Manang: Day 10 and 11

Holy smokes ! This morning I got my head so far up my rear end trying to find a trail head in the dark without a map. I mean I had a picture of the map on my cellphone

Aforementioned cellphone picture

 and belatedly realized that I was going up the wrong gorge. Watching the sun come up I sat and kept turning around to see which peaks were getting light first.

I thought I could get sponsored by my shoe company if I took a good picture

 I can see why sunrise is the best time for pictures and i didn't realize when the moment happened but I did realize when it was gone. Tried tea and breakfast at a new hotel but there wasn't enough sunlight (implied warmth) even though the views were better than our hotels.

Neat lake nearby

Hiked with Zac and elbi to the lobal Glacier Gangapuna, bushwhacking most of the way. We ended up finding a yak herder's hut used in the summertime. then we saw our first glimpse of wildife as a heard of mountain goats passed by.

Goatherder Yurt !

Played a gambling game(Person A rolls the dice and Person B offers something up if they make the roll) I won $400 rupees of yak cheese and snacks from Zac. and ended up paying out movie tickets for everyone to the local projecter hall to see 7 Years in Tibet. Not only was there a fireplace in the projector hall but they served apple tea and popcorn halfway through, score!

Trail Side movie theater

Yak Kharka/Thorung Phedi: Day 12

Chatted with Elbi about cold cures and they have the same ones in Nepal as we do. No dairy or acids, but also suprisingly, no fish. Stopped at our first safe water drinking station and it definitely tasted better than the iodized/SteriPen water we were creating.

Hydropower was how almost all the towns generated their electricity. 

Town of Yak Kharka

Sign says it all

Mount views were getting a bit harder to enjoy amidst raging cold and self-diagnosed Giardia. Elbi talked to a horse porter from his region who said don't book the horse through the hotel, do it on the trail for cheaper. I was glad to see the good ol' buddy system is universal. Spent a nice lazy afternoon reading and staying warm in the sun then had a yak cheese pizza for dinner.

For 14,000 feet it's a damn fine sight, and it was even better than some pizza joints I've had.

Thorung Phedi/Mutkinath: Day 13

Started the trek by waking up not so bright and early at 3:00 am.

Camp the night before

 Elbi said ' no complaining, you are trekking in the mountains'. I couldn't agree more but my shoes were not quite up to snuff for the cold climate. Once the sun hit the earth and my feet they warmed up quite nicely however. Seeing the trail of lights up the cliff was pretty neat.

I must say the views on the rest of the trek were more to my liking. At the camp before the pass we stopped for a snack and someone left who hadn't finished their breakfast potatoes.

Aforementioned faux-pax. Also Hot Bag on Rent is funny.

I was starving and service was slow so I stole the rest of his food after he left. Later I learned that's probably the same social taboo as grave-digging, whoops! Paid an outrageous 100 rupees at the top of the pass for a cup of steaming tea. But not steaming hot because the altitude was 17,000 feet!

If you got tired along the way you could hire a donkey, about $100 US. The catch is they only take you up, not down.

Tea Shop at the top

Also made me wonder how safe the boiled water was, oh well. We reached Mutkinath and Elbi and I investigaed the trek for tomorrow and were stopped by an Indian gentlemen on the way to the temple. Elbi was very polite but once were back in the hotel he said that sometimes Indian people are loud and he pointed them to a hotel other than ours. The hotel doesn't have a fireplace but as I wrote this in my journal my legs were toasty warm.

They stuck a burning bucket of charcoal underneath the table, very effective !

La hoi, la hoi is the Nepalese cheer. We gave a toast to the locals who brewed apple brandy one of the other hotelers had bought.

Mutkinath/Kagbeni Day 14

Thanksgiving day !

Started with removing the bar on the hotel door to visit to the local temple with Elbi and started my souvenir shopping for the family.

I felt guilty about leaving everyone open to invaders!

Entrance to the temple with what I thought was nice framing. 

Hotel for the previous day

Really started and stopped at one stall, perfect. Had a fabulous day trekking with the best views I've ever had. Lunch was spotty because this was an actual hike, not a path through towns. But we ran across a woman hauling back some winter golden apples, score !

I think this is Barley

More barley 

Lunch stop 

I kept forgetting it was winter.

Along with a snickers bar I was foritied for the day. I remembered once again the beauty of hiking in the dessert.

The terrain change was abrupt right around the corner.

 The Lonely Planet said the trek was restricted but we checked with the local office and they said it was clear. Elbi seemed tuckered by the end of the day. I felt great but still making it through some of the worst chapped lips of my life. Finally arrived in Kabeni.

This was the actual seriously restricted zone. Town must be freezing because it was in the shade most of the day.

They were not more scared of me than I was of them.

Kagbeni/Jomsom: Day 15

Started off in Kagbeni with the best fried potatoes of my life, I swear there were shallots instead of onions and probably as much oil as potatoes.

Did I stay here because it was called Yac Donalds Restaurant and hotel, yes I did. 

the little sign in the door says Organic apples, which is true ! then I saw that just about everything in Kagbeni is 'Organic'.

Then off to Jomsom, the Lonely Planet is pretty dead on talking about Jomsom as a short stop-over.

I can add nothing to that sign.

There's not much happening except for the airport and money exchange, of course which MasterCard is not accepted! Damn you Visa ads, you are correct about Visa being except world-wide. Our hotel also has closed their bakery for the season so as I'm looking at the menu
pie... no
brownie... no
cake... no
Instant Chocolate pudding with powdered milk.... yes !
I didn't take any picture for good reason.

Jomsom/Pokhara: Day 16

There is no plane time, number, name or seat number for Jomsom flights

My ticket say 6:50. The airline company says 6:15, LB says whenever you hear a plane land then your flight is ready. Either way this is my kind of security, a hand down either side of my bag for security, shoes on, and water bottle chock full of H20. 

Bye Elbi !

Had an apple pancake while waiting for my flight that was more like a pancake, and less a Nepalese breakfast treat, much to my dismay. I had grown use to the fried doughy-sweet Nepal breakfast treats. My attempt at finding Lakeside once I landed failed miserably along with finding the right hotel once I arrived.

Evil Dead with Bruce Campbell, anyone? "Shop smart, shop S-Mart"

Paid a young man 20 rupees to help me find my way. Settled on a random clean hotel with hot water that could book my bus. Headed off to the World Peace Stupa.

Another monument at the Peace Stupa, pronounced Shtoopa (which is just funny)

Wonderful view of Pokhara city and my next stop was Devil's Fall and Mhoendra cave. After threatening to walk down the mountain for a 200 rupee taxi fair, I got him down to 100, only to promise him 500 if he waited and took me to Lakeside.

I decided to take a land taxi back instead of the water one I came over on. 

 I felt bad he had to pay a 20 rupee parking permit for the Stupa. had a hot shower which is a hallmark of civilization and headed out to dinner. 

Back in Kathmandu: Day 17

Hot pastries in Pokhara means they've been microwaved from two days ago. You've got a seat means your hotel issued a ticket without calling the bus company. Breakfast at the deport however was a surprising treat. Brown roll with eggs and veggies, and not just white bread with brown coloring but real wheat bread. I think I should have been compensated since I lured two other people into breakfast. Alas the owner did not think so.

View from behind the bus depot.