Above 3000m

The middle mountains had a strong look like Canadian forest. There were pine trees engulfing the trail and the familiar look and feel of walking over brown pine needles on the ground. If it were not for the Nepali people and villages, I would often forget where we were. A few times we saw groups of school kids moving along the trails. They had big smiles, wide eyes and tried out whatever English they could muster. Every lodge we had stayed in so far was empty, save for the 5 of us. On the trails during the day we rarely saw any other people. Those we did see we saw repeatably, like a game of mountain leapfrog.

Our group had expanded to 5 now. There was a Canadian from Calgary named Tress. Tress was long and lanky. This was accentuated by the weight he had lost travelling 4 months through Southeast Asia. Though Canadian humour is universally hilarious, it was nice to have another Canuck to joke around with.

While hiking up switchbacks on the morning of Day 3, we noticed some porters taking an alternate, more direct route. We decided the switchbacks were for suckers and followed the porters straight up. I felt alright on this new trail but for some it was a scary mistake. A solo Spaniard saw Paul, the last in our group and gave him a 'Should I follow?' thumb up. Paul responded with a big smile and a even bigger thumbs up. When we all arrived at the top, panting 'Never again...' the Spaniard looked at us all shaking his head. He spit out, 'That was not the recommended route' . This is how Jaume from Barcelona joined our group.

It was not until we started moving above 3000m that the elevation started to become apparent. When exercising, it felt like you were gasping for oxygen and never receiving quite enough. The nights became much colder and the landscape became more barren as well. Some in our group had mild headaches and trouble sleeping, which are mild signs of AMS.

While all this was foreboding of what would come higher up, the scenery was quickly becoming breathtaking. After a tough stretch of switchbacks, we climbed out of the valley to 3800m. Across the valley was a view of several Annapurna peaks. For $1.50 each we shared a room and a cold night, with a perfect panorama of the mountains across the valley.