After writing the last blog about Kathmandu at the Phewa lake in Pokhara we turned to the preparations for the Annapurna Circuit Trek. We contacted Prem Rai, co-author of a book about the new Annapurna Trekking Trails and one of the people who make an effort to bring back the old charm of the Annapurna Trek. After an evening of planning with Prem in his home in Pokhara, plans for three weeks of trekking developed and we started to gather our equipment in many of the outdoor shops.
But things worked out slightly different …
That very evening, Nadieh suffered from stomach cramps and all the other discomfort associated with a typical Dheli belly. With no improvements even after three days, we decided to find a doctor and stayed at his little hospital for 3 nights: Nadieh on the drip. Scared at first, but things were not as bad as it seemed: we could both stay in the most ‘luxurious’ room so far in Nepal. A private bath, 24 hours of electricity and even hot water! When Nadieh clearly started to recover after one day, our thoughts carefully turned back to the mighty peaks of the Himalayas.
The following days we combined relaxing, preparing for the trek and took a nice walk from the ‘paragliders-peak’ Sarangkot through some remote villages back to Pokhara. In the villages children gathered around us to show us the way and chat. Praises with a recurring end: Gimme sweet, gimme chocolate or gimme dollars. Unfortunately, no sweet, no dollars.
After a few sturdy negotiations, we finally gathered our down jackets, thermo-underwear and hats. Even crampons were part of our equipment, a purchase that we would tremendously benefit from a couple of days later!