Buenos Aires Indulgence

I woke up just in time to meet my room mate, a wedding singer from Cordoba. I didn't have the energy to get into the advantages of being a singer performing in front of all those fluffy hearted, tear streaming, single and very available ladies. Now, the following was not a cliche.

My room was on the terrace floor and overlooked hundreds of rooftops in Palermo Soho. The sunset sky and clouds were aglow in crimson in the breezy, calm southern summer. The wedding singer (I forgot his name) told me to look down at the terrace adjacent and below us. There, in the silence of the sunset, were a middle aged couple dancing a gentle Tango completely absorbed in their trance and unaware that somebody was watching them. Not surreal. Not cliched. Real. This was my first impression of B.A.!

I stepped out of the hostel and headed to the heart of Palermo in search for something to nibble i.e. food. In my lack of knowledge of beverage sizes around here I asked for a bottle of beer. I got a 750ml monolith! I asked for a substantial amount of snacks like crisps but I got a full plate of chips! 2 classic language blunders in a row. I was ready for a hat-trick. As I had my refreshments I sat watching the young and beautiful of B.A. passing by and getting ready to get jiggy this Saturday nite. All full and tipsied up, I was ready for my 1st Argentinian steak!

And I found it at a popular Parilla (Steak house) at a major avenue in the area. The waiters were veterans (of waitering, not war!), a mark of knowledge of the cuisine, not necessarily of good service. Nevertheless the service here was good and my waiter prevented me from ordering an enormous plate of Cuban rice (of chow mein proportions!) with my "bife de chorizo"(steak) with mushrooms. Instead a small portion of rice was just enough for the steak and I overdid it by ordering a medium bottle of red wine.

Despite the 'rico' (tasty) experience this was an ill advised thing to do (no idea what possessed me....well its Porteño aka B.A. style!). In the past week I have skipped 4 time zones with a total difference of upto 9 hours and here I was eating steak at 1am. My indigestion the following day was debilitating but it still didn´t stop me from tucking into a triple decker steak sandwich for Sunday lunch for just 10 Argentinian pesos (2 pounds!)! Burp!

K.

The Trans-atlantic Diagonal Epic

The Trans-atlantic Diagonal Epic

No sooner had I adjusted to the London time zone (and a complementary cold) than I had to roll back 4 hours within 24 hours! The transatlantic diagonal epic included a 7 hour transit wait at Madrid Barajas airport courtesy of good old STA Travel making a mistake on the itinerary. My MP3 player kept me awake during the 'stuporpheric' wait at the monolith Terminal 4 (I hate airport....so monotonous and full of stressed people).

Though Iberia were good to me (I got plenty of legroom on both flights!), I was the unlucky one with the unwashed, stinky blanket. I tried to communicate this to the clearly no nonsense, veteran hostess but she made lame excuses about it being a full flight and eventually reason prevailed and I got a fresh crisp one. On long haul flights I´m not much of a talker but the Argentinian dentist who sat next to me kept my pigeon Spanish exercised but he wasn´t the classic bore-u-to-death neighbour which was such a relief. With the exception of Kenya Airways, I think that most national carriers have crap food and Iberia is one example. Comedians have done plenty of airline food gags so I will leave it at that!

At first light we were flying over the vast expanse of Brazil. It was a bit cloudy so there was not much to see at high altitude. As we descended, River Uruguay was prominent. It divides the "Entre Rios" province of Argentina from Uruguay (Entre Rios means "between rivers" being surrounded by the Rivers Parana and Uruguay. To the north are the majestic Iguazu Falls - which by the way makes Niagara Falls look like a small scale model - I will go to Iguazu to see for myself). As we headed towards the Buenos Aires (BA) Ezieza Airport we flew over the River Plata, a vast brown expanse of consolidated rivers flowing towards the Atlantic.



ENTRE RIOS PROVINCE



URUGUAY MAP



ARGENTINA MAP

Note: I´ve been to Mendoza and Cordoba already (my blogs are always 2 weeks late!!)

