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Machhapuchhare appearing from the
clouds in the morning |
I have to admit I woke up a few times during the night to check from the internet, whether the rain zone was moving north according to the forecast. The forecast turned out to be right. In the morning the weather was getting clear and we could see Machhapuchhare or Fishtail-mountain appearing from behind the clouds before leaving Pokhara for the starting place our trek, Phedi.
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| Endless stairs... |
The first part of the trek is just stone stairs, skilfully built. The view improved all the time, as we slowly climbed some hundreds of meters higher. All team members had learned so far some key words in nepali language: ukalo=uphill, orhalo=downhill, terso=level. The ukalo-part seemed and felt endless, but we finally reached the top and walked more or less level path to Dhampus where we stayed overnight.
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| Anna and Pokhara valley - the scenery rewards the pains of climbing... |
It was so relaxing to walk in the beautiful scenery and to meet people in their daily work - that is no way easy work, even if the surroundings could not look better!
Paddy fields were ripening and threshing of paddy was going on. There are not many machines on the hills, everything has to be done by hand.
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| Corn stored under the roof |
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| Treshing the paddy... |
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| Rescue helicopter |
It was only in Dhampus we heard the sad news: the rainfall we experienced yesterday in Pokhara had severely hit the mountains, resulting
in heavy blizzard and killing at least 39 trekkers. Hundreds were being rescued by helicopters that we saw flying above us. The weather in the Himalayas may change very suddenly and be fatal. While we were admiring the mountains being gradually revealed out of the clouds, the conditions on the other side of the mountain were worse than hardly ever during this time of year. We could confirm to our relatives and friends, as well as to the Finnish embassy sending us an enquiry, that we were safe, but the feeling was very sad for those who were not.
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| Watching the pictures... |
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| Machhapuchhare at sunset |
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| Annapurna South at sunset |
We had a peaceful evening walk in the surroundings, meeting local children and adults and doing minor shopping in the local store. When you speak the local language well, it always helps to create such a warm atmosphere with the friendly nepalese people.
I just want to thank you for sharing your information and your site or blog this is simple but nice Information I’ve ever seen i like it i learn something today. Keer lodge at Pine Lake Carnforth
VastaaPoista