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November 23, 1998

"After walking about one hour, Josh had stopped 3 more times..."

We arrived back in Pokahara after 2 days and 1 night. The day began in Ghandrunk where we slept for 12 hours. in the morning Aaron made his final argument to us on why Gorapani was going to be the same level of hard walking as the walk to Annapurna Base Camp. We, in turn, laid out our reasons as to why Gorapani was going to be easier. There was no budging Aaron from his position and no budging us from ours. Finally he set off, all alone, on the four-day trek. After Aaron had left for base camp, the three of us sat and ate a large breakfast. By the time we were done eating, Josh had been to the squatter twice. Aaron walked about ten minutes down the trail and sat in the grass to contemplate his immediate future. Although he wanted to see the view of Annapurna, he, like us, had been to Gokyo, Kala Pattar, and Everest Base Camp just days earlier. As he gazed up at the trail leading high up into the mountains, he came to a new realization. As we polished off our last morsels of scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee, we saw Aaron walking back down the path. He had decided to walk with the rest of us on the shorter/easier walk to Gorapani, where the views are supposed to be awesome.

After walking about one hour Josh had stopped 3 more times. Motivation to walk was not high, in fact, it was a task not unlike pulling a Band-Aid off of a hairy leg with every step we took. Josh's condition was getting worse. Because the Ciprofloxacin that Josh had taken during the previous week's bout with a bacterial infection was no longer working, we consulted the Himalayan First Aid Manual. The symptoms suggested Josh was suffering from Giardiasis (a parasite causing intestinal disorder whose symptoms include: stomach cramps, nausea, bloated stomach, and watery fowl smelling diarrhea accompanied by frequent gas). The only antibiotics that can cure Giardiasis are Tenzidole, Fasiguin, or Metronidzole (flagyl) which, of course, no one was carrying with them, but are both readily available in Pokahara.

it was at this point that Mike selflessly suggested "for the benefit of Josh, perhaps it would be best it we go back to Pokahara." it was a relatively easy sell to everyone and with that we turned and retraced our steps back through Ghandrunk, back down all 216 flights of uneven stone inlaid stairs, back over three hours of flatlands, back up the path on the side of the hill to the road where we hailed a cab and returned to the Hotel Horizon to recover from Josh's Giardiasis. Bringing our Annapurna Trek to a close. Thank Buddha!