Annapurna Base Camp Trek - Part II

May 2nd 2011 – Pokhara to Tikhedunga

Summary – Altitude gain 500m. A short downhill from Naya Pul to Birethanti. A gradual uphill climb from Birethanti to Tikhedunga.

We had an early breakfast in Lake View Resort and packed our bags and headed out for our trek. We had a 1.5 hours car journey to Naya Pul. It was a Maruti 800 and it handled 6 of us admirably with our bags too in the hilly slopes near Pokhara. We reached Naya Pul not without incidents. Narayan noticed that his bag was missing. It seemed like his bag had dropped off during the car journey somewhere on the road unnoticed. Poor guy not only did he loose all his clothes but also his harmonica and his certificates. We were told by Mahesh that Narayan plays the harmonica very well and we would be missing his performances during the trek. Each of us donated some of our clothes to him so that he was adequately clothed. He took all this in his stride. Though he was definitely feeling bad about his bag, he continued to maintain his cheery countenance.

At Naya Pul, Narayan tied both Zubin's and my sacks together and carried them in typical Sherpa style using his forehead. This seems to be the preferred mode of carrying weights. They must have enormous strength in the their neck muscles. The sacks together must have weighed around 30 kilos and I couldn't help feeling sorry for him.

The path from Naya Pul (1070m) follows the Modi Khola (river). Modi Khola was going to be our companion for most of the trek be we left it after 30 minutes of walk after crossing over a bridge in Birethanti (1025m). We took a left towards Ghorepani from Birethanti. The path was a broad road and we could see construction equipment (heavy earth movers) for widening the road. The climb was gradual at this point and we walked comfortably. The road follows the Bhurungdi Khola river which joins Modi Khola at Birethanti. I was getting used to walking with my day pack. It is an old North Face pack, actually Madhavi's which I have used since Sahyadri days. It is the most comfortable of the small packs I have and hence I chose it for this long trip. I had 2 litres of water, some emergency medicines, flash light, rain poncho, a sweater, a jacket, gloves and an umbrella in my day pack to handle all eventualities.

We passed several villages and had our lunch at Hille (1460m). The menu card indicated that it was prescribed by Annapurna Area Conservation Project (ACAP). ACAP coordinates all the 'tea houses' in the Annapurna area. The tea houses provide simple lodging, a bed with a clean sheet and not-so clean blanket. I used my sleeping bag instead of the blanket. ACAP seems to be doing a good job except for the fact that ALL the tea houses in the entire area have almost the same menu. It felt like stepping into a McDonalds every time for food and this got tiresome after the third meal.

Almost within 30 minutes after lunch we reached our final destination for today, Tikhedungha (1520m). We passed the downtown area and checked ourselves in into Laxmi Guest House. I had a hot shower (yes, that is possible for 100 Nepali Rupees) and started writing my diary in the dining area sitting next to the Bhurungdi Khola. Narayan sat in front of me and was busy keeping notes and accounts and reading. Narayan is fully conversant in English and he can read and write fluently too. I could see a Verditer Flycatcher a few feet away and a Great Barbet screeching.

Thunder clouds rolled in and it started to hail. There were huge hail stones and it hailed for almost 45 minutes. I again started to worry about the weather. The Annapurna area is notorious for its weather due to the dramatic altitude differences. The South Face of Annapurna frequently has bad weather, lot of precipitation and avalanches. Our destination, ABC is in the south side and hence my apprehension...