I am Nishanth

N has now entered the phase where when given 2 alternatives, he would pick the 2nd one, provided ofcourse that nothing major is at stake. To test my theory, we had the following conversation -
K : Nishanth, tu girl aahes ka boy aahes? (are you a girl or a boy)
N (without diverting any attention from what he was doing) : Booooyyyy
K (1 sec afterwards) : tu boy aahes ka girl aahes? (are you a boy or a girl)
N : Gaaaalllll
gap in conversation for about 10 secs.
N : me Nishanth aahe (I am Nishanth).

World's Best Food

Friday evenings are time for fried food for Mihir. He really looks forward to them throughout the week. Here is his list of world's best food after one such orgy
- Fried Paneer
- Fried Fish
- Fries
- Smileys (fries in the shape of smiley)
- Butter noodles
- White Rice
-  Olives

Thankfully he eats healthy stuff the rest of the week so that he can enjoy on "Fry"day.                                                                                                                                                             

Solution to world food shortage

Hi
This is Nishanth again. I have to really blog this one since no one around gets it. I think I have found a solution to world food shortage. I know it doesnt sound like something a two year old should worry about or have to solve. But I think I have given enough time for adults to figure it out and it doesnt seem to work. So I had to take matters in my own hands. The solution is really very simple (as most things are). Everyone should eat hair. The advantages are that they are easily available everywhere and they grow back. I would agree that the taste is not the best but one can get used to it with enough practice.
The best source is baba's head. There always seems to be hair over there and it is very conveniently located as well. Everytime I hug or cuddle up to him, i can pluck some with my hands or directly try to pull some with my mouth. I dont think he was very happy with it when i had my eureka momemt - about 6 months ago. By now he seems to have taken it very personally and gets very annoyed whenever I try to get a mouthful. The good thing with Baba is that he has hair on his arms, legs, cheeks (sometimes), chest....pretty much everywhere I can get my hands to. So when I drink milk sitting on his lap, i can try to pluck hair on his arms with my free hands. I am such an expert that I can now pluck one hair at a time. It also helps me with my fine motor skills. Far from nominating me for a nobel prize, he doesnt even encourage me. So I have moved on to others as well. Aai has long hair and I just have to put my hand in her head vicinity to grab some. There are so many sources of food - Aaji (again long hair), ajo (white hair), Mihir dada, Bharti maushi (my caretaker), Anita maushi (cook), people in front of me in a crowed elevator, etc. I am surprized and disappointed that the idea has not caught on yet.
Hopefully my glory time will come soon.....

Annapurna Mini Circuit Trek - Day 14

Day 14
Today was the day of 3 flights. Got up at 6:30 am and after a quick breakfast went to the airport quite early for my flight. Had to wait for an hour at the airport before checking in. My flight was delayed by about 50 mins and we finally left Pokhara just after 10. This was a slightly bigger place with 3 seats per row. It was also a short flight of about 30 mins. Didn't see any mountains in the flight since it was too bright. Ganga had come to pick me up at the airport. However, my next flight to Delhi was due in another 3 and 1/2 hours. So it did not make sense to go to Thamel and come back in time for an international departure. So I bid Ganga goodbye and waited at the airport listening to music.
After another hour wait, the counter opened so that I could checkin my luggage. Then I went through security and to the departure gates. I did not have much Nepalese rupees left with me and they dont accept 500 rupees (Indian) bills at the airport. For the money I had, none of the stuff looked appetizing and so I decided to wait till I reached Delhi to fill my belly. My flight to Delhi was also delayed by about 40 mins. However I had enough layover in Delhi. After clearing Immigration and Customs, I went to my departure gates area. Before that I gorged myself with Pani Puri, Sev Puri and Chicken Tikka Kebabs. I had the same feeling as when I used to visit India from US - just wanting to eat all kinds of Indian food. The flight to Bangalore was delayed as well but was uneventful. I finally landed in Bangalore by 10 pm and came home just after 11 pm. Felt good to see family.

It was with some sadness that I left Nepal. I felt that I left a part of me out there in the mountains. However there were enough scenic views, new experiences and challenges to take back with me and more than fill the void. I think that is what travelling is all about, isn't it?

