Nepal - hiking adventure

[Dantas]

Yes I noticed that!

 

[craven morehead]

Welcome to my inaugural (and probably only) trip report! I’m off on a hiking trip to the Annapurna ranges with Adventure Nepal.

QF are getting me to HKG where I will have a 24 hour stop-over before catching CX to KTM. A quick overnight before boarding a U4 flight (you’ll have to look that one up) to Pokhara.

It’s just a small group of six including the group leader, plus porters. I’ll be with a mate from MEL and will meet the rest when I arrive.

I’m not the best photographer and my journalism is far from perfect, but I’ll do my best.

Playing catch up

 

[craven morehead]

Last night I was at the Park Lane in Causeway Bay (Hong Kong Island). It's part of Marriott Bonvoy now so my status got me an upgrade although I think the only extra was a bath tub. Won't be seeing one on the trek so I probably should have used it! Good location though with plenty of shopping and restaurants nearby. There's a Decathlon store that interconnects so will be handy for some last minute supplies that I need.

Great location!

 

[craven morehead]

Another early start today but for a good reason! We made the short journey to the old Pokhara Airport to try out yet another new carrier for me - Air Dynasty Heli Services. Two from our group and I lifted off to Annapurna Base Camp, around a 25 min flight and 4130m above sea level. We had amazing views of Pokhara and of course the ranges that surround it. The heli pad was just a big H made in the snow but I guess it was all we needed. The pilot was German born but recently moved here from Canada but also lived in Launceston for a few years. Small world. Surprisingly it wasn’t that cold up there so I was ok wearing shorts but had a jacket and beanie as well. We had about half an hour exploring the camp which has accommodation for perhaps 50-60 people, most of whom were getting ready to leave on foot. It’s the highest elevation I’ve experienced and I did feel a bit dizzy light headed. Grabbed a few snaps and it was time to depart. We mentioned to the pilot that we had two friends at High Camp so he flew closely over there on our return. We’ve sent the video to them - not sure if they spotted us - but will find out soon.

It was a quick ride back to the Hotel Tara for a late breakfast and packing bags. Three of our group had hired Royal Enfields for the journey to Kathmandu so they were getting acquainted with their machines when we got back. The remaining three, including me and the bike owners piled into a mini van.

We drove around 3 hours to Bandipur (around 78km) where we stopped for lunch. This is a great village set at the top of a big hill and is/was part of the Silk Road. So there are lots of old buildings, most of which are now hotels and restaurants. We had lunch at The Old Inn which did a great chicken dal baht. I think we’ve eaten this every day! We also had birthday cake as one of our mob turned 37 today. This was the end of the bikes and the owners who rode with us in the bus returned with them to Pokhara.

It’s currently 6.30pm and we’re still on the way to Kathmandu. I’ve been on some long road journeys in Asia but this is by far the slowest. It’s the main route between Nepal’s two biggest cities and it’s appalling. There are small sections of four lane Highway and cars and bikes are using every lane in each direction. Then it breaks down to rough gravel and very narrow in sections. All part of the fun though but it makes it a long day. Bandipur to Kathmandu is 145km and with two toilet breaks and a 20 min EV fast charge for the van, it’ll take about 5 hours.

Again, no hiking stats but the heli ride was $AU855 per person.

Was the Helicopter pilot really tall?

 

[Dantas]

Nah - about my height!

 

[craven morehead]

Nah - about my height!

Copy that, Dantas. I had a German Chopper pilot take our family on a few laps of the Tamar valley back in 2012. The choppers took off from a winery IIRC thought it may have been a huge coincidence. I thought he was~ 6'4" from memory but who knows. If I can find a picture, I'll flick it to you. Hope all else is well with you. Loving the TR and have mentioned to @Ron Calls to have a gander to gauge his interest in doing something like this, if not the same.

Cheers Craven

 

[Dantas]

Well I reckon that was him! He worked in the Tamar Valley, born in SE Asia, one of his parents was German and he has spent a lot of time in Canada. I won't share a picture of him on here but will send in a DM.

 

[Happy Dude]

As usual Happy Dude shows up as the band is packing up. Enjoyed reading your excellent adventures @Dantas.

Would you recommend hiring a porter/guide "in-country" in Katmandu or better to do so at one of the towns closer to where the treks commence? I'd like to do a month there, so perhaps two x 12-or-so day treks, but don't want to have much organised prior to leaving Aus. So I was thinking that I'd just lob in Nepal and go from there.