#13 nepal

After nearly four weeks of absence from cyberspace, I finally make it to an internet cafe to update my photoblog, sadly on the eve of our departure from Nepal.
The last four weeks have been amazing - and the photos only tell part of the story. From Kathmandu, we began our 3-week Intrepid trek along the 203km Annapurna Circuit in Nepal's scenic western mountain range. There were twelve sprightly trekkers in our hardy band of brothers: 9 Aussies, 2 Irish and 1 Kiwi. We quickly bonded and branded ourselves the Conundrum Crew, so called because of Kris' penchant for posing curly conundrums and hypotheticals. "Would you rather have arms that end at the wrists, or no arms with your hands joined directly to your shoulders?" was one memorable one. Or: "Would you rather have no molars or no front teeth?" And of course, who could forget Kris' re-invention of the female urinating device: The Easy Pee-zy.
So in this way, we huffed and puffed and pondered our way up to our high point of 5416 metres - the famed Thorong La pass between two mountains. It was quite a tough day of trekking: we got up at 3am and continued in the darkness for a few hours until we got to Thorong La shortly after 9am. The pass is known as "the world's biggest pass" - but we think that means it's just the most frequented pass, as it's certainly not the highest mountain pass. It felt really good getting to the top and have other trekkers cheering you on, despite most of us having splitting headaches, dizziness and so on. Then began our 4-hour descent to the picturesque town of Muktinath, where we had to descend a total of 1.6km! (And spare a thought for our poor porters, who did the whole trek with us, each carrying three of our bags from a strap on their heads, with a total weight of up to 40kg). Needless to say there was much drinking and merriment when we got to our guest house that night.
Other highlights on the trip included a stay in the hotspring town of Tatopani where we drank endless bottles of longnecks in large outdoor baths. The, um, suggestively titled Poon Hill was another notch on our belt, as we had to ascend around 2km over two days to get there, but the views were awesome from the top.
Our trip was timely as there is a road being built around most of the Circuit, effectively changing the course of the much-travelled Annapurna Circuit and shortening the duration of the trek by a couple of weeks. Seeing road workers toiling with their bare hands to build the road and move rocks, without the aid of any sort of machinery, was a common sight on our trek. Sadly, one day we walked past a road worker who had just plummeted to his death 100 metres below.
But despite such obvious signs of poverty wherever we went, the kindness and hospitality of the locals was always touching.

Thanks to all involved - we won't forget you:
Ashok "Honey Honey" Phuyal
Arjun "Noddy"
Sir Bijay
Pala "Ladies Man"
"Old Mate" Altar
"Smiley" Dil
"Mo" Ram
"Rockstar" Prem
"Rambo" Meme

Bilal "Chippsy"
Jimmy "Lentil Lover"
Liz "Blister Girl"
Kendra "Miss Piss"
Emma "Kiwi Girl"
"Disco Dean"
Scott "Card Shark"
Grant "Mountain Man"
Olly "Old Fella"
Emma "The Missus"
Kris "Chickboy"
Me "Cake Cutter"