Sunday, November 11, 2012

Annapurna Circuit Trek: Day 1



DAY 1: Besi Sehar to Buhlbhule


The first day of the trek was one of the shortest. The day before, I had taken a bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara. The trip either to or from Kathmandu takes about seven to eight hours, and is about 150 miles. After checking into my room, I requested a ticket for a tourist bus to Besi Sehar, which is typically where the Annapurna Circuit Trek begins. After paying the 600 rupees, I wandered around Lakeside and after a nap, had a quick dinner and went to bed fairly early. When electricity was working, I worked to charge any piece of electronics that needed it.

The next morning, I was up at 5:30 AM. I showered, packed, and took a taxi to the tourist bus station. We departed at approximately 7:00 AM, and the bus arrived in Besi Sehar at about noon. The buses - especially the tourist buses - will occasionally pick up native Nepalis, along the way. The buses, as you can imagine, get very crowded. At one point, a female Tibetan Buddhist monk sat on the bus.

When we were only about a half an hour from our destination, our bus actually broke down. Considering the narrow and rocky roads, the road is not a place to be stranded, believe it or not. Our driver even had to put the bus in reverse, at one point, and we rolled backwards a bit so as to allow an oncoming bus to pass by.

After about ten to fifteen minutes, many on the bus became restless and hopped off. At this point, the female monk was sitting next to me in the last row of the bus. Just as a good 80 percent of the passengers had exited, our driver again put the bus in reverse, let the bus roll a bit, and worked the engine enough to get it started. It was pretty startling, but also pretty funny, and I had to just laugh, and the monk did exactly the same. Despite the lack of a common language, we both could see the humor in what had happened.

After finally arriving in Besi Sehar, I had a quick lunch and began my first day of trekking. Many people have decided to take a bus all the way to the first day's destination, Buhlbhule (pronounced BUL-boo-lay), but just as I did last year, I walked the approximately nine kilometers. After getting horribly lost through the trail, I managed to find my way through a series of rice paddies and down to the road, which I wanted to avoid. I likely added an extra kilometer or two from this, and considering the time of day and that I was just getting used to hiking with 15 kg on my back, I frequently would stop for a few minutes.

Around 3:00 PM, I reached my first day's destination and stayed at the Hotel Arjun. After napping for about two hours, I had dinner of roast chicken, fries, and salad (which was actually cole slaw - with green beans in it, too!), and went back to bed. The early night in would be the norm throughout the trek. I would leave to begin day two at about 8:00 AM and all told, my first day's accomodations and meals would set me back about 2,000 Rs, or approximately 24 US dollars. All for a place to stay and three meals!

Cost: 2,000 Rs
Approx. distance trekked: 10 km

Next up: Day 2 from Buhlbhule to Ghermu!


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