around the world in 180 days

We stayed at the same hotel as Henri and the two danes again and Per told us more stories about his travels in India. He stayed in a Salvation Army hostel in Calcutta for Rs 70 a night for a dorm bed. He said he laid awake with 15 or 20 other sweaty men while junkies shot up in the corners of the room. Personally I’ve forked over the extra Rs 100 and got a room without the junkies, but then I’d never have his story, either.

The food in Marpha was much improved over the place we stayed in Kagbeni. Kagbeni is at the bottom of a hill, at teh confluence of two large (in the wet season) rivers, and we fell for a sight at the top of the hill advertising a hotel with a blue roof. “It’s a cottage,” the sign said, and, since we could easily spot the hotel’s roof, we decided to stay there. The rooms were fine, the rooms are always fine, but the food was crap. Anna ordered an enchilada and got a bowl of bean soup with a side of rice. The lady who ran the kitchen didn’t know what an enchilada was. I can’t really blame here, us beaing 15,000 miles or better from Mexico, but why put it on the menu of you don’t kow what it is?

Yesterday’s food was a dramatic improvement, some of the best so far, and today’s was even better. We’d been prepared for dal-baht (lentil soup and rice; simple but tasty) as our only option for every meal, but the menus have been quite extensive. Since the pass, we’ve seen mexican and italian food regularly. The lasagna isn’t lasagna and the enchiladas aren’t enchiladas, but they’re still good, at least everywhere except that blue-roofed place.

Tonight Anna and I are the only people (aside from staff) in the place we’re staying. It’s kind of spooky. The place is an enormous old building with a large dining room and stone walls. It is dead silent and the power keeps cutting out, which is not unusual here.

For the last two days, we’ve been seeing motorbikes and jeeps on the unfinished road that is being built to connect Jomsom and Beni. We talked to one of the lodge’s workers today and he said that they were new within the last 6 months. I can’t imagine how many more there will be once the road is finished. Right now, they all still have to be brought in by helicoptor.

It seems like the end of an era around here. I can’t imagine walking from Besi Sahar to Tatopani once there is a road to Jomsom and a road to Chame. All that will be left of the Annapurna Circuit that won’t be road will be the section between Chame and Jomsom, an 8 day stretch tha includes Thorung La, the mountain pass. Some people will like it, but it will destroy the character of the hike. Part of the experience is walking through the hills and the villages in the low country, tasting Nepali culture and life. The high altitude sections still have some culture and they of course have the fantastic mountain scenery, but it is a tough life above 3000 meters and not many people outside the tourism industry have a desire to attempt to live tha high anymore. I think fewer will be enclined to do so once there ae roads connecting nearby towns to Pokhara and Kathmandu. The roads on both sides of the pass will be completed in the next five years. If you want to do the circuit, Do it as soon as possible, before things change forever.