October 22, 2012: Bamboo to Himalaya

We generally were up at dawn, which in late October is around 6:00 am in the Himalayan Mountains. In the early morning it is still cool and we had to wear multiple layers to stay warm. The routine of our trek started with hot tea being served to us in our tents. Then after freshening up with hot water we all met for breakfast. As we ate breakfast our tents and bags were packed and turned into loads for the porters. Each porter carried 30kg or 70lb loads.

After breakfast the porters packed up the last of the camp. We then headed out on the trail. Including Shyam, our Sirdar or lead Sherpa, there were four additional Sherpas leading our group. With fourteen of us, we got spread out across the trail. The Sherpas also spread themselves out, making sure that one is always in the lead and Shyam always taking the last position in line. Shortly after leaving Bamboo we were walking among bamboo trees with the towering peak of Fish Tail rising beside us.

Razzu and Marian Check out Camp at Day Break

Porters Waiting for Their Loads

Snow Drifting from Fish Tail

Karalee Stops for Water

In our group, Kath, Jan, Judy, and Karalee all paddle on the Team Momentum Dragonboat team. One of their team members was recovering from cancer and the four of them stopped on the trail to take a photo to send to their fellow team member back in Vancouver. The photo was taken next to a shrine put up at the spot where a fellow trekker had fallen off the trail to their death in the valley below. A sober warning to pay close attention to what we were doing.

Kath, Judy, Karalee, and Jan Stop to Honor a Fellow Dragonboater

Trail Side Shrine

Dinner in the Tent

We continued on up and up following the steep sided valley where the Modi Khola river flows. The sound of the water ebbed and flowed as we climbed up and down, sometimes close and sometimes far, from the flowing river. Like our other days we arrived in the village of Himalaya where the porters had made camp and were welcomed with hot cups of tea or hot chocolate and lunch. Today, we only trekked for a half day as our bodies got used to the higher elevation (2900m).

More photos are available in David's Annapurna Sanctuary Photo Set.

Our trip was organized and led by Marian Leighton of Vancouver, BC with local support for our trip provided by Razzu Tuladha of Samsara Journeys based in Kathmandu, Nepal.