What do you expect from your vacation?

Review of the Himalayan trek "To the Heart of Annapurna" in November 2011

What do you expect from your vacation? From a long-awaited vacation? Personally, I’m looking forward to as many impressions as possible! Before traveling, I never study the country where I will fly, preferring to find out everything on the spot. And finally, we flew... to Nepal! We couldn’t even imagine what it would be like there and where we would end up. And indeed, we did not expect this, there were many impressions, since we found ourselves in another world...

The first thing that shocked us was the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu. About 10 million people, no metro, no high-rise buildings, dirt, dilapidation, no traffic rules, monkeys, sacred cows, crowds of children and many temples

Many residents do not have electricity, many have holes in their walls, and yet the Nepalese themselves are not very worried about this. Multi-colored flags hang on the houses, girls are dressed brightly and beautifully, multi-colored flowers grow, everyone smokes weed, and no one worries about anything.

Very spicy and hot food, colorful bright buses, the rich smell of incense - there are many little things that stand out against the background of the general “ruin,” sometimes even too much.

The local life of people is completely subject to religious laws. Most Nepalese preach Hinduism, the rest - Buddhism. Nepal is the only country in Asia where pagodas are Hindu temples, not Buddhist ones.

The further, the more interesting. From the city we find ourselves in the jungle. A real green, bright, living jungle. There are deer, monkeys, land leeches and God knows what else. The indescribable damp smell of the Nepalese forest will forever remain in our hearts.

There are settlements in the jungle. Residents treat tourists favorably, since we bring them a good income. In almost every village you can find a roof over your head and food. You won't go hungry, even though 90% of Nepalese are vegetarians. A variety of dishes from vegetables, rice, potatoes, eggs will not leave you indifferent. However, everything has its price. The higher you go in the mountains, the more expensive everything is. This is especially true for clean water.

There are paths through the jungle, no one can go there except people and mules, so the delivery of things and food takes place with the help of specially trained people - porters. Using bandages, they tie a load (20-40 kg) onto their heads and drag it from village to village. Buddhist flags with prayers are hung along the roads. Buddhists believe that by fluttering in the wind, the prayers on the flags are recited and gain power. Also, this saves many from learning prayers by heart; Buddhists also have prayer wheels for the same purpose. I spun the drum and prayed.

The closer to the target, the colder it gets. The air becomes drier, the fog dissipates, the jungle remains in the valleys, and the steps become steeper with each new ascent. Especially for rest, stone ledges have been built along the entire route, where porters can leave their luggage and tourists can leave their backpacks. And at the same time, with every meter, my legs hurt more and more, and the amount of air is slowly decreasing. But we are confidently approaching the goal. And our efforts bring results, soon we see a piece of where we are going. We see the tops of the mountains.

However, to the foot of the first conquered eight-thousander (Mount Annapurna 8,091 m) there is still not a single day of travel. We are rising higher and higher. The weather turns from wet and unpleasant to hot. Everyone starts covering themselves with sunscreen and putting on sunglasses. During the day the temperature is +25, at night - -10 C.

The higher you go, the worse the living and food conditions are: only cold water, expensive food, lack of heating and other amenities. But you firmly believe that it's worth it. And finally, the day comes when you make the final push and climb to base camp. What you see around you makes you think that you are ready to rise a million times higher just to see it all.

Looking at the mountains, you understand that man will never be the “king” of nature. The mountains are grandiose, magnificent and unconquerable. The highest point we visited was 4,400 m, and giants stood above us, practically blocking the entire sky. Annapurna city - 8,091 m, South Annapurna - 7,219 m, Machapuchare (a sacred mountain forbidden to be conquered, also known as “Fish Tail”) - 6,997 m, etc.

I didn’t want to go back, but time was running out and it was time to leave. Descending into the valley, we discovered another small miracle of the Himalayas - hot springs. We splashed around like children, rejoicing at the presence of warm water, and cute monkeys warmed themselves on the rocks next to us.

The natural beauty of Nepal is amazing. There is so much here that your eyes run wild, and you don’t know where to look so as not to miss anything. And not only nature, but also animals. What is noteworthy is that pets (chickens, kids, rams, cats, mules, etc.) are not at all afraid of people, they can be petted and played with.

At the end of our trip, we went to Buddhist and Hindu temples. The biggest impression, of course, was left by the Pashupatinath Temple (Hindu Temple). Nepalese believe that human life is fleeting, that it is only a step towards a better life that will come after death. Therefore, the material side of their lives is not of fundamental importance. The main thing is spiritual enlightenment. And then in your next life you can be reborn into one of the five sacred animals (dog, cow, snake, monkey or deer). To do this, you must not pay attention to the lack of amenities in life, and at a minimum you must be burned on the banks of the river flowing through the temple territory.

Since this is very honorable, people gather here in advance and line up for cremation. Since people spend most of their time praying there, the entire temple area is filled with smoke from incense and bonfires.

Within the temple there live sathus (saints) who have dedicated their entire lives to Hinduism. They pray for everyone, smoke weed, and are considered one of the most important people in the temple.

After visiting this sacred place, I was left with an unpleasant impression, perhaps if there was no smell, everything would have gone much easier, but... The next temples were Buddhist, and there we breathed easier. There were no fires, dirt, or emaciated old people. The Buddhists greeted us with freshness and bewitching chants.

Leaving Nepal, you understand that you will never accept their way of life, their way of thinking. And at the same time, you passionately want to return here, if only to eat incredibly spicy rice, and take another look at the two-pointed peak of the unconquered sacred Mount Machapuchare.

Anna Padutova, Belarus.

Rating: 5