Annapurna Mini Circuit Trek - Day 13

Day 13

After getting up at 4:30am and having a quick breakfast at 5 am, we headed out to the airport. It was a 5 min walk and we were ushered in an open space.  We could see some snowcapped mountains in the clear morning air.

After some time we were ushered into a building. After checking in at Agni airlines counter we got a very unique boarding pass. It was the airlines boarding pass with none of the fields filled in. So no name, no flight number, no gate number, no seat number, no source and destination, nothing... Just an empty boarding pass that anyone could have used to board the flight. Then came the security check where he had everyone open their bags. After that we were in a room for some time waiting for our flint to arrive. It was a very small plane with about 20 seats - 2 vertical rows of about 10 seats each. Each seat was a window seat and the 2 rows were separated by a very narrow pathway. One had to stoop down inside the plane since the ceiling was short. No sooner were the required people boarded, the plane took off. It was just a 20 mins flight but we were right next to scenic hills and mountains. I could see the other side of the Annapurna range with the big peak of Annapurna I clearly visible. Pokhra seemed like a very green and beautiful city from the plane.

Right after landing, we picked our checked in luggage and left by taxi to our hotel (Mum's Garden). It was a short 10 mins ride. My guide Raj bade me goodbye after dropping me at the hotel. He had other clients waiting for him and he took the next flight to Kathmandu. I gave him a thank you tip and then went to my room. It was a beautiful hotel with many flower trees. My room was nice and big. After repacking my bags for the flight home the next day, I took a long hot shower and shaved. It was only 8:15 am when I stepped outside to explore the area. The hotel was a 5 mins walk from the famous fish tail lake. It is a very calm and beautiful lake with green hills all around it. I sat beside the lake. Some people were doing boating. However the sun was out and it had just started to feel hot. So I didn't do boating as I didn't want to sit under sun for an hour or two.

Some of the souvenir shops had just started opening and I did some souvenir shopping for folks back home. I was feeling very lethargic and tired. I guess all the exhaustion of the trek was finally catching up. Since I was alone I didn't feel like venturing too far out and just wanted to sleep in the afternoon. While wandering around, I saw a board for Blind Hands. This was a place where blind people give massage. This is a NPO (nonprofit organization) that trains blind people to be masseurs so that it gives them a source of income. Also, since blind people are more attuned to their other sense like touch, in theory they can give very good massages. My legs were still aching and so I decided to give it a try. Seemed like a win-win situation. Good cause as well as good massage. My massage was painful since there were many tender spots. But it felt very good after the massage. My masseur was very good and he would always ask if the pressure was ok and find the tender spots very quickly. After a quick lunch, I went to my room and slept for 3 hours. Got up at 5:15 am and went out after freshening up. After talking to family, I was still feeling very lethargic. Decided to walk around for some time since I had nothing else to do.  After 5 mins, I discovered the touristy area. It was very lively with many people on the road. The road was lined with souvenir shops and restaurants on both sides. Felt good walking and after some time went to a restaurant for happy hour. Had some cocktails and grilled fish for dinner. After dinner went back to my room, read a book and fell asleep by 9:30 pm.

Random Facts
Altitude - 820 mts

Annapurna Mini Circuit Trek - Day 12

Day 12 Today was supposed to be an easy 4 and 1/2 hrs. of trek from Muktinath to Jomsom. Got up a bit later than most days and after breakfast left the lodge just after 8 am. Had two folks for company - Will from Alaska and Elran from Israel. They had stayed with me at the same lodge. Today's trek was a mostly downhill trek. It was a gradual decline and hence was not bad on the knees and toes. At the start we got a glimpse of Dhaulagiri (8200 mts) and Annapurna III (7700 mts) before they were shrouded by clouds.

For the first couple of hours it was a very easy and scenic trek. On our right we could see the desert of Mustang and upper Mustang. There were mountains and hills with pretty much no vegetation. Only the mountains of upper Mustang had some snow on the top. Otherwise it was brown sand and gravel. They looked beautiful. On the left were sandy hills of Mustang and behind them the snowcapped mountains (Annapurna range, Nilgiri range and Dhaulagiri range). It was different scenery from what we were used to but it was very scenic.

