Trekking Day 10: Bamboo to Jhinu, Nepal
Absolutely nothing dried last night and we dug dirty but dry socks out of the duffels to wear. The socks from yesterday were still dripping. If we survive this trip, we'll be in fantastic shape. Bamboo, at 2,500m/8,200' altitude, was as cold as the Sanctuary. The day could possibly be another 7-1/2 hours with some uphills and primarily downhills to Jhinu at 1,750m/5,741' but at least the sun is shining again.
Leaving at 8:00 am, it was uphill for the first two hours, a tea stop at Sinuwa. I was carrying my own backpack until then but was so exhausted from yesterday and struggling to put one foot in front of the other. When Lila offered to carry my back along with Steve's (ex-Marine), I hesitated. ex-Marine let loose with a long stream of swear words, basically calling me a stubborn m-f, and telling me to give Lila the g-damned pack. Okay, then. (When I eat candy for energy, you know I'm running on empty...View image) From Sinuwa downhill to the river was my favorite trail of the day. Fairly gentle, winding, with slate steps closer together which meant portions felt like walking down a staircase rather than climbing down a staircase.
We were going down to here...before heading up the other side to Chomrong....on hundreds of slate steps...
I counted those steps up to Chomrong...1,914 STEPS UP...more than the John Hancock Center's 94 floors and 1,632 steps. By my count, we've climbed more than THREE JOHN HANCOCK BUILDINGS to date. It's no wonder we're exhausted... Even the local Nepalis, take rests along the way, resting their baskets on walls...View image...
A huge, filling bowl of noodle soup...followed by a five-minute uphill before the last descent to Jhinu on another steep downhill. It was at Chomrong that our downhill trail forked off from the original approach up to Annapurna Base Camp. One of the reasons I selected this particular itinerary was because of a chance to see some fresh scenery instead of a complete out-and-back on the same trail.
The Jhinu Guesthouse had hot showers and places to hang the still wet clothes from yesterday. I find it hard to believe but tomorrow's trek is supposed to be even more difficult than todays. Two more days and we'll be done. For the moment, there is a great looking pizza for dinner and I can hardly wait...
About another 20 minutes walk downhill from Jhinu were some hot springs (about 105 degrees F) to relax in. And again, everyone but us was going to go and soak. It would have been wonderful...but the thought on another downhill, followed by an uphill back to the guesthouse was just too much to even consider.
