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| 1, 2, 3, 4... I counted 9,220
stars in the sky this morning. It was 5:22am when I took
this shot. |
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| The clouds were floating gracefully
out from the back of the Machhapuchhre peak in early morning.
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| Annapurna South and Hiunchuli
peaks. |
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| After a steep stone staircase
descent from Chhomrong, we crossed Chhomrong Khola on
a swaying suspension bridge at 1860m. |
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| Lets check the trekdometer
- today we would cover 510m descent and 1140m ascent.
I nearly fainted when I heard my guide say it could easily
take eight hours. |
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| It is 4000 steps of steep descent
followed by ascent from Chhomrong to Sinuwa. I was surprised
I still had the energy to enjoy the view when I arrived
at the first guesthouse of lower Sinuwa. |
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| Weaving basket out of bamboo. |
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| An hour's climb through rhododendron
forests. |
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| The Fish Tail peak, so near and
yet so far. |
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| With three backpacks on his back
and wearing merely a pair of slippers, the porter walked
steadily up a stone-paved trail. I only had 6kgs on my
back, and my body had already complained. |
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| An early sign of reaching the
settlement of Bamboo. |
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| A boy was happily showing off
his cute little goat to me. |
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| Yes, resting time, also our lunch
time. We were surprised to find a Western toilet in this
guesthouse. Bamboo could be the last settlement without
shortage of water supply. |
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| After Bamboo, the trail climbed
steeply through rhododendron forests. The trail was muddy
and slippery. |
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1.5 hours later, sheep greeted
us on our arrival at Doban (or Dovan).
below. Without much rest, we hit the trail again.
A friend of mine called this the natural 'Nepalese architecture';
she actually referred to the bridges. I lost count of
how many of this Nepalese architecture I had stepped on. |
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| Not long, we entered the world
of Lord of the Rings. |
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| Almost dying from climbing thousands
of steep steps, I found a sanctum lying ahead. Finally
we were at the Himalaya Hotel. Debris was left from an
avalanche that killed a Sherpa many years ago, right before
this place. I asked my guide Rishi about avalanche forecast
for our trek tomorrow up to the base camp and he simply
replied, "Don't be foolish!". |
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Only two lodges at this settlement.
Late arrivals may have to settle for camps, which is obviously
not a good choice as the temperature could fall below
zero during night time. Water supply is scant here, this
is also the first settlement where we had to pay for hot
bathing water, it costs 100 NPR per pail.
Tonight, all trekkers stayed through darkness romantically
by lighting up candles. |
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