BA looks nice in full sun from up above. The city, like most South American cities, are symmetrically gridded with wide streets and boulevards and with long diagonals providing fast access between barrios (city districts), villas (towns) and micros (the central business district). Arriving at the airport I had probably one of the smoothest immigration experiences ever. The jolly immigration officer got excited when he realised that I am from Kenya and asked if I had some Kenyan currency (no, readers, it was not a bribe!) to show.

I spent most of the day in bed at the hostel and woke up just before the sunset.

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 8 - Final Day

Day 8

Surprise, surprise this turned out to be the official final trek day. On Day 1 a Korean trekker told me that we were fit enough to do it in 7 days. We were not far off! Today was the longest trekking day, starting at 7:30am and ending at 6pm! The steep descent and the near vertical ascent to Chomrong (the Pizza Place!) was pure agony and last nights muscle rub ointment treatment was no longer in effect. Apart from the joint crunching, the slippery surfaces as a result of last night's rain made things worse.

When we went through Chomrong a couple of days before, a chirpy and chubby lady started talking to us and with a smug grin emphasised how much of a good time she was having just sitting there watching trekkers struggling up and down the hill. I'm glad I didn´t see her again the second time round. After Chomrong, we took the newest course of the trek. Instead of passing round the Chomrong hill, we dropped rapidly into another valley past some hot springs (in our enthusiasm to cover lots of ground we didn´t bother to see them...doh!). On the way we encountered some super overloaded porters lugging mattresses, LPG tanks, beers, u name it, they carry it! Some of them looked like they came out of retirement but very agile and fit nevertheless. There is some story doing rounds there that there is a porter that does the Chomrong - ABC route everyday in a day! It´s possible but 7 days a week?! It must be a myth!

We made our last "agony" vertical descent towards a place called New Bridge and afterwards the terrain was "Nepali flat" (in Amir speak) making things bearable even though fatigue was setting in. Birethanti marked our start and finish point even though we had 20 more minutes to walk to Nayapul for fresh slaughtered and masala-d up chicken and assorted booze plus local moonshine. It´s not complete without a double dose of cheesy Nepali music videos!

Thanks for joining me on this adventure. In the words of our awesome and wise guide, Amir, it´s been "life heaven"! Very nice!

K.

PS: We rode back to Pokhara on the rooftop of a bus, true Nepali style! I got some pics to show you soon and Jason will send me a video he took of the wild and scenic ride.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 7

Day 7

The night at ABC was excruciatingly cold with not only my whole body cocooned in the sleeping bag, I had my woolly hat on and my drinking bottle played the role of the hot water bottle. It was a struggle to get the layers on to go out and view the sunrise. In all the confusion of that wee hour, I ended up walking along the edge of the glacial cliff on my own as Jason wondered off somewhere near Annapurna South and some of the other trekkers chickened out and clung within the base camp grounds. One of the others, Valerie, had just enough courage to go up to the glacial cliff and we got some photo ops with the main peaks as they were struck with bright orange and red colours.

I continued further than during our reconnaissance yesterday. The resident dog accompanied me and seemed to lead the way over the dark rocks and dry grasses. Along this route there are numerous (in fact hundreds) of memorial stone stacks with Buddhist flags. I got closer to the glaciers and the views below were awesome despite my digits and toes feeling indifferent. I didn´t realise that I was the only one outside at 7:15am (though breakfast was for 7:30am so I wanted to get my moneys worth) so Amir and Jason got worried and started to look for me. I joking said that it would have been unfortunate if I fell into the glacier with all my insurance details on me.