The wind was very very strong and after a couple of hours we had descended the huge valley and were inside a HUGE river basin. The river was at this point a very narrow stream and most of the approx. 300 ft. of the river basin was sand and stones. The strong wind was tunneled in this valley and it felt like we were pounded with hurricane force winds. It was so windy sometimes that my legs would go sideways when I was trying to walk straight. After my skydiving experience this was the windiest experience that I have experienced. Apparently it is always this windy in this valley. After another 90 mins of this wind pounding, we could see the town of Jomsom.

Our lodge was towards the other end of the town and so we traversed the whole town. The lodge was right next to Jomsom airport. It was extremely windy in the open patio. However we were at 2800 mts and hence it wasn't very cold. We were very dusty since the trail coincided with the dirt road most of the time. After a very delicious lunch I went to take a hot shower. However the water had not heated up at all and I had to contend with a very cold water shower. My room was the usual 8X10 room with just 2 single beds. Afternoon was spent in reading a book and talking with family. Later on we played some cards. After dinner I went to my room and tried to sleep early. I had a very early morning flight to Pokhra the next day and so had to get up at 4:30 am the next day. I bid goodbye to Shiva, my porter and gave him a "thank you" tip. He was going to go by bus to Kathmandu. I tried to sleep, but it was very noisy outside with the TV on and people chatting. Finally, I must have fallen asleep around 10:30 pm.

 Random Facts

Altitude - 2720 mts

Annapurna Mini Circuit Trek - Day 11

Day 11 After the painful early morning ritual of brushing teeth, getting freshened up and using the toilet in subzero temperature, had a cup of hot coffee in the common room. Packed my stuff and we left just after 5 am. Today was "the" day. We were first going to climb about 600 mts to reach Thorong La pass and then descend 1700 mts to reach Muktinath. The 1st part was estimated to take 3 hours and the 2^nd part a further 3 and 1/2 hours. It was snowing when we started and it had been snowing throughout the night. In some places there was a good 6 inches of fresh snow. Since we were among the 1st few to leave, the snow on the trail was fresh and crunchy - the right type to get a good grip. Also the most strenuous hike of the whole Annapurna circuit was done with yesterday (from Thorong Phedi To high camp). Today's trail was a mixture of gradual and steep climbs with more of the former. It felt great being near the top of mountains with snow all around and the climb not being very hardcore. It was by no means easy going and I was following my routine of taking a 10 sec rest after every 200 steps. The advantage of that is that it keeps the mind occupied leaving it little time to register the physical body's complaints and it offers short term goals and rewards after reaching the goals. Today I found that on most occasions I would actually complete more than 200 steps before rewarding myself with a short break and a look around to admire the scenery.

There were a few occasions where I would not even complete 100 steps before having to collect my breath. But they were far too few. Also snow on the trail threw fresh challenges. There was always the very real fear of slipping on the snow. There were a couple of stretches where the snow was compact and very slippery. The trail was generally about a foot wide and a bad slip meant a big fall into the whiteness below. Faced with life and death situations, the mind finds a way to focus on only the most important thing - survival. It displays amazing level of concentration to force the body to put each step in the right place, arrest the inevitable slip, get the  balance back and repeat the process. During those couple of slippery paths, my mind was so focused that I felt I could have cracked the IIT JEE entrance exam and would have finished in the top 10. Other than those couple of scary parts, it was a joy to trek. I was feeling great and the early start meant that most of the time I was following the 1st few porters who were setting their fresh footprints in snow. Without them in front, I wouldn't have been able to figure out where the trail was since everything was covered with snow. If I was too far behind then the snow would be compacted by fellow Trekkers and rendered slippery. After about 2 and half hours I found myself at the pass. It was snowing steadily and it was pretty windy. After a few snaps, my guide and porter started descending. I felt pretty good about my timing and was feeling fairly fresh. Only a couple of really strong guys had passed me on the way up and there weren't any people right behind me.

The other side of the pass is in stark contrast to the one we came from. It gets zero to very little rain/snow and is a desert. There is absolutely no vegetation in sight for miles. All you see is huge mountains of gravel and small rocks. Only the top of the other side had snow.

