I’m currently warming myself up in front of a single space heater (okay, it’s actually just metal barrel with a fire lit inside it) in the main room of a small lodge in Ghorepani, while John Mayer’s greatest hits play in the background.
My legs are tired from another uphill day, but it’s a good tired. I suppose it’s hard to be anything but divinely calm and happy when you’ve been surrounded by mountains all day.
I thought the views from my first day were impressive, but nothing prepared me for seeing Annapurna in all her glory- especially the view from Poon Hill.
I’ll spare you the description because my words can’t do it justice, and instead I’ll share what trekking in Nepal is like so far.
The Annapurna Sanctuary is a pretty popular trek, with trekkers visiting from all over the world. Most people hire either a guide or a porter to accompany them. I chose to hire only a guide, because I have too much pride to hire someone else to carry my pack. Plus, I have a personal rule for whenever I travel: I brought it, I carry it.
I’ll share more about my guide later, because he is wonderful and deserves more than just a few lines in this post.
Anyways, you might be wondering what bougie hotels I am staying in along the way. Well let’s just say things have gotten a lot more humble since my luxury apartment in Pokhara.
Everyone sleeps in guest houses, which are plentiful along the trail. I’m used to sleeping in simple and shared accommodations from staying in albergues while trekking in Spain- but these guest houses are a new level of basic.
For reference, I’ll describe the room I’m staying in tonight.
I have a small room with two twin beds. Why did I get two? Because it’s freezing at night (there’s no heat and the walls are thin), and I figured out that if you get a double room, you get TWO blankets!
This is what I call, “Strategerie.”
I also have the luxury of having a bathroom attached to my room. (Yesterday I shared a bathroom with an entire floor, hence the excitement.) I’m not sure that I would usually call an ice cold bathroom that has a metal sheet for a door and a window that can’t close a luxury, but the shower had warm water and that was all that mattered today.
All in all though, it’s not bad. Of course, it’s a gentle reminder to be grateful for everything I have back home, like heating and outlets, but I’m too in love with the Annapurna Sanctuary to mind.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to bed in the cocoon of blankets I have crafted for myself.