After brekkie and packing, I left a contact card and photo on the guest house notice board for posterity and we left ABC. The morning was glorious and the world´s healthiest hound, the ABC dog, trotted with us up to MBC. The streams were still frozen on the surface and some sun soaked frosty grasses were thawing. Today´s descent was surprisingly rapid as we went past Deurali just after 10am and had lunch at Bamboo! We spent the night in Sinuwa (that´s one days descent = 2 days ascent!!). A lot of the trekkers we were with at ABC were having problems with their joints, especially knees and ankles, a notorious effect of rapid descents with shocks to the limbs. So some stayed at guest houses further up.

The weather transformed as we entered the woods below Deurali and it started drizzling. We didn´t need to get our waterproofs on but the evening at Sinuwa was gnashingly cold. Amir sadistically announced that tonights shower will be frozen hot and so it was as there was not enough sunlight to get the panels going and heat the water. I felt so cold that, to everyone´s amazement, I started washing some of my clothes! It was not very wise as they didn't dry fast enough so I turned my backpack into a mobile washing line the following day.

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 6

Day 6

And now, the day of the ABC arrival! It was now time to push the 4000m barrier and it started with a gentle climb through tree-less, dried grass covered terrain. Rocks strewn everywhere, with fluorescent green cacti hanging for dear life underneath, with the ever flowing rapids and the hills snow laden, this scene resembled an abandoned planet. As winter approaches, the snow line drops soon to meet the tree line. The dry and thinner air made the gradual incline feel like a steep climb. In fact I consumed 2 litres of water before our first tea break at Fishtail Base Camp!

The theatre of mountains beckoned us not long after and we saw the first stream of trekkers leaving ABC after viewing the sunrise. Annapurna III glowed in the sunlight, before the rays reached us, and its presence indicated the location of Fishtail Base Camp (MBC). There were quite a few misnomers here. We had tea at the "Gurung Co-operative Guest House" but the guide said that it is not actually a co-operative (I'm getting used to over-the-top naming of guest houses). According to the Hindu customs, Fishtail (Macchapucchare) mountain is holy and climbing it is prohibited. So I didn´t bother to ask why we were in its base camp(!!). So, this was out last stop before ABC. The journey for today took just 4 hours but the last 30 minutes of it was eternal as we were now above 4000m, the air was thinner still and the wind chill eating in. The incline here followed the path of main glacier. Behind us, Fishtail began to glow in the emerging sun and avalanches were stirred higher up in the more distant Annapurna peaks. MBC disappeared behind us and the partially frozen but flowing streams were now on the opposite side of our path with regard to the glacier. Basically it felt like hell froze over with heaven just round the corner.

Dry and slash-n-burned grass were the main vegetation, even the fluorescent cacti shied away, and the landscape became more desert like. ABC's rooftops became visible and closer but the gasps for the meagre oxygen made the destination seem elusive. At last we arrived! Fellow trekkers trickled in as we struggled to sit down on the outside porch of our guesthouse. My main concern was keeping warm with the help of some noodle soup, and it was in style, smiling at the view ahead of us with Fishtail and its sister Annapurna peaks gleaming back at us.

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 5

Day 5

With the altitude practice now complete, the great ascent began. The mission was to reach Deurali, just above 3000m altitude. We were now following the narrow valley, dense with vegetation and rapids. A cluster of monkeys got us going faster with their whooping menacing noises until some porters started doing some really awful monkey imitations. That shut the primates up!

In terms of angle of ascent it was not so bad but the terrain was very rough and unpredictable. Dominating sounds were the trickling mini waterfalls and the gushing rapids. Winter will be arriving soon so most migratory animals had left. The woods were quiet and the sun took ages to emerge as the valley was very deep. At about 10.30am we finally got some sunshine defrost! This was just after our tea break at Bamboo (2400m) where we saw the sun rays radiating the hilltops but never clipping our heads.

Every vein of the range was prominent with water sounds all over. I spotted a cute generator house humming away; it´s a cheap source of electricity for the tea house villages. Walking past Dovan (2600m) the valley opened up a bit and we got closer to the Modikhola, the main river flowing from the range. We lunched at the Himalaya Hotel, a slate roofed establishment (local materials...impressive). Feeling adventurous with the menu, I experimented with a combo of Swiss rosti and Nepali vegetable curry! I call it the "Himalpine Combo". Looking at the hotel's shop, there was no letting up in the stock of western goods (see pictures) which get more expensive the higher up you go.

