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<\/a><\/p>\nThe drive to the trailhead was pretty much a repeat of our drive from Kathmandu to Pokhara – a thrill a minute in the traffic plus very winding roads with precarious drops to the canyons below!<\/p>\n
There was a sizeable crowd at the trailhead depot. Lots of buses with groups like ours getting ready to depart on an adventure or returning from one.<\/p>\n
The night before our tour group leader had provided us each with a heavy duty duffel bag & we were each permitted to bring belongings with us weighing no more than 7.5 kilograms. We were also told that we would carry our own water & other things that we wanted during each day.<\/p>\n Our heavy duty duffel bags were distributed to our porters & they proceeded to vigorously combine & compress them in size to bundles of three for our porters to carry to our destination.<\/p>\n When we were ready to start out our group leader introduced us to our porters & we headed off.<\/p>\n Catherine also checked out the road ahead.<\/p>\n The first part of our trip was through a little village selling lots of trekking supplies & equipment.<\/p>\n At the edge of the village there was a small sawmill operation.<\/p>\n We walked on the road for the first 45 minutes until we reached the sign officially marking the Annapurna Conservation Area area.<\/p>\n We started to see Fishtail Mountain.<\/p>\n We came to a bridge on the road & our group leader Kalpana pointed to the stone steps on the right & said that’s where we are going – “jumjum” (meaning “let’s go!”). This should have been our first clue as to what we were heading in to.<\/p>\n After climbing the steps we started walking through terraced fields of rice that was just beginning to be harvested.<\/p>\n At one point we stopped with our porter Ale to enjoy the view of the Annapurna Mountain Range. Ale is 45 & has been a porter for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n Next up was a short crossing over a steel suspension bridge.<\/p>\n An hour further down the trail we arrived at a rest stop for lunch.<\/p>\n Kalpana had ordered a hot lunch for all of us.<\/p>\n Fed & watered we were back on the trail with layers of clothing off as the sun was getting hot.<\/p>\n We were starting to climb a lot more & Kalpana kept encouraging us.<\/p>\n Each step brought a more rewarding view but they were beginning to take their toll.<\/p>\n At this point the trail sign indicated “only” 4 more mile (up) to our destination.<\/p>\n The trail was now a variety of terrain comprised of dirt roads & many more stone steps.<\/p>\n We finally arrived at our destination just in time to see the sun’s fading rays on the mountain tops.<\/p>\n After settling into our very nice rooms at Breeze Guest House the group reconvened to the dining area for delicious hot supper & to debrief about our day’s trek.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n