Royal Trek... mostly.

A little background. This is also known as the Annapurna Skyline Trek. In 1980, Prince Charles hiked this loop and hence it is now known as The Royal Trek. The locals are incredibly proud of this fact and you will hear it several times if you come to the area. This trek winds through the jungle foothills, just south of the Annapurnas.

To begin with, I'd like to say that we got lost. Terribly lost. "Off the map," kind of lost. That will come much later though, you are excited for it, eh? We chose this trek as a warm up before the Annapurna Circuit. Being 4 days long and low elevation, we could figure out what problems we needed to change before a much longer trek. Also, we could get used to carrying heavy packs without also dealing with altitude illnesses. Good thinking...

I (Krissy) will be writing up day 1 and Kevin will do days 2/3. Then a technical notes write up will come after for people needing beta only. Alright then,

Day 1:
We woke up earlier than expected allowing us to hit up a local bakery for breakfast. After eggs, toast, potatoes and milk tea, we got our bags from Holy Lodge (our kick ass hotel) and hopped in a taxi headed for the start. I had heard about the crazy buses in Asian countries but this car ride put those stories to shame. Kevin and I sat in the back with my bag, Kevin's bag was on top, we had a driver and sitting shotgun, the driver's son. Once we hit the highway, our driver started making phonecalls. No problem? He was swerving in and out; using the opposite lane of traffic to pass buses, motos and other slower moving vehicles. For a while we were in fourth gear. Kevin mentioned not liking fourth and although I was amused, agreed. Can't say I like traveling quickly towards the flat front of an oncoming bus. The driver now, speeding along, hung up his phone and pulled out a hanky. "Babu," he said, meaning son in Nepali, and proceeded to blow his son's nose. What multitasking!

At the drop off (8 AM) we were told to follow a man to Kalikasthan. Instead we grabbed our bags and took off at a furious pace, leaving that man behind. We specifically didn't hire a guide for a reason. The initial hike involved road climbing out of the rice flats and high up into terraced hillsides. We agreed that the area reminded us of Hawaii's steep, vibrant hills. It was gorgeous and amazing to see what people can make possible on those hills. Each person we passed offered a "namaste" which we repeated back. On occasion, people who knew English would say more. It was friendly, inviting and fun. Then children started saying, "namaste chocolate." I was flattered by the offer of chocolate but refused. I couldn't take chocolate from a child! Later, Kevin said they were asking FOR chocolate. The nerve! I don't even know them! No you are not getting my chocolate!

The first large town we arrived at had signs reading Kalika. It was only 10 AM and we hadn't seen a campsite anywhere. Were we in Kalikasthan? Technically speaking, the name means "town of Kalika," we continued on. With no one to ask and tons of time, we strolled on through. We walked and walked. Getting namaste'd everywhere and seeing camping nowhere until we were about 4 hours out. Was this Kalikasthan? Two little boys, Shuman and Subot, told us that people sleep there. Next thing we knew, Shuman was yelling something about just having seen a tiger go into he woods. What? Tiger? Hand signals and grr-ing noises confirmed what he said. We didn't believe him but decided to press on anyway. With so much daylight left, why not? A man spotted us looking at the map confused. He informed us that we were in fact in Ohkle (pronounced Oakley)...much furher than Kalikasthan. Awesome! The next town was Sagre, known to have tea shops. We continued on with milk tea in mind.

The shop owner in Sagre spoke broken English and told us about his brother who lived in Washington DC for 5 years. I could not imagine taking anyone from this remote corner and putting them in any US city. The tea was delicious and sweet. Milk tea is like a toned down chai tea. He also told us of guest houses up ahead and so we continued on, once again.

At this point, the afternoon sun cooked us. The road got rockier, literally, and steeper. We were exhausted, thirsty, and ready to set up camp. The spot we selected was in an old terraced hillside, away from the road and overlooking the Madi Nadi Khola (kohla means river). It was shady and in the morning would have views of the Annapurnas and Machhapucchrre (pronounced machapootray). We were relieved and happy despite having about 1.5 liters of water between us. We got in the tent then there were noises from the brush. Phew just a few ox. "If I didn't see another person today, I'd be so excited," Kevin said. I agreed, "yeah, don't think anyone is going to find us out here!" Then there was more bush rustling. "What is this," I asked, "safari camping?" two boys emerged. The oldest of the two, I can't remember his name for the life of me, told us we couldn't camp there. Tigers come up to hunt ox and would maul us in our sleep. Safari indeed! He insisted we come home with him. Wide eyed, we quickly broke down the tent and packed away our stuff. Who are they and can they be trusted? I was skeptical on the tiger comment but that was the second time tigers had been mentioned in one day. We followed the two boys and their 6 ox over road and footpath to a mountain top oasis.

His family and community members were amazing. He spoke English the best and did all of the communicating. We were surrounded by children who were so curious. His niece, Sundicha, was three and adorable. She and I quickly became buddies. We played chase and I shared my sunglasses and water with her. Neighbor boys Sungam and Altam and several others directed questions to be translated. It felt like the best family atmosphere. The community grew food for eachother and helped eachother. They had ox, goats and chickens near by. I was told that everyone there liked my name because Krissy in Nepali means very happy. Fitting. Soon enough, we were being referred to as didi and daai - older sister and brother. We were given a delicious meal of dal bhat, chicken and potatoes, prepared by Chisnumaya - our host's mother. If you are offered milk, say no. We said yes to be polite and were given yak milk. Sour and tangy at best. We chugged it to expedite the suffering. We also drank the water. Didn't want to insult anyone with our Steri-pen. After dinner, Chisnumaya seemed upset and asked why we didn't eat all the food. We felt bad but there was so much it wasn't possible. We went to the guest room and were shown goofy Nepali videos. Our host spoke about World Vision, an organization helping to provide water and toilets to people in the area. He hoped that in bringing guests to his home, people could help eachother. He helps guests be safe, and in turn guests help bring modern changes to the area. It was incredible that this 20 year old boy could see the world like this, I help you and you help me. Simple and right. Given, we ended up paying for our stay, but in that one evening (tigers or no tigers) we were safe. We learned a bit of Nepali and taught a bit of English. Everyone benefitted from the situation. It was random and wonderfully strange.

Day stats: hiked 7 hrs. Saw zero tigers. Drank lots of tea. Handed out no chocolate.