Tatopani to Gorepani: 1800m up!

Tatopani is the hometown of the oldest man who ever stood on Mt. Everest. 
Quite probably some of his lifelong training was done on the steep trail that goes up to Ghorepani      (meaning "Horse Water"). The 1800m are mostly paved with stone slabs. We halved the trek and stopped overnight in Sikha. On this part of the trek one passes through different peoples' territories: frist Thakalis in the valley, then Arian Bahmins (women in red dresses), then there are a few villages with Magar population. Accordingly there is a change in languages and house styles.
 

 

Begging Saddhus on the way to a festival in Damodar Kunda, Upper Mustang.

Rice has just been sown on the wet fields.

 

These rice seedlings will soon be transplanted by hand into the flooded fields.

 

Kids on their way to school

Houses are built from stone and mud.

All along the Annapurna Trek one finds attractive lodges.

Toilets sometimes meet international standards, eastern and western.

Sika village after the obligatory afternoon rain

 

Wire cages will be filled with stones to stabilize mountain sides.

 

Tree-growing orchid in the wet forest

Ghorepani (a little under 3000m)  has several excellent lodges, in fact hotels.