Day 4 – Silent In The Morning

Silent in the morning…Suspended in the trees…Lunchtime comes you've found your voice…It brings me to my knees…The volume just increases…The resounding echoes grow…Till once again I bask in morning stillness, I love so. — Phish

Saturday, April 5, 2008

1:33 pm – Chomrong – Elev. 2,155 meters

Storm clouds are rolling in even earlier today. Just heard the first crack of thunder. I'm at the Himalaya View Guest House and Restaurant for the next three days. Nima set a good slow pace for me and we reached Chomrong in a little over 1.5 hours. Plenty of photo/rest stops. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I just looked at a bunch of photos from a Polish couples trip to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). It looked awesome, yet I think I always saw such a destination as a bragging right, not necessarily a personal goal. I'll have no shortage of great photos either.

Just ate about 5 pieces of tomato/onion/cheese pizza for lunch. Very good – Nima waited until after I was done to take me up on my offer to help me finish it.

The Evening

The rest of the day was spent in a relaxed way. Around 6pm I went down to the restaurant and had chicken curry with rice and mint tea for dinner. A small group was there – 2 South Africans and a Canadian (Nancy) whose voice I'd heard in the room next to me earlier. I enjoyed their company and didn't read much of “The Snow Leopard,” a book Nancy also had with her. They had completed the Circuit trek and were on there way to ABC. I think time constraints create a greater challenge as you have less flexibility with regard to weather, feeling unwell, and just taking your time to enjoy the scenery.

On this fifth day, I am now much more comfortable with the rhythm of trekking, and am confident I could make it to ABC on my own schedule/pace.

Estimated Distance = 3km