Before even beginning to hike the Annapurna Circuit, I took a 9-hour bus ride to Bhulebhule. We were scheduled to go even further, but I was so tired of being in the bus and so eager to walk in the emerging mountains that I asked our guide if we could get off early and walk the last bit. The result was a peaceful amble through the waning day to our first guest house, in Ngadi. Though the sun was setting when we got there, it was worth it to stretch our cramped limbs. We strolled through a couple of Hindu villages before arriving at our accommodation for the night. Since the route follows an old trading road, the tea houses along the trek have been accustomed to hosting travelers for centuries. As such, they are uniquely supplied for modern-day trekkers, offering simple bunks and carbo-loaded meals. And of course hot tea, the black and lemon varieties of which I developed a liking for in Nepal.
These local buses would be my home for much of the day as we traveled through the dusty countryside to the Annapurnas, a bumpy, twisty nine-hour ride.
My fearless guide Pasang, a persistently cheerful and knowledgeable Nepali who smoothed over countless wrinkles along the way.
Each village has its own way of stacking hay. This one created mounds on slight perches, under which they would later stack firewood. The steep hillsides are terraced here, like in much of Asia, to maximize usable land.
Corn is pinwheeled to a pole for drying. From time to time, we would have fresh popcorn for a snack, made from the kernels of freshly plucked ears.
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