I woke up yesterday, feeling defeated. I came to Nepal completely unprepared to be climbing stairs for hours on end. With my heart health scare in April and lingering issues from last year’s Iceman, I didn’t put in the work to be ready for all the climbing. The altitude was not a huge issue, as I had been sleeping in an altitude tent for most of three weeks prior to coming to Nepal. I also was not prepared to be doing all that climbing in the heat of the jungle.
I woke up Friday morning and told the rest of the team that I needed to go down, not three more days of up. Marcelo was supportive, citing my standing by during his health issues before the trek.
Of course, we had to climb steps to the top of Chhormrong before we could head down for two hours. Our guide stopped us for a couple of breaks on the way. We got to the end of the road at Ghandruk early, just after crossing a 284m suspension bridge, and had to wait for a jeep.
To say that the jeep ride was one of the craziest drives I’ve ever taken would be an understatement. We were at a dead stop twice, with everyone out of the vehicle because there were 2-wheel drive vehicles spinning their tires trying to drive up a 2-track that might be rated black diamond on mountain bike trails in Michigan. It was bonkers. It took us 2 hours to reach the Annapurna trekking registration office where we had started five days earlier.
The plan was to leave Pokhara at today, flying back to Kathmandu, but it’s Saturday, so all the flights are booked solid. Alpine Ramble had put us up at their normal Splendid View hotel, in the biggest, top floor room, but, of course, now it’s Saturday, and they don’t have any room for us for a second night. Marcelo worked some magic with his Brazilian version of booking.com and now we are waiting for our room to be ready, enjoying the lake view from the top floor lounge at our new hotel.
Our flight back to Kathmandu is booked for 8am on Sunday. Unless plans change.
