Himalayan Adventures - An Ambitious First Day

On our first morning in the mountains we woke up to a cloudy, misty sky. At 840m (2755ft) above sea level, Bhulbule looks like a tropical paradise with waterfalls as far as the eyes can see. The air was fresh and all around us, nature's activities came to life.

We had breakfast while chatting to the kids that worked at the guesthouse. They lived in the village with their aunt and uncle so that they could attend secondary school. One of the boys had hopes of becoming an engineer. We talked about how he could bring 24-hour electricity to the village one day. He was bright and I thought about how, given the opportunity, he could be successful. But opportunity, just like electricity was scarce in these secluded mountain villages.
I'm lucky, I thought, for the things I have always taken for granted, like electricity, hot water and most of all, opportunity. And speaking of hot water, my first hot shower in the mountains that morning came in a bucket for an extra charge.



We spent the morning leisurely, planning on hiking only about three to four hours on our first day. Our goal was to hike to the village of Ghermu, approximately 1000ft of elevation gain. I had packed sparingly, making sure to bring the absolute minimum, but as I put my pack on my back, the weight of 20lbs still felt like too much. Until now, I have been spoilt by having a husband that would carry everything on our day hikes. Oh well, too late to turn back now. This backpack would be an extension of my body for the next two weeks.

After a few basic yoga stretches for the legs, back and shoulders, we started our walk to the village of Ngadi. Ngadi lies only about 200ft above Bhulbule, so it was a pleasant, rather level hike for the first hour and a half through green hills and more waterfalls. The land was fertile, making farming possible. We passed by fields of cabbage, potatoes, spinach and terraced rice fields. The air remained cool under the overcast sky. I wondered if the weather would improve. It was frustrating to know that the views of the snow-capped mountains were hidden behind the clouds. We hadn't had clear blue skies since we arrived in Nepal a week ago. The locals confirmed that this was unusual weather for this time of the year and we received word that 3000 hikers had been stranded at Everest Base Camp. Jimmy was relieved because he had been planning on hiking to Everest Base Camp, but decided to hike the Annapurna Circuit instead. The situation was bad from what we heard. They were running out of food and water and the weather made it impossible for planes to fly between Kathmandu and Lukhla, where most Everest Base Camp hikers begin and end their journey. Local planes in the Himalayas fly without radar, relying purely on sight.

We arrived in Ngadi on schedule, met by village children looking for sweets, pens and money. We had made a decision early on not to give any of these away to discourage begging. After passing through the center of Ngadi, the trail began to climb gradually. The next town, Bahundanda, at 1310m (4300ft) would be 1000ft higher than Ngadi.


We passed by a few tourists that morning as well as local villagers carrying wood and bags of unidentifiable goods. We also met a few porters along the way carrying two, sometimes three large backpacks each for foreign hikers. Nepalis have a unique way of carrying things on their backs. They tie a rope to the items they carry and make three loops, two to go around their arms like a backpack and the third, which has a flat piece of cloth attached, goes around their foreheads. They carry heavy loads with their backs bent forwards, not so good for posture in the long run, I imagine. I mostly felt bad for the porters that were carrying packs for tourists that brought way too many things than they needed.



As we reached the outskirts of Bahundanda, it started to rain heavily. We put rain covers on our backpacks and looked for shelter. We found a small restaurant serving dhal bhat and masala tea. The owner and chef were interesting, if not slimy characters, but they served up mouthwatering dhal bhat with spinach and potatoes from their garden. Here, we also discovered that dhal bhat is an all-you-can-eat meal with free refills, great for the tired hiker.

As the rain trickled to a stop, our post-lunch coma started to set in. Reluctantly, we picked up our backpacks and continued on. The hike to the center of Bahundanda was exhausting, requiring us to climb a long flight of stone stairs for over an hour. Tired and sweaty, we reached the top at 4pm. The village was large, dirty and chaotic, unlike the peaceful village we had stayed in the night before. The Annapurna Trekking Profile, a pocket-sized brochure with distances and elevation, indicated that Ghermu was only an hour and a half away, so we decided that we could make it there before nightfall.



The trail gave way to more views of waterfalls and rice terraces, beautiful, but our tired bodies were ready for rest. An hour and a half after we left Bahundanda, the sun had started to set, but there were still no signs of Ghermu. We arrived at a small deserted town with two guesthouses that looked empty. This was not Ghermu, but with the sun setting, we decided to consider the option. Tony went in to look at the rooms, but came out with a look that said "Hell no!" We made a unanimous decision to continue, flashlights in hand, something we had wanted to avoid. But of course, there we were, day one, hiking in the dark.

Twenty minutes later we began to smell firewood and then stumbled upon a small guesthouse. This was still not Ghermu, we found out, but the rooms were clean and the staff friendly, so we stayed. And there, on a freezing cold night, I had a freezing cold shower, squatting under a faucet. After filling our stomachs with warm garlic soup, Tibetan momos (dumplings) and fried noodles, we went to bed with aching feet. I guess we were a little more ambitious on our first day than we wanted to be.

The route:
Bhulbule (840m/2755ft)
Ngadi (890m/2920ft)
Bahundanda (1310m/4300ft)
Ghermu (1130m/3700ft)