There was only one scary descent which I managed to do without falling down. For most part during the descent, we were half running and half jogging. We would descend about 100 mts in 10 mins and then take a small break before resuming our part running part jogging. This descent was very hard on my knees and toes. After 500 mts of this madness, my knees and toes were registering their displeasure very liberally. So then I slowed down a little. Finally after 1 hour and 45 mins we reached a tea shop. We took an extended break of 15 mins. The tea shop was @ 4300 mts. Since I had skipped breakfast, I had a power bar. We could see the town of Muktinath far away and my guide reckoned we had another hour to get there.

It was an easy but painful descent and by the time we entered the town of Muktinath, my toes were hurting a lot. We reached our guesthouse at 11 and had completed the toughest day of the trek under 6 hrs. On the way to our guesthouse, there was a small board hoarding for "Bob Marley Lodge". Didn't expect that name here and every trekker I met had noticed the same board.

In the guesthouse I was really hungry and ordered lunch right away. After lunch and a hot shower the tiredness kicked in and I lay down to sleep. For some reason, I couldn't sleep but I was in bed for almost 2 and half hours. There was cell phone coverage and so spoke with family back home. In the evening, we went to the famous Muktinath temple. It is a Hindu pilgrimage site and a lot of people from India come to visit the temple. About 2 years ago, buses were introduced to get people from Pokhra to Muktinath in 2 days. Before that it was a 10 day trek to get here. The big attraction about the temple is that there is a place in the temple where there is fire from water. For all this, the temple was a disappointment to me. The main temple room was closed and so I couldn't see the idol. The temple had a big campus but it was not well kept. Random stones and trees had a liberal sprinkling of turmeric powder and kum kum. random people with long dirty hair and beard and with (once upon a time) saffron robes would try to give you blessings and ask for money right away. The main attraction of fire over water was in a small room. You had to look down a window which was at floor level. It was very dark the other side of the window and there was a small flame. Nothing else was visible and there was a sound of running water. There was definitely a smell of a gas (much lighter smell than the LPG gas smell). My guide also smelt gas.

We were done with the temple and came back to our lodge. Spoke with family once more and spent the evening writing the travel log. Had an early dinner a 6 pm and went to bed by 9 pm.

Random Facts
I switched to tap water + purification tablets by now.
Muktinath Altitude - 3800 mts.

Annapurna Mini Circuit Trek - Day 10

Day 10 This was the day before the big day when we would cross the pass @ 5400 mts. After the usual breakfast of omlette and hot coffee, started on the trek by 8 am. Getting the morning things done is getting to be more and more painful. To wash hands means making them numb. I can't hold my hands under water for more than 2 sec at a time. Initially when they come in contact with ice cold water, they hurt a lot. After doing the 2 sec dips multiple times, they become numb and instead of prickly pain, there is only a dull continuous pain. Once the hands pass the initiation ritual, it's time to wash the face. I generally try to wake up early so that I can be among the 1st few to use the toilet. That way, it is in a decent condition. Trekkers are not among the most hygienic people and after some time, toilet is the 1st place to bear testimony to that.

Today is supposed to be a 4 and 1/2 hour trek with a continuous climb and an elevation gain of just over 600 mts. We are supposed to be going to high camp which is at an elevation of 4850 mts. By the time we leave Letdar, there is about 2 inches snow accumulation and it is still snowing lightly. I have my gloves, ear muffs and 2 fleece jackets on me.

Initially it feels cold but pretty soon the early morning climb makes the body temperature go up and I remove 1 jacket. Initially it is mostly a gradual climb with some steep inclines in between. It feels great to be walking among the mountains with the surroundings rendered white with fresh snow. The vegetation is now foot high shrubs here and there and pretty soon it disappears altogether. Just before crossing a bridge, we come across a steep descend. It is loose gravel covered with snow that is compacted by fellow trekkers. So it is extremely slippery and I cannot get good footholds. So the inevitable happens and I slip on my bum and slide down a few feet. Luckily I am still on trail and am able to get up and very gingerly descend the remaining 20 ft. or so of the very slick path. Crossing a bridge means two things - the trail descends towards the bridge and there is a steep climb after crossing the bridge. This particular climb after the bridge is particularly steep and at this altitude, pretty much everyone is out of gas by the time they take a rest break at a tea shop. I use the rest break to put moleskin on my toe fingers. As usual, the nail of one of my toe finger has managed to pierce the fleshy part of the adjoining finger. Since the 2 fingers are squished together in my hiking shoes, each step is now painful. The moleskin does the trick and I feel much better. After a few photos, we are on our way again.

