After the strenuous ascent on the first day, we had another 800m to go up to Ghorepani on the second day. Fortunately, there were less stairs to climb. Still 800m is certainly not nothing :)
A view on our first-night guesthouse (forgot to show it in the last post). The cloudy spot behind the building on the right is the place where Annapurna South was hidden from us.
The menus in the guesthouse are surprisingly rich, with a lot of meat dishes, ranging from chicken, through pork to even beef. Now, this is how they bring the chicken up to an altitude of 3000m: mules carrying them in small cages up the steps. We were not the only ones who became part-time vegetarians after seeing this.
These mules are the only means of transportation into these areas, so they also transport gas bottles, water bottles, rice sacks, and pretty much everything else that the people (and tourists) up there need.
Oh, and it seemed that we were there in the right time for puppies, we've seen plenty of them on our way through the villages.
Our first view of the Fishtail Mountain (Mount Machhapuchchhre). It's not the best angle to tell it looks like a fish tail because we are seeing it from the south. What you see here is the tail, the body of the fish is hidden behind it.
The second day wasn't too bad, in fact, we even went through some sort of jungle with big trees. However, it was surprisingly cold that morning, only short above zero centigrade.
After ascending for about 800m in 4.5 hours we reached Ghorepani at an altitude of about 2800m, a larger town split into a lower and an upper part. The lower part greeted us with this beautiful gate.
Our trekking guide book recommended the upper part though and it was totally right. Up there, we were greeted by this little stupa on a small market and Annapurna South in the background. It's these moments that reward you for the exertion of the hike.
Our cottage for the night. For five dollars we had two warm beds and running hot water (heated by natural gas) at the sunny hotel, probably the hotel in place.
A spectular view on the Annapurna mountain range, with Annapurna South on the right side.
Me in front of Annapurna South, obviously tired from going up 1800m in 2 days and ready to get some sleep, just to get up at 5 the next morning to catch the sunrise from Poon Hill...
No comments:
Post a Comment