ABC Trek Part I of III

5/13
Nayapul to Ulleri
Bus to Nayapul. Informed by a local that the conductor charged me too much for the fare while an older Nepali woman kept slapping him to hush him. I laughed and said I know. Not much I can do there. Still traveling with a cold. Worst thing and I popped all of my throat drops early on. In hindsight, definitely packed way too much.

View from the beginning

This porter was carrying almost three trekkers backpacks and was kicking my a** up the mountain.

Out of the food that I had packed, the batch of bananas luckily had to be finished early due to the hot sun and me leaning against my bag without thinking. Started strong though until it began raining. Waited it out for about 15 min until it started again 5 min later for an hour. I started feeling really cold and couldn't stop shivering all night, even after a hot shower. Plus side, met 2 sisters from NY,Lilly and Jessy. They laughed with me in my exasperation to get people to believe I'm from the US. Slept early but ended up waking up sweating. Rolled back to bed after peeling a layer to wake up sweating even more. At least my nose didn't feel as stuffed.

5/14
Ulleri to Ghorepani

The view in the morning.

This day was rough because I could feel every gram that I packed too much of. At that moment I just wanted to engulf all the food I ate and donate some clothes to the villagers. That or throw my pack away. Good thing today was a lot cooler than yesterday. I went through over 2 liters of water the first and only one today.

Typical orderly Nepali kitchen on the trek.

It was a slow and steady day for sure with a lot more breaks. I transformed into a tortoise if you will. Two minutes before I reached my destination it started raining again. Not knowing this, I waited it out again for an hour in a mountain grocery shop. Napped for a bit until I woke up to the family enjoying tea over Nepali music. Then they began peeling bamboo shoots.

The family peeling bamboo.

Thinking the girl in the family might be able to use some of my unwanted clothes, I asked if they wanted them. Confused at first but explaining that I packed too much as a solo traveler, they seemed eager to take it off my hands. Just in time for the rain to dwindle as well. I set off feeling slightly lighter and very thankful. Poon Hill early tomorrow for sunrise but looking forward to the hot spring on the way down from Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). This trek was named after me, an American Born Chinese :P.

View from Ghorepani.

5/15
Ghorepani to Tadapani
It began raining hard around 3 AM but before that I was already up from chest pain. Took some pain killers and laid back down for the time before my alarm. While climbing, I started getting sharp stomach pains, which was not a good sign for the rest of the day. Sunrise ended up a dud because of the cloudy weather.

Before sunrise on Poon Hill.

The sun peeking through the clouds on Poon Hill.

When I got around to leaving, I told myself to take it slow and steady. It ended up being a really slow day. I took an unusual amount of breaks. I felt as though I couldn't breathe at all and any slight movement would trigger a heart attack. One of the girls, Jessy, told me she had felt similar issues except the stomachaches, as did other travelers I talked to along the way. Okay so I'm not going mad nor experiencing a major health issue. However, I'm sad that acclimating to high elevations don't last very long. Eventually, the hike went downhill more and it became better. As a solo traveler, a lot of the other trekkers cheer you on. It really helped me through the day. Of course it rained today. I kept walking when it started with the rain jacket draped over my pack.

Along the way, before the rain.

It wasn't as bad with the trees as your cover but I stopped under a big rock as it came down harder. It didn't last too long and I reached Tadapani in about the same time I waited out the rain (~30 min). After a shower, I decided to play Chinese poker with the Hong Kong boys and Lilly, while Jessy was eagerly trying to finish her book. It began hailing for a bit, which was exciting. Met a German friend, Peter, that night as well as he showed us his Everest flight photos. Early to bed, early to rise to try and catch the sun again.