On the way we see some blue sheep (they live near mountain tops and have huge horns).

It has stopped snowing now and the trail has gradual inclines. We finally reach Thorong Phedi. This is the last place before high camp. It is at 4450 mts and some people prefer to stay there overnight. We reach there at 10 am fairly out of breath. After a good 15 mins break, we proceed towards high camp. High camp is just over 400 mts above this place. However the trail pretty much goes straight up. Forget about any declines, flat paths or gradual inclines to offer any respite. It doesn't even have many switchbacks to cut down the incline. It is a relentless climb and this is the 1st place that I really struggle. My guide estimates that it would take us about 90 mins to reach high camp. Pretty soon I am counting every minute on this trail. Quite a few people slowly pass me. I take frequent breaks to catch my breath. I try to follow a routine - take a 10 - 20 sec break after every 200 excruciating steps. Many times I cannot make 200 steps before having to pause to catch my breath. This is the part of the trek that makes me wonder why I decided to do this painful activity on my break. However other than fatigue I am not suffering from any altitude related symptoms and I am very grateful for that. Just imagine having a severe headache or nausea or inability to get back your breath even after a rest. Finally after what seems like an eternity, I make it to high camp. It is snowing lightly.

After dumping my things in my room, I rest for a few mins. I look at the watch to see that, in spite of my struggles, i still made it in less than 75 mins. Since there is no shower facility here and I didn't have one yesterday as well, I strip off and clean myself with lansinoh wipes. I then put on 2 expedition weight t shirts, 2 fleece jackets, 1 outer shell jacket, thick thermal pant, hiking pant, ear muffs, woolen cap, gloves, 1 woolen socks pair, 1 thick woolen socks pair and my hiking shoes and go to the common area for lunch. There is no heating in the common area and it is very cold even with so many clothes. It is close to freezing inside. Outside it is very windy and don't have the enthusiasm to measure the outside temperature. After drinking hot garlic soup and eating egg fried rice I feel somewhat better. After a few mins rest, I decide that the best time to take pictures would be now since it would only get darker and cooler from now on. There is a 100 mts climb right outside the lodge to reach the top of a hill that would offer a panoramic 360 degree unobstructed view of the surrounding mountains. So I along with another person make the climb. My guide politely declines our offer to join us and scoots to the relative warmth of the common area.  We take our time to catch our breath after every few steps. However there is no day pack with us and the top of the hill is clearly visible. So after a few mins we reach the top and are greeted with awesome views of the surrounding mountains. The Annapurna range is covered with clouds. Other than that we get clear views of the other mountains.

After a few snaps, we head back down. Then starts a marathon session of cards. My Israeli friends from yesterday have also reached high camp and we play multiple rounds of Yanniv and Shithead with different folks. I teach some people the game of Canasta. Since there is nothing else to do, all we do for close to 7 hours is shiver, play cards, drink something hot and go to pee. Finally at 8 am we call it a day and head back to our beds. The 1st few mins in bed is pure agony as everything is very very cold. It takes about 5 mins to get warm under my sleeping bag. I cannot sleep by zipping up my sleeping bag as I like to flex and spread my legs before falling asleep. Also my sleeping bag has a -20 degrees rating. So if I sleep with all my jackets and all then I start to sweat soon. If I remove my jackets and sleep then whenever I have to get out of the sleeping bag (say to pee), I start shivering right away. So what I normally do is remove 1 jacket and use the sleeping bag as a comforter. If I need more warmth, I cover my head with the sleeping bag. If it gets too hot then I expose my head out of the bag. The only drawback is that I sleep fitfully due to these adjustments. Since it was so cold outside, I was constantly adjusting my sleeping bag and probably caught 4 hrs. of sleep before the alarm went off at 4:30 am.

