Well, yesterday we went for a three hour coach ride out of Kathmandu. We got off and walked across a bridge, sat down, had some orange juice, got ourselves weighed, went back to the bridge and then jumped off. With a bungee attached. It was epic.
Before we came back from the EBC trek the only other three left in Nepal of the AV volunteers had decided to do the biggest bungee jump in Asia, the 3rd biggest in the world and we decided to join them.
I was in the first group and for some strange, irrational reason I didn't actually feel that nervous, but seriously excited. To do the bungee you literally dive off the edge. And the freefall is fantastic. If you're not screaming it is almost completely silent, with just the sound of the wind as you watch the ground rushing towards you at an ever-increasing rate. On the rebound you have absolutely no control over your body, which is weird and kinda cool. You bounce a few times and then come to rest. It is brilliant.
You get lowered down and have to grab a bamboo pole which is made twice as difficult by the fact I was spinning 360 degrees. You are then placed on a table and detached. You then have to walk back up. When I realised this as I was standing on the bridge I was more nervous about walking up than jumping off, which is more than slightly illogical.
AND jumping off a bridge was so much fun I thought I'd do it again. With a twist. A Canyon Swing is when you jump off (feet first this time) and the rope you are attached to is also attached to a metal wire strung across the river. So you jump, then swing. It's a longer freefall and instead of the rebound you barely feel the rope taking our weight but start swinging away from the ground instead. It's a slightly surreal feeling! Apparently you get up to 150 km/h. It's also the biggest Canyon Swing in the world and it's better than the bungee jump. Cost all of Rs1900 and worth every penny.
To avoid inevitable questions; yes, the company we went with is as safe as possible, no, I didn't do it specificially to wind my mother up and yes, I would love to do it again.
Hope you're all well :)
Friday, 30 April 2010
Monday, 26 April 2010
The Everest Trek - Slight Change of Heart (Read ABC first...)
The Everest Base Camp Trek was... interesting. It started off great. The scenery is way better than ABC. You start off the trek in Lukla, which you have to fly to from Kathmandu, so on the 14th we jumped on a huge plane of 16 seats.
The first day was very short, as you have to be much more careful of AMS and Lukla starts at 2840m. We stopped at Phakding and then headed out early the next morning. The days continued on a similar vein and we got to EBC on the 20th April. It is technically the old EBC as the new one is reserved for people actually climbing the moutnain. EBC is a pile of rocks, and I now have a piece in my bag (which I'm sure most people who go there do!)
The next morning we headed to Kala Patthar. This is the highest point that you reach (5550m). It wouldn't be a difficult walk at sea level, but is very difficult with limited oxygen, still we all made it to the top and got biscuits while we looked at the view.
We then headed back down to Lukla. The original plan meant we went down in four days, but we wanted to make it in two. This was mainly because our guide's wife was ill and he wanted to get back, and we were happy to go as quickly as possible. We got from KP to Pangboche in one day, 6 and a half hours walking and a descent of 1620m. A long day, but it was nice not to have an afternoon sitting around with very little to do.
The next day we did get to Lukla, a further descnt of 1090m and it took me 9 hours. I was not feeling great. Although I wasn't 100% from ABC I had mostly felt fine throughtout the trek. On the last day, however, I fet nauseaous a lot of the time. It made walking a hundred times harder, and I was glad it was mostly downhill as I struggled going uphill. Which is ironic considering I was fine at 5550, with less oxygen. In the end we were delayed for a day in Lukla anyway, which was frustrating and got back to Kathmandu on the 24th.
I can now say I've been to EBC (5364m) and to 5550m and I am hoping that in a months time I will look back and be more proud of this. At the moment I didn't enjoy the last day in any way, shape or form, but I hope my lasting memory will eventually be of the first 8 days instead. Either way, not many people can say they have a piece of Everest in their bag!
The first day was very short, as you have to be much more careful of AMS and Lukla starts at 2840m. We stopped at Phakding and then headed out early the next morning. The days continued on a similar vein and we got to EBC on the 20th April. It is technically the old EBC as the new one is reserved for people actually climbing the moutnain. EBC is a pile of rocks, and I now have a piece in my bag (which I'm sure most people who go there do!)
The next morning we headed to Kala Patthar. This is the highest point that you reach (5550m). It wouldn't be a difficult walk at sea level, but is very difficult with limited oxygen, still we all made it to the top and got biscuits while we looked at the view.
