NAMASTE NEPAL - PART 2

Now, this is a 5-day trek to reach 3900 meters; this is crossing

mountain upon mountain with a guide. Obviously during my research I

wanted to know what kind of animals and insects we would encounter on these road-less routes, and you can only get out of there via helicopter in case of an emergency trek. This is where villagers would take their elderly in baskets, hauling them to their village.

The only thing that got my icky cringe factor going was the fact that there were ticks.  They're as small as ants, but with 2 sharp clampers; and if you know ticks, they like warm places to sink their teeth into, so they grab hold of your skin and don't let go.  Yiiiik!

Once we started the journey in the mountainous forest, up and down rocks and boulders, we found out that in fact this was not the case.

What were really out there waiting for our innocent boots to pass by were the bloodsucking leeches! How did I discover all that you might ask? Well at first I felt there was something pricking my calf muscle; however I didn’t check until we reached a resting spot.  I lift up my pant leg to scratch the annoying itch and discovered that one had slithered up the inside of my pant leg and started to lunch on my calf!  It was growing in size right in front of my eyes from all my precious blood…  All I remember was running around in place screaming “GET IT OFF ME – GET IT OFF ME!!!”

Thunder and lightening accompanied our nights, and if it wasn’t for my iPod and some relaxing classical music I don’t think I could’ve slept with the winds howling and rain pelting on the tin roofs.  The food was delicious.  At first, I couldn’t even finish my plate, but after a 10 hour of daily trekking and reaching heights I would have never imagined, I would go back to the kitchen holding out my plate.  More please…

Crossing long unsteady rope bridges and passing one mountain to get to the other, we encountered a Nepali funeral.  All I could see at first was a long white floating sheet, moving in a zigzag motion and descending the mountain to get to the river.  You could hear their chanting and the clang of the bell at the end of each chant. We stopped and regarded the religious rite of how they said goodbye to a loved one.

It was incredible meeting new people on our journey: couples, groups and families from every corner of the world, which was a great way to make friends and connect.  If you were lucky, you could buy precious babuls from the locals that you met on some desolate spot.

Reaching our final stop for the night at one of the Annapurna lodges after being drenched to the bone was a great respite.  The town was so quaint, like an old picturesque scene with a cute Danish making bakery where I could indulge myself with mouth-watering pastries.  However, the only thing I could think about was a nice hot shower.

Unfortunately that was a rare find in this part of the world, as heating was a luxury (unless of course you planted yourself close to a chimney). So, all I could do was refresh myself with freezing water in record time!

The next day we had to start our last ascent at 4:30 in the morning in order to watch the sunrise from the tops of the Himalayan Mountains.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the clear starry night.  There were so many shooting stars that I couldn’t keep track of how many wishes I had made in that one second.  Reaching 3900 meters, a tall metallic structure was the perfect spot to watch the most remarkable view that nature could only create.  A man knelt down on one knee proposing to his future wife, and people started clapping, while the girl fainted right next to me. Whether from excitement, lack of oxygen or low blood sugar, I automatically grabbed my sugary power bar from my pocket and handed it to her partner.  Drama and excitement were all around me, that I almost missed the rise of the sun over the majestic mountaintops, I look at my friend and he smiled saying “I’m definitely coming back!”