There was a bit of preparation we needed to do for this 9 day treck. We had to arrange the two trecking permits, ACAP - Annapurna Conservation and the Tourist Management Permit Therefore we had to go to the relevant Nepalese authorities, some 10 minute cab ride away. We arranged these permits and caught the cab back to our hotel. Apart from the gear we bought with us from home we needed additional items for the wet wheather, we bought those and we were set to go.

I have been resisting hiring a porter/guide or Sherpa as they are known. I was secretively nervous about doing this treck and my ability to keep up with an experienced trecker. I wanted to do this treck at my own pace. Leigh having trecked in Nepal some 20 odd years previously, and had some experienced of the conditions thought it would be wise to consider a sherpa, I resisted. Ingeniously Leigh steered me into a couple of trecking agencies with the encouragement of the touts, of course. I went in screaming and kicking as I was still hoping to stroll the Himalayas, but the clencher for me was providing work for a local Nepalese man to support his family (I am such a sucker for a heart renching story, lol).

The evening before our treck 14th Sept we were introduced to Sher (pronounced Shear) our guide/porter a 29 yr old who had a wife and 11 month old son. Sher assured us that he was covered by insurance and he had wet weather gear to do the treck. The agency confirmed this was correct. We repacked our backpacks one with our trecking stuff and one with our stuff we would leave in the hotel storage for our return. We also took 2 day packs.

Sher arrived at our hotel at 6am the following morning; he put his plastic bag into our bigger pack (he would carry this pack whilst we would carry our day packs). We hired a taxi to take us to Naya Pal the start of our treck.

The day was overcast, we walked down through the village and the commencement of the Ghorapani/Gandarook treck has begun. We had hardly started when Sher rushed ahead, when we caught up he had his adidas runners being stiched up by a vlllage cobbler. Oh dear were his shoes going to last the distance? More about this later.

Our trip continued, the views were magnificent, lush green vegetation, undulating hilly and mountainous teraine, rivers, brooks, waterfalls, picturesque valleys and villages, land slides, goats, oxen, cows, water buffaloes, hogs, monkies, horses, donkey, chickens, roosters, ducks, lizards, butterflies not to mention rhodadendrum forests, gum trees (yes I did say gum trees) and many other flower that we recognize in Australia, crops of rice, maize, corn, cabbage, cucumber and numerous other vegetables some unfamiliar, and leeches, and more leeches. All this was what we came across over our 9 day treck. The views were breathtaking. The photos will speak for themselves.

This treck is known as the tea house treck (some of our friends would probably call it the latte treck and would not be surprised us choosing this treck); but I can assure you it felt more like a gruelling workout, good I thought, I might shed a few pounds but no such luck the food was much too yummy. We were totally reliant on the villages to provide us with all our food and our accommodation needs. The villages tout for your business as you are walking through; hoping that you will call into their premises for a chai or lunch or stay the night. These villages rely on treckers to spend their money to support their economy. The tea houses provide work for small remote communities, while they send their own children to the private school in Pokhara. The Nepalese are very aware of the benefits of good education.

Some of the memorable events of our treck was meeting and talking to the locals including children on their way to and from the local schools. In some towns a school committee would await our arrival asked where we came from and ask for a donation towards their school. All for a good cause. On our way we also met other treckers from all parts of the globe; the most notable were Shaun from America; a music director on a cruise ship. A couple Walter and Mitchel from Holland who did the treck in record time. Walter is a nurse working in Adminstration in a hospital and Mitchel is a Financial Controller. We enjoyed these guys company and exchanged emails and later we all caught up in Kathmandu. The monsoon rains were also memorable we tried to time our breaks to coincide with this, mostly it worked but not always. The rains left the paths and rocks wet and slippery and I took a decent tumble. Our stay in Gorappani where we got our first glims of the snow capped Annapurnas, and our private cooking lesson in Tibetian bread making by our host. A memorable day was waking in Gandarook waking up on my birthday and seeing the clouds have for the first time melted away exposing the snow capped mountains of Annapurna and Fishtail (matchapuche); what a sight, we took lots of photos of the same view at different vantage points. That evening we arrived at Landrook where I ordered a special birthday dinner of roast chicken, potatoes and vegetables. We knew it was fresh as the chef came up from the garden with a big tub (I almost changed my mind about roast chook). I invited Sher to join us. He was pleased to be invited and said he would make the arrangements with the chef. Sher said I wasn't allowed in the restaurant until he calls us. "Come now" he said, he had thoughtfully arranged a chocolate birthday cake with candles. There was the owner, the chef, the local builders, an Austrian couple and Sher; 12 in total singing happy birthday. I blew out the candles and cut the cake into 12 pieces. Sher had gone to the village baker to bake the cake, a very thoughtful jesture which I was extreamly grateful for. The tea house owner gave me a beaded necklace also totally unexpected. Leigh said my birthday present was the trip to India!! Mmmm I guess I can't grumble too much. Also unforgettable was the Ulleri steps, it was like climbing the 1000 steps in the Dandenongs multipled by 10 and easier but made treacherous by the rain was the steep step decline on the last days of our walk. Also memorable were the river crossings, the landslides we had to navigate, the monkies stealing the farmers vegetables and him running after them, the villagers with their mobile phones, and the many beautiful views.

Sher rang a taxi friend of his to pick us up when we walked out at 12.30pm. We were happy to have done the treck but now we are tired and happy to get back to the hotel for a decent shower. Sher invites us to his house for dinner that evening to meet his wife and son. We shower, have lunch, buy the family some gifts and have dinner at Sher's by candlelight as the power is off. Sher lives in a very clean but modest room. The room has cooking facilities in one corner, their bed and the sons bed in the same room. We sit crossed leg on the floor and enjoy a dal lentils baht rice, and a small piece of chicken for a starter. We bought some Lindt chocolate to have as desert (all we could find as the bakery was closed).

Remember how I said earlier, Sher had the cobler mend his shoes. Here is where you come in if you wish. We are starting a 'Support of Sherpas' SOS campaign. If you have any suitable hiking boots, runners, hiking socks, clothing (thanks Jenny I passed yours on), rain coats you no longer want we will send them to Sher who will distribute to his fellow Sherpas. These guys rely on work to support their families, if we can help them with appropriate clothing we can make a difference to their well being. During the hike we discovered Sher had an infected wound on his leg, he didn't want to pay for expensive medical treatment so put up with it, luckly we had some antibiotic powder which Leigh applied, this did the trick and by the end of the treck it had completely healed. Sher had no rain coat, luckly Leigh had bought a spare one so he could wear that. These guys need our help, anyway you get the picture.

Thinking of you all at home and hoping you are keeping well.

All our love
Nella & Leigh xxxx