We then headed back down to Lukla. The original plan meant we went down in four days, but we wanted to make it in two. This was mainly because our guide's wife was ill and he wanted to get back, and we were happy to go as quickly as possible. We got from KP to Pangboche in one day, 6 and a half hours walking and a descent of 1620m. A long day, but it was nice not to have an afternoon sitting around with very little to do.
The next day we did get to Lukla, a further descnt of 1090m and it took me 9 hours. I was not feeling great. Although I wasn't 100% from ABC I had mostly felt fine throughtout the trek. On the last day, however, I fet nauseaous a lot of the time. It made walking a hundred times harder, and I was glad it was mostly downhill as I struggled going uphill. Which is ironic considering I was fine at 5550, with less oxygen. In the end we were delayed for a day in Lukla anyway, which was frustrating and got back to Kathmandu on the 24th.
I can now say I've been to EBC (5364m) and to 5550m and I am hoping that in a months time I will look back and be more proud of this. At the moment I didn't enjoy the last day in any way, shape or form, but I hope my lasting memory will eventually be of the first 8 days instead. Either way, not many people can say they have a piece of Everest in their bag!
The Annapurna Trek - Taking it Easy (Part Two)
On the fourth day I walked with the slower group and found I broke a lot less of a sweat and listend to more of my mp3. At Chhomrong, where we had lunch, we were able to dump some stuff and so I moved the majority of my stuff to Magnus' bag and in the afternoon I didn't have to carry a rucksack for the first time. It's amazing how much easier it is to move. I was last to where we stayed overnight at Sinuwa as I was walking/encouraging Pippa, who didn't want to be trekking. Still, we made it in perfect time, just befre the rain and got a much-needed hot shower. Also got charged Rs70 for a litre of boiled and filterd water. Rip off, but the water from the tap lookd slightly beyond purification.
Day five didn't start off well. Hari was too ill to carry on and so had to go back down. This wasn't her being pathetic, when she got back to Pokhara (2 days later) they almost had to IV her. It's a credit to her stubbornss that she even got to Sinuwa.
I did, however, get Hari's camea. Hari's SLR camera. Hari's extremely good and no doubt very expensive camera. Hari's amazing camera. As I was walking slowly I had plenty of time to take lots and lots of pictures and I have come to two conclusions; my camera is shit and at some point in the relatively near furture I'm getting an SLR. And it will be worth every penny.
So, I took way too many pictues and had to cross rivers on the way to the lodge. Normallly I wouldn't think twice (as rivers where my childhood summer holidays) but carrying Hari's camera made me slightly more nervous about falling and breaking it. Which, if it had happened would have meant I would have stayed on the mountain and possibly become a hermit or the yeti.
We were staying at Deorali and it was the fist night it was really cold. I meant freezing. Still, battle on and the next day was ABC! The way up to ABC is amazing. It's hard to describe but there are lots of pictres on Hari's camera :)
Only four of us stayed overnight at ABC as space is limited and the next morning out of four two of us had the shits. Not seriously, but enough to make watching the sunrise slightly tainted. Even so, the sunrise was better than Poon Hill. You get a panormaic view of the Annapurna Himalya and it is worth getting up for. By this point, annoyingly, Hari's camera had run out of battery and so my fun had ended and I couldn't take pictures of the mountains, but they were beautiful.
Going down from ABC was fun. Me and Caitlin (other person to foolishly choose pizza) both just kept walking to lunch and then from lunch to the lodge as we wanted to get there. I was actually very lucky as I was mainly ill in the morning and was back to about normal in the evening.
The next couple of days we re-traced our steps to Chhomrong where we went a different way down. We didn't walk up this way as it has a million and three steps instead of half a million and three. Everyone was more cheeful and we got to Naya Pul arond 3pm and then got the bus to Pokhara, where we met up with Ed (who had gone down with Hari) and Hari and realised quite how filthy we were. Luckily Omega (the trekking company) gave us all lovely grey t-shirts the size of my sleeping bag to wear to our farewell dinner. And so one shower and one grey t-shirt later we all headed out in a flurry of grey to say goodbye to the guides.
I loved the Annapurna trek and now want to do the Annapurna Circuit Trek. It was great fun, with great views. True, at times it was difficult, but I didn't struggle as much as most, all credit to them for carrying on. You need a certain mind-set to be able to walk and enjoy it, and I never realised I would ever really enjoy putting one foot in front of the other so much!
