Himalayan adventures

After about 3,5 weeks in Nepal, whereas 18 days have been spent trekking the Annapurna Circuit in the Himalayas, my pants fit looser around my waist as I have regained all lost leg muscles and then some. During the majority of my stay in Nepal I would have to say that I’ve mistreated my body in numerous ways and at the same time as having giving it quite a treat. It’s undeniable that trekking for almost three weeks is good for you and my body has been craving exercise. On the other hand, resources are limited when staying in basic tea houses with little or no hot water, a narrow selection of food (thou it’s amazing how many varieties of spaghetti, noodles and rice one can come up with when mixing ingredients like egg, veg, cheese and fried) and hard sleepers. The other factor added is the pitiful supply of do-good-toiletries packed in your bag to survive three weeks in the Himalayas, which basically means: two “outfits”; one to hike in and one to wear in the evening, sleeping bag, additional warm clothes, water purification tablets, a book, deck of cards, hand sanitizer, toothbrush, sunscreen and first aid kit. Anything else is close to be considered luxury, in other words, wave bye-bye to refreshing lotions and cleansing milk for a while. Let’s put it this way: the one person who all of a sudden smells clean or fresh will stand out and smell odd to the rest of us.

Having spent some time in the Himalayas in Tibet I had a fairly good idea what to expect from the Nepalese side of the mountain range, but it wasn’t until I got over Thorung La pass that it eventually resembled geographically what I anticipated. Terrain-wise on the other hand, never came close to my expectations. If we were to ascent 200 meters in Tibet it would be a walk with “false flat” terrain, meaning that the ascent was gradually and barely noticed. It turned out to be a completely different ballgame in Nepal where we usually found ourselves descending 400 meters before we had to ascent another 600 to climb the total of 200 vertical meters. It almost felt like the mountains were playing games with us as we sometimes did several of these a day. In Tibet up was up and down was down; in Nepal up is up, but not without down ahead of it.

What surprised me the most about the Annapurna Circuit was the level of commercialization. Even in the smallest villages there would be a tea house and a restaurant, and several of these places consisted only of a place to eat and sleep. It was as if the immerged only to lodge and feed trekkers as they make their way along the mountains. In every single place we passed thru there wouldn’t necessarily be anything to see, do or buy, apart from the fact that there would always be some built-in pantry booth that sold Pringles, Snickers, toilet paper, water and Coca-Cola. A guaranteed income source thanks to the sugar drained and butt-wiping tourists. Also due to the huge commercialization the restaurant prices seemed to correlate with the altitude, meaning the higher we got the pricier it became.

It’s mindboggling being a westerner in a developing country with such a remarkable community spirit as you find in Nepal. To think that Nepal, in turn of monetary income, is the third poorest country in the world with $310 per person is indeed a wake-up call. In these villages the phrase “all for one; one for all” really blossoms, and it would be safe to say that without this bond the villages would surely not exist or persevere. It’s almost makes me sad to realize how dependent they are on tourists with all their likes and preferences and to what length they go to meet them, but approaching it from a different angle I see how we are contributing to their income and making sure they get by when taking use of their services.

All in all, Nepal is a brilliant country to visit with their ingenious geographical location. They have been granted the spectacular Himalayas in the north, the middle consisting of both small and larger cities with their own uniqueness, and in the south the jungle and wildlife roams. Aside from the attractiveness given by nature, it would not be fair to neglect the friendly and smiling ppl or the heartwarming and open culture. Nepal has captured a small part of my heart and I feel I was right when saying that Nepal was a gem hidden between two major tourist spots, namely India and China, which get too much attention.

I am most certain that it will not disappoint, only spellbind