annapurna Circuit, I just finished planing my trip to Mt. Everest Basecamp and around. Almost three weeks of trekking, several passes and two summits. The trip as planned starts with a

• Flight from Kathmandu to Lukla (2840m) - the alternative means travelling, mostly trekking - for 6 days
• Lukla to Namche Bazaar (3440m)
• Namche Bazaar to Thame (3800m)
• From Thame on Sunder Peak (5398m) and back
• Thame to Lugdhen (4380m)
• From Lughden over Renjo Pass (5360m) to Gokyo (4790m)
• From Gokyo on Gokyo Ri (5357m), back and further to Dragnag (4700m)
• From Dragnag over Cho La Pass (5368m) to Lobuche (4910m)
• Lobuche over Kala Pathar (5550m) to Everest Basecamp (5364m)
• From Everest Basecamp back to Lobuche
• From Lobuche over Kongma Pass (5535m) to Chhukhung (4730m)
• Chhukhung over Ambulapoche Pass (5839m) to Baruntse Basecamp (5400m)
• Baruntse Basecamp to Mera Basecamp (5350m)
• Mera Basecamp to Masom Kharka (3691m)
• From Masom Kharka back to Lukla
• Back to Kathmandu - depending how long it took me I´ll either trek back to Jiri and take a bus to Kathmandu from there or I´ll fly back to Kathmandu. I´ll see.

I talked with an experienced Trekker about the route and he considers it doable without any problems. And expect for the last part I hardly doubt I´ll be ever alone for longer than an hour.

Then, I´m heading to China. after all, I have to meet a friend in Beijing in early April - time is so running, it´s incredible and I just don´t want to believe it. But well, I have to face the hard facts. So today I headed to the chinese embassy and in a few hours I´ll collect my visa (I payed for the urgent visa), extend my visa for Nepal, book a flight to Lukla - and to Beijing. Apparentely it´s almost impossible and ridiciously expensive to visit Tibet as an individual, solitary traveller - so I might skip Tibet in favour of mainland China.

 Und hier das Ganzeauf Deutsch:

Ich werde mich in den nächsten Tagen auf den Weg zum  Mt. Everest Basecamp machen und dort gute 14 Tage in den Bergen verbringen. Die geplante Route ist:

• Flug nach Lukla (2840m) - die Alternative dauert 6 Tage
• Lukla nach Namche Bazaar (3440m)
• Namche Bazaar nach Thame (3800m)
• Von Thame auf den Sunder Peak (5398m) und retour
• Thame nach Lugdhen (4380m)
• Von Lughden über den Renjo Pass (5360m) nach Gokyo (4790m)
• Von Gokyo auf den Gokyo Ri (5357m), retour und weiter nach Dragnag (4700m)
• Von Dragnag über den Cho La Pass (5368m) nach Lobuche (4910m)
• Lobuche über Kala Pathar (5550m) zum Everest Basecamp (5364m)
• Everest Basecamp zurück nach Lobuche
• Von Lobuche über den Kongma Pass (5535m) nach Chhukhung (4730m)
• Chhukhung über den Ambulapoche Pass (5839m) zum Baruntse Basecamp (5400m)
• Baruntse Basecamp zum Mera Basecamp (5350m)
• Mera Basecamp nach Masom Kharka (3691m)
• Masom Kharka zurück nach Lukla
• Von Lukla werde ich, je nachdem wie lange ich tatsächlich für den Trek gebraucht habe entweder nach Jiri trekken und von dort den Bus nach Kathmandu nehmen oder direkt nach Kathmandu fliegen.

Ich habe heute mit einem Himalayaveteranen aus Tirol kurz die Route besprochen und sie ist ohne größere Schwierigkeiten (wenn man die dünne Luft in der Höhe beiseite läßt, sprich für das Himalayagebiet) machbar. Und bis auf den letzten Teil der Route bin ich immer in einem sehr touristischen gebiet unterwegs, sprich die Stunde allein mit den Bergen wird eher selten sein.

Danach geht es weiter nach China, immerhin treffe ich dort Anfang April eine Freundin auf ein Bier. Ich werde wahrscheinlich von Kathmandu direkt nach Peking fliegen und China von dort aus erkunden. Tibet scheint im Moment für Individualreisende extrem schwierig und teuer zu sein, wahrscheinlich werde ich mehr Zeit in China selbst verbringen und Tibet ein ander Mal besuchen. Auch Russland werde ich etwas straffen müssen. Aber das hat ja noch Zeit.