The main problem with Nepal is: what to do? To the south, Lumbini the Buddha’s birthplace. Nearby, Chitwan National Park where the rhinoceros and tiger roam, and can be spotted from elephant-back. Rafting, bungee jumping, mountain biking, cooking courses… aaaaaa I didn’t know what to do when I first arrived, which was back on November 28th.

Luckily, I could go to the well and dip into the collective wisdom of several ex-Kathmandoers. The unanimous consensus was that I should go “trekking”, which of course is British for “walking”. The verb “trekking” might qualify as “hiking”, but all of the walks I’ve been on have featured guesthouses, tea, and usually a porter or guide or jeep. This is not, stricklee speaking, hiking.

This is walking. This, is trekking. This is punctuation

After much agonizing over my finances, which is usually a feature of any poorly thought-out trip I make, I decided to suck it up and head for the hills. In the center of Nepal is a range of mountains known as the Annapurna. The tallest, Annapurna I, is one of the um… 10 or so 8,000 meter peaks in the world. A trail wraps around the area admirably set aside by the Nepali government, who have in general been very conscientious and generous conservers of land. I don’t really know the history, but sometime around the late 60s, the overland hippy migration to the orient ended in Kathmandu. Their legacy was the popularization of a certain smokeable vegetable and tea, as well as this Annanpurna Circuit.  This, plus the spectacular scenery, has made the trek one of the most popular in Nepal.  For some reason, the 2nd or 3rd generation hippies all look like clowns to me.

Anyway.  In October, the government or somebody instituted a new rule which requires all trekkers in the popular Annapurna region to be accompanied by at least a porter. I was able to skirt this by paying a nominal fee for the permit tax, and claiming that “my porter is ill and could not be with me, unfortunately, for $9 a day over the minimum of 10 days it might require to complete this walk. trek.”  I started in Besisar, and finished six days later in Beni.  This is kind of a rampage; most people take between 10 and 20 days to take it all in.

Sometime I’ll bore you with the details of the trip.  Suffice it to say I finished in good time, and enjoyed myself immensely.  At the moment, I am shaking off the effects of a 60 hour overland trip to Dharamsala…  I’ll write more about Nepal and my various adventures later.  I have less than a week to size up India before heading home.  Hope to see you America people soon.  North America

(pictures later sorry)