Besishar to Bhulbhule

Last night, sleep wasn't easy. I was staying at a hostel in Pokhara and the other guests in my room had a late night, and also snored very loudly. Groggy, and hungry, I gathered any loose things of mine, grabbed my backpack, and packed everything up outside where I wouldn't disturb anyone.

The previous day I had taken a taxi from the airport to the hostel I stayed at, but it was too early in the morning today for a ride, so that meant walking to the bus station. The walk wasn't that bad, maybe 10 minutes? I felt like a fool for taking a taxi yesterday. The bus station itself was little more than a dirt parking lot behind some buildings. There was a food stand selling coffee and pastries, and boy was I starving. I bought a couple of pastries, and a banana.

Other hikers were alredy there at the bus station, and more continued to arrive as I waited. There were people of all ages doing this hike, or various others in the area. The bus driver announced which bus was for Besishar, and I walked over to it and waited. While I waited some folks joined me, and we introduced ourselves: Katie from New Zealand, Nathan from England, and Véronique from Canada. We hit it off right away, and this would be our group, more or less, for the entire circuit.

The bus ride to Besishar (the starting point of the circuit/thru-hike) was a long and bumpy one. It picked up several locals as well on the way there, some even brought furniture on the bus with them. Space got tight for a little while. It was late morning by the time we arrived. Nathan, at the behest of the rest of us, had to purchase a down jacket and some other gear that he had not originally brought with him. Luckily theres were "cheap" here in Nepal.

Finally we set off on the trail and began the circuit. The trail went up from the city and into the jungles, and crossed a very long and narrow suspension bridge over a gorge with a fast-flowing river below. As we got further along and into the jungle bright green fields of crops started to pop up all around us. The homes where the farmers lived were all vibrantly colored in reds, pinks, greens, and yellows, and most of them had bright blue roofs.

As we hiked we got lost in conversation, and ended up getting lost about halfway in. Time to bust out the Maps app. We thought we found the trail on the app, but after a short while of walking we realized it wasn't the right way. A small family of farmers were working in their field and we went up to them to see if they could help us. The parents knew English very well, and were able to point out the way. They were also excited to show their kids our smartphones.

Now that we were back on track we started walking at a slightly brisker pace. I was starting to get really hungry at this point, seeing as I had only had a couple of pastries and a banana for breakfast some 6 hours ago, but I kept going. We stopped for some water at a small waterfall, but the water filter pouch I had sprung a leak, and therefore I wasn't able to use the water filter system anymore. Thankfully Katie had a ton of extra chlorine tablets and I ended up using those for the rest of the trip.

We walked for about another hour, crossing more suspension bridges (the last of which looked like it would fall apart at any moment), and finally made it to the outskirts of Bhulbule, the village we would be spending the night in. But as we entered the village, my body decided that it had had enough and I instantly felt super weak and tired. I busted out some protein bars that I had brought with me for this first day of hiking, and we took a break on some stone steps leading into the village.

Rested, and fed, it was time to begin the task of finding a place to sleep. The Annapurna Circuit relies on a system of teahouses for housing the hikers who attempt the hike, and these teahouses are run by local families. We found one that had a nice eating area, showers, and clean-looking rooms, and we began the negotiating process. In the end the owner gave us a room for three, with a fourth mattress that they put on the floor, so that we could get a discounted rate for staying there, and since we agreed to have dinner at their place we were locked in.

What a series of events today: making three new friends right out of the gate, a long and bumpy bus ride, getting lost in the jungle, and nearly collapsing from hunger. The place we were staying at had nice hot showers though, and great food! Here's to a less eventful day tomorrow.