5416 meters!

After 17 days, Kate and I have finally returned from the Annapurna circuit. It was 300 km (180 mile) round trip through the highest mountain range in the world. At times it was grueling and resembled the news pictures of Afghanistan more than anything else, but the mountains are just majestic. The food was the traditional rice and lentils with the daily Snickers to boast our morale. The showers weren't warm and we had to do our laundry every other day by hand. It takes forever!!!! I have a new found love of the washing machine. At higher elevations, all my socks froze so I stopped doing laundry at all until we got over the pass and came back down. At the pass, the mountains on either side of us were 7500 meters tall, not that you spend much time looking when you are trying so hard to get up the hill. Some people were suffering from altitude sickness and actually rode yaks over the pass. We made a lot of friends on the way with the kind of camaraderie that not bathing for long periods of time brings. We are now in Pokhara relaxing, feasting, and getting our clothes laundered. Kate ate about 3 pizzas last night. It is kind of scary how much food she can fit in her stomach. We should head out to India in the next couple of days, but you never know. . . for now, it is simply off to breakfast.