After the incredibly hellish, taxing, gruelling first day of almost 9 hours of trekking, we both got up with renewed fervor in New Bridge, otherwise known as the 'Rat-hole' (due to the rat droppings everywhere). This morning we discovered a wonderful delicacy called Gurung Bread. The ethnic group of people that predominantly lived in the Annapurna region in the mountains, are the Gurung people. The main gurung hub is in Gandruk (which we were supposed to be going towards on our first day, but got lost instead). They farm corn, rice, vegetables and produce lots of dairy products; have their own dialect and are often recognised by the distinctive clothes they wear, especially this wrap-around shawl which forms two pouches and is used to carry things on their backs. Gurung bread makes for a very tasty breakfast, served with honey and is a cross between a very flat doughnut and 'elephant ear'. Yummy!
We set off at about 7 up towards Jinhu and Chomrong. It was another incredibly hot and humid day, but we had learnt our lesson from yesterday, to take it easy, take small sips of water rather than massive gulps (Triston) and also not to take out frustrations on each other (Justyna). The road up to Jinhu was through woodland, rice paddies and then down into a valley, on some very steep stone stairs. We met again lots of children along the way who would be very cute and ask for sweets or just plain simple rupees (heavily discouraged by us) and some other interesting locals who offered us everything from photos with them (for money) to selling us some ganja (widely practiced as medicine in these here parts). Although we flatly refused the medicine, Triston did on occasion agree to take photos for a small donation, saying it was at least better than plain begging. From Jihnu (1750m) we took the most impossibly steep, stone staircase up to Chomrong, which is the second biggest Gurung hub at 2300m. During this ominous climb, Triston had varying symptoms of heart-attacks, brain aneurysms, asthma, heat and sun stroke, and by the end of it was again convinced he is suffering from diabetes. I stayed pretty quiet as I knew full well how I would cope in a few days time when we would be going down the same route, which I always find incredibly hard.
Chomrong could not come soon enough for us and we were elated and then perplexed to reach the top, only to find the ACAP office permanently closed. It was at Chomrong that we were supposed to have our last check-in for safety, and enquire about the route ahead. To be honest, I really was not worried as although we were now entering 'avalanche territory', I knew this was not avalanche season (no snow apart from the very peaks) but Triston as ever the gentleman, was massively concerned for our safety and still asked every passer by about the dangers of avalanches. We decided to stop at one of the three lodges we saw at the top of Chomrong for lunch and here discovered a new gurung delicacy - garlic soup! this little bowl-full of heaven is sipped by locals to help thin the blood and prevent any types of altitude sickness.
Although we only did about 5 hours of trekking, we still felt like we accomplished a huge amount and decided we would stay the night in chomrong. T felt a bit dead after the arduous climb, so as he was recovering I went a bit further down the chomrong valley to see other potential guest-houses (as the three at the very top looked like they were close cousins of the 'rat-hole'). I was very happy I did climb quite a bit further down as we realised that Chomrong is actually quite big and has a fresh bakery, doctors, the local high school and many lovely lodges to choose from. One such lodge was Chomrong Cottage, run by a lovely lady called Sushila and her husband, which was clean, had a hot shower, a sit down toilet (though still with the nasty basket for the 'used loo paper') and delicious food. Sushila even lent us soap to pound some of our dirty clothes for a wash, and even dried them in the kitchen for us overnight during the rain storm. this was much more civilised and after a lovely dinner of garlic soup and a tomato and yak-cheese chapati, we both snuggled into our sleeping bags on a double bed, ready to face the Annapuna massif tomorrow.
(below) The Many Terraced Fileds along the way.
(below) The Adventurers with Sushila in Chomrong
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