Annapurna Circuit XXI, Eagle's Nest Guesthouse to Tatopani скачать в хорошем качестве

Annapurna Circuit XXI, Eagle's Nest Guesthouse to Tatopani

Saturday, 10 May 2025 I think last night was my best sleep yet in Nepal, despite a dog barking for hours on end. I used earplugs and slept like a baby. Suresh, our extremely jovial host, had breakfast ready for us at 6:15, as promised. Fresh kiwi juice, milk coffee, an omelet, and roast potatoes. They call roast potatoes hash browns in Nepal, but it's nothing like the nasty hash browns served in the USA. We were the only people staying here last night, but Suresh said just one week ago, they'd been close to full. The tour groups taper off in May as the monsoon season approaches Nepal. We set off at 7 am, opting to follow the NATT trekking trail on the east side of the Kali Gandaki river rather than the road on the west side. This was an interesting trail, passing through many small settlements, climbing 700' and losing 3,200'. There were a lot of stone stairs and marijuana growing wild. Had we proceeded along this path yesterday afternoon, we'd have been caught in the rain, and the stone steps would have been really slippery. We'd have had no choice but to stop at one of the small guest houses. Uncharacteristically, however, the people at some of these guest houses didn't seem very friendly. We did very well to stay at Eagle Nest. We crossed the river on a suspension bridge just before reaching Tatopani. Our hotel for the night, "Hotel Natural Spring", was clearly visible, being by far the largest and most opulent hotel in town. It was also the most expensive hotel that we stayed at, in Nepal. Instead of booking two rooms, as was otherwise our practice in Nepal, I booked one room for three people. We checked in at noon and went downstairs to order lunch. I ordered a chicken and cheese sandwich. Twenty minutes later, our lunch order arrived. I was served a veggie sandwich. How could they screw this up? I ate it anyway, as I was hungry and didn't want to wait another twenty minutes. After lunch, we retired to our room. Ken had a shower and reported that the water was tepid. I made a cup of coffee that I drank on the balcony. Then the power went out, and it started raining. We were lucky to arrive at the hotel by noon. We were told the hotel was full yesterday, but it's not busy today. Despite all the problems, it's a nice room and the power came back on. The hot water is hot, but it has to be run for quite a while until it needs to be tempered with cold water. Ken and I went downstairs for a cappuccino and a double espresso, respectively. After the rain stopped, we went for a walk around town. There are a lot of small but well-stocked stores in addition to the main attraction, the natural hot springs, which were a lot busier than the hot springs at Jagat. Having not long ago enjoyed a hot shower in our room, I felt no compulsion to soak in the commercial hot pool. As the clouds cleared, looking back up the valley, there was a fabulous view of Nilgiri South (22,438'). We made our way to the top of the hotel for clearer sunset photographs before going downstairs for dinner. Unlike lunch, dinner was excellent, and we were the only ones eating here. Our waiter was really attentive, quite unlike the waiter who served us at lunch. I ordered momos, plus I had a sizzling chicken dish in a wine sauce. Patsy had a fish thali set with dhendo, and Ken had a vegetable biryani. It was an orgy of food, and everything was really good.