JamJam and LaLaLa
Nepalese language lesson😆
(oops, I thought this posted already… this is the first day of trek!!!!)
Quickly after starting the trek, Harry and I both discovered that he would say “jamjam” to me a lot. Jamjam! = Let’s go!
The first day of walking was up-up-up-a.little.flat-up-up-a.little.down-up. Lots of ups. Lots of jamjams!
On the first morning of the trek, we took a taxi from Pokhara to Nayapul. Beauty everywhere.
on the way to nayapul
And some technology… Discovery of Nepali bluetooth…
step 1: secure cell phone under hat
step 2: talk hands-free
Nayapul drop-off. And start walkin.
village on mountainside
quadruple waterfall
welcome! ACA
Hi Harry! buying oranges
houses across the way
this is through a hole in the wall of the bathroom.
restaurant view
spinach growing
dal bhat – spinach picked from garden
Dal bhat for our inaugural lunch, of course.
On the first day, we walked for a total of maybe 4 hours. Our destination on Day 1 was the village of Tikhedhunga.
road portion
i love the colors!
foggy but pretty
fellow trekkers – and a rooster
The colors are so beautiful… I can’t imagine the summertime when there are rhododendrons blooming everywhere!
As we were walking, I got to listen to Harry’s conversations on his cell phone some, and I was noticing, every time he was getting off the phone, the last thing he would say was: “La, la, la. La!” Every time. What does it mean?? “La” means “Okay”. So, I’m thinking that once I get back to the states and can use my cell phone again, when I want to get off the phone with someone, I will just say, “La, La, La! LA!!!” and hang up. Will that work?
We got to Tikhedhunga around 3pm. It was significantly colder than Pokhara! And no heat. But it didn’t matter because it was soo much fun! We stayed at a place called Chandra Guest House, and the owner’s name is Asta. He’s hilarious and treated us really nicely. His Chef was great too – he let me stay in the kitchen while he was cooking because it was the only place with any heat, even though I was in the way😊!
curry! from a REAL kitchen:)
flat stanley cooking
final product! chicken curry
we all use the same walkway
This guy is awesome (Asta, not Flat Stanley). He knows 7 languages, he’s lived all over the world… He and Harry made the freezing night so much fun😌 He shared some yak cheese with us too, which was the first time I’ve ever had any food product from a yak. Very mild in flavor.
Asta and Flat Stanley!
Sad to leave! Look at this place, it’s beautiful, and this is in the wintertime.
Hasta, Asta!
Nepal was super cold for me at night, and I didn’t get to see the rhododendrons, but I’m glad that I visited during the off-season because there weren’t huge amounts of tourists everywhere. There actually weren’t many at all. Which is good when you’re trekking – it’s not fun to hike and have people crowding around you.
Day 1 was a lot of uphill walking, including lots of stairs. But, at the end of the day, Harry told me that it WASN’T much uphill and that Day 2 would be a lot more climbing😓! Then, he said, “Jamjam!”😟 Of. Course.
Next up: More Nepal😊
Dal Bhat vs. Momo
I decided on doing the Poon Hill Trek.
It’s one of the only ones that you can do in 3 days, which is all the time I had! Honestly, I thought it might not be that great because it’s “just Poon Hill”, when an Everest Base Camp trek is available in the area as well. Buuuuut, I was wrong. It was amazing.
First though, a word on food. Dal bhat is something like the national dish of Nepal. Examples below:
dal bhat
dal bhat
The ‘dal’ part is lentil soup (top middle, in the bowl), and the ‘bhat’ part is plain rice, so it always has those two components. The rest of the dal bhat set can differ, but it usually has a vegetable curry (top left) and pickles. In the top picture, I had chicken curry (top right, in the bowl), spinach, and I think the bread is papadum. Anyway, being a fan of lentil soup (the past two years, I indulged in Lentil Sunday as much as someone would make it😁), this was a cool dish to get to have any time (it’s everywhere).
All this to say, my friend – and Guide – on my trek, Harry, is obsessed with dal bhat. At our first bus stop, early in the morning, for breakfast, what does he eat? Dal bhat! Later on that same day, for dinner, what does he eat? Dal bhat!
One thing I didn’t know at first, and is perhaps the key to everything: dal bhat is always served with unlimited portions; you can have as many helpings as you want!!! (think of the endless pasta bowl at Olive Garden, only this won’t give you an immediate heart attack). By the second day, it was decided that Harry would add a middle name, and change his full name to Harikrishna Dal Bhat Pokhrel.
The dal bhat thing isn’t unique to Harry… it’s so popular, these shirts are sold in shops in Nepal:
dal bhat power – 24 hour!
Me though? While I love the dal bhat, my favorite Nepali dish?? MOMO…. you don’t even knowknow. This is the best momo I had:
Omg, momo!
This was from a restaurant called Momo Hut in Kathmandu, Thamel neighborhood. Momo = dumplings filled with veggies, or chicken, or potato + cheese, or anything else, either steamed or deep-fried or pan-fried. I’m glad I don’t know how to get this exact same thing in Houston because I would eat this every day and have to change my name to Stephanie Lee Momo Harris. Awkward.
Enough about food😆.
With my trek details worked out by Great Visions Trekking and Harry (the best trekking guide in Nepal) by my side, I took a bus ride out to Pokhara, to spend the night before beginning my Annapurna Conservation Area journey, amongst the shadows of the Himalayas, to Poon Hill.
close to starting point in Nayapul
Next up: Walking. Mostly up.
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