Random Facts
Cost of boiled water - Rs 100/liter
Altitude - 4450 mts

Annapurna Mini Circuit Trek - Day 9

Day 9
Got up in the morning feeling refreshed and confident to take on the world. Today's climb was a 600 mts gain which is the maximum elevation gain recommended per day. I was a bit anxious about how I would fare today. After the usual breakfast, we started our trek at 8:45am. The HRA guys had mentioned that it would take about 5-6hrs to climb slowly to Letdar. My guide seemed to think it would be a 4 to 4 and 1/2 hrs. trek. It was a steady uphill climb pretty much the entire trek. In between there were patches of steep climb interspersed with flat or downhill trails. It was cloudy all around and at no part of the trek did we get good glimpses of the mountains. It was also very very windy and very cold. There was a very very light snow fall as well (more like rice size snowflakes blowing in the wind occasionally). So for the 1st time during the entire trek, I had gloves and ear muffs on the entire time.

We went steadily with a few breaks here and there. I was very conscious not to go too fast and unnecessarily exert myself. Along the way, we saw some yaks as well. The scenery wasn't much to look at since most of it was covered with clouds. It however lent a dreamlike quality to the trail. The vegetation had changed from pine trees to 3-4 ft. high shrubs.

We reached Letdar in 3 and 1/2 hours. Literally smoked the trail. The last 45 mins was a steep climb and the high altitude meant that I felt every uphill step that I took. That was the only part where I was tired but since the end was in sight, it was ok. Had lunch right after checking in the lodge. No hot water shower here. It is extremely windy here. I am sitting inside wearing my thermals and 2 jackets and I am still cold. Spending the afternoon writing travel log and then reading a book. Don't know anyone else here and will have to make new acquaintances.

There were a bunch of Israeli people in the lodge and when they took out their cards, I joined them. We started with yanniv and i won handsomely. In yanniv, Israelis take a defeat from a non-Israeli very very seriously. next they taught me another card game called "shithead". Whenever there was a penalty to be taken, I got it from all the Israelis. It was fun learning new card games and we played cards till about 8 pm. It wax however extremely cold. We all had multiple jackets, woolen cap and gloves and yet we were shivering. The fire place was going as well but it hardly registered any heat. Also they would use yak shit as fuel and so every now and then it would get smokey as well. Outside, in addition to high winds, it started snowing as well. My room was very basic with just a double bed. There was no electricity in the room and the toilet was outside.

I went to sleep at 8 pm, probably fell asleep at 9 pm and had to wake up at 2am to pee. When I went out, it was still snowing and there was about 1 inch accumulation. I couldn't fall asleep right away but finally fell asleep around 3 am. Woke up at 6:30 am....

Random Facts

Cost of filtered water - Rs 50/liter

No cell phone coverage, no internet, no hot water shower, no electricity in room.

Altitude - 4200 mts.

Annapurna Mini Circuit Trek - Day 8

Day 8
I slept fitfully after sunrise and woke up at 7:15 am. Got some beautiful sunrise pics.

After breakfast of omlette and coffee went on an acclimatization hike to a nearby monastery. It is a steep 400 mts climb and I was able to do it easily within 90 mins. I did not feel AMS symptoms and it felt good to be out in the mountains. It was cloudy today and so no clear view of the range. The monastery has a 96 years old lama who has being staying there for 42 years. He is also the 100 lama since you offer him Rs 100 to get his blessings. He looked extremely fit for a 96 year old and could easily move about on the steep steps. There was another couple at the monastery. They were probably my parents age (or even elder) and had done the same acclimatization trek. After the Annapurna trek they had plans to go to Tibet to do 2 more such treks!! That would be my ideal kind of retirement lifestyle.