Day five didn't start off well. Hari was too ill to carry on and so had to go back down. This wasn't her being pathetic, when she got back to Pokhara (2 days later) they almost had to IV her. It's a credit to her stubbornss that she even got to Sinuwa.
I did, however, get Hari's camea. Hari's SLR camera. Hari's extremely good and no doubt very expensive camera. Hari's amazing camera. As I was walking slowly I had plenty of time to take lots and lots of pictures and I have come to two conclusions; my camera is shit and at some point in the relatively near furture I'm getting an SLR. And it will be worth every penny.
So, I took way too many pictues and had to cross rivers on the way to the lodge. Normallly I wouldn't think twice (as rivers where my childhood summer holidays) but carrying Hari's camera made me slightly more nervous about falling and breaking it. Which, if it had happened would have meant I would have stayed on the mountain and possibly become a hermit or the yeti.
We were staying at Deorali and it was the fist night it was really cold. I meant freezing. Still, battle on and the next day was ABC! The way up to ABC is amazing. It's hard to describe but there are lots of pictres on Hari's camera :)
Only four of us stayed overnight at ABC as space is limited and the next morning out of four two of us had the shits. Not seriously, but enough to make watching the sunrise slightly tainted. Even so, the sunrise was better than Poon Hill. You get a panormaic view of the Annapurna Himalya and it is worth getting up for. By this point, annoyingly, Hari's camera had run out of battery and so my fun had ended and I couldn't take pictures of the mountains, but they were beautiful.
Going down from ABC was fun. Me and Caitlin (other person to foolishly choose pizza) both just kept walking to lunch and then from lunch to the lodge as we wanted to get there. I was actually very lucky as I was mainly ill in the morning and was back to about normal in the evening.
The next couple of days we re-traced our steps to Chhomrong where we went a different way down. We didn't walk up this way as it has a million and three steps instead of half a million and three. Everyone was more cheeful and we got to Naya Pul arond 3pm and then got the bus to Pokhara, where we met up with Ed (who had gone down with Hari) and Hari and realised quite how filthy we were. Luckily Omega (the trekking company) gave us all lovely grey t-shirts the size of my sleeping bag to wear to our farewell dinner. And so one shower and one grey t-shirt later we all headed out in a flurry of grey to say goodbye to the guides.
I loved the Annapurna trek and now want to do the Annapurna Circuit Trek. It was great fun, with great views. True, at times it was difficult, but I didn't struggle as much as most, all credit to them for carrying on. You need a certain mind-set to be able to walk and enjoy it, and I never realised I would ever really enjoy putting one foot in front of the other so much!
The Annapurna Trek - At Speed (Part One)
The trek to Annapurna Base Camp stated on the morning of the 2nd April. AV organised the trek and so it was all 15 of the volunteers assembled and ready to go The ABC trek is based from Pokhara and from there you get a bus to Naya Pul where you start to walk. Between 15 of us we had 7 porters and so either people where sharing one bag or where swapping days which they had to carry a bag. We had left any unnecessary stuff in Pokhara and so our backpacks were, theoretically, lighter.
The first day was a relatively easy morning and we started to get into the rhythm of trekking. We were walking by a river for part of it and then across the river. An interesting experience when you haven't quite got used to the changed balance with a pack on your back. Still, we all made it to a lunch of dal bhat (24 hour power) and then set off again for the afternoon. Slightly harder due to the stairs, but we plodded on. You got into the mindest of one foot in front of the other focusing on the stair just in front of you and you always get to the top eventually and we reached where we were staying by 3.
A fairly easy first day but the steps where only a small part of the hundreds/thousands of steps overall. Most of which are on the second day. And it doesn't start you off easily, you go straight in. So, the whole morning of the 3rd April was stairs, stairs and more stairs. Towards mid-morning we had done the worst of them, however, and the stairs were interspersed with flats through a wood and we were very grateful of the shade. However, by this point my legs were aching. More specificallly, the muscles just above my knees were cramping. Luckily it was just before lunch and so we could have a much-needed rest.
After lunch wasn't nearly so difficult, but we were all fairly tired fom the morning and were very glad to reach Ghorepani, where we were staying and, more importantly, where there were hot showers. We then all sat by the fire, probably looking a little like the living dead. I still got up at 3:30 the next morning though.
