Nepal: Bamboo> Syauli Bazar (m) - Annapurna Circuit and Sanctuary (25)

The unidentified bug
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There was a big storm during the night but I managed to sleep right through it. The morning started clear but by the time I had reached the abandoned ACAP post it had clouded over and was raining heavily. I stopped to put on all my waterproofs but the others made do with only their jackets so they ended up well ahead of me.

Just after I started walking again I noticed that I had a leech attached to my wrist. Stuart K was the only one with a lighter and he was well ahead of me. It took 20 minutes to catch him so he could burn it off.

Arriving in Sinuwa it dried up again. The climb up through Chomrong was therefore hot and uncomfortable. We stopped first for a chocolate bar and juice at the trekking shop. Then a chocolate danish from the bakery and finally a bowl of soup in a lodge in Dhaulu. While we were eating the rain came on heavily again.

We had started the day with hopes of reaching Pokhra that night but the rain and our appetites were slowing us down. It was nearly one by the time we left Dhaulu but it took only 30 minutes to reach Jhinu and then about the same again to reach New Bridge. I had discovered another leech on route and the constant rain and condensation on my glasses had left me more blind than on the climb to MBC.

At New Bridge we stopped long enough for me to get my contacts in. Meanwhile Stuart K and Kathryn both found leeches on their legs. Stuart had been quite calm removing  leeches from me but it was another matter when he had them on himself. While jumping up and down he singed a circle of hair on his leg and then yanked the unburnt leech off with a sharp tug leaving a profusely bleeding wound. Lynne had another panic about her belt. She thought for the second time that it was a leech.

The next section of walking was pleasant despite the heavy rain and the constant threat of leeches. We were passing through fields and farm houses and it didn't feel overly developed for trekkers. We could see the leeches swaying back and forth on the path in front of us. We couldn't stop to rest or they would close in on us. We all got bitten again and brushed off several more leeches that we noticed climbing boots. I was quite well covered up with gaiters and water proofs but I still got bitten 3 times, all on my right wrist and hand.

I was pretty knackered by the time I reached the Beehive lodge. We stopped very briefly for a coke and a bar of chocolate and then pressed on to Syauli Bazar where we stayed at the Green Valley. The food was very good, the lodge owners very friendly and there was a whole assortment of unusual wildlife to keep us entertained.

Stuart K found a bug that even the Nepalis couldn't identify. It was yellow, 4 inches long, had 4 wings, a head like a grass hopper without the well developed back legs and a rear body like a moth. It also appeared unable to support it's own body weight. This may have been due to nearly drowning during my shower before it was discovered by Stuart and rescued by Lynne.

There were also glow bugs that were much more interesting flying above the fields than sitting on our table having been swatted out of the sky by Lynne. They turned out to be rather drab beetles apart from the glowing posterior. The frogs were a bit of an anti climax even when one was caught by Lynne and placed on our table.