The final leg of the day was theatrical (in the atmospheric sense, not comical!). Enormous waterfalls gushing over well worn, smooth cliff faces resembled a water park for giants. The extent of the climb was clear from the view of the river against the cascading hills, getting rougher and rougher as we climbed. The tree line approached and we crossed some slippery stream points, at one point skipping stones replaced a rickety run down raised wooden bridge.

On arrival at Deurali Guest House the cloud cover arrived very close to the roof tops. All vegetation here looked dead as if from a ghost story or more realistically, as if from an environmental disaster. There was no view of the mountains from this narrow point (and thus no cheesy titles for the hotels) but the sunset colours of the valley we left behind were as majestic as the unseen peaks. We had been blessed by a full moon at this point which made the night view of the looming hills resemble the protection of a fortress by high walls. The blanket table tonight was ridiculously hot to the point that the table was melting at some sections and one trekkers socks singed and fused!

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 4

Day 4

First off, below is a map of the trek route, to get a rough feel of the distances and altitudes (we finished at Birethanti, not Dhampus):

Today´s journey took us 300m higher but we had to descend then ascend. This no doubt was the toughest day on aggregate. The steep descent was stressful on the knees and on the ascent the sun came out blazin'! At the river crossing we observed the biggest land slide (from the recent heavy monsoon rains) site I´ve ever seen! To make life harder, a landslide further across the ascent hill made us take a mini up and down detour route.

After a while, at mid-morning, we passed over a river confluence and were now headed into the valley that takes one up to the ABC. The hills here, standing like sentries protecting the peaks, were true giants and are unseen from Pokhara because they are crowded together. We had a lunchstop at Chomrong (2050m) were Amir recommended the pizza(the best on the trek!!) which we ordered without hesitation. Chomrong has Fishtail looming in the view closer still and also some rapids rumbling down as snow melt from Annapurna South.

We slept at Sinuwa lodge, also with the magic blanket table and ultralow roofs, to my misfortune. The dining table had some cool arrays of business cards and photos under the glass surface including that of the owners daughter who is now a Nepali movie star!

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 3

Day 3

The pics are now available on:

http://www.flickr.com/gp/15198453@N00/464Ba6

The Poon Hill sunrise view was the first objective of the day. We woke up at 4:45am (!!!) military stylee. I got no bugle in my ear but the layering up felt like a preparation for some sort of battle. It was still dark as we departed and my mind was not yet awake to the task compared to my team. A few steps into it and I realised that I need my headlamp on if I was going to make it will a fully functioning nose. The Poon Hill ascent was consistently steep, 400m worth of ascent!

The agony was worth it. On the way up the horizon was a red band dimming to light blue as you look down to up and as the sun performed its daily ritual of threatening to rise. The viewpoint was jam packed already. The grasslands and bushes (we were above the tree line) gave an atmospheric feel to the anticipation (so did the icy choppy winds...rise, sun already!). The full range was already visible and the tourists were happy snappin'!

The sun finally emerged from a hill to the right of Fishtail and the red glows of the mountains were already appearing to the west. The mountain darkness descended slowly and then everyone was ablaze in the red glow. Tripods, group photo ops, whooing and aaahing galore; it was a special moment even though my frozen feet and hands were indicating otherwise. We descended as soon as it was full day light and enjoyed a breakfast of Tibetan bread (a fried bread - a bit like Spanish Churros or Kenyan Mandazi), honey (lots of it!) and tea.

