Justine and Dylan’s Travel Blog

Of course we came to Nepal, like so many others, not just to enjoy the scenery, but to go for a walk. Well, having just finished the Annapurna Circuit, I think we might be walked out for a bit . Don’t get me wrong, it was the best trek I’ve ever done and is deservedly always included in the world’s top 10 walks, but it’s nice to be sitting around for a bit for several reasons…

Firstly, it took us 18 days (which included one rest day), which is simply just a lot of walking, even by our standards . Some probably do it in much less, some trekkers never make it though. The issue is not so much the 234km of walking (according to one guidebook I’ve seen, but who knows really, and that’s with sidetrips not included), but the crossing of the 5416m high Thorong La pass. Our trip included plenty of days to work our way up to this altitude (making the whole crossing perfectly safe) and we had the luxury of superfit porters carrying the bulk of our gear. Nonetheless we were overtaken by plenty of people along the way who a few days later were walking in the other direction (ie down the mountain) because they had pushed themselves too far. They were the lucky (and smart) ones, others less lucky were on mules, too weak to walk, probably on their way to an airport to be flown home. Anyway, most people of course do make it, but overall it’s definitely the most physically demanding (and rewarding) trek we’ve done.

Secondly, I’m not sure where we go from here . The trek itself is just awesome. The scenery is stunning and incredibly varied (going from an altitude of around 1000m to 5400m and back down). The guesthouses were basic to say the least, but most had some sort of shower and all had a bed to sleep on at the end of the day. The guesthouse owners were very friendly and whipped up great meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The weather was overall, just perfect, and as varied as the scenery. Temperatures ranged from humid and 25+ degrees, to crystal clear, dry and -5 degrees, if not less. Admittedly we had rain a few times (although always confined to the afternoons when we had done most if not all of our walking), but the mornings were almost without exception crystal clear and the days sunny. Most importantly, this included the days around and over the pass. One exception though: I will never forget opening the door to our bedroom one morning, expecting another crystal clear morning, only to be greeted by… snowflakes coming down gently right in front of me onto a pack of about 2 inches put down overnight. Of course it made the scenery even more stunning than it already was and it was the only day we had it. I guess that’s mountain weather for you. Melbourne’s supposed to sometimes have 4 seasons in one day, but on this trek I feel like we really had spring, summer, autumn and winter in the space of a few weeks.

Anyway, overall one of the absolute highlights of what has been a spectacular trip so far and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough to anyone interested. For now though, I might head back to the hotel and watch TV for a bit, just because I can . I’m sure it won’t be too long before I wish I was back amongst the Nepalese mountains again though…

Back in Kathmandu now. I say back because, even though there have been no posts yet in Nepal, we have just finished the (18 day) Annapurna Circuit and are now back in Kathmandu for a few days before we head off again! Doesn’t time fly when you… uhm, don’t have access to internet all the time

Seems like a lifetime since we left Japan. Not only because we have been here a few weeks now, but mainly because the contrast in everything is just incredible. I think it’s quite safe to say Japan is one of the wealthiest, efficient, clean and full places I’ve ever been too. Kathmandu on the other hand is well… just full really, and as far as I can tell, probably the poorest I’ve been too. (Then again, I’ve jokingly been told that if Kathmandu feels a little hectic, I should try an Indian city one of these days.) It’s probably just standard South East Asian fare (don’t really know, never having been much further than Singapore and Malaysia), but it takes a little bit to get used to all the touts, daily power cuts, dodgy fake clothes shops and crappy bathrooms. I guess everything is all relative, but unfortunately compared to Japan, it’s all very relative

Get out of Kathmandu though and you soon forget about all these things. The locals are incredibly friendly (although I’m always sceptic of local peoples’ friendliness towards tourists they rely on for an income, it seems quite genuine in the Nepalese countryside),  at every guesthouse they’re able to whip up a feast on something only slightly more advanced than what I’d generally make do with on a camping trip and the scenery is just stunning and incredibly varied. I imagine it’s only a question of time before we find ourselves back here.

On the logistical front, we’ve had to change our plans between here and China a little bit to include a few days stopover in Hong Kong to (hopefully easily) organise a visa for China. I know, I know (”visa, what visa?” were my words just before we set out on the Annapurna Circuit trek…). I basically stuffed up and forgot to organise our China visa’s before we left. Just slipped through with organising moving back to Oz, the wedding and the rest of our 6 month honeymoon. No drama hopefully, but it will be the first test of our usual travel style (being able to travel to a set schedule to maximise what you see along the way, but with little room for error), so see how we go…

Other than that, just a bit of souvenir shopping, catching up on sleep, catching up on news (The Economist interestingly is easier to find here than in central London, every second shop seems to sell it…) and enjoying a few last tasty and cheap meals is all that is left for us to do over the next few days… Hard work, I know