Annapurna Circuit Part 2

25 October 2008

englishdeutsch

Now some details to the Annapurna Circuit. In brackets you find the
time we walked, the hight of the destination above sea level and the
title of the soundtrack of the day including the artist:

  • Tag 0: Bus transfer Kathmandu – Bhulbule (way too long, 830 m, “The
    Art Of Driving” – Black Box Recorder)
  • Tag 1: Bhulbule – Jagat (8 h, 1.250 m, “Walkabout” – Red Hot
    Chili Peppers)
  • Tag 2: Jagat – Tal (5 h, 1.620 m, “Du riechst so gut” – Rammstein)
  • Tag 3: Tal – Danaque (5 h, 2.082 m, “Highway to Hell” – AC/DC)
  • Tag 4: Danaque – Chame (4 h, 2.720 m, “Steady as she goes” –
    Voodoo Glow Skulls)
  • Tag 5: Chame – Pisang (4,5 h, 3.180 m, “A little less
    conversation” – Elvis Presley)
  • Tag 6: Pisang – Manang (4,5 h, 3.530 m, “Bridge over troubled
    water” – Simon & Garfunkel)
  • Tag 7: Acclimatization day in Manang (2,5 h, Prakin Gompa at
    about 3.9xx m, “Daily Lama” – de phazz)
  • Tag 8: Manang – Yak Kharka (3,75 h, 3.980 m, “Run to the hills” –
    Iron Maiden)
  • Tag 9: Yak Kharka – Thorung Phedi (2,75 h, 4.450 m, “Elevation” –
    U2)
  • Tag 10: Thorung Phedi – Thorung La – Muktinath (9 h, 5.416 m respectively
    3.790 m, “Take my breath away” – Berlin)
  • Tag 11: Muktinath – Kagbeni (2,5 h, 2.800 m, “Go down” – AC/DC)
  • Tag 12: Kagbeni – Tukuche (5,75 h, 2.590 m, “Riders on the storm”
    – The Doors)
  • Tag 13: Tuckuche – Ghasa (6 h, 2.010 m, “Down by the riverside” –
    Traditional)
  • Tag 14: Ghasa – Tatopani (4 h, 1.190 m, “Buffalo soldier” – Bob
    Marley)
  • Tag 15:Tatopani – Shika (3,5 h, ca. 2.000 m, “Im Rhythmus
    bleiben” – Front 242)
  • Tag 16: Shika – Ghorepani (3 h, 2.874 m, “Stairway to heaven” –
    Led Zeppelin)
  • Tag 17: Rest day in Ghorepani (Poon Hill at 3.120 m, “Alkohol” –
    Herbert Groenemeyer)
  • Tag 18: Ghorepani – Hille (4,5 h, < 1.540 m, “Insomnia” –
    Faithless)
  • Tag 19: Hille – Naya Pul – Sarangkot (in total 4,5 h, 1.070 m respectively.
    1.700 m, “Everybody hurts” – R.E.M.)
  • Tag 20: Sarangkot – Pokhara (2 h, 820 m, “Heroes” – David Bowie)
  • And as lists are just great, here you find some items of a usual menu
    you find on the trek with an average pricing in nepali rupees (1 EUR =
    100 NRP; 1 USD = 78 NRP):

  • Black coffee: 40
  • Coke: 90
  • Muesli with apple: 120
  • Daal Bhat: 200
  • Garlic soup: 90
  • Fried rice with vegetables: 130
  • Vegetarian Pizza: 200
  • Cheese-Sandwich: 150
  • Fries: 180
  • As you can see, you have quite a good choice.

    Glueckwunsch aus Fernost

    25 October 2008

    englishdeutsch

    Wir gratulieren Matz und Chrischtel zur Geburt ihres Sohnes und hoffen, dass Mutter und Kind wohlauf sind. Willkommen, Erdenmensch!!!

    Annapurna Circuit Part 1

    23 October 2008

    englishdeutsch

    Back in civilization after 3 weeks of trekking around the Annapurnas.
    You cannot imagine how incredible the landscape is. We have seen Annapurna 1, Annapurna South, Daulaghiri, Manaslu, Fishtail. In morning light, in full sun, with snow blowing off the peaks, surrounded by stars and lit by moonlight. But the best view, not because of the view itself, but of the reward it made for us, was the view from the Thorung-La (Thorung Pass). Standing, sitting, sipping tea at 5416m above sea level was unbelievable. And it hurt. The way up to the pass started at 5 in the morning. The headaches of the previous evening that developed during a acclimatization hike where gone – thanks to Diamox and some hours sleep. But then we forced ourselves up the mountain. It’s cold, it’s still dark, you are huffing and puffing and after an hour you are only at 4800m. This will never end… We walked in snow, supported our legs with our walking poles. But the worst is that everytime you breathe close to nothing enters your lungs. There is air, of course, but it’s so thin you have the feeling that not enough oxygen reaches your lungs. And you are huffing and puffing even more. But then after 4:30h we saw a crowd of people and knew it’s only some steps to the pass. What a feeling. After catching breath it feels so much better. Okay, the headaches began again, but we knew that we would sleep lower than the 2 previous nights and the headaches will go away. Sitting on the backpack at the pass with a hot tea in the hands enjoying the feeling that we really made, did not turn back, is just great. After 45 min and some pictures with our porter cum guide Yakpu Sherpa we set off for the long descend to Muktinath (3800m). This descend hurt even more. The further we went down the better the oxygen supply get’s. But it’s poison for the knees. We had lunch an hour before Muktinath, got the temple complex shown and happily fell onto our beds at 15:30. What a day.
    The usual Daal Bhat for dinner and a night of deepest sleep followed.

    More on the whole trek follows the next days…

    PS: Thanks for all the birthday wishes! Esp. Uli! Wow! What a mail! And I had a birthday cake, 2 presents and a cinnamon roll 🙂

    Pictures

    29 September 2008

    englishdeutsch

    From now on you can see some pictures using the Bilder link on top.
    We’ll try to upload pics from time to time, which is not as easy as it might seem. Most internetcafes don’t have USB on each pc and the performance is a pain in the a** – that’s Asia.

    Beerchen?

    29 September 2008

    englishdeutsch

    This is the selection of beer companies we found in a average sized supermarket named “Wellcome Supermarket” in the city centre of Hong Kong (we only noted the companies, not the different beer types each company had):

    • San Miguel
    • Heineken
    • Blue Ice
    • Tsingtao
    • Loewenbraeu
    • Carlsberg
    • Veltins
    • Boddingtons
    • Murphys
    • Blue Girl
    • Pabst Blue Ribbon
    • Harbin
    • Brueck
    • Golden King
    • Yanjing
    • Hite
    • Kingway
    • Skol
    • Fosters
    • Budweiser
    • Kirin
    • Sapporo
    • Asahi
    • Guinnes
    • Chang
    • Tiger
    • Miller
    • Valor
    • Warsteiner
    • Hong Kong
    • Erdinger
    • Singha
    • Beck’s (alcoholfree only!!!)
    • Stella Artois
    • Hoegaarden
    • Samuel Adams
    • Efes
    • James Boags
    • Sol
    • Corona
    • Crown
    • Pearl River
    • VB
    • Taiwan
    • Sonderberg