Coniferous Forests

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Onwards to Jomsom

We left Kagbeni (elevation : 2800m) at 08:00, which was the latest recommended time to avoid the blistering Kali Gandaki wind that was bound to build up later that day. All we really had to do before we left the guesthouse was to repack and freshen up, as we decided to skip breakfast and instead have a much larger meal for lunch later on in Jomsom (elevation : 2720m) . The water pressure the night before had also been so low that the upper floors of the guesthouse had had no water at all. As such, we had been unable to make coffee or refill and treat the water from the taps, so the first stop that we made after leaving the guesthouse was to a safe drinking water station (NPR40/litre). Read more

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To Manang

I woke up around 02:00 that morning to try and capture a shot of the Milky Way, but the heavy mist foiled my plans once again. All that could be seen were bats that flitted around overhead as they chased moths that had been drawn by the lights of the guesthouse. It was still misty when I stepped back out of the room and into the courtyard five hours later, and almost everything was obscured in a white-out. We had breakfast, which was apple pancake (NPR350/2) and tibetan bread (NPR300/2) to take-away, and were pleasantly surprised to see that the mist had lifted by the time we were packed and ready to leave the guesthouse. Read more

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Flower power!

The southern views of the Annapurna Range from Himalaya Hotel were supposed to have been perfect. Scorpio would have been clearly visible, as would have Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.. that is, if not for the perpetual mist that shrouded everything from view each and every time the sun set. I got out of bed twice that night just to check whether the Milky Way was visible, but every single attempt that night and for the rest of the trip would turn out to be to no avail. So that morning, we decided that we would spend another night at Ngawal (elevation : 3660m) Read more

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Clear Skies

The weather was excellent that morning, and the gateway to heaven, 'Swarga Dwari Danda', could clearly be seen. We watched the sun slowly rise over it before the strong rays drowned out all but the largest of the gateway's features. To the south, Annapurna II (elevation : 7939m) could occasionally be seen each time the clouds parted, and the sight of the unnamed 'black pyramid' in front of us, its sides so sheer that they could barely hold the snow, made me look forward to seeing Khangsar Kang, or 'Roc Noir' (elevation : 7485m) later on in the trip. Read more

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Blue Skies

The mist that had shrouded the views the day before had lifted and had left the skies bright and clear that morning. Low clouds still lingered over the lower slopes however, and the added contrast brought out the silhouettes of pine trees (Pinus sp.) way off in the distance. We peered at the distant trees from out of the windows as we ate a pancake with honey (NPR180/2) for breakfast. Before we climbed back onto the road and left Thanchok (elevation : 2660m), we cut up some tibetan bread (NPR220/2) into strips and packed it away for lunch later on. Read more

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Mossy Forest

The hamlet of Danakyu (elevation : 2250m) was completely blanketed in mist that morning, so much so that we could barely see the building that was across the road from us. So once again, we had our breakfast of pancake and honey (NPR280/2) with tibetan bread (NPR220/2) to take-away, whilst waiting for the mist to clear. Read more