Clarifying some things RE trekking
Hi,I just thought I would clear a few things up about our travels. We originally thought we would go trekking for at least 2 months in Nepal. We have spent about one month trekking so far. A few things have changed our mind about not doing the 2nd trek we intended to do which was Annapurna Circuit, this is in the West of Nepal.
1) While the Nepal Government and the Maoists have reached a peace agreement and this is ground breaking stuff here in Nepal, the Maoists are still in the countryside. While we had to pay them a fee to trek, and didn't really have a choice as one of the young girls had a gun on her, it is really the moral issue behind it. We paid the first time so we could continue our trek but if we hiked Annapurna we would have to pay again, and we do not want to support these guys. They collect 'taxes' from the locals and have for years in areas. The taxes only go to support them and their weapons, they are an outlaw terrorist group basically and 13,000 people have died in Nepal in the last 10yrs because of it.
2) A new law has been brought into effect here, it's called the Trekking Regulation Certificate (TRC). We started our trek before it was brought in and were able to trek on our own. But now they have checkpoints along the routes which means you have to pay a porter or a guide to trek with you. while paying an additional $10 a day is doable for us we don't really want to hike this way. The govt has said they are doing this for safety in part too. It's a long story.
3) After nearly 3 weeks of a cough, cold, sore ribs from coughing and a bout with severe bacterial diarrhoea I am feeling near to 100%. So many people get sick up north as it's cold etc, so i don't want to get sick again as we are going to India next.
Anyways those are some thoughts even though I would love to trek more and will come back here again one day.
Also as for the geography of our trek. We hiked from Jiri to Namche Bazaar,the mountain town. From there it's basically the shape of an upside down A. You can either to West/left and go to Gokyo. At Gokyo when you go up the Peak you get amazing and clear views of Everest and the whole valley. Gavin did this but I got altitude sickness and with the cold etc didn't feel strong enough. i only got about 30mins up and felt horrible, so gavin walked me back down and then he went up on his own. I'm upset I missed it but made the right decision. Also from Namche you can to East or to the right, this leads you up to Everest Base Camp or another mountain called Kala Patar. You can get a closer view of Everest from here but not necessarily better. Most people say Gokyo is better so we went up there first. As for the upside down A. Well there is a pass called the Cho La which connects those 2 high points, but it's dangerous with snow and is a very long and hard day. So some people cross that and others go back down to Namche and up the other side. We planned to do both then due to me being sick and also one month of trekking we were getting tired! We came back down.
posted by melaniewilkes @ 5:46 PM
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