Day 4
I didn't get good sleep last night since the people in adjoining rooms woke up around 3 am and decided to clear their throats and spit out the cough in the adjoining bathroom. There was a lot of noise from 3 - 4:30 am as they got ready to leave. I slept for a while after that and was awakened by my alarm at 6:15. Generally the 1st thing I do is take my camera and capture the early morning scenery around the room. There was a fresh coating of snow on the nearby mountains but the day was clear with blue sky and the sun rays hitting only the top part of the mountains.
After packing and breakfast, we left for Dharapani at 8 am. From now onwards we would not see vehicles on the trail (hurrah!). When I complained about the early morning noise to Raj, he mentioned that the people left early since they were going to Chamye (I was going to reach there the next day). Local people was his explanation for that. It was a gorgeous morning, with a nice breeze and the weather a little cold. After a 5 min walk to cross the river, it was a steep uphill climb for the next hour.
Within a few mins, the heart rate was up and I started sweating. Nothing like a steep climb to drive the cold away. When I told Raj about how beautiful the fresh snow cover looks on the mountain, he laughed and said that it was not a mountain but just a hill that had got some snow. I have been in the Pacific Northwest for 15 years and I know a mountain when I see one. It definitely looked like a mountain to me. Our 1st stop after an hour of steady climbing was at a shack with some chairs. We sat down for 10 mins listening to Bollywood music on my guide's cell phone.
After another 45 mins climb, we reached a place called Tal. We arrived there about 45 mins earlier than Raj's estimate. Here the river broadens out to nearly 1000 ft. Right now there wasn't much water and most of the breadth was exposed pebbles. Raj mentioned that in summer and monsoon the river fills up the full breadth. It must be a great sight. There were many guesthouses with grassy yards and places to sit. We decided to take an early lunch. After ordering, while I was waiting for the food to arrive, it felt great to sit in the yard under the sun and soak in the heat as well as feel the strong cold breeze. We had a long and leisurely lunch break and resumed trekking at 11:30. According to Raj it would take another 3 hrs. to get to Dharapani.
The 1st part of the trek was a gentle climb parallel to the river and then we had to cross the river on a high suspension bridge. The bridges over here are suspension bridges like the capalino bridge in Vancouver. They sway slightly from side to side as you walk on the bridge. The floor of the bridge is made up of many metal plates with about half inch gaps between adjacent plates. The river is about 100-200 ft. below. This particular section had huge boulders and class 5-6 rapids. There were mountains and huge valley on both the sides of the bridge and the wind was so strong that I had to hold on to my cap. This crossing was definitely not for the faint hearted or ones with vertigo. I had no problem looking down and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular views all around.
Nepal government is constructing road to connect Chamye to Manang. It is a very ambitious project and Raj tells me many people have died during the rock blasting that takes place to make a dent in the huge rocks.
No cell phone (NCell) coverage. My guide who has local network (Namaste) had coverage.
Altitude - 2180 mts
I didn't get good sleep last night since the people in adjoining rooms woke up around 3 am and decided to clear their throats and spit out the cough in the adjoining bathroom. There was a lot of noise from 3 - 4:30 am as they got ready to leave. I slept for a while after that and was awakened by my alarm at 6:15. Generally the 1st thing I do is take my camera and capture the early morning scenery around the room. There was a fresh coating of snow on the nearby mountains but the day was clear with blue sky and the sun rays hitting only the top part of the mountains.
After packing and breakfast, we left for Dharapani at 8 am. From now onwards we would not see vehicles on the trail (hurrah!). When I complained about the early morning noise to Raj, he mentioned that the people left early since they were going to Chamye (I was going to reach there the next day). Local people was his explanation for that. It was a gorgeous morning, with a nice breeze and the weather a little cold. After a 5 min walk to cross the river, it was a steep uphill climb for the next hour.
Within a few mins, the heart rate was up and I started sweating. Nothing like a steep climb to drive the cold away. When I told Raj about how beautiful the fresh snow cover looks on the mountain, he laughed and said that it was not a mountain but just a hill that had got some snow. I have been in the Pacific Northwest for 15 years and I know a mountain when I see one. It definitely looked like a mountain to me. Our 1st stop after an hour of steady climbing was at a shack with some chairs. We sat down for 10 mins listening to Bollywood music on my guide's cell phone.
After another 45 mins climb, we reached a place called Tal. We arrived there about 45 mins earlier than Raj's estimate. Here the river broadens out to nearly 1000 ft. Right now there wasn't much water and most of the breadth was exposed pebbles. Raj mentioned that in summer and monsoon the river fills up the full breadth. It must be a great sight. There were many guesthouses with grassy yards and places to sit. We decided to take an early lunch. After ordering, while I was waiting for the food to arrive, it felt great to sit in the yard under the sun and soak in the heat as well as feel the strong cold breeze. We had a long and leisurely lunch break and resumed trekking at 11:30. According to Raj it would take another 3 hrs. to get to Dharapani.
