* Amazing views of Machhapuchhre (“Fish Tail”), the sacred
mountain, emerging from the clouds at the end of the Modi River Valley
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| Machhapuchhre, early am, Sanctuary Lodge, Birethanti |
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| Machhapuchhre with rice fields, Modi River Valley |
* Enjoying socializing and free drinks with fellow trekkers at
well-deserved Happy Hours at the end of each day
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| Happy Hour around the fire, Gurung Lodge |
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| Free drinks, snacks, socializing |
* Delicious, filling breakfasts eaten on the lawn of the
Himalayan Lodge, Ghandruk, while gazing up at the peaks of the Annapurna Range
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| Lunch on lawn, Basanta Lodge, Dhampus |
* Our 30 year old porter, Min Bdr, hiking along effortlessly wearing
flip-flops while carrying our extra gear & water in a large, conical basket
secured with a strap across his forehead
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| Altho this porter is wearing tennis shoes, our porter wore flip-flops on this rugged trail! |
* Trekkers wearing hiking boots/shoes & using trekking
pole while porters & guides wear flip-flops or tennis shoes, don’t
need poles & carry our extra gear & water
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| Min Bdr, our porter, is on far right & wears a green & red uniform provided by Ker & Downey. Each porter carries the extra gear & water for 2 trekkers in these green dufflebags. The bags are placed in conical baskets carried on their backs. |
* Finding small black wiggly leeches on our hiking boots
searching for ways inside our socks next to our skin
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| Don checking for leeches after hiking through wet, shady area |
* Climbing up, up, up over thousands of stone steps carefully
& laboriously placed in the sides of mountains by Nepalese people over
hundreds (thousands?) of years
* Climbing all day for 6 hours and never reaching the top; other days climbing down, down, down
* Saying
Namaste
over & over again to everyone I pass, never failing to receive a
Namaste and smile in response, whether
from a child, a young man or woman, or an elderly person
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| Interested in the foreigners assembling across the road to begin their trek |
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| Curious about the trekkers passing by his home |
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| Bath time |
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| Apples for sale along our trekking path |
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| Namaste I say. She smiles & says Namaste while continuing her spinning |
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| Young mother & child we pass by |
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| Curious children at a school we pass |
* Learning to say
Lakshmi when someone sneezes (she’s the goddess of wealth & prosperity)
* Frequent stops to catch my breath, mop my brow, and cool my
over-heated body while admiring the incredibly gorgeous scenery all around me
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| Catching my breath & admiring the views |
* Emerging from my room at 6 am to watch the sunrise begin to
light the peaks of the Annapurna Range which are bright, sparkling & clear
in the early morning air and gradually turn them from pink to yellow to white
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| Ken using chair & pillow as impromptu tripod |
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Annapurna South at sunrise
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* Nepalese children singing folk songs & linking arms to
block our passage until we make a small, voluntary offering; then receiving a lei of marigolds from a Nepalese
child in celebration of the Festival of Diwali, the Hindu 5-day Festival of
Lights
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| Happy children dancing & singing folk songs while celebrating Diwali, the Festival of Lights |
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| James making small contribution in order to pass the childrens' "blockage" |
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| Children had a school vacation because of the festival & knew where to find trekkers! |
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| Rajendra G, our superb Nepales program guide, with kids |
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| We've been "lei-ed" with marigolds |
* Wet clothes drying on lines in front of our rooms, hoping
they’d get dry before morning
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| Clothes drying outside our Himalayan Lodge rooms |
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| More clothes drying outside our Gurung Lodge "cabin" |
*Passing hundreds of trekkers, donkeys and porters going up
into the mountains & hundreds more coming down
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| Donkeys with jangling bells passed frequently |
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| We shared the trail with herds of goats |
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| Labors struggling to haul a pizza oven (!) up stone steps as we walk down |
