On our next day we descended along a series of MORE stone steps - around 2500 (!!!!!) to be precise - to reach to the crossing over a long suspension bridge, over the Chhomrong Khola River. Crossing a suspension bridge can be a bit scary, kind of wobbly sometimes, but the view is breath-taking!
After following an uphill climb to Sinuwa, we passed through a beautiful forest filled with rhododendron trees and bamboo, followed by an easier walk to Bamboo where we stopped for lunch. After lunch we continued our ascent towards Dovan, to reach our final destination for the day, the Himalayan. The trail between Dovan and Himalaya mostly went up - for a change! - but the hike through the forest was spectacular. We finally arrived at the Himalaya, our lodge for the night, which is located at an altitude of 2,630m. At this point, rooms are getting even more basic, the weather is becoming much cooler during the day and cold during the night, and almost all lodges are getting really crowded. Personally, I found this a very nice addition to this trip because it gave us the opportunity to meet many people from all around the world!
The next day, after breakfast, we left the Himalaya and headed to Deurali. The trek was through bamboo forest and then a rocky and steep trail on the final approach to Deurali. We first passed by the popular Hinku Cave (2900m) following a very unsteady bridge cross with a very angry river beneath! The state of the bridge: questionable, the water was flowing at great speed underneath, so I think my face in the video describes my exact feelings!
From Deurali the route to Machhapuchhre Base Camp (MBC) is like entering a different world. Being surrounded by waterfalls and massif mountains, the Annapurna South and the magnificent Fishtail, makes you realize the beauty to be seen in this world and how small we actually are! The Machhapuchhre Base Camp is of course the base camp of the Machhapuchhre mountain, also known as Fishtail (6993m). The Fishtail was declared sacred and off limits for climbers, since it has never been climbed to its summit.
Trekkers are recommended to stay a night for acclimatisation at the Machhapuchhre Base Camp (MBC), at 3700m.
The day ended cloudy, misty, rainy and cold, but the feeling that the Annapurna Base Camp was so close, was unreal! Couldn't resist feeling proud and at the same time a bit scared, since that was the time reaching a higher altitude and didn't know what to expect the next day.
The summit coming soon!