More Asian Antics

These are our slides from Nepal that we finally got scanned. They were developed in Kathmandu and some of them have scratches from the processing and/or lint with scanning.

SO here we are nearing Thorung La, the 5416m pass.


We woke up at Thorun Phedi (base camp 4500m) to find it snowing and low vis, so we hoped the pass was doable and that we could make it before noons high winds. We did it in 3hrs 45 mins where the average time is 5 hours, but we felt each breathe thats for sure!
The picture above is the tea house at the top of the pass, where some lovely Nepalese man climbs daily in season to boil hot drinks and soups for trekkers. Hot Lemon Tea was a real treat.
Photos are out of order. This is a picture of Annapurna South on our descent from Annapurna Base Camp.


Some of Dave's stunning pics. This was taken on our acclimatization trek from Manang 3500m to 4200m. Pretty!

Awoke at Muktinath to find snow everywhere. We were stoked that we got to do the pass in ok snow conditions, if we had climbed 1-2 days earlier we would have missed the white goodness!

This is the valley of the Annapurna sanctuary.

Some porters. They are machines, no comfy backpacks with harnesses for these guys, just get some rope and tie all around the gear and then place rope on forehead to carry!

Frozen river! God really turned on great weather for us. We arrived at ABC late around 4pm, having tramped 1000m in elevation plus all the undulations of the valley we probably did 3 x that. It did start to cloud in the avo. All rooms were full so we got to sleep in the storeroom, stoked, and we woke to gorgeous clear views and fresh snow and a new frozen river.

This is my fave mountain in this area. Its called Macchupucchre, which means "Fishtail." Climbers have been within 40m of its crazy summit but it is now forbidden, offlimits to climbers. It looks more like a fishtail from this vantage point.

This is the gentle decsent from ABC to MBC. That is the base of the Fishtail in background. It appeared much bigger than Annapurna.

Annapurna SOuth.

Goodmorning Fishtail.

Other Annapurna mountains.

Glacier near Manang.

Donkey: "Are we there yet?"

Rhino and her cub seen from elephant back in CHitwan National Park. We got within a metre of it.

Make way for the sheep who look more like goats. Reminds of how when we were climbed Ghorepani hill and saw lots of goats everywhere how hungry we were for roast lamb, good kiwi tucker!

View of Annapurna South on our last night in the hills, day22.

Ouch, got something in my eye.

Lake Phewa, Pokhara. Where we spent 4 relaxing days eating steak 2x a day, cheap as living like a King. ALso where we celebrated our 2 year anniversary!

Dave sharing a bath.

A pretty garden at Sinuwa. Yes Michelle hiked in a skirt all but 3 days where wind and snow required good old goretex.

Dave trying on a porters load. Wasn't that heavy but it put a lot of strain on the neck.

Jungle.

The sign on this guesthouse at Chhomrong said
"WEL COME TO YOU.
PLEASE CAN YOU TRY TO
STAY OUR LITTLE LODGE.
WE HAVE NICE ROOM.
We stayed in the one beside it.

Our Elephant that Michelle nicknamed EleFART due to rumblimg noises in the jungle that she thought were coming from wild animals but as Dave sat at the back of the Ele he informed her of what those bellows actually were!

Spotted deer. Not too exciting. We wanted to see the elusive tiger!

Dave taking his new Macpac Prophet jacket on its first mission!

Having a breather on the way up the pass. 2 people passed us on donkey back, at times we were jealous. The donkeys only go to top of pass from the east and return, the descent west is too step for donkeys. We also saw this hippy middle aged lady climbing the pass in her Doc Martens but she was having traction problems!
Another Thai couple climbed in their jeans and converse shoes and admitted his feet were cold. It is crazy what people wear. We love technology!

Yeah Dave is looking at those scratches or lint floating in the air.

Ladies collecting firewood.

So nice to have the pack off!

Chickens and pussy cat.

Beauty and the intrusion of man.

Our luxurious accommodation at Manang where we got our own toilet in our own room, a luxury at 3500m and where we tasted our first and numerous yummy yak steaks!

View of the Manang village from our side trip.

Old bridge makes way for the new.

I'd like a house with a view like this where I can eat and drink in the view on top.

Muktinath.