Nepal Trekking - The Downhill Part

First things first:  I did it!  Trekked the Annapurna Vista Trail for five days, four nights up and down thousands of stone stairs and completed the loop with the help of only (in addition to my guide Ram and porter Subash) Advil and arnica.  Not even a beer!  It is not recommended to drink alcohol at high altitudes and, due to the fact the full and empty bottles have to go up and down by person or mule, it is fairly expensive.  No wonder!  I can only say wonderful things about the trek.  What an amazing place and over so quickly.  After a night in Pokhara and a delicious pizza from . . . Godfather's Pizza (it was really good!), I'm off in the morning by bus to Chitwan Park.

Okay, it is 11:40 and we’ve been on this bus since 7:00 a.m.  The bus was supposed to leave at 7:30 but pulled out at 7:00.  Too bad if you were late.  We are now in our third traffic jam of the day.  The first was due to an incredibly long que for gas that blocked our lane so we couldn’t get through.  The second was due to construction and many enterprising locals set up shop by the buses to try to make a few rupees.  Now . . . well I have no idea, but people have gotten off the buses and cars and trucks and are standing or sitting around talking and ducking behind bushes to pee.  Traffic is stopped in both directions as far as you can see.  This is part of Nepal.  The roads are horrendous and traffic is insane.  There are many, many colorful trucks from India with deities painted all over and good luck charms and flowers hanging inside, but not enough of them carry gasoline it seems.  No one seems worried or upset so I go with the flow.  The rhinos, monkeys and (hopefully) tigers in Chitwan will wait.
I have more photos but I'm going with this before the WiFi cuts out or the electricity dies.  More from Chitwan - Rhinos!

Trekking to Ghandruk

I will keep the words short.  Suffice to say four nights/five days over 3,000 stairs in one day, an elevation gain from approximately 3,000 feet to over 9,000 feet at the summit and then back down, but it has been awesome.  (There's really no other word in this case.). The mountains are spectacular, the people and small villages beautiful, the rhododendron forests are unbelievable (trees the size of bay trees). We have stayed in lodges and teahouses along the way - all different and all really nice.  I could write a lot about this adventure, but with intermittent WiFi, I'm probably already pressing my luck.  My bad knee is the size of a grapefruit and not happy, but I'm hoping to limp down the mountain tomorrow.  The downhill is the worst, but  I have the option of a bus after a couple hours if I can't do it.  Anyway, here are some photos.

Day One: Nayapul to Ulleri

 

The First of Many Bridges

The Beginning of the Ulleri Stairs



Morning in Ulleri (Two Photos Above)

Guide Nir and My Two Friends from Singapore
They went on from Tadapani to Annapurna Base Camp

 

Arriving in Ghorepani

Rescue Helicopter and Prayer Flags

Had Lunch Here

Sunrise in Tadapani - Annapurna South on Left and Fishtail on Right

My Guide, Ram, and Porter, Subash

Ghandruk (and day 4)

 

Nepal So Far

From my arrival in Kathmandu until my recent arrival in Pokhara, it has been a really interesting journey.  That's putting it mildly!  The people of this country are fantastic - friendly, kind and always smiling - an it seems genuine!  With my guide, Raju, I have eaten momos (dumplings to die for), seen the devastation that took place in last year's earthquake, visited Stupas and temples both Hindu and Buddhist, and went to a crematorium (the most sacred one in Kathmandu) where I saw a body prepared and burned.  That was all on my first day!
Today I traveled by bus with Ram, my trekking guide, to Pokhara.  What should have been an uneventful trip of 6 hours ended abruptly due to . . . we don't know!  But there were buses and trucks - hundreds of them - just stopped and waiting.  After more than a half hour, we just bailed and took a taxi that drove us "the back way" up mountains on rock covered dirt roads, but we made it to Pokhara.  Tomorrow we begin our trekking journey and, while we're promised good WiFi, I don't believe it for a second.  This is the ONLY good WiFi I've experienced and it's in a restaurant (that has good curry).  The fourth rolling blackout since my arrival just ended.  The lights are on - YAY!
What a place!

First View of the Himalayas

Woman With Offerings and Monkey

This Speaks for Itself

A Flag Salesman in Durbar Square

Girls Getting Married to Fruit - Really!

Offerings for Wishes Granted

At The Monkey Temple

Bodhnath Temple

 With lack of WiFi and electricity, blogs may be intermittent and incomplete.  I'll catch up later!

Capitol Reef National Park

Today I spent the day exploring Capitol Reef.  Granted, it's an odd name for a national park and is so-named for the obvious reasons (there's a formation that looks like the capitol and some other formations resemble a reef).  The park itself was impressive and different than any of the other parks I've visited, and it was a great day filled with fun hikes; first to Cassidy Arch (named after Butch Cassidy who hung out around here when he was hiding out) and the second to the Grand Wash, a slot canyon with narrows.  The day was finished off by an encounter with some bighorn sheep and a visit to some petroglyphs.  Wow!  Photos below.

Sunrise from My Hotel Room

Chimney Rock

 

The Castle

 

1.5 Miles Up, 1.5 Miles Down and 1,000 Ft. Gain in Elevation,
parts of it over slick rock - Hard!

View Along the Hike

View Along the Hike

Cassidy Arch - That's Me on the Arch!  Yay!

 

This Photo and the One Below are from Grand Wash

Big Horn Sheep!

Petroglyphs - Native Origin Unknown

Sandpipes and Scenic Highways

Kodachrome Basin State Park was so named by National Geographic photographers in 1949, around the same time as the film was first used.  The sedimentary spires (sandpipes) exist only in this small area and no one is sure of their origin and they are different than the hoodoos in Bryce in their creation.  Theories are that they were geysers that were filled in with sandstone or that they were caused by tectonic activity, but no one is sure.  The other amazing thing is that there was no one else in the park!  Unbelievable! 
The drive from there to Capitol Reef was beautiful and changed constantly, from expansive views of rock formations to forests of pine trees and birch trees changing color.  The summit was a head-spinning 9,600 feet. 





I Don't Know What This Is??

Petroglyphs in the Park

A Slot Canyon Near Boulder (Utah)