Dhampus Sunrise and Pokharas Devis Falls – End of the Trek!

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Day 48 – Location: Dhampus; Annapurna Base Camp Trek, Nepal.

17/10/12

At 5:30am I crawled out of bed and went up to the grassy knoll. There were only 4 other tourists up here and thankfully they were quiet. The sunrise was very nice and the big mountains were fully visible, having been covered in cloud the previous day. The valley was layered as the sun peeked over the hills.

I made a mistake with my camera on this morning - when I change mode it remembers the ISO when I last used it, so even with the tripod I was accidently using ISO 800, hence the first batch of grainy images. Oops.

I made a mistake with my camera on this morning – when I change mode it remembers the ISO when I last used it, so even with the tripod I was accidently using ISO 800, hence the first batch of grainy images. Oops.

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A “Tommy” (dog) was lying down enjoying the views as well. It was very peaceful and there were no annoying Chinese tourists shouting! You could hear locals playing instruments for their morning worship down in the village below, and of course the horrible hawking of the people waking up and phleming for the morning.

Need to fix the sensor spots on this - a curse which I've had to do a lot of editing about. I eventually got the sensor cleaned weeks later, not an easy task in anti-tech Nepal!

Need to fix the sensor spots on this – a curse which I’ve had to do a lot of editing about. I eventually got the sensor cleaned weeks later, not an easy task in anti-tech Nepal!

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We could hear drumming and singing coming from these houses. Note the huge light rays as the sun cuts over the valleytop.

We could hear drumming and singing coming from these houses. Note the huge light rays as the sun cuts over the valleytop.

After the sun was up I walked around the village taking photos, and after breakfast bid Kumar farewell and we set off down the hill into the Pokhara valley, along steps and through rice and millet fields. The last section was steep and hot and we passed struggling tourists on the way up. I thought if they’re struggling on this beginning section they’re going to have real problems in a day or two.

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After an hour or so we reached the main road at the valley floor. We hardly had to wait for a local bus to appear, and we hopped on. Along the road we passed massive herds of goats, some being moved along the road. They would soon be the unfortunate victims of the Daisin festival which was now in full swing across Nepal. At this time, every Hindu family that can afford it will buy a goat or sheep and sacrifice it. These goat herds get brought down from the mountains, sometimes taking weeks of travel, to be sold for the festival. A goat can cost as much as 60,000 Rupees (600 pounds), a very big chunk of money by Nepali standards. Shiba was bemoaning the cost he’d be paying for Daisin, having to buy a goat and then weeks of partying. It’s a bit like Christmas for us, but more expensive!

Two women with massive bundles of grass piled onto the bus and it soon filled to the brim with people. After an hour or two we reached Pokhara, and walked to Lakeside, arriving around 10am. After finding a quiet hotel, I gave Shiba and Krishna a tip I thanked them for their hard work and bid them goodbye. I’d heard from Anja, the Swiss girl I’d met in Kathmandu at the same time I’d met Rose. She was on holiday in Pokhara and we arranged to meet at Devis Falls, a few km from Lakeside.

I enjoyed a nice hot shower and took all my clothes except the ones on my  back to a laundry service, catching a taxi at 11am to the falls. It was still within Pokhara town and the entrance was lined with souvenir shops. There wasn’t anything to see in the ugly walled grounds so I went to the falls. The river had hollowed out a path through the rock and then plunged into a deep hole in an impressive torrent.

It's named Devis Falls after an unfortunate woman who got swept away into the depth and died! Apparently its a popular suicide spot in the area too. I suppose it's pretty fun until the end...

It’s named Devis Falls after an unfortunate woman who got swept away into the depth and died! Apparently its a popular suicide spot in the area too. I suppose it’s pretty fun until the end…

It was nice but after a few minutes it was done and I wandered around trying to find Anja, who spotted me outside the entrance. She was accompanied with two other Swiss-German guys like Anja in their early 20s; Nick, a bearded chap in his early 20s, and Balthi (prounced like the curry), a short guy with curly hair. They were travelling around for a while and had met Anja though a friend in Switzerland. They’d already been to visit her and her host family in the town of Besishar, where Anja was volunteering in a school.

