Chame to Manang

The first part of this leg of the trip took us from Chame to Upper Pisang.  Chame was one of the larger towns we stayed in.  It had a decent number of shops.  The trek from Chame to Upper Pisang was amazing.  The weather was perfect.  We spent a lot of time down in a very peaceful valley, before starting to climb towards Upper Pisang.  It was hard not to just stare an Annapurna II for hours.  I couldn't stop taking pictures.  While we were sitting drinking tea, we saw an avalanche on Annapurna II.  It looked small compared to the sheer size of the mountain, but it reality it was probably a half mile wide.  Just before dinner we hiked up to the monestary where we got to see the monks chanting.

Ryan and Tom at Upper Pisang Monestary with Annapuran II in the background.

The next day we hiked from Upper Pisang to Ngawal.  This is the high pass over to Manang.  Most people take the low pass because it's a lot easier and you don't have to climb the extra elevation.  But in my opinion, to do this would mean missing out on one of the highlights of the trek.  The path from Upper Pisang to Nagwal is just fantastic.  We also had another beautiful day.  In Ngwal, there were only 3 people at the guest house.  So the family envited us to spend the evening and eat in the kitchen with them.  It felt like a very special experience that most trekkers don't get to enjoy.  The kitchen was a small room with a central wood burning stove.  We got to watch them make our food and enjoy the warmth of the fire.

Looking back on Upper Pisang on our way to Ngawal.

Tonight we are staying in Manang.  We arrived here fairly early, so we will get to do some side trips after lunch.

The food here has been very good.  I pretty much eat the same thing every day:  2 pieces of chapati bread, 2 boiled eggs and milk coffee for breakfast,  egg noodle soup and vegetable momos (steam dumplings) for lunch, and as much dal bhat as I can possibly eat for dinner.  Dal bhat is the national dish of Nepal.  It's boiled rice, lentil soup, and curried vegetables.   The locals eat it twice a day every day and it's actually very good.  It's also great to get on the trail, because it's the only item that's basically all you can eat because the teahouse owners will bring you as much as you want.  I've also taken a liking to honey tea and ginger tea.  Tom has really enjoyed the tibetan bread, which is a slightly raised flat bread which is also a little sweet.

Dal Bhat.  The  national dish of Nepal.