Annapurnas Day 11, 12 & 13: I Heart Hot Springs

I've deciced to group days 11, 12 and 13 into one single post for two reasons: (1) they were pretty much the same and (2) I'm bored of being seated in front of the computer. During these three days we walked down the Kali Ghandaki river (nerdy tip: 'Kali' is the Hindu Goddess of destruction). We literally did walk over the river bed, which can get as wide as 1 kilometer in some sections. Doing this was mostly fun and urged us to take off our shoes now and then to cross the freezing waters.

This segment embodies some of the most beautiful villages of the circuit. To the previously described Kagbeni, one must add others such as Marpha (5*), Tukuche (4.5*), Ghasa (4.5*) and Tatopani (5+*). We spent the nights of D11, D12 and D13 in the last 3 villages. From these I would like to highlight the wonderful white facades of all of them, Tukutche's Dutch (?) Bakery and distillery (which produces all sorts of apple-derived goodies except for MacBooks and IPods <-terrible joke!); the cock battles and hot shower (+0.5*) of Ghasa; and the 'Iñaki-meets-the-Spring-again' of Tatopani. I would take some time to explain in depth why I liked Tatopani (1200 m) so much. For one, the stage to Tatopani gathers some very cool views over the valley and the highest waterfall of the circuit. Being back at a reasonable altitude -around 1500 meters- life started again in the form of blooming flowers, buzzing butterflies, and fertile rice fields. On top of all that, any trekker reaching Tatopani (in Nepali, 'hot waters') in the course of the Annapurna Circuit will experience one of the most pleasant sensations of his life: bathing in a hot spring. Oh my! that was good, yes, it felt good! I spent almost 4 hours in the 50ish degree hot water, listening to music and chatting with fellow trekkers (who by now had become some sort of nomad family). By the way, for those thinking: what a sissy boy!, check out the photos of Bodo and me bathing in the freezing river and eat that back!

In conclusion, we had reached the last quarter of the trek and we were ready for the last challenge, the cherry on the top of the cake, Poon Hill!

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He decidido resumir los dias 11, 12 y 13 en un solo articulo por dos razones: (1) los tres dias se parecieron bastante y (2) ya empiezo a aburrirme de pasar horas delante del ordenador. Durante estos tres dias recorrimos el cauce del Kali Ghandaki que en esta epoca del año se encuentra semi-vacio. En la margen del rio es posible encontrar algunos de los pueblecitos mas bellos del recorrido: Marpha son sus casitas blancas, Tukuche con su destileria de brandy y sidra, Ghasa con su ducha caliente... en fin, una gozada. Asi hasta llegar a Tatopani que sin duda alguna es mi pueblo favorito de este tramo. Existen varios motivos, por una parte en los alrededores de Tatopani (1200 m) la naturaleza vuelve a la vida, mas si cabe en primavera. Ademas, en este segmento es posible obtener alguna de las mejores vistas del valle, incluida una casacada impresionante. Por ultimo, el argumento definitivo en pro de Tatopani (en nepali 'aguas calientes') es precisamente su mantial de agua volcanica.
Recuerdo pasar mas de 4 horas en aquel jacuzzi natural escuchando musica y charlando con los otros senderistas que ya por entonces se habian convetido en una especie de familia nomada.

En fin, un primor, habiamos alcanzado el ultimo cuarto del circuito en perfectas condiciones y estabamos a punto de abordar nuestro ultimo obstaculo, la guinda del pastel, ¡Poon Hill!