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.
http://www.flickr.com/gp
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.
1 comment:
It sounds beautiful, Kyrea. Imagine if there was a soundtrack! There'd be lots of violins, I think.
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