The trail towards Tadepani (at a lower altitude, this assists aclimatisation to the high altitudes) began just above the b-ball court and led to a gentle incline through some woods. Most of the morning the path was along hill passes with rooty steps and open dirt tracks through grasslands. At one grassland section there was a trekking team singing Nepali melodies (they couldn´t wait to reach their next stop - have a look at a picture I took of a grazing horse and the jaw dropping backdrop - if I had a tent I would pitch it right there for the day!). We swept past the Annapurna and Himchuli range vistas and descended into a river valley with steep gorges and moss covered waterfalls. We had a tea stop at a hotel which had roof that was also a drying rack for washed duvets and pillows of assorted colours.

We descended further and at one point Annapurna South and Fishtail reappeared between the tree crowded hills. Not long after we arrived at Tadapani which was pretty busy: a mixed nationality camping group, some solo trekkers from the US and Singapore (the Singaporean was hopelessly homesick) plus some smaller French and German groups. The mixed group were a very social bunch and as we chatted a really cool heating contraption was unveiled to me. The table where we ate had a gas/wood heater underneath and lined with blankets to keep us warm. Another revelation was the Snickers Roll ( the equivalent to the great Scottish dish, the deep fried Mars Bar....apparently the Isreali trekkers love it and it features on the menus out here). I spent a great deal of time solving a Buddha 3-D puzzle picture to the amusement of the guests some of whom could see the underlying image within seconds!

I will try to find a nice illustration of the trekking route so you can get the feel of the trail.

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 2

Day 2

We took off just after 7pm and didn´t get very far when we encountered a cargo convoy of mules and donkeys. The track was narrow and the trader was adjusting some boxes thus causing the 100% bottleneck. We sped past the dozy convoy across those wobbly steel suspension bridges.

We then began a challenging uphill route to begin our ascent to above 2000m altitude. There are sparse settlements in this area but rice fields still cover a considerable amount of land here. For the first time since our drive we caught a glimpse of one of the peaks, Annapurna South. The trekking experience was getting even more interesting. Mule convoys, grazing goats, cargo and trekking porters galore. Past one wood we saw a flock of green parrots fluttering and chirping away. The donkey cargo contents were very interesting too: LPG tanks, San Miguel beer (vital fuels for day-to-day living).....the whooh!hah! hollering of the traders urging the sleepy mules on and warning trekkers of the approach of the hooved transport!

More of the range emerged as we climbed. The rest stops and restaurants were charming with traditional stone construction (built for the Nepali demographic, below 5ft 9!!!). The high tree covered hills emerged showing their majesty in sharp contracts to the mountains. At "Super View" guest house we got awesome views of the valley. This area, called Ulleri, is at 2050m. I observed a comatose looking dog with the restaurant owner struggling to feed her a bone. The pregnant mutt just stuck the thing in her mouth and continued sleeping. A herd of buffalo aroused her and we left the stop with a bovine-canine standoff going on. It´s amazing how the big stompers can climb these hills. Buffalos are bulky but hardy animals. Th sheep herds streamed through in different sizes, colours and baa sounds. Some of the billy goats sounded like humans doing goat impressions! Some were grazing literally off the cliff edges!

At Hotel Fishtail we started seeing Macchapuchare (the most imposing peak of the range a.k.a. Fishtail). Beyong here we entered the forests and true tranquilitiy began ( apart from the fatigued gasps for air). Rushing streams bumping on rocks foremd crystal clear waterfalls. Crossing stream bridges we were treated to a spectrum of colours of the submerged rocks and moss infested trees.

The monolith " Hungry Eye" restaurant at Nagethanti was our lunchstop. The Korean and German group we left behind at Tikhedunga arrived there as well and so receiving out order was a big hassle. Luckily Jase and I ordered some chop suey which arrived chop!chop! but the traditional dal bhat took a while to feed the masses.

