Day 8 - Besishar to Tal - and so the walking begins!

We had a good night's sleep in Besishar and in the process of getting ready for breakfast, when Lille came knocking on the food and informed us that he had found a ride for us. A guy was going up the valley with a load of supplies, and we could squeeze in the 4x4 twincab with some locals, so no time for breakfast, the guy was out the front. He then stopped at the far edge of town and picked up the locals and off we went, four across a back seat built for three  at a pinch, he had three passengers in the front. I still don't know how he changed gears!

All packed, ready to go

Mule team

Last stop

Sayange

The vague track that headed into the mountains was the roughest track I have ever seen. Every now and then we would come across a broken down jeep, all the same type as our ride. At one stage, our driver tried to help a mate you had broken a front spring. In the first few k's, we passed a new hydropower station and a dam under construction, both by the Chinese, it would seem that no workers were locals, all Chinese.. Washouts and large boulders are constant obstacles on the road.

After about three hours we pulled into our first real Annapurna village, Sayange. Perched on the steep slope of the valley and sitting just above the Marsyangdi River, it's a typical village of the trek and my first real taste of the region. The handful of teahouses and homes are all brightly painted and very quaint. The jeep pulled up at a larger teahouse  and we piled out, this was our final destination. The teahouses all use the same menus, with set prices, this is to stop profiteering. Of course this doesn't stop there being variations in the quality of the food. I had a wonderful pancake and instant coffee, Jules had omelets, not a bad brunch in such a remote location.

And so the walk begins.....The trail heads up river, high above the bank, twisting and turning, following the contours of the steep valley sides. Every time you go uphill, you soon go down again, not as much, so that slowly you again height. For the most part, the trail is not too steep, but the are stretches that are backbreaking, especially with a fully loaded pack. Every now and then there are truly grueling very steep climbs, you get to the top gasping for air, pack feeling like lead.

Jagat

An hour and a half into the walk and we are at Jagat (1300m), a stunning village with great views. You wind along a narrow street, the houses overhanging the road. On the far side of the village, we stopped for lunch, vegetable noodle soup. Off again, passing an amazing waterfall that hurtles down the mountain side

At Chamje we crossed the river by an amazing swing bridge, maybe 100 meters long and so high above the raging river that the less said the better. Once across the river, we followed an old narrow porters track that hugged the cliffedge and just kept climbing and climbing. After we reached the top of the path, we came across a Belgium and a Nepali, we sat down for a chat and it turns out that they are the author's of one of our guide books. They are a couple and have been feeling the region for 30 years. Great characters and full of insightful info.

Another bridge crossing

One of the many happy goats

The famous guidebook writers

Lamjung to Tal

Tal valley

Tal village welcome gate

Tal

Tal (1700m)

After much up and down climbing we came to a ridge that overlooks Tal and before us was our days destination. Tal is quite amazing, at this point the river valley goes from being narrow and steep to a wide open valley with the river broadening and a there is a wide beach of the finest sand, perfectly clean. It's all down hill from here into the village, thank god! Towards the far end of the village we got a room with hot shower for 400npr at the oddy titled Mona Lisa Hotel. We were the only guests, the village is almost empty. Across the street is the clean water station, he had only two other customers all day.

Our room view in Tal