Himalayan High Day 1

There’s nothing quite like being surrounded by mountains on all sides , and, not just any mountains—the  Himalayas! It’s an awesome feeling standing in a valley and having the Annapurna range all around you, but that feeling comes after a lot of hard work. So, it’s breathtaking to see and breathtaking to get too.

I'll admit, I was intimidated by the thought of trekking through the Himalayas. Was I ready to hike up and down trails, stone staircases and the switchbacks described in the guidebook? In spite of the author’s insistence that you didn’t need to be an Olympic athlete to trek in Nepal, I certainly didn’t agree. However, the thought of my reward, the Annapurna range, abated my fears and got me excited for the adventure. 

 Andrew and I planned on doing the Annapurna Sanctuary trek with a side trip to Poon Hill. This trek typically takes about 10-14 days.

Pokhara is a small town in Nepal, but is set-up to help travelers become trekkers. We bought and rented some of the needed gear. We would followed the tried and true method for staying dry and warm: layers. We bought some gortex and fleece pants. We rented winter jackets and sleeping bags. We also stocked up on muesli, granola, nuts and peanut butter to keep us energized. Water purification tabs would reduce costs and minimize our reliance on bottled water. We had all the gear; now we just needed to get to the trail.

On the first day, Andrew and I started our journey in Naya Pul, a small village a short drive from Pokhara. So far the peaks had been hiding but as we drove to Naya Pul they revealed themselves.  I felt it was a good sign, as if the mountains were welcoming us.

Of course, not all welcomes are friendly. The trail from Naya Pul started off gently enough but it gradually became hard. We were walking on a trail and it wasn’t so bad, in fact, the scenery was lovely. The trail followed a stream and meandered through small villages and farms. Then it continued to go through a forest and we occasionally climbed stone staircases. I had trouble deciding if I preferred the stone staircases over the trail. At this point I concluded that the staircases were short and easy to climb and a nice change from the trail.

Four hours later, we started climbing the real Nepali stone staircases. Whereas, the other ones had been ten steps at a time, these ones were about twenty to thirty steps of varying heights, sometimes they would be small and other times they would be a foot high. It was like a giant and dwarf compromised when building the stairs! Our destination for the day was Ulleri at 2100metres. Looking up at the never ending staircases I thought I wouldn’t make it. 

The mountains were letting us know it wouldn't be easy....There must have been thousands of stairs. As I climbed up the last hundred every muscle in my legs burned. My back ached from carrying my bag all day.  But I never felt so relieved to reach a guesthouse when I climbed the last steps to Ulleri. I wasn’t the only person feeling relief, a British fellow we met on the trail asked me as he finished climbing his final steps up to our guesthouse, “Are you as shattered as I am?”. I answered, “Yes. And I’m not sure if I can be put back together!”. We laughed, in spite of the difficult day, we were relieved and happy to be done.

 We had a great time at our first guesthouse, meeting fellow trekkers, many we continued to bump into along the way, eating dal bhat, drinking tea, and, most importantly, recuperating. One day down; ten more to go.