Days 1-4 - Annapurna Circuit

Day 1: Bhule Bhule (Elevation 840m)

It took us 6 hours by private bus to drive from Kathmandu to Beshishar, our launch point for the start of this trip. Once we were dropped off, we then switched all our gear onto a local bus where we drove on a dirt road for another hour. The road was narrow, very bumpy and had steep cliffs on one side - no mistakes were wanted here!

Tonight we stayed at the Everest Guest House and it was just us and one other guest. During peak trekking season, on any given day there might be 300 to 350 registered hikers going into the Annapurna Region for the circuit - the day we registered there were 13 plus us... needless to say, we felt as if we were the only ones out there which was awesome!

Day 2: Bhule Bhule to Jagot (20km - Elevation (1260m)

We got up at 6am, warm, well-rested and HUNGRY! We were served black tea and continuously offered more food, as it's the Nepali way to be as studious as possible. Now let the hike begin - we crossed our first supension bridge and started walking.  The village of Bhule Bhule was very cool as it was both our first glance at mountain-side Nepali living, and showed us the stonework used to build their homes and walkways. Everything was very old and the villagers were always working on something.

For the next 2 hours we walked along the hillside where there had been a landslide, it took out one of the roads and made for some tricky passings us. The workers were throwing rocks from above and whistling to each other to stop when hikers were close by. I'm guessing that the landslide took out the main bridge for hikers and that this makeshift one was put up. We crossed it then made our way back up an insane hour-long hill climb.  Strolling into our tea hut in the late afternoon, we wound down with a game of cribbage, a Gorkha beer and discussed how we were going to do the next few days where the elevation gain gets increased!

Day 3: Jagot to Dharapani (18 km - Elevation 1800m)

Our guide Surya must have been playing a joke on us with the route as we would climb for hours, have a break, then decend for an hour of steep terrain, another break for lunch then haul ourselves back up another hill... Today was no exception. After switchbacking ourselves down the route, we came to a riverside village called Tal Phedi and had some lunch. Nic had been carrying balloons with her since the beginning and brought one out for a child at lunch. He was so happy and played with it for all of our lunch with his grandfather.

It really is amazing to watch something so minor to us be given to another person that wouldn't normally get something like a balloon and see their reaction. This boy had a big smile on his face and the grandfather was just as happy!

So back onto the trail on into our last few hours of hiking this day. Was crossed this spectacular suspension bridge that had mindblowing views of the mountains from the valley that we were in and set itself up as just a very nice spot to stop and take a minute to soak it all in.  Arriving at the tea house for the night, Bill and I ate Dal Bhat then the group played a mean game of "O Hell." Bill scored 153, Nic scored 138, Dave 116... and me, well, lets just say I was learning tonight!

Day 4: Dharapani to Chame (16.5km - Elevation 2688m)

What a hike today...wow! Not too technical but we got our first real closeup view of an 8000'er - Manasalu (8,156m (8th highest in the world)). To see one of these mountains so close put so many things into perspective. Forget that we're standing at nearly 8500 feet ourselves, this behemouth of a mountain just stared at us and called out greatness. Imagine being in the centre of a valley and having the sun shine right onto the snow cap of Manasalu's peak at a quarter past 6 in the morning... what a sight to wake up to! Check out the picture below!

Chame was a beautiful spot to call home for the one night. Bill and I tried a local rice wine called Chhangy, which is equivillant to some homemade moonshine but stronger! One cup and I was slurring my speech and feeling great. The other part that made for such a great night was that the owners offered each of us FRESH yak momo's (like dumplings). These baby's were fresh as two yaks had been 'relived' of their duties earlier that day and prepared for dinner that night. SOOOO GOOD! More Dal Bhat for dinner then off to Pisang tomorrow....

My Nepal Journey Ends and my Vancouver One Begins!

Phew... I haven't blogged in a while and I've been getting rather ancy to tell YOU all about what's been going on these past few weeks.

So first off, I'm back in Vancouver, have settled into my new home in West Van and am piecing together the life that I had prior to leaving and getting going for 2010 with a BANG! I am very excited to see what happens this year as Nepal gave me a chance to really think about what I've done, where I am and where I want to be. It was an experience of a lifetime that I am so incredibly thankful for!

So what's next:

I'm going to tell you all about our trek through the Annapurna Circuit and the last 6 weeks in Nepal - the protests, political situation, having to fly out early from Kathmandu, photos and so on... I'm going to break the trek down into a few different parts so you don't have blogs that are too 'heavy' to digest.

Where I stand for 2010 - what some of my goals are (so YOU can keep me accountable) and how I see the year playing out.  After spending 109 days travelling in totally foreign cities than what I'm used to, I have gained a completely new perspective on personal values and thoughts on day-to-day living, helping me carry myself as a much more well-rounded person (eliminating a lot of the BS that goes on (and has gone on) in my life).

I would love all of YOUR feedback on these blogs as I'm going to give the straight goods and tell things how I saw them.  It's all about learning isn't it, so your honest feedback is very welcomed!

Until then....

And We're Off...

SO... ladies and gentlemen, as my placement finishes my second leg of the race starts. I have had an amazing time with the kids at my placement and have enjoyed listening to ALL the successes that have come from others at the house. It truely has been a trip of a lifetime thus far!

Tomorrow our trek begins. We are up at the crack of dawn for a 7 hour bus ride to stop #1 - Beshishar. Communication is very limited and there won't be time for any blogs along the trek but let me reassure you that when we get back, multiple posts and photos will be ready to go.

The trek will include my awesome girlfriend Nicole, her dad, his doctor buddy Dave, our guide and two porters. The highest pass scheduled is Throng-La at a tad under 5500 meters (18,000 feet). I am gitty just thinking about the hike and can't wait to get things rolling, but right now I need to catch some shut eye.

I look forward to catching up with all of you when we get home.

Ps: A huge shout out to Meyrick Jones, Kris Schelderup and the Innovative Fitness team in Port Moody. Your facility looks awesome and business will treat you well. Good luck guys and I can't wait to come check things out.

Nameste!!