Annapurna Treks - Part 4

The journey to Annapurna Base Camp continues ... scroll down the postings to read/view Part 1, 2 and 3.
.

Click here to view Album 4 (153 photos) for Day 05 trekking on 2 May 2008.

Photos by KC and Weng.

Itinerary

Day 05 (reproduce from programme list)

.

After breakfast trek to Sinuwa (2,400 m) 6.30 hours Overnight lodge. This day also we have to walk many times down hills and up hills and cross the small river. We walk through the some villages as well. We can see mountain views of Fishtail, Hunchuli and Lamjung himal Dhaulagiri. It is not so hard day.

.

This is the usual orders for breakfast for a few persons: noodle, toasted bread, Tibetan bread, porridge

Breakfast at Tiffany's (No, it is at Tadapani ... with ice-capped mountain in the background)

Dr. Hamdan is leading the pack

Highlights of Day 5:
Distributing stationery at a school.
In the afternoon, trekked in heavy rain and at times, with shower of hailstones.
We started the journey at 7:30 a.m. We trekked downhill and arrived at a lodge with a field in front overlooking the valley. It reminded me of Maxwell Hill in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia that there is one bungalow with a similar field in front also. It was a long time ago when I studied in Form Two and Bee Gee’s song, Melody Fair, was number one hit song then in Malaysia.

Who is the girl with the crying face looking at millions of signs? She knows that life is a running race, Her face shouldn’t show any line….

The Team took a group photo arranged in a straight line. Later, we crossed a river and then go up the hill again to see a school in front of us.
.
Parade of the Dirty Dozen Trekkers (actually, not that dirty lah as we also take bath even when the weather is of extreme cold).
.
Weng and Lili were busy distributing the stationery to the school children while the rest looked on. It was quite a touching moment seeing them accepting the simple gift with gratitude. BRAVO to Weng, Jonathan (Outlet Manager, New Balance at Mid-Valley City) and a few team members that sponsored the stationery. Thanks to the porters who carried them there with the extra load.

Lili - distributing the stationery
.
We stopped for lunch at one lodge in Chhomrong at 12:30 p.m. - after a 5-hour trekking. While having lunch, we could see that the weather changed and the rain clouds were forming rapidly. Not knowing when it would start to rain, we started our journey again at 2pm. Fifteen minutes later, it started to rain.

The sky was dark; the rain, gaining in momentum and continued to pour. In this stretch, it was going uphill all the way. In that adverse condition, we just have lots of power to walk up the hill. At one time, it showered with hailstones. And when they hit our heads, it was quite painful.

So is Weng

After two hours (at 4pm) of trekking in heavy rain, finally, the lodges in Sinuva were within sight. The trekking shoes were all wet. At that moment, it was blowing with strong wind and the weather was very cold.

We have a unique way of drying our shoes and clothing: all were put under the dining table. Underneath the dining table, there was a gasoline burner that provided the heat. As you can see, that evening, all were sitting closely by the dining table.
.Lili and Chooi Lin - Cheerful mood at Chomrong for a much needed lunch.

Dr. Hamdan taught us a method to continue wearing the wet shoes the next day: after wearing socks, cover with a plastic bag and then insert the feet into the shoes. So I asked the lodge owner’s daughter whether they sold any plastic bags. The answer was No. So I joked that we should buy and eat more bread in order to use the plastic bag for the bread.

Do CLICK HERE FOR Part 5.

Written by KC