Thursday 7th March

There is a small orange glow coming from the shelf of a first floor room of the house across the road. The rest of the village is in darkness now (and it’s only 9pm).

Tonight we are staying on the edge of Danakyu, at 2300m. The area is forested with fir and pine, the fresh resinous smell hit me immediately. The people here obviously use a lot of timber, going by the huge, neatly stacked wood piles around the village; and the stuffy smell of wood smoke coming from the kitchens.

On the whole, burning wood is discouraged, especially if it’s to provide hot water for trekkers. There is mass deforestation in the Annapurna area and everyone is encouraged to burn kerosene instead of wood. This village appears to be the exception, probably because they have an abundance of trees and seem to be managing them well. This is why it was strange to see the single light burning – it was kerosene.

<a href=”http://www.facebook.com/HimExpArchResTeam“>www.facebook.com/HimExpArchResTeam</a>