Solar-powered spinning prayer wheel, a taxi driver favourite!

Solar-powered spinning prayer wheel, a taxi driver favourite!

After chatting we took a taxi back to Lakeside and randomly ran into Rose, who I hadn’t seen since the hot springs. She joined us for lunch. It turned out she’d had a few awkard last days with her guide on the trek, who had started acting very strangely, hardly talking to her and being rude. She didn’t know what she’d done to annoy him but it had soured the end of her trip. One of the problems of solo trekking. After lunch Rose left us and we browsed some shops. It was very hot and I didn’t have the energy for any activities after the early start and so I just hung out with the others at their hotel for the rest of the day. In the evening we went for a super cheap and tasty meal at a place called Laughing Buddah, which did amazing vegetable chilli. The guys taught us a simple gambling game using 6 dice which was pretty good. I had an early night, looking forward to some much needed rest after the trekking!

Tolka to Dhampus

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Day 47 – Location: Tolka, Annapurna Base Camp Trek; Nepal

16/10/12

We started late from Tolka, knowing we didn’t have too far to go to reach Dhampus, and worked our way uphill back into the forest, another hot day but there was a welcome breeze. The trail was busy today. At one rest stop the guys chatted to a porter who for some reason was completely soaked.

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Tolka farmhouses, the Annapurnas hidden by cloud in the distance

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There were a lot of cicadas in the forest and I managed to spot one on a tree. It was about half the size of the monstrosity we’d seen in Thailand.

Hard buggers to spot!

Hard buggers to spot!

We took a break at a touristy village with lots of handicraft stalls. A big cannabis plant was growing next to our restaurant.

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In one section of forest, the sky was full of swallows swooping around, eating the many beetles which infested this area, like the ones we’d seen a few days ago in their mating frenzy. The ground was littered with them.

The ground was dotted with these dying critters

The ground was dotted with these dying critters

We reached the valley ridge and in the forest found some older local men sat around chatting. One guy was breaking mushrooms apart which he’d picked in the forest and agreed to a photo. Shiba said that it’s very hard to tell the poisonous mushrooms from the safe ones, they look the same and the bad ones even grow in the same spots that safe ones have previously been found. Only he experienced locals can safely find the good ones.

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After lunch in another touristy village we started down the other side of the valley through some nice open woods with a grassy floor scattered with flowers. Shiba asked me how I felt and I said physically fine but mentally tired, for some reason. He felt the same. It’s a bit strange as you get a lot of time to think but don’t need to tax your brain when walking at all, so really the brain should be alert.

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We came out of the forest and passed lots of millet fields and people collecting rice. We passed some very muddy buffalo that must have been having a good wallow. The path soon widened into a rocky dirt road. Back into civilization!

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We entered a village and outside a building a woman was weaving a scarf on a big cotton machine, similar to the ones I’d seen in museums in England. A young guy outside started chatting to me, saying I could watch and chat, no need to pay money. We chatted for a bit and he seemed very friendly, I learned about his cloth business. Of course then he invited me to look inside his shop and tried to persuade me to buy something, having already sweet talked me and presumably trying to guilt trip me into a purchase after his kind words. I explained my policy on souvenirs and made an exit. I thought it was a bit sly of him to act so friendly and say he wasn’t interested in money to begin with, only to try and get a sale afterwards. Still, his local business was a nice idea, giving local ladies work and being able to see them outside the shop.

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We passed a few jeeps and entered the village of Dhampus. It was a quiet place and we stopped at a hotel in the middle, a modern building with real walls in the bedrooms! This building stood in contrast to the surroundings though, nice little long stone buildings connected by narrow stone paths.

Shiba took me up a grassy knoll where there was a nice view down into the Pokhara valley past some little shrines. A river stretched into the distance and the hills were layered. Down in the valley was a small town.

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I took my camera for a walk around the village. It was really nice exploring and I seemed to be the only tourist in town. A little boy asked for chocolate and when I said no, he said “photo”. This I could do, so I took some pics for him which he was really eager to see. His father looked on from a porch in bemusement.

