24 April 2014:
We started the day fresh despite the storm. We had breakfast with a tasty apple pancake and said goodbye to the friendly boy. We head for Shangye. It is already warm early and it gets a bit steeper now and then. We cross the suspension bridge to Jagat and are now at 1300m altitude.
Between Shangye and Jagat we walked over the road again, after we hadn’t seen the road between Bahundana and Ghermu yesterday. Fortunately, from Jagat the route also quickly leaves the road and we climb through a beautiful forest to Chamye. You can also continue to follow the road, but we did’nt consider doing so.
We see beautiful waterfalls, deep gorges and many bridges. We eat something in Chamye and walk between the wild growing cannabis plants to the river to cross yet another suspension bridge. There are several guesthouses in both Jagat and Chamye.
Slowly it becomes cloudy, which is actually a relief given the heat. The view occasionally borders on the bizarre, but unfortunately it is still hazy due to the burning of the old fields and therefore not very photogenic. The swirling rivers, perpendicular rock walls, deep gorges: you notice more and more clearly that we are on our way to the largest mountain range on earth.
Crossing over in Chamye we get to the other side of the river and we have a view of the road works going to Chame (these are different villages, they just look alike). This road is seriously affected by the annual monsoon rains and poor road construction knowledge of the Nepalese.
We climb the last part up, towards Tal. It is quite a climb and it feels like it brings us to the high mountains for the first time. Tal is located at about 1700m altitude at the beginning of a gorge. The river meanders quietly to Tal and has formed a wide and flat valley. Immediately after Tal, the river plunges down. In Tal there are many guesthouses and few guests (when we were there).
Today was a tough day after all. On one hand because of the heat, on the other hand because of the climbing. Today we went up about 800m which with a backpack of 20kg and a temperature of 30°C turns out to be quite intense. My wife has a large “egg” on her collarbone. We suspect bursitis. This makes my backpack a lot heavier: I take almost all her luggage with me.
Read more about my Annapurna Circuit trek:
Annapurna Circuit day 1: Kathmandu – Besisahar – Bhulbule
Annapurna-Circuit day 2: Bhulbule – Ghermu
Annapurna Circuit day 3: Ghermu – Tal
Annapurna Circuit day 4: Tal – Timang
Annapurna Circuit day 5: Timang – Dhikur Pokhari
Annapurna Circuit day 6: Dhikur Pokhari – Ngawal
Annapurna Circuit day 7: Ngawal-Manang
Annapurna-Circuit day 8: Milarepa’s Cave
Annapurna Circuit day 9: Manang – Yak Kharka
Annapurna Circuit day 10: Yak Kharka -Thorung Phedi
Annapurna Circuit day 11: Thorung Phedi – High Camp
Annapurna Circuit day 12: High Camp – Muktinath
Annapurna Circuit dag 13: Muktinath – Marpha
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