After trek, did the chores of washing clothes, hot shower and lunch. I had lajabab kofta curry with rice and it was excellent. After lunch spent some time sitting outside with fellow travelers. Then attended a talk about AMS. My symptoms the previous night were very common and typical and would generally go away with proper acclimatization. Also Diamox could be used to assist with the breathing. However since I have sulfa drug allergy, I cannot use it. So I just have to ascend slowly and keep a watch on the symptoms and descend if they worsen. I will find that out tomorrow. Evening was spent playing Yanniv with my fellow trekkers. Came to my lodge at 7 pm and ordered dinner of yak steak with garlic and ginger. Yak meat extremely chewy and it was a workout eating the steak. Shared the table with the 2 Israeli gals from yesterday. They were keen to play Yanniv and so after dinner it was another Yanniv session. It was fun talking with them. They have mandatory service for 2 (or 3 for boys) yrs. after high school. After that they have to figure out what to do with their life. Most go to university. Before joining university, they have a few months break. Almost everyone travels somewhere outside Israel. Israelis and French are the top 2 tourists in Nepal. From fellow travelers, I got to know that there are a lot of Israeli tourists in southeast Asia, south America, etc. and they have a fairly bad reputation. Some of the boys have a very hard time in the army and so just cut loose after service. Anyway, it was fun listening to the different way of growing up in Israel. They also had a lot of questions about India and were very keen to visit India. Since I hadn't slept much the previous night, I was very sleepy by 9 and retired to bed. Feel asleep by 10 and had a good night sleep. It was extremely cold and I had to get up thrice in the night to pee. Felt very grateful for the attached toilet. Apparently our kidney secrets some chemical to assist with acclimatization. So you have to pee more often at higher altitude. Also drinking 3lit of water every day to prevent dehydration does not help either. Thankfully I felt asleep after every pee break. Over the course of the trek I had started to develop a preference for  squat (Indian) style toilets over commodes. Due to lack of sufficient water (or due to water being extremely cold) and due to the unhygienic habits of fellow travelers, a commode usually has dirty stuff on its seat. One has to clean it before the bum comes in contact with the seat. With Indian style, there are no such issues. Also it gives a good stretch after a hard day of hiking and gets the job done faster J

Annapurna Mini Circuit Trek - Day 7

Day 7 I woke up at 5:25 am to watch sunrise. Since I could see the Annapurna II peak from my window, I saw that the sunrays had not hit the peak as yet. While I was wearing extra socks to step outside, I saw that the sunrays had started to hit the peak. So I got out in a hurry and was able to get some good pics. I then went to the monastery to get even better pics.

After a nice breakfast left the lodge around 8 am. It was a very easy trek, first going to lower pisang and then continuing on to humde. The scenery was fantastic with the Annapurna range on one side, Pisang peak on the other side and Tilicho peak in front. A usual there was a stream flowing mostly parallel to the trail. We reached Humde within 2 hours. I had the nice company of Mike (whom I had chatted with earlier) along the way and didn't realize time go by so quickly. The town reminds one of wild wild west. I was half expecting a cowboy riding on a horse. This town also has an airport. Looking at the town you wouldn't have expected that.

From Humde it was another gentle trek of about 2 hrs. to reach Manang. Comparatively Manang is a big town and almost everyone spends a rest day here to acclimatize to the high altitude. It is about 3600 mts. We reached Manang at noon and after checking in had our lunch. The room here was bigger than my previous rooms and even had an attached toilet. With such luxuries, I felt like a king.

This guesthouse was slightly on the expensive side and hence my fellow travelers had checked into other guesthouses. I had given my IPad for charging and so didn't have anything to do. For some reason Internet connectivity was down in Manang for the last 7 days with no hope of it coming back. ISD facility was also down. I sat in the sun outside the guesthouse. It was very windy and cold and it felt good to soak in the sun. Since I had gotten up early, I slept for about 2 hrs. in the afternoon. Later on in the evening, I bumped into my acquaintances and they invited me to a game of cards. Learnt a new game called Yanniv. It is a very interesting game and we spent a couple of hrs. playing it. I left around 8 pm to order my dinner. After that chatted with a couple of fellow Trekkers in my lodge. One of them was a girl from Israel and she had developed symptoms of ACM (acute mountain sickness) and AMCE (acute mountain cerebral edema). The latter can even be fatal. Thankfully she was trekking with a friend who forced her to descend (in spite of her opposition). They had come back to the lodge and that girl looked so exhausted that she didn't have energy to sit straight. I also spoke to a Korean guy who stays in Squeim, Washington. He is very well travelled and had many interesting things to talk about. I went to my room around 9 pm and read a book before going for sleep around 10:30 pm. However I had trouble breathing. This is one of the early symptoms of AMS I could barely sleep a couple of hours in the night. I could just feel that I was not drawing enough oxygen and hence had to consciously breathe hard. Since I had to consciously breathe, I couldn't fall asleep. Had to get up to pee at 5:45 and hence to got to take some sunrise pics as well....

Random Facts

Cost of pure drinking water - Rs 50/liter.
Altitude – 3600 mts