We set off onwards on a more gentle route past some settlements and forests. We reached an "autonomous" region and the Maoist sentries checked our extortion tickets (we had paid a toll the day before). The arrival in Ghorepani was a great relief as it was getting chilly despite the intense sun. Blue roof Ghorepani is the busiest village so far and has the best views of both Dhaulagiri (the highest peak of the range, above 8000m) and Annapurna South. The sunset provided a unique photo treat. The guest house had a cool stove with a clothes line above it. Benches were arranged around it to provide warmth for tired trekkers. Our room view included Annapurna South and a large basketball court! The night was pretty social and a french group celebrated a birthday following by some singing entertainment from the porters. The french group then joined in the dancing. I didn´t venture anywhere away from the warm stove!

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 1

The blogging has been on vacation as I spent the best part of 2 weeks in the wilderness! Below is a summary of Day 1 of a 9 day trek in the Annapurna Sanctuary that I took part in last month. Bear with me, there are going to be 8 more coming soon in this series!! Enjoy.

Day 1

And so the long awaited 9-day epic to the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) began. We managed to get good sleep despite the dal bhat (lentils and rice) diet rendering me on piss mode twice that night. My trekking pal,Jason, arrived in Pokhara the night before. Our lively guide, Amir, joined us that morning fresh from a 21 day trek around the range on the Jomsom trek (it is the perimeter circuit of the Annapurna ranges and the highest lake in the world can be viewed on this other trek). The trio became a quartet after we decided that we should pay more for an extra porter to make the trip more bearable. Out porter was called Ram, a chirpy but quiet fellow almost half my size but capable of carrying 30 plus kg bags long distance!

We took a cab from Pokhara to Nayapool, our starting point, on a 1 hour journey. The route went past my familiar Sarangkot turn-off point (that leads to the village where I worked) and then past a large Tibetan refugee settlement in the valley. This point is one of my favourite spots to view the mountains. It´s bottom of valley location gives the Annapurna range a truly towering view as they rise from the foothills. As the driver cursed at some locals rolling rice bundles across the road, we saw a crowd surrounding a collapsed donkey. Amir announced that it was dead, literally the classic "drop dead like a donkey" scenario. Tragic, after a life of toil and hardship.

We were now on the north side of the Sarangkot hill and headed west towards Nayapool. The road become more winding as we climbed up a pass, so the common car horn warning honking round corners began. Other modes of transport were warned of our approach; packs of mules carrying produce to the market. I heard that on the return journey they are used for portering services for trekkers. Talk about multi-purpose SUV mules! The line of mules is a nice sight to behold, with multicoloured saddles, various produce and cute little bells. On ascent, the impressively smooth (by Nepali standards by the way) but unmarked road became more and more eroded resulting in single lane sections causing the rickety 1970s Toyota Deluxe to groan as it switched between asphalt and dust surfaces.

I caught a glimpse of the whole Phewa Tal lake looking south from the top of the pass, with the river system feeding it. The sun´s reflection marked the waterways clearly. It was about 9am now and some kids were heading off to school in zig zag playfully kiddish fashion increasing the number of obstacles on the narrow road. The arrival of the Nayapool start off point was quite abrupt and surprising as it was just a series of restaurants and shops dangerously located on a u-bend of the road. We had a quick "dudh chayo" (milk tea), arranged our gear and began the trek.

The track starts as a drop from the u-bend road to a steel chain suspension bridge. Beyond that is a main bazaar for Nayapool where we stopped to buy some shoes for the porter. It was an opportunity to install my superdooper Camel-back (a 2 litre water sack placed in my daypack with a plastic tube for me to sip on whenever I want - for on-demand rehydration!). We walked through a narrow river (rapids more like) valley and up a gentle incline to the sanctuary checkpoint where the guide dealt with the fee payment. The main hillside trail now began. Its not isolated here. We came across many rice paddies huddled around the rapids with the harvesting of rice and millet in full effect. Also, lines of ascending tourists, guides and their porters became common sights.

Today´s walk was short. We had the classic Dal Bhat for lunch with fresh fish from the river and we arrived at out guest house for the night at Tikhedunga at around 2pm. Since we were early arrivals, I had the first stab at the one shower room.

K.