Near Ghorepani is Poon Hill, which you get a fantastic view of the mountains. So me, Magnus and Sarah (the only ones crazy enough to get up) walked up to Poon Hill by moonlight, because torches are overrated. It was worth it, despite my running commentary of complaints on the way up. It was freezing (most places are at 4:30am) but the first light hitting the Annapurna range was spectacular. It hits it way before th sun rises and so you see the mountains go from red to orange and get more and more light on them. It was amazing. Frankly, just seeing the mountains when it was still dark and they were just white shapes against the sky was worth getting out of bed for.
So, to start the third day trekkng (4th April, Easter Day) we were wide awake and even if we weren't we soon would be. It was a much easier day trekking and we were going through the forest full of rhododendrums. All the trees near Gorkha have been mostly stripped bare of the flowers but these were full of red flowers. And so looking at them almost made me trip up The last bit up to lunch was a steepish hill and it came as a bit of a shock as the rest had been flat or downhill. Still, you plod along!
So, we reached Tadapani (where we thought we were having lunch) at around 11-11:30. We generally walked in 2 or 3 separate groups, depending on speed. We were first to reach Tadapani and were happily drinking tea when the next two people arrived. One of whom was not happy. Turns out we had overshot lunch and where meant to stop at Banthanti, one hour back. So, the five of us who first to get there felt awful, due to the severity of the reaction of the second group This menat waiting for 1 and a half hours for the last group who had to walk to Tadapani as we all had to eat in the same place. It's hard to describe why we felt so bad whilst waiting. It's porbably because we didn't know how tired the last group would be when they got to lunch as they had to walk the steep uphill. It was not fun waiting. As it turns out they were relatively cheerful considering and it meant we only had an half an hour walk to the lodge where we were staying for the night.
The first day was a relatively easy morning and we started to get into the rhythm of trekking. We were walking by a river for part of it and then across the river. An interesting experience when you haven't quite got used to the changed balance with a pack on your back. Still, we all made it to a lunch of dal bhat (24 hour power) and then set off again for the afternoon. Slightly harder due to the stairs, but we plodded on. You got into the mindest of one foot in front of the other focusing on the stair just in front of you and you always get to the top eventually and we reached where we were staying by 3.
A fairly easy first day but the steps where only a small part of the hundreds/thousands of steps overall. Most of which are on the second day. And it doesn't start you off easily, you go straight in. So, the whole morning of the 3rd April was stairs, stairs and more stairs. Towards mid-morning we had done the worst of them, however, and the stairs were interspersed with flats through a wood and we were very grateful of the shade. However, by this point my legs were aching. More specificallly, the muscles just above my knees were cramping. Luckily it was just before lunch and so we could have a much-needed rest.
After lunch wasn't nearly so difficult, but we were all fairly tired fom the morning and were very glad to reach Ghorepani, where we were staying and, more importantly, where there were hot showers. We then all sat by the fire, probably looking a little like the living dead. I still got up at 3:30 the next morning though.
Near Ghorepani is Poon Hill, which you get a fantastic view of the mountains. So me, Magnus and Sarah (the only ones crazy enough to get up) walked up to Poon Hill by moonlight, because torches are overrated. It was worth it, despite my running commentary of complaints on the way up. It was freezing (most places are at 4:30am) but the first light hitting the Annapurna range was spectacular. It hits it way before th sun rises and so you see the mountains go from red to orange and get more and more light on them. It was amazing. Frankly, just seeing the mountains when it was still dark and they were just white shapes against the sky was worth getting out of bed for.
So, to start the third day trekkng (4th April, Easter Day) we were wide awake and even if we weren't we soon would be. It was a much easier day trekking and we were going through the forest full of rhododendrums. All the trees near Gorkha have been mostly stripped bare of the flowers but these were full of red flowers. And so looking at them almost made me trip up The last bit up to lunch was a steepish hill and it came as a bit of a shock as the rest had been flat or downhill. Still, you plod along!
So, we reached Tadapani (where we thought we were having lunch) at around 11-11:30. We generally walked in 2 or 3 separate groups, depending on speed. We were first to reach Tadapani and were happily drinking tea when the next two people arrived. One of whom was not happy. Turns out we had overshot lunch and where meant to stop at Banthanti, one hour back. So, the five of us who first to get there felt awful, due to the severity of the reaction of the second group This menat waiting for 1 and a half hours for the last group who had to walk to Tadapani as we all had to eat in the same place. It's hard to describe why we felt so bad whilst waiting. It's porbably because we didn't know how tired the last group would be when they got to lunch as they had to walk the steep uphill. It was not fun waiting. As it turns out they were relatively cheerful considering and it meant we only had an half an hour walk to the lodge where we were staying for the night.
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