Day 5 – September 22

This was a long one. As usual, woke up at 6am. Had breakfast, then packed. When paying the bill for dinner, breakfast and accommodations, we noticed they wanted to charge us for the electricity as well ($1, outrageous!), but then they dropped the claim fast.

At 7:45 we started walking. Passed the villages of Jagat (1300 m), Chamche (1370 m) and finally Tal (1700 m), where we had lunch.

Here we saw one of the Safe Drinking Water Stations (first of many). As the places we see become more remote, the price for packaged water keeps rising (from 15-25 rupees before starting the trek to 100 in Tal to 220 at the High Camp). These stations provide trekkers with ozonated water at prices between 40 and 50 rupees per liter (with a dollar being almost 100 rupees).

We walked faster than we expected to, as Tal was the place where we planned to spend the night. So we continued to Karte (1870 m) and finally Dharapani (1900 m).

Part of the trek was on a jeep road. While I’ve read the traffic can be annoying during high season (from what I understand, there would be a jeep every 5-10 minutes), we hardly saw any cars. Furthermore, the road felt pretty wild, with the occasional waterfall challenging us in crossing it.

In Dharapani we chose the first guesthouse we checked, as the lady there gave us the room for free and also cut some of the food prices. She gave us apple pie and porridge for $1 each instead of $2.

Day 6 – September 23

Days were becoming more and more similar. Typical schedule:
– wake up at 6, eat breakfast, pack, set off on the trail
– around 11-12, lunch
– around 3-4 pm, find a guesthouse; negotiate the room price, a couple of food prices, as well as the price for hot water, electricity or internet (where available)
– take a shower, then wash clothes
– eat dinner at around 5 pm
– plan the following day, write in trip journal, send emails (where internet available), socialize (if interesting people around [rarely])
– order breakfast (in advance)
– go to sleep at around 8-9 pm

Today we passed the villages of Danaqyu (2200 m), Temang (2600 m), where we had lunch, Koto (2600 m) and finally Chame (2670 m), where we stopped for the night.

At an ACAP (Annapurna Conservation Area Program) checkpoint, we saw some interesting statistics about this trek. In 2013, 39 Romanians did the circuit. Now we’re part of the 2014 statistics.

At this evening’s guest house, hot shower wasn’t working (probably out of gas), so we got a bucket of hot water instead. I guess showers will be more scarce in the following days, as we ascend and the temperatures drop. Homes here aren’t heated (at least what we’ve seen so far) and it gets cold at night. A lot of people bring sleeping bags, although warm blankets are available.

Had dal bhat for dinner. This is the traditional meal here. It’s composed of plain rice, with a side of curried vegetables and a cup of lentil soup. An interesting thing about this dish: you get free refills, so it’s the best option after a long day trekking.