A travel agent nicely suggested me only three days of walking on the level of Kathmandu and I refused thinking that I had already had a good preparation of climbing to the last floor of the hotel where I stayed, with a luggage and with no elevator. I needed something that would clear my body from polluted cities where I had spent last few weeks. He gave me what I asked for. It was five-day trekking tour in Annapurna valley, from Nyapul to Ghorepani. I got my hipster's backpack ready and hit the road on the very hot day.
Trekking route, that was planned for the first day, takes four or five hours of walking, leading through the villages which come one after another, all the way in the mountains. The road is made of stone stairs almost half of a meter high each. The path was built by locals, with no technology aids. Most of places provide trekkers with accommodation, food and, of course, with WI FI. Smartphones have found their way to the villages just like water in the mountains finds the way through the wholes in the ground. While I was walking, I tried to observe local lifestyle. It seemed like there is no distinction between man's and woman's job: women bring the stone from the river carrying it in the baskets attached to a forehead and some men cooking at the accommodation facilities. That was exactly what I had learned about the division of labor in the village through my university education. The difference between me and locals was that I did the trekking for fun and locals do it for a living: going to school or to work every day to another villages which is sometimes few kilometers far, always with the smile on their faces.
My guide Binod told me that he is from Gorkha village that was trekking route as well but now has been destroyed in the last massive earthquake in 2015. He also said that the hotel which was behind the one I stayed in Kathmandu was destroyed in the earthquake. It is easy for any natural disaster to destroy such a places. Binod started trekking job as a porter which means he was payed to carry luggage for trekkers. The promotion into a guide must be a real relief.
I realized that our conversation was supposed to set my thoughts away from the upcoming suffering. After an hour, I got a little bit tired when uncountable number of stairs appeared in front of me. It was harder than I thought. I needed to take the rest almost after every step so I pretended that I was taking a pictures even though I had made already a lot of photos. I met other trekkers on the way but two letter word "Hi" was all I was able to speak trying to save a breath for climbing. For a moment I thought why did I do that to my self at all. I could have chosen easier route and save myself or I could have just turned back. Binod was supposed to be like my personal trainer, supporting me with all fake expressions that I really hate to hear: "Come on girl", "You can do it", " Just keep going". He didn't say anything, these phrases seem to be only American way of support, not Nepalese. At that moment, the whole thing looked like Syzyf's work with my backpack as a rolling rock. Then, I saw donkeys passing by and, all the sudden, a solution came to my mind. I realized the only way I could get to the top was to do what donkeys do. I needed to stop thinking about the final destination and to go step by step. It worked out and I did get in Ulleri which is on 2010 m above sea level with my heart in one hand and my backpack in the other. It took me seven hours to get there, but who cares!!! I was not in a rush. Of course, Binod chose the very last room at the very last facility in the village. But my nightmaire didn't end with my arrival. There was a big rooster, my worst enemy. Rooster had attacked me when I was little and, since then, I like to see chicken only in the soup or on the menu, as a main corse. Other trekkers gathered around rooster, to make my way, but the poor thing got confused from all that attention. Rooster came my way and I ran into the house of people I didn't know, to take a shelter. Everobody was laughing. I took a swim with sharks and a walk with lions through the jungle, but I've never got along with chicken.
As soon as Binod showed me the room, it started to rain. I just collapsed, already scared from seven hours of walking, scheduled for the following day.
Next morning, fresh air from the mountains woke me up very early. The freshness was so sharp, like a hundred percent pure oxygen, that I could feel it even with the windows closed. I went out on the balcony to watch the sunrise. It was chilly but not cold because there was no wind. I felt the air cleaning my lungs like a chimney sweeper. I couldn't help asking myself what I breath in the city, but I didn't have a lot of time to think about pollution because it was time to hit the road again. This time, the villages didn't come one after another, there was a big green gap of trees between them and only the appearance of stairs meant that some village was close. All the trees hold the ground so strong that even a strongest earthquake can't move it. I could guess the age of trees counting number of roots that is on the surface like I could tell the age of an old person counting wrinkles on the forehead. I found also a fresh water to drink ending up in a beautiful waterfall. Binod had told me it would be some flat terrain, so it was, but three steps of flat was fallowed by three hundred of stairs after. I was less tired this time and I didn't need so many brakes like the first day. I would just stop for a minute and then kept going. I think Binod was the one who needed a brake more than I did. But still I could see the shape of my heart on my shirt. I used the same technique of less thinking and keeping going further.
After four hours I was in Ghorepani, on 2870 meters above sea level. It didn't look so bed, especially when I looked down and saw the entire Annapurna valley. The sound of OM was echoing around moving all my chakras at the right place. I could see mountains covered in layers of green until the last peeks which are covered by snow, like an outlaws, doomed to freeze forever, with the most wanted one somewhere on the distance-Mont Everest. These peeks were a shape of my cardiogram image. I just came to the destination and it started to rain. Two times in a row, it could be just a coincidence.
The third day was supposed to be already a kind of ascending but my life would be so easy if it was that simple. As soon as I saw hundreds of stairs in front of, my heart started beating faster, but I calmed down. I was really motivated to finish the stairs and started climbing like there was a magic bean on the top. And it was a kind of magic up there, I got a feeling that clouds are greeting and winking there eyes at me. It must be the altitude... Sometimes, mountain goats would accompany me not having a problem with a steep terrain. I wish I had such adjustable legs. I took a look once more at Nepal under my feet, rolled up my sleeves and started doing my job that was planned for the day. And I did it, in a five hours leaving some time for Binod to rest. He really looked exhausted. As soon as I arrived it started to rain. It couldn't be a coincidence. Did I bring the rain with me? Even if it was not a perfect condition for trekking I thought that plants didn't mind for some splash.
Tadapani, 2660 meters above sea level, is a place of only few facilities to accommodate trekkers and it looked really busy. There was an older lady as a big boss and a whole family working for her. The rain started and I took a rest.
The forth day of my trekking tour was not supposed to be that last, but it was. It was scheduled as a short walk to Gandrukh where I was supposed to overnight but I was in a such a speed that I just couldn't stop walking. I saw a trekking tour that leads to Annapurna base camp and the altitude more then 4000 meters above sea level, which is not a joke, at all. I wasn't still ready for that. It is a snow there and I didn't have an equipment. Nyapul was only three hours far and I didn't need a brake at all. Binod was behind me, sweeting and taking a brake every once in a while. He was exhausted. I came in front of the hotel when the rain started.
This is how I turned five day trekking into a four day trekking tour. I feel great and I will do this again, but next time it will be a base camp. It is really a pity to be in Nepal and not to try trekking, however hard it looks. It is an amazing concept of spending the time in the nature. After all, handeling the stairs was much easier than handeling my ex boss.
My childhood friend Anna is getting married soon, and she will ask me if Nepal is a perfect destination for a honeymoon. She can make up her mind after she reads my blog but one thing is for sure: I'll be in an excellent shape if I make it to her wedding!!!
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