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The narrow paths wound around stone walls and people went about their daily life as hens fluttered out of the way. Old men watched from the shade of their porches. I saw one building with clumps of dung in rows outside. They use this to smear over the floors of their porches – I don’t know why.  The final result is a light brown and dusty finish.

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I passed a public water tap where a guy was shaving and he spoke to me in English, we chatted for a bit. He was a farmer. On the edge of Dhampus I found a little temple with a pool in front, where the houses gave way to millet fields. Down a side path I terrified a cow shacked up in a shed, who strained to get away from its tether, clearly not used to seeing white people around its house!

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Millet fields

Back in the village I passed another guy who chatted to me. He had a shaved head with bandages wrapped around the lower part. It transpired that he had come from Pokhara to be with his family, only a few days ago his grandfather had died in the village, so as the eldest grandson he was in charge. His father had died only three months ago so this was a double whammy of tragedy. Now the family would have five days of mourning. The sons and grandsons customarily shave their heads when an elder dies. It also turned out his brother worked at the hotel I was staying at. We chatted for a while; he was a very friendly guy. I gave him my condolences and went back to the hotel, where the man’s brother was playing the guitar.This chap was in his early 20s and called Kumar, and spoke really good English. He took me on another tour of the village, including a little restaurant he opens on festivals, when they get lots of locals visiting.

Typical Nepali toilet in the villages

Typical Nepali toilet in the villages

Kumar and his restaurant

Kumar and his restaurant

 

We arrived at the grassy knoll I’d climbed earlier, and a guy came up and started speaking to me, initially seeming genuinely interested until he produced a backpack of handicrafts to sell! We said we weren’t interested and ignored him as he persisted. We watched the sun setting from the hill, very peaceful and with no tourists spoiling the atmosphere. As dusk came I went for another walk to scope out good locations for photography for the sunrise the next day. Unfortunately it was in vain as where-ever a good shot would have been, there were always cables in the way.

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Dhampus village, from the hillock

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Thanks to a power cut we had dinner by candlelight as Kumar played us songs on his guitar. He’s a big Red Hot Chili Peppers fan and even saw them when they came to Nepal. We chatted through the evening and him and the family working there took a lot of pleasure in seeing my trekking photos on the computer.

Krishna gets stuck into his dahl baht the traditional way, with his hands. Messy!

Krishna gets stuck into his dahl baht the traditional way, with his hands. Delightful!

I learned Kumar’s father had died of an unknown illness, he had a problem with his arm and just got weaker and sicker. I guess they couldn’t afford medical care, like many people in Nepal. It really makes you appreciate the NHS and western medical services, where at least you can be medically insured. Here if you get ill it can be a death sentence. Kumar’s brother appeared later in the evening and was very happy to see me. He said “You are my very best friend ok?” and left saying “Goodbye, I love you”! I suspect it was a bit of a mistranslation! We called it a night for an early start in the morning.

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Jhinu to Tolka

Day 46 – Location: Nepal, Annapurna Base Camp Trek, Jhinu

15/10/12

After a bad night’s sleep (this time people were talking loudly through the paper-thin walls), we set off after a leisurely breakfast, leaving Jhinu and passing up and down through the forest, skirting along the valley. There were lots of trekking groups on this route and after I got into rhythm with my iPod I stormed along at a rapid pace overtaking lots of people. We leapfrogged the British girls a few times. Mid-morning we reached another Deurali (the third village with that name that we’d encountered!). At one rest stop was a baby basket hanging from beams. From time to time its father swung it strongly rocking it rapidly side to side. It wouldn’t pass any health and safety laws but I saw this setup a few more times on this day.

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Down at another village, “New Bridge”, a big metal suspension bridge crossed the rushing river we’d seen at the hot springs. A troupe of long tailed macaque monkeys scrambled across the girders as we approached and ran off into the jungle. We began a long climb in the sun up steep steps, passing very thin terraced rice fields. On rocks sticking out of the fields people perched. Shiba told me they were on guard against the monkeys.

