around the world in 180 days

We seem to be having trouble remembering that when you buy a guidebook, you do so with a purpose, i.e. to give you guidance. In India, we ignored or forgot our guidebook’s advice about Srinagar and the touts at the New Delhi train station and now, today, we ignored our guidebook’s advice on where to stop.

We covered the 7 miles between Tal and Danagye by noon and for some reason, over lunch we decided to make a go at the next day’s hike, which was about another 7 miles, to the largest town we’ve been to yet, Chame.

We should have relaxed this afternoon instead of pressing on. We should have listened to our guidebook and stayed where it suggested. Immediately after Danagye, the trail climbed 180 meters (sorry folks, do the math yourselves) up a hill that seemed endless and used up the rest of the energy we had. The whole way up, we kept thinking we were almost at the top, so by the time we realized how overambitious we’d been, we didn’t want to descend and have to climb all over again.

We didn’t quite make it to Chame. We’re staying at a brand new guesthouse in a small village about a 1/2 hour walk from Chame. We’re both wiped out and, instead of going on and doing the 10 miles from Chame to Pisang, we’re going to do the 1.5 miles between here and Chame and call it a day.

While we were climbing the massive hill outside of Danagye, I spoke with a Nepali gym teacher who was taking his students to Chame for an athletic competition, which included a bunch of track and field events and volleyball. He told us there’s also a traditional dance competition going on. It was interesting to get his perspective on Nepali life. He was taking his students on a field trip and instead of piling them into a bus, they walked. It’s a different life up here.

Nepal is extending the road from Besi Sahar to Chame, which will change this area forever. Instead of quiet little mountain towns snugged in amongst the hills, there will be larger, noisier, hill stations, stops along a road to Chame, the district headquarters, which will also grow. The traditional ways of traveling (walking) will disappear end and some of what makes this area unique will die along with it. It is sad to us, but the people who live here want the road. The want the additional tourists it will bring (even as it drives others away) and they want the increased prosperity the road will bring. How arrogant would it be for me, a Westerner and an outsider, to try to say, no, you people don’t really want this road, you just think you do? While it is incredible to experience traditional Himalayan life much the same as it has been for thousands of years, how can I expect the people who live here to want to remain the same, like some sort of museum exhibit? I can’t. I just hope that the people here manage to strike a balance between the modern and traditional ways, taking the good from both and avoiding the bad.

Tags: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, Travel

This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2007 at 9:07 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.