Cabin Fever Chronicles – Getting Outdoors with Rod

After breakfast at the Kathmandu Shangri La Hotel, we took an early flight to Pokhara, the beginning and ending city of our trek. Our 30-minute flights on Yeti Airlines were on a smallish, twin-engine turbo prop. As we rose above the pollution in the Kathmandu valley, the Himalayan giants dominated everything! And while our flights were uneventful, Don and I noticed rivets missing on the right engine cowling, and one more twirling itself out of its hole. Some prayers were offered about the outcome…

This was our plane

And looking at the engine cowling, I hoped we’d avoid this situation

1 + 2 cabin style

Emerging from the plane in Pokhara all one needs to do is look up. My favorite mountain, Machapuchahre, or Fish Tail, at just under 23,000 ft, dominates the view! This mountain would be prominent during the next two weeks. We would do base camp right underneath.

Machupachare is like the Matterhorn on steroids!

Marigolds are revered everywhere!

Once aboard our transfer vehicle, it was maybe a 90 minute ride to our trailhead. Along the way, we passed by Nepalese settlements and through a town where we briefly tried to exchange currency.

Our Annapurna Sanctuary Trek officially began at the trailhead at Nayapul. This spot was a Grand Central Station of sorts, all sorts of 4 x 4 vehicles and taxis dropping off and picking up trekkers! We’d walk a couple of hours to a tea house lunch and then end the day at Tirkhedunga, at 5,067 feet.

We had several novice trekkers on this trip, and a few novice campers as well! And so it was that guests like Tara were introduced to the luxuries of “glamping,” and also Annette and Amee as well.

We slung our day packs over our backs, donned our walking sticks and set off. It was a sunny day, with this first walk mostly on a road, and part on a trail. The sun was hot. I relished the shade. We passed through our first series of Nepalese Himalayan hamlets with their tea houses and restaurants.

As the trail wended up into the hills, the road ended. And just when we began to need a relief (and to relieve ourselves) it was time to stop and lunch! It was time for some of our newly minted trekkers to have their experience of glamping on the trail!

Here’s to a great trek!

Mingma serving a course to Madeleine and Kevin

I had this experience before, so I knew what to expect. But Tara had no idea how sumptuous just something like lunch on the trail can be! We sat down and the table service began. First beverages, then soup, then a main meal (which might be a few courses) and then dessert! Oh yes. This is lunch on the trail! So Tara exclaimed over and over THANK YOU! It’s hard to get used to this level of service. But let it happen!

And there was dancing. Local children were practicing local dances and some of us, so (Tara and Cathy Ann) tried their part! Super cute. OK, then we put our packs back on, and continued our hike. This hike wasn’t that long, though, and we reached our “perch” by late afternoon.

We had a nice level spot for our tents outside a tea house and it was perfect. Since several of our trekkers were “newbies,” (Tara, Annette, Amee and Uli) I offered some suggestions on how to “vent” one’s tent, and arrange their sleeping bags, so they were more comfortable. Take note: Venting, regardless of the temperature, is really important! You don’t want condensation building up inside the tent. And, it’s important to resist the temptation to go to sleep inside your sleeping bag with too much insulation. I mean don’t get into that bag with a down jacket and down pants. If you do, the bag cannot do its job. The jacket will “insulate” the bag from being able to “activate” its down to warm you. Instead, go to bed with less insulation. My advice was proven over and over on the trek. Oddly less is more inside your sleeping bag!