People sit on the boulders looking out for naughty naughty monkeys

People sit on the boulders looking out for naughty naughty monkeys

You could see patches of fields where the monkeys had wrecked everything, breaking the plants. Half-way up we stopped for a rest and my companions chatted to a boy on guard. His days were spent perched under a tiny shelter watching the fields for the naughty simians. It must be mind numbing!

The poor chap destined to watch monkeys all day long

The poor chap destined to watch monkeys all day long

This flight of steps was a real killer. Can't they put a  granny stairlift here?

This flight of steps was a real killer. Can’t they put a granny stairlift here?

Further up we passed an old farmer ploughing with two buffalo. You could see he’d done a lot of fields already that day, and his buffalo seemed tired and un-responsive, loads of flies were clustered around their eyes. All the way up the steps, flutters of movement burst from the path and the fields as grasshoppers jumped out of our way. Some of them had blue wings which were only revealed when they flew.

Now that's some hard work

Now that’s some hard work

The farmer has done a pretty good job, a lot still to do though!

The farmer has done a pretty good job, a lot still to do though!

We reached the start of the sprawling village of Ghandruk, the biggest settlement in the area. It stretched for about half an hour’s walk with scattered clusters of buildings.

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Common carry sack for the locals, a criss cross of cloth acting like a rucksack

Common carry sack for the locals, a criss cross of cloth acting like a rucksack

We stopped for a break at a rest stop where the owner, an old woman had bees living in her house – they swarmed out of the door right next to her kitchen. I asked Shiba if she minded and he said they don’t bother her!

Bees in their little log hive

Bees in their little log hive

Drying millet

Drying millet

The terrain here was open and we were quite high, offering views down the valley full of terrace farming and forests. We passed a stream by a small building with water blasting from its bottom back into the stream. Inside was a spinning grinding wheel powered by a water wheel, which was being fed millet from a funnel above. The room was filled with millet dust. As we exited a family thrust themselves upon us, wanting a tip for seeing their mill, a little girl was holding a tray with flowers and money. I gave them 5 rupees thinking it was a bit cheeky of them. This pattern repeated further along the path, with kids holding trays of flowers trying to give them to you for money, or clapping songs and expecting money as you passed them. You could tell we were nearly back to “civilisation” with the kids plying gullible tourists for money.

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We went over a very dodgy bridge where a man with one leg was begging with a sign. Shiba said he had been a porter and had lost the leg to frostbite.

Looks legit

Looks legit

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Further along we passed a woman outside her house who was making cotton clothing with a device in her lap. It looked quite intricate.

Weaving cotton

Weaving cotton

Tommy vs Buffalo. Who will win?

Tommy vs Buffalo. Who will win?

We passed terrace fields where people were collecting rice which had been laid out to dry, collecting it into piles and stacking it into a round tower. Shiba said it would sit there to dry further.

Collecting the rice harvest

Collecting the rice harvest

The rice gets stacked into these circular columns for drying

The rice gets stacked into these circular columns for drying

We soon arrived at Tolka, another large village, and finished at a nice lodge with a great view out over the valley. It was only 3:30pm so we had lots of time to relax, and the day had been quite leisurely, with the guys chatting a lot to the locals along the way.I munched on popcorn and sat in the garden area, watching a lady filter through a big pile of rice on a mat. She put smaller piles of it onto a round tray, held it high diagonally and poured the rice back to the pile. As it fell the wind blew the empty husks to the side and the good rice fell back to the mat.

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As the sun got lower some very nice sun rays peeked out through the clouds. I’ve never been anywhere that you get so many great sunrays, almost every day. As I chatted to some Germans, I tried some Mustang coffee, which is coffee mixed with the local homebrew, rakshi. It smelled and looked like gravy. Unsurprisingly, it tasted awful – although separately I like the ingredients!

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When the dark came I had a nice hot shower, which actually worked (still cost 100 rupees though), and went into the restaurant which was pumping out modern tunes from big speakers. It was quite bizarre up in the mountains. After some photo work my back was killing me so I retreated to bed and read.

The most ruffled chicken I ever saw in my life. Bwark!

The most ruffled chicken I ever saw in my life. Bwark!

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