Now that I've fully warned you, I bet all my readers are asking the same question: Where the hell is Priya?! I know, I've been gone for almost a month and that means one whole month without your weekly dose my antics around the world. So, let's start at the very beginning to get the whole big picture. Last time we were together, I was in Delhi about to head off to Manali, loving life, loving traveling and enjoying myself pretty thoroughly...oh how things changed.
I spent around 2 days in Manali, which is known for being an outdoorsy, backpacker area in India. Tried to do some rock climbing on the second day, but of course, it was raining all day, so I had to nix that plan. But I met some cool people, a couple of girls from Scandinavia, and couple from Germany. We just milled around the small town and didn't do too much. Where are the pictures - you might ask, I'll answer ALL your questions, but further down. So, I left Manali on a 13 hour non-air conditioned, over night bus back to Delhi to make my way to Kathmandu. As we pulled in for the 'Kahna' (dinner) stop at around 9.00 PM, I was starving. I ordered the fan favorite of palak paneer...but something didn't taste right. The palak tasted so sour...almost like it had gone bad. My smarter readers will put 2 and 2 together here...
Whatever, I ate the stupid dinner since I was so hungry and arrived, disheveled and gross in Delhi. Let me tell you, 13 hours on a bus ride with open windows and dirt and smog blowing in your face did not sit well with me. But, I was back in Delhi about to go to Kathmandu and trek Annapurna! This is what I had been looking forward to for the past year...so excited. Right as I got off the bus, there was a travel agency advertising 'Delhi-Kathmandu: 30 hours! only 1500 rupees!'. Could my luck be that good that I get to Delhi in just over a day?! I let myself get caught up in the moment and booked the ticket without hesitation.
Aside: Most of my readers will say - '30 hours, Priya? Are you crazy? That's so long.' But I took a 30 hour sleeper class train ride from Kolkata to Bombay last October and it honestly wasn't too bad. So I thought, well just tough it out for 1 day, save some cash and just focus on Annapurna.
Oh my god. I got on the bus and for some stupid reason, decided to sit in the back - the bumpiest part of the bus. Of course, non-AC, so 30 hours of dirt and smog in my face. And not even 4 hours into the bus ride, the family sitting right in front of me start puking. All the kids, puke in the aisle, puking out the windows, spitting...honestly just god damn gross. And the sour palak paneer from the night before was starting to react badly with my stomach as I was being flung 3 feet in the air on the back of the bus. And of course, for some stupid reason the family kept feeding their children. At every 'kahna' stop, the kids kept eating dal baht and kept puking all over the bus. How idiotic can you be? Stop feeding your kids and just give them water. But thankfully, I held everything down. I was trying to let my body naturally fight whatever was in it. And not 30 but 40 god damn hours later - I arrived in Kathmandu. Bruised all over my body because of the bus ride, smelling like a bathroom, covered in sweat and dirt - I made it to Nepal. And of course it was 6.00 AM, so I found the first taxi driver to take me to a hotel in the tourist district...No, no, he took me to his 'brother's' hotel. Where there were only cold showers and it smelled like Indian spices. Which, let me tell you, my body could not handle because of the palak paneer I ate.
But the next day I randomly ran into Alex Woodcock - the fellow couchsurfer I had been talking to about hiking Annapurna together. We got to talking and made arrangements to start our trek on July 22nd. We met our guide, Kumar, who seemed nice enough and went through Omega trekking agency who charged us: $645 ($35 per day) for the 18 day trek.
This included:
-guide/porter
-3 meals a day including tea for each meal
-accommodation at guest houses
-hiking permits
It did not include:
-drinks
-snacks
-eating any meals not at the guest house where we were staying
So Alex and I started our trek...but I forgot to mention one detail: my stomach. It finally took over. I was having a brown streak of bad luck. The bus ride, the bad food, the shitty hotel I stayed in Kathmandu all caught up with me. I had the runs. And I had just decided to hike up 5416 meters, the highest point in the world you can reach without climbing gear. Awesome idea, Priya. Hike up the Himalayas while you can barely hold down food.
Here's a map of the trek:
Day 1: Kathmandu to Besishar - 760 m
No actual hiking, just a bus ride from Kathmandu to Besishar. But the bus we got on, broke down every 5 minutes and instead of a 7 hour bus ride, it was a 12 hour bus ride. My tummy didn't feel too hot all day. I didn't eat anything except a bowl of cornflakes at night. But I was pretty happy to keep it down. Also, it was the last guesthouse for a while with an outlet in our room. Anyway, Alex and I took it pretty easy that first day...prepping ourselves for the next day.
Day 2: Besishar to Bahundanda - 1310 m
This was the day from hell. After eating breakfast and setting out on the trail, about 1 hour in I couldn't keep my breakfast down and had to pull over for a puke break. Poor Alex and Kumar had to put up with me while I lagged behind. Alex, on the other hand, was having the time of his life! Frolicking and running around the mountains while I was the verge of death. The last climb was so bad that I had to stop every 5 minutes since I didn't eat any lunch and I had no energy. But somehow I made it to the top of the 'mountain' where the I ordered chow mein and couldn't eat more than 2 bites. I pretty much immediately passed out at 7.00 PM.
