Time 5:30am. I am sleeping in the warm blanket. Outside temperature is 6 or 7 degree centigrade. Surroundings are so quiet that I can hear a pin drop. Just few early mountain birds are singing. I am sleeping in a wooden lodge on the 2nd floor. Suddenly I can hear someone walking through the corridor and the footsteps stops in front of my room. Knock knock. “Kayes weak up”. Kami came to weak me up. I was so tired last night that I slept like a dead person.
This room was quite comfortable compared to the place where I am. That have just the basics, 2 single bed and a window in the room. Walls are pasted with lots of colorful posters. Two pillows and just the right thickness of blankets. If the temperature drops 1 or 2 degrees more, then I think you gonna need two blankets at a time.
I weak up, pack my things and get ready for the journey. Excited and curious. I meet kami and Diago in the restaurant. Drink my favorite hot honey lemon tea and some Nepali breakfast.
Say goodbye to this place and start walking.
The roads are dry and dusty. So much dust that it can cover all over my body within few min. I have dust allergy, so I had to cover my face when walking. I notice that my boots are drowning in the dust almost 2-3 inch when I am walking. On top of it every 10-15 min mountain jeeps are passing by and slaps us with the dust storm. But I am excited, sometimes I can see the icy mountain top far way. I never saw snow in my life before. Never saw ice in the roads. I grow up in a rain forest county where we have mostly summer rainy season and winter with lowest temperature 15 degrees Celsius. So in my whole life I saw ice in the refrigerator.
I asked Kami “are we going to cross that mountain?” He replied “no, we will go to west”.
After walking few kilometers we came to the Annapurna conservative center, where we have to register our particulars.
After registration we enter through the gate, actually there was no gate, it’s just an imagination.
Around 10am we took a tea break in a small lodge. Surrounded by mountains. Very less people. Kami told me that the season is ending and this is his last track in this season. After this there will be almost no tourist. And he is not lying . I didn’t see any tourist till now. Only me and Diago. Most of the lodge are closed. So our choices are limited.
I knew it before that this is off season. And that’s why I am more interested to go in this time. I don’t like crowds. I like calm environment, No noise at all, less people. so I can fell the nature. I can feel it from my heart.
We finish our tea and start walking again. With Refreshments and more energy. I don’t see Diago have any tiredness. He speaks very less because he don’t speak English much. Some times I have to guess what he want to tell me actually. But I like him. Strong and funny guy.
Around 1:30pm after walking 11Km in the dusty road we reached our destination. Dirty, tired and hungry. I need a hot bath and then mouth full of food.
Checked in to our second tea house. Didn’t really notice how the room was. I just hear that the water heater is not working and the water is frozen on the pipe. So there is no water in the shower. The lodge owner start to bring the water from the nearest crick and boiling for us in the soil stove.
I took a hot shower with crick water and waiting for Diago to come in the lunch table.
Within 20 min she (the lodge owner) prepared all the food for us. Which include rice, dal, vegetables and papadum. It was so good that i took rice twice.
After eating full stomach I went to bed for a short nap.
I weak up hearing the bell sound. Ding ding ding. Not one bell, many of them. It was around 4pm. In front my room have a small mountain and over there I can see many horses. Eating grass. They have bell in the neck. Diago also came out from his room by hearing this sound. Some of them was just stand still like statue and let the time pass. Some of them eating grasses slowly and enjoy the cold.
We went down, bought few beers, enjoy the evening by watching horses eating grass and let the time pass.
Cheers!