The 1st part of the trek was a gentle climb parallel to the river and then we had to cross the river on a high suspension bridge. The bridges over here are suspension bridges like the capalino bridge in Vancouver. They sway slightly from side to side as you walk on the bridge. The floor of the bridge is made up of many metal plates with about half inch gaps between adjacent plates. The river is about 100-200 ft. below. This particular section had huge boulders and class 5-6 rapids. There were mountains and huge valley on both the sides of the bridge and the wind was so strong that I had to hold on to my cap. This crossing was definitely not for the faint hearted or ones with vertigo. I had no problem looking down and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular views all around.
Nepal government is constructing road to connect Chamye to Manang. It is a very ambitious project and Raj tells me many people have died during the rock blasting that takes place to make a dent in the huge rocks.
The clouds started appearing in the afternoon and it was a
pleasant trek with a gentle uphill and downhill trail. All around us were
mountains with trees and grass at the lower levels and huge rocks at the top.
Every now and then I would see some mountains with snow at the top and ask Raj
what its name was. He would laugh and say that is some hill and not a mountain.
They sure have a different definition of mountain here. Around 1 pm we took a
small 10 min break at Karte.
Dharapani was another hours trek and so we were
doing really good time wise. As we
progressed towards Dharapani, I was making plans of what I would do once we
reached Dharapani since I would have an extra hour or two from what we had
initially anticipated in the morning. I would take a nice hot water bath; maybe
wash clothes since it was sunny outside. Or else I could ditch washing clothes
and just read a nice book lying down or maybe write travel log for the day. I
was considering all these possibilities and around 2 pm we were at Dharapani. I
was tired and my legs were starting to get sore. Mentally I was already
relaxing in the guest lodge. We first crossed lower Dharapani and then crossed
upper Dharapani. Still no sign of checking into a lodge. After we passed
Dharapani, Raj said that since we arrived early, we would walk another 75 mins
and go to a place called Danaqyu. That way we can have a shorter trek tomorrow
and start with a steep hike 1st thing in the morning (always a good thing to
get that out of the way early in the morning). It all made logical sense but my
mind was already with a book in hand after a nice hot shower. I really dragged
my feet for those 75 mins and mentally cursed Raj for the change of plan. The
hike was a gentle steady climb but I was really feeling my legs and wanted it
to end soon. Finally we reached Danaqyu but kept walking past lower Danaque.
After another 5 mins we entered higher Danaqyu and passed it as well. I thought
that Raj had decided to go even further and I was going to put my foot down.
However there is a 3rd section for Danaqyu and right at the end of that
section, there is a guesthouse called Motherland lodge. We checked in there. It
was a newer lodge and my room was bigger and much better than the ones at the
previous lodges. I was dead tired and so hit the hot shower right away. The
water was boiling hot and I had to mix in cold water as well. It was a truly
hot shower and I felt a million times better after the shower and hot coffee.
The clouds were gaining strength and after an hour or so it started to drizzle.
This time I had some company in the lodge - a group of 4 people, 1 American
tagging along with 3 polish people. The American was named Mike. I had a nice
long chat with Mike on a variety of topics - books, religion, philosophy, plans
for the trek, etc. This dude is an English major (undergrad) and teaches
English in Korea. He says the money is unbelievably good. So now he has quit
his job and plans to spend 1.5 months traveling. He had been to India for 15
days seeking spiritual guidance and did not enjoy it. He was sick all the time
but still ate street food every day. He went to Delhi, Agra, Benares, Varanasi
and Calcutta. Didn't like those places. Then he came to Nepal and has been here
for 8 days. Currently doing the Annapurna circuit trek like me. Doesn't know where
he will go after that. It is a different way to travel – one without any
definite plans. I can't ever imagine doing something like that. They wanted to
have dinner at 5:30 and so I came upstairs and read a book. I had my dinner at
6:30. It was very cold by then and I could see the mountain errrr hill on
either side of the lodge get a fresh coating of snow.
The dinner was lovely.
They had prepared chicken curry (fresh chicken since they killed it in front of
us) and I ordered that with dal, rice and potato/cauliflower veggie. I had also
ordered garlic soup and it came nice and hot and yummy. After a filling dinner,
chatted for a few more mins and then went to my room to continue reading. Slept
around 10 pm.
Random Facts
Cost of bottled water - Rs 120. There are drinking water
stations in some towns along the trek. I switched to that + water purification
tablet. Cost - Rs 40/liter.No cell phone (NCell) coverage. My guide who has local network (Namaste) had coverage.
Altitude - 2180 mts
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