Day 3: Bahundanda to Chamje - 1400 m
Yes, it seems we only climbed 100 meters this day. Wrong! We first went down 300 m and then climbed up 400 m. Why the hell do you have to go down if you are going up?! Somewhere along the way, during lunch time, Alex and I met a solo traveler named Peter. Originally from the Czech Republic, but he's been living in America for the past...let's say 7 years. Sometimes I don't listen when people talk. But in my defense, I was just trying to keep my mashed potatoes and cheese down since I had already puked up my breakfast earlier. But after lunch we decided to add Peter to Team Priya - the sick edition and we arrived at Chamje! I wanted to die.
Day 4: Chamje to Dharapani - 1900 m
Another terrible day. Puked twice and it seemed like there was no end to my pain. I didn't know what to do but somehow made it to Dharapani. At this point at time I would have given my left kidney to anyone who would have made me feel better. As we arrived in Dharapani, we met some other travelers, Nathan and Sarah, who we had actually met earlier in Bahundanda. They're originally from America (Cali) but have been living in China for the past...let's say 3 years. Super nice couple and they pretty much saved my life. After each of trekking, I would just go upstairs and lay in my sleeping bag until dinner and then crawl back into my sleeping bag waiting for exhaustion to settle in and for me sleep. At Dharapani, Kumar came to my room to make sure I ate something and as I told him that I'd be down in 5 minutes his response was 'OK, I wait for you to get out of bed.' Damn Nepali, he knew my trick. I wanted to continue lying down. But anyway, at dinner Nathan and Sarah offered me antibiotics- Cipro. This is definitely not your average Penicillin. It's freaking lethal. I eagerly took them and in about 1 hour found my appetite. Amazing! They saved my life! I got a weeks worth antibiotics from them and felt my luck beginning to change.
Ok dear readers, as much as I wanted to post all of my travelers over the past month in 1 post, I'm getting tired of typing. So you'll have to stay tuned to find out if I ever made it to top of the circuit. But I leave you with pictures!
Manali!
This is how you fix a bus in India. Throw water into the engine to cool it down. I can't believe I paid to ride this bus.
Omg, the internet here is so slow. I couldn't post all my pics. Sorry team. Until next time! Love you all!
No actual hiking, just a bus ride from Kathmandu to Besishar. But the bus we got on, broke down every 5 minutes and instead of a 7 hour bus ride, it was a 12 hour bus ride. My tummy didn't feel too hot all day. I didn't eat anything except a bowl of cornflakes at night. But I was pretty happy to keep it down. Also, it was the last guesthouse for a while with an outlet in our room. Anyway, Alex and I took it pretty easy that first day...prepping ourselves for the next day.
Day 2: Besishar to Bahundanda - 1310 m
This was the day from hell. After eating breakfast and setting out on the trail, about 1 hour in I couldn't keep my breakfast down and had to pull over for a puke break. Poor Alex and Kumar had to put up with me while I lagged behind. Alex, on the other hand, was having the time of his life! Frolicking and running around the mountains while I was the verge of death. The last climb was so bad that I had to stop every 5 minutes since I didn't eat any lunch and I had no energy. But somehow I made it to the top of the 'mountain' where the I ordered chow mein and couldn't eat more than 2 bites. I pretty much immediately passed out at 7.00 PM.
Day 3: Bahundanda to Chamje - 1400 m
Yes, it seems we only climbed 100 meters this day. Wrong! We first went down 300 m and then climbed up 400 m. Why the hell do you have to go down if you are going up?! Somewhere along the way, during lunch time, Alex and I met a solo traveler named Peter. Originally from the Czech Republic, but he's been living in America for the past...let's say 7 years. Sometimes I don't listen when people talk. But in my defense, I was just trying to keep my mashed potatoes and cheese down since I had already puked up my breakfast earlier. But after lunch we decided to add Peter to Team Priya - the sick edition and we arrived at Chamje! I wanted to die.
Day 4: Chamje to Dharapani - 1900 m
Another terrible day. Puked twice and it seemed like there was no end to my pain. I didn't know what to do but somehow made it to Dharapani. At this point at time I would have given my left kidney to anyone who would have made me feel better. As we arrived in Dharapani, we met some other travelers, Nathan and Sarah, who we had actually met earlier in Bahundanda. They're originally from America (Cali) but have been living in China for the past...let's say 3 years. Super nice couple and they pretty much saved my life. After each of trekking, I would just go upstairs and lay in my sleeping bag until dinner and then crawl back into my sleeping bag waiting for exhaustion to settle in and for me sleep. At Dharapani, Kumar came to my room to make sure I ate something and as I told him that I'd be down in 5 minutes his response was 'OK, I wait for you to get out of bed.' Damn Nepali, he knew my trick. I wanted to continue lying down. But anyway, at dinner Nathan and Sarah offered me antibiotics- Cipro. This is definitely not your average Penicillin. It's freaking lethal. I eagerly took them and in about 1 hour found my appetite. Amazing! They saved my life! I got a weeks worth antibiotics from them and felt my luck beginning to change.
Ok dear readers, as much as I wanted to post all of my travelers over the past month in 1 post, I'm getting tired of typing. So you'll have to stay tuned to find out if I ever made it to top of the circuit. But I leave you with pictures!
Manali!
This is how you fix a bus in India. Throw water into the engine to cool it down. I can't believe I paid to ride this bus.
she IS alive
ReplyDeleteI happy you like my services. I like you blog. I hate Peter.
ReplyDeleteaw baby im sorry! cant say i didnt warn you tho . told you that as incredible as nepal is..being 5500 meters up in the air with altitude sickness and being wet and hungry and sick all the time is MISERABLE!! but good luck! going down to school tomorrow and will be missing you
ReplyDeleteWhat a relief to hear from you!!!!
ReplyDelete