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Published: October 24th 2009
It was amazing up there. The Annapurna’s are really something. Early morning views were the most spectacular, as cloud rolled in most days by about 10 or 11am. It made for perfect hiking weather with the cloud cover in the middle of the day. The diverse flora was also incredible. One day hiking in sub-tropical forest and the next in alpine vegetation!
The porters are absolutely awesome. This is disciplining the mind at it’s best! I’m glad to say we did not employ the help of a porter to carry our bits along the trek (though it seemed most others did), so although we did not contribute to the livelihood of any porter’s families, we also didn’t contribute to any associated porter knee damage. How do they get up those mountains in thongs is another impertinent question! It really was a rarity to see a few porters in decent shoes. Mostly only those who were working for big trekking companies.
We took 6.5 days to hike up to Annapurna Base Camp (and another 4.5 to get down), allowing plenty of time to acclimatise to the altitude. Choosing a tea-house trek, we only took sleeping bags and a few clothes
with us. It was a bit of a bottleneck for accommodation a we neared the top. It seems there were less guest houses and also some people staying there for more than one night. The only place we didn’t manage to sleep in a room was at Machhapuchhre Base Camp, one down from ABC. We arrived there at about 10am and all four guest houses were full. I saw a massive eagle circling above.
We decided to stay in one of the guest house tents. With a mattress inside it was really warm even though we had hail earlier in the night. Afterwards the sky cleared and it was a gorgeous night sky. We woke up early for some good masala chai and gurung bread, to be on our way by 6am to get to ABC before the clouds rolled in. It sure was an amazing feeling to be surrounded by mountains on all sides. The whole trek was full of many river crossings, stone steps, interesting travelers, hospitable villages, wildlife and children asking for sweets or pens.
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Kristian Weldon
non-member comment
Hiya there.
G'day Kath. Been looking at your blog and also the pictures on Marks facebook. Looks fantastic guys and a wonderful time. I'm sure there's more to come. I totally agree with you guys carrying your own gear. It seems to be the in thing with 99% of people and glad we didn't either. Even though it is their livelihood, some of them were carrying too much weight. It was sad and I even offered to help a porter out, even though I had Kaia. Well have a ball and speak to you later. Love Kaia Lise and Kristian.