Day 4 - Tadapani (2630m) to Lower Sinuwa (2200m)
Trip Start
Sep 28, 2006
1
10
15
Trip End
Oct 15, 2006
Lower Sinuwa, Nepal
Saturday, October 7, 2006
There is still a lot of cloud cover. It is lucky that the weather was not like this yesterday when we were at Poon Hill or we would not have seen much. We do get a brief glimpse of Annapurna South before we leave.
We walk out of the lodge and immediately drop down steeply into very dense forest. It is not raining, but it is very wet in the forest - and the ground underfoot is very slippery - especially the exposed tree roots. 'Slow and nice' is Jagan's advice. (We try to teach him that in English we usually say 'nice and slow', but by the end of the trek we are all saying 'slow and nice' as well.)
After a while we come out of the forest, but continue to go very steeply down - passing through several small farms and steeply terraced fields - until we reach the suspension bridge crossing the Kimrong (or Kyumnu) Khola. We have travelled a distance of only 2km (as measured on the map), but have descended 700m - and it has taken us about 90 minutes (without any stops).
At this point I discover that I have unknowingly become the first leech victim in our party. The only evidence is two short parallel cuts, about 5mm apart, on my shin. I assume it must have got me as we were brushing past all the dense vegetation in the woods, had its fill (this only takes about 10 minutes), and then dropped off again. (Actually, as a result of this experience I am thinking of starting the Leech Defence League. Leeches get a bad press as far as trekkers are concerned. There are lots of articles warning about leeches in certain areas. But I would far rather be bitten by a leech than a mosquito. At least there was no pain or irritation afterwards - and leeches don't carry any nasty diseases.)
We cross the river and climb up the other side, steeply at first for a little way, but beyond Gurajun the path levels out. For a little while. Of course, this is Nepal, so the path never stays level for long. There are a few short steep sections, some of them stepped, some more of a scramble. The path is quite narrow - but the only potential hazard is meeting a donkey train coming the other way!
My map shows that the path goes no higher than about 2200m. But the landscape around here changes so rapidly that the maps become quickly outdated. Within the last couple of years a major landslide swept away a section of the path - so now we have to climb higher to skirt around the top of this area.
We arrive at Chomrong in time for a late lunch. Officially Chomrong is at a height of 2170m. However, since the settlement is spread out over a vertical range of about 300m, this figure is just a rough guide. Up here at the top of the village, we are on a level with Sinuwa on the opposite hillside - which is at 2340m. From here we can see some distance up into the Modi Khola valley. This is the valley that we will be following for the next few days - to the Annapurna Sanctuary.
Chomrong is a word in the Gurung dialect (a language quite different to Nepali) which means 'end of land'. For the past few days we have been walking through a region where people have lived and farmed for hundreds of years. As we leave Chomrong we will enter the Annapurna Sanctuary Special Management Zone. Hardly anyone lives in this region (apart from the few people who have built lodges to cater for the trekkers), wood fires are forbidden (even for the local people), and no donkeys are allowed - so all the supplies for the lodges beyond this point have to be carried by human porters.
The neat stone staircase seems to go on forever, descending through the middle of Chomrong, passing many lodges, handicraft stalls - and even a building that grandly calls itself a Shopping Centre. (Actually, it is just a larger version of the few other 'shops' that we have seen in this region - basically just a hatch that opens in the side of the building. The customer does not actually go into the shop, they just ask for their goods over the counter.) The steps become more haphazard and uneven as we finally reach the bottom - at about 1900m. A suspension bridge crosses the Chomrong Khola, a fast flowing stream which drops steeply down from the glaciers on the south side of Hiun Chuli.
Then we climb again, quite steeply up to Sinuwa. (We stay in the Sherpa Lodge, which is actually in Lower Sinuwa, or Bhanuwa, about 150m lower down than Sinuwa.) This has definitely seemed like the easiest day of trekking so far - probably because it has been relatively cool all day. The downside is that the cloud has never lifted - the cloud base staying at about 2500m all day - so we have not really had any views of the mountains.
Our accommodation for the night is definitely the best that we have had so far. It even has a western style toilet - one that you can sit on, rather than squatting. However, it still uses the Nepali system of flushing, i.e. tipping a jug of water down it!
In the evening we are asked if we want to see another group of local singers and dancers. we wait inside for them to come in - then discover that they are already waiting for us in the courtyard outside. It looks as though the whole village has turned out. The reason why they didn't come inside s obviously because there wouldn't have been room. This group is far better than the one the previous night. Each song starts in the same way - with one lone female voice singing a few lines, then the others joining in. The result - 10 or 12 high-pitched female voices, accompanied only by a drummer - is amazing, unlike anything I have ever heard before. The women, dressed in their best outfits, take it in turns to get up and dance. And then everyone joins in.
The dancers present us all with a phula - a sort of necklace made by threading flowers onto a string of cotton. We were given similar ones the previous night at Tadapani. On that occasion mine looked just about dead by the morning so I left it at the lodge. But this one is still full of colour and scent the next morning. so I carried it on the back of my rucksack for the next two days - and every time my pack brushed against something I could smell the scent of the flowers.
They have been singing and dancing for over two hours, when one of the villagers stands up and thanks us for coming to their village. He tells us that it is 5 years ago since they got electricity in their village, that electricity has made a huge difference to their lives, and that the money they have raised tonight (from our donations) will go towards the upkeep of the electricity supply. Then I remembered our walk up here this afternoon. I had noticed the electricity cables stretching up the hillside, and thought that they looked a little unsightly. But now I realised that this land is also home to a number of people. And they have the same rights to have electricity in their homes as we do in ours.
By about 10pm all the trekkers, guides and porters are heading off to bed. And as I lay in bed, I can still hear them all singing in the courtyard below.
