Nepal: Chiule> Bamboo(2335m) - Annapurna Circuit and Sanctuary (22)

Preordering breakfast ensured we managed to get up but the sky was even more full of cloud than it had been the night before. We were off before 8 and were soon hot and sweaty even though we were heading down hill.

Crossing the Kimron Khola we then had a hot and sweaty climb and were soon soaking. I had been stiff and tired on the descent but now half way up the hill I suddenly felt revitalised. Walking wasn't really that difficult even if I was carrying a heavy bag, uphill in very hot muggy weather. I don't know what caused the change but for the rest of the day I hardly needed any rest.

We passed through a few places on our way East. In one village there was a ceremony of some kind going on. The village was full of people who looked dressed up for the occasion. The men all seemed very happy and friendly. In the middle of the village sheets were laid out on the road with lots of food set out on top. There were bowls of rice with burning incense sticks planted in them. In Korea this is an offering to the dead but everyone seemed too happy for a funeral.

I didn't want to walk through the middle of the ceremony so asked someone how I should head to Chomrong. He indicated that I should just walk around the sides of the sheets. As I went, a wailing woman was led out of a building by an older women. I skipped past quickly unable to decide if I had just walked through a funeral or a wedding that everyone but the woman was happy about.

A few hundred meters beyond the village a group of lads were sitting with two dogs. One of the lads was masturbating his dog. He asked Stuart K if he wanted a banana. Very weird!

Today is of course Lynne's birthday. She had completely forgotten. We had planned to try to surprise her if we could find a candle but she suddenly remember while walking down the rail. we didn't really do anything to celebrate but she did get a diet coke later in the day.

We reached Chomrong by 11am where we stopped at an excellent bakery where we got freshly baked chocolate danishes. We then went for pizza. The Chomrong Guest House was famous for pizza but the owners seem to have moved just up the hill to the Chomrong Cottage. The pizza were a long time coming but worth the wait,

It's a long drop to the bridge across the Chromo Khola and then a steep hard climb up the other side. A Kiwi asked me if I had had any days of trekking tougher than this. I told him that I had climbed 17 thousand meters in one day from Tatopani to Ghorepani. I didn't notice my slip for 5 minutes. I had claimed to have climb twice the height of Everest in a day.

Passing through Bhanuwa two trekkers who had stopped for the day asked me if I could deliver a note to a lodge in Sinuwa. They had been asked to take it themselves but has stopped early for a much needed rest. They, like us, had just finished the Annapurna Circuit.

Even with additional postal duties, today's high energy levels meant that I made it to Sinuwa from the bridge in only an hour. The others arrived over the next 10-20 minutes in which time my shirt had been invaded by an ant which bit into my back a couple of times before I could fish it out. We stopped in Sinuwa for a drink before pressing on again.

Still moving quickly Stuart K and I made it to bamboo in only an hour, stopping only to dunk our heads in a stream. Arriving in Bamboo the lodge owners accused us of walking too quickly. We were soaked in water and sweat.

Trailblazer strongly recommends the Buddha Lodge but the name is actually the Buddha Guest House. Not much of a difference but there are often places with near identical names right next to each other so we had to check the rest to be sure. Lonely planet also claimed that both places existed. The recommendation is well deserved as the shower is excellent, the food very good and the owners friendly.

I generally think that the trailblazer guide is superior to the Lonely Planet Trekking Guide (LPTG), the maps are especially good, but it has some problems. If you are doing the circuit then after Thorung La all of the information is given backwards to accommodate the Jomsom Trek. This is ridiculous and makes the guide of limited use for anything other than choosing where to stay and getting a vague impression of your route. This is the same in the LPTG. From Ghorepani the route is at last described in the same direction as we were travelling in but the route to Chomrong is actually described much more clearly in the LPTG. It would be nice if they could sort this out for the next edition.