Moving Through the Lush Lowlands

After 6 hours on the local bus, we moved up to the roof to get a better view. The entire journey, like most bus rides I've taken in Nepal, closely followed a river. There were 2 large dam projects along way creating lakes along the otherwise light-blue water cascading river.

As we started to move through villages, we were often stopped by roadblocks made by children. They would hold a string or banner across the road and request some small payment to let the buses through. It was part of a the Hindu festival named Diwali and very cute, though repetitive, to see. Some children would boldly stand in the way of the bus. Often the groups were organized, with clear blockers and leaders who would come ask the bus drivers for money. The disorganized groups rarely got paid as we slowly rolled on through.

The adolescent roadblocks continued as we started to walk, with 2 children holding a open blanket with small bills in it. As we started our trek at 800m, we were walking along a rapid, light blue river and quickly ran out of all our small change.

One of the most redeeming parts of the Annapurna Circuit trek is walking through changing ecosystems as you climb upwards. As we started it was tropical, with lush plants, rice paddies and hot weather in the sun. It seems unlikely you are walking into the Himalyas until you rise briefly out of a valley and can see the high peaks off in the distance.

When we stopped for our first lunch, several porters stopped to rest close to us before continuing at a slow steady pace uphill. I realized quickly that all the food we ordered came directly from the fields around us. If I ordered vegetable momo's, a steamed dumpling, it was easy to see the lodge owner walk to the field and cut plants for the ingredients. If you ordered a 50 cent glass bottle coke, there is no doubt it was carried up on a porters back.

These tea houses were my favourite on the entire trek. Run out of people's houses and fields, the prices were low and the people are very welcoming and friendly. Elevation was not an issue yet and the nights were warm. But we came to walk through the high mountains, where the weather and environment are more harsh and less hospitable.