Delay in Pokhara

We've managed to find a guide for our trek around Dhaulagiri, a mountain range that is close to the Annapurnas. Dhaulagiri is the 7th highest mountain in the world at 8,167m. From there, we will link up to the Annapurna circuit, but will go against the normal flow over the high pass of 5400m. From there, we will head to Manang, a small town on the Annapurna circuit where we will buy some more food and then head to a high lake close to the Annapurnas, Tilicho Lake. We will camp a few nights at around 5000m before heading down in the other direction, linking up with the Annapurna circuit again, and then heading to the Annapurna base camp, another week-long excursion that won't be as high as the other sections, but will involve some camping again.

We were supposed to start off this morning, but I've had some health issues that have left me weak, so Hans and I are taking another day in Pokhara. He's rented a bike and is exploring the town, and I am spending most of the day in the sun, reading and resting.

Hopefully, things will be better tomorrow, and we will be off as planned.

 

Last night, while I went to rest after dinner, Hans went with our guide to buy food and fuel. Our guide, Arjun, took every effort to get Hans to pay more for things than what they are worth. We definitely are going to have to watch him, and do our own negotiating so that he doesn't have us gouged while on our trek. If it weren't for the snowy conditions where we want to go, we wouldn't have bothered with the guide, but routefinding can be difficult and maps can be inaccurate.

 

That's all for now. I should be able to write again in a month upon our return.

Namaste,

Bob

YVR-BKK-DEL-KTM

I had a day and a half in Bangkok, where I went and saw some temples, had a couple Thai massages, and met some cool people while waiting for my flight to Delhi. Things were great to that point. The flight to Delhi is where things changed gears a little.
Jet Airways (India) has so little leg room, that when the guy in front of me put his seat back, I had 10 cm distance between my face and the screen on the back of the seat. I had to recline my seat to get some more head room, and that almost tipped over the glass of wine that the woman behind me had, for which I received some less-than-friendly comments. The food was not bad, but the trays were so small that there was no room to maneuver, and things kept dropping on the floor. Delhi Airport was pretty quick, and I shared a taxi with two english dudes to Pahar Ganj, a seedy backpackers area where the smog and smoke was so thick that I couldn't even see the sky.
I met up with Hans, and he said that we were supposed to catch a 7:50am train from Delhi, but it turned out that that was an incoming train that came from our destination that hit the station at that time, not outgoing. Our train was leaving at 7:15am, so we missed it and caught the bus instead. Wow, was that ever a mistake. Our 11:30am departure didn't leave until 2:30, and it was packed like crazy. We had 'reserved' seats on this 2nd class cooker with no a/c, and were the only whiteys on the bus. The reserved seats gave us no leg room at all, and we managed to change to the back of the bus. They tried to get six guys on the five seats, but since we paid 1.5 times as much as the locals for being white, I made one of the guys sit on the floor. They took turns, though, but the leader of the trio who was beside me, who I will just call Mr. Hand, liked to snuggle against me no matter how much room he had next to his buddy. When he fell asleep on my shoulder, while his friend's head was in my lap, I pushed him over and propped him so that he was sleeping on top of his buddy. That gave me a bit of satisfaction, but after 24 hours on the bus I started to get annoyed with him. Fortunately, the total bus ride was 37 hours, so I had plenty of time to work out my feelings. Night busses in India are scary, and we had two nights on the bus.
Arrival in Kathmandu started with a rip off by taxi, and then being swarmed by four bicycle richshaws at 4am. We found a good room for 250 rupies for twin beds (62 rupies to 1USD) and went right to sleep on a bed that didn't hug back.
This morning in Kathmandu, we are off to find Hans some gear (harness, down jacket), and to arrange a guide and porter for our month-long trek. We only need the guide for the first two weeks or so on the Dhaulagiri Circuit, and then we'll be on our own for the Annapurna Circuit and for heading up to the Annapurna Sanctuary. We should be gone for a month or so, leaving in a couple days.
That's all for now. Will write again when I can.
Namaste,
Bob