When we wake up in the morning we have a view above the head of the valley of Annapurna 1 and the next door mountain that we haven't seen yet, Huinchuli.
Photo 1 of Annapurna 1 and Huinchul
Here we are all waiting for breakfast. From left to right is Kieran, Brian, Robert, Sven, Anil, Debbie, Erica, Debbie, Kristine, Joe and Romy. The tea house smelly dog insists on sitting under the table and has to be shooed out.
Photo 2 of waiting for breakfast
Outside the house opposite an old woman is sitting on the veranda of her house sorting kernels of sweetcorn. She tosses them in a wide metal pan and picks some out and outs them to one side.
Photo 3 of woman sorting maize
We set off walking through the village of Landruck.
Photo 4 of Landruk village houses
After some initial step-climbing the trail becomes gentler and we walk through various other villages stopping occasionally to catch our breath. At one place the porters are given some walnuts straight from a tree by the tea house owner and they squat on the ground cracking them.
Photo 5 of porters cracking walnuts
Photo 6 of chickens in a basket
Photo 7 of view from a rest stop
We then have 1 hour of steep steps to climb to arrive at the highest point of the trek and a new view opens up on the other side of the mountain. The whole Annapurna range would be visible from here, but unfortunately they are hidden behind the clouds. We walk through a beautiful forest, with occasional clearings. Just before lunch it starts to rain heavily. We have to be careful not to slip on the stone paths and steps. The tread on Debbie's trekking shoes is very slippery and she has to go very slowly and even so she falls and cracks the screen of her new camera.
By the time we finish lunch the sun has come out again and we have pretty much dried off. It is an easy hour's walk to our 3rd night's tea house – the aptly named 'Paradise View'. We are almost at the end of our trek and my legs have never been so sore after walking.
Photo 8 of tea house at Champus
This is the last evening of the trek and the porters are in the mood to celebrate. After dinner they make a camp fire. They sing and play a drum and do a strange twirly kind of dance. I'm straight up dancing with them, in spite of the sore legs. Then Kieran, the assistant guide does a great dance step with a squat and a sideways hop. Soon everyone is joining in.
Photo 9 of camp fire
Photo 10 of porters singing
Photo 11 of porters dancing
The children from the tea house sit cuddled together on a table and watch us.
Photo 12 of tea house children watching
Then they sing softly to themselves accompanied by a drum.
Photo 13 of children singing
We sit around the fire while it dies down and the Irish boys pass around a bottle of local whiskey. Gradually people start drifting off to bed, but the local children are there until past midnight. Finally it's me, the Irish boys and Anil. The evening ends with them teaching our guide rude words, which seems particularly hilarious.
The next morning the mountains are still not visible. After breakfast the tea house owner presents us all with a scarf each, which is a local tradition.
Photo 14 of scarf presentation
Photo 15 of the whole group
This is the view as we leave the tea house.
Photo 16 of the view
We trek downhill and down steps for an hour and a half and eventually reach the place where the bus was waiting to take us back to Pokara. On the way this dude was particularly keen to make himself heard. Those without hangovers think this is very funny; those with hangovers, do not.
Photo 17 of man with horn
Photo 18 houses
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