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| This shot was actually taken
at 8pm the night before. Rather than counting the stars,
I experimented with a swirling star effect using my camera.
Pretty cool huh? |
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| The petals are like yellow strips
of paper. |
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| Tiny flowers like pitcher plant
dotted the trail. |
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| The giant Hinko Cave, while providing
protection against avalanches, could also cause harm.
A French couple couldn't escape the bad vibe here. The
husband fell from the rocky steps while snapping photos
and suffered a severely broken arm and nose. This fall
not only cost him his ascend to the base camp, but also
brought a disaster to his wife. Not wanting to waste the
last miles, his wife ascended to Annapurna Base Camp alone
the next morning in a rush, leaving her hubby behind.
The steep ascend at high altitude 'blinded' her eyes,
and she had to be guided down with the help of her guide
on the very same day. |
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| Look closely for the water stream
on the right, it's water from the sky. |
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| Another 'Nepalese architecture'.
Quite freaky to snap a shot like this, the fast moving
water brings illusion of losing balance on top of the
bridge. |
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| Getting close to snowcapped mountains. |
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| No point rushing it, pause and
enjoy the scenic view while the mountain is still visible.
Usually the clouds only make way for a clear blue sky
in the morning. |
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| Looking back, I had passed through
a deep ravine. |
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| The last miles, before
we reached the gate to the sanctuary - the Machhapuchhre
Base Camp. |
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| The sun was killing me softly…
I was out of breath many times due to the thin air. My
ascend was getting slower and slower with increased elevation.
At times I didn't even take out my camera in order to
conserve energy. |
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| At noon, we finally pushed our
way through a steep 860m ascent in 4.5 hours. We were
at Machhapuchhre Base Camp. Supposed to have stupendous
view of the Annapurna range, but misty clouds took over
the entire upper mountain. |
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| The stone-paved staircases are
so loosely attached to the ground that they might cause
you to trip if not careful. |
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| The best pizza (and fried rice
too) we had in our entire trek. The fine dining in town
couldn't even beat this. How I wish I could be back here
easily to dine. |
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| Killing time on a card table.
Second left is our guide Rishi, the guy in red shirt is
our porter Lawati. Unlike Rishi, Lawati couldn't speak
English well, so he is quiet and shy in nature. His modest
smile was the only way of communication with us. |
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| Flocks of sheep jumped right
in front of me while I was taking picture of the misty
scenery. |
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| Obviously I was being a bad boy
blocking its way, or perhaps it had mistaken me with its
shepherd, "Hmm… my shepherd carries a stick,
not a bulky camera, move away!" |
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| Three friendly Australians we
met often raced with us on the trek. We took turns to
reach the destination first everyday. We were also the
lucky ones as we reached the lodges way earlier than others
and the best rooms were there always for us to choose
(e.g. distance from the toilet and kitchen, or getting
extra bed to rest our backpacks and stuff). Picture shows
two of the Australians chilling out in the beauty of Mother
Nature. |
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| The "Fish Tail" Machhapuchhre
(6997m) gracefully revealed itself in the evening before
the sunset. All of us rushed out from the kitchen to be
the witness of this not-to-be-missed moment. The mountain
was so close to us, we could perhaps even spot an expedition
climber if there was one. Nepal's government prohibits
any climbing on Machhapuchhre, so technically speaking
it is the only mountain that remains unclimbed for the
past five decades. |
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| Tonight, I slept with four layers
of clothing, a sleeping bag, a hot water bag, and a liner
from our guide. Staring at the snowcapped peak was enough
to make me shiver. |
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