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Himalaya high Treks here weave amid the world’s highest peaks
NEPAL
Linda Dale and her friends traveled to Nepal with Audley
L
inda Dale, Ann Brown and Maggie Edwards have returned from their adventures in the Nepalese Himalaya. Here are some diary extracts from part of their five-day mountain trek in the foothills, which took them on a loop from Pokhara through the Annapurna range.
FRIDAY, MARCH 23RD
Sun was forecast for today, so we made an early start to escape some of the heat. By 7:30am we were on the steep staircase up to Himalaya Lodge Ghandruk, 6,500 feet
above sea level. The sun was going to be strong and our legs certainly had to be too. When we booked this trip, we said we wanted a challenge, and we were certainly rewarded with one. Looking up as we trekked was not an option, as the sight of rows of steps fading into the distance was somewhat discouraging. It was always best to look out across the river, which gradually became smaller. The vastness of the mountain slopes became more and more apparent, and at times the scale and beauty was almost too much to take in.
We saw monkeys, an owl and an eagle, and watched advancing mule trains as they managed their staggering loads on the unstable scree of the pathways. As we climbed higher, the people seemed more wearied, more sun-lined and stooped in their daily battle to maintain shelter, food supplies and warmth in such a beautiful but harsh environment. We reached our destination of Himalaya Lodge after seven hours. The mist had already settled and as we fell early into bed aching and exhausted, my mind kept
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