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The Great Trek Begins........................
Day ONE Pokhara to Dhamphus...STRIKE DAY Team 'Anna' (GP,Guy,Me) left most of our luggage at our little guest house and walked to meet Ling, Annie and their Porter Lal for one last coffee before starting the 20ish km walk to the official start of the trek...(strike still going)
The 'warm-up' walk was quiet and reasonably flat, and with no vehicles about, our little gang marched proudly down the centre of the roads.
Along the way we met with Chickens on a Bicycle (on their way to the big roost in the sky), lots of excited kiddies (the schools were closed too), and the odd Water Buffalo (with a hint of furry Yak).
Before long the heavens decided to open and we quickly donned ponchos and cagoules, and for a moment we realised the true nature of things to come...
Arriving at the true start point of the trek we grabbed a quick bite before ascending a massive steep flight of stone stairs (soon to be a very familiar sight), with legs burning we made our way through picturesque terraced villages, up yet more steps, past garlic, potatoes, corn and plenty of
free range chickens.
At the top of our first hill we were able to see the magnitude of the task that lay before us...far in the distance rose beautiful snow-capped mountains....but they were at least 6 days away.
So we concentrated our efforts and made it to the first of many rustic, friendly Tea Lodges that were to be our 'hotels' for the duration.
Revived by a fabulous hot shower, and still with mountain views we relaxed and enjoyed hearing trekking stories from an older Swedish gentleman staying at the Tea house who had a lifetime of mountains to tell us about.
DAY TWO Dhampus to Landruk Up in time to see the sunrise we fuelled up on hot porridge and tea, stretched our sore legs and set off for our next destination...about 5 hours away.
Our gang soon began to find its own pace, the boys out front and ladies valiantly bringing up the rear, marching through trees, glades, and moss covered hillsides. Every turn round the hillside offered a different vibe, we had stepped back in time to stone built cottages, yak powered farming (complete with yoke for ploughing) and smiling friendly
Nepalis, greeting us with the traditional 'Namaste' as we passed by.
Soon we descended to the valley floor and had to cross the first of many rickety bamboo and wood bridges over the river.....
In true Liffy-style, I was more than a little hesitant about taking such a leap of faith, when GP offered me the phrase 'suck it up princess', and thats just what i had to do.....slightly shaken we all made it across safely, and I think most of us realised that this journey would need us to dig deep both mentally and physically if we were to be successful.
Stopping for lunch in a small village, we enjoyed yet more stunning views, and a laugh as Guy's carefully placed back pack fell off a wall to a field of garlic below, and he had to scramble down to retrieve it watched by a giggling crowd.
Just a few(!) more flights of stone stairs and we had made it to our second overnight spot....another lovely tea house, sadly no hot shower, but we did sample the local brew Raksi (bit like rice wine) and that certainly was warming if not particularly to our taste!!
Having a communal dining room, the tea houses are fabulous places to meet other trekkers,(normally when we pass each other on the route everyone is too puffed out to enjoy more than a quick chat) and at this lodge we met a lovely English couple and passed the evening chatting with them.
We once again stretched, and munched before going to bed at about 9pm, with Lal our lovely porter making sure we had enough blankets we had a cosy night all round.
DAY THREE Landruk to Jhinu Danda Awoken at about 4.30 am by some rather enthusiastic fellow trekkers, we breakfasted quickly and headed off to our next destination, Jhinu Danda ( famed for its hot springs we couldn't wait to get there)
This started as an easy day, and we were able to enjoys the many butterflies, streams and waterfalls along this mellower gorge-like section.
The temperature, altitude, and steepness changed with every twist and turn, creating micro-climates, that meant one minute we were surrounded by tall trees and ferns, and the next colourful rhododendrons and orchids decorated our path...truly beautiful, and a wonderful distraction for sore legs, and tired
feet.
Soon enough the day became another workout for our thighs as we made it to the foot of the final climb of the day...... probably no less than an hour of solid, unrelenting stairs... we arrived hungry and exhausted, but were soon cheered up by possibly the most delicious veggie burger in Nepal.(GP still talks of them fondly)
Due to our hard work and fast pace we had plenty of time to head to the gorgeous hot springs where our aches, and pains melted in the steamy natural spa.
Boys being boys, Annie and I had the pleasure of watching all three males in our team prove their macho by plunging briefly into the glacial river before jumping back into the super heated water of the spring...Ling wins the prize for best facial expression on re-entry to the water!!!
In the village Annie and I each bought a funky Tibetan Yak wool hat, (practical and pretty) and after a second helping of yummy veggie burger for dinner ( how could we not?), we called it a day, at about 8pm (our bedtimes seemed to get earlier and earlier as we got
further into our mission).
DAY FOUR JHINU DANDA TO BAMBOO Good grief this was a steep one!!
After a quick sweet coffee we bravely set out on what I considered the hardest day, never ending stairs going up up up, past terraces, and smallholdings, always with a mountain backdrop, to the next small village where we had a well deserved break for breakfast.
After loading up on essentials, (toilet roll and powdered squash, and pain killers) we then walked down the other side of the hill........we marvelled at the smiley school children who seemed quite at home on these stone stairs, joking as they skipped effortlessly past us...one guide told us "you have to be born in Nepal to be Nepali fit!" i quite agree.
Next we found ourselves having to make way for a 'procession' of horses and mules carrying enormous loads down to the next villages, it was a stunning sight, colourful reins, and clanging bells adorned each and every animal, making it more of a carnival than supply delivery!
The route the changed again and instead of a well ordered stone path we found ourselves on a rocky mountain
trail, with ever increasing amounts of bamboo growing alongside...all the way to a village called, you guessed it "Bamboo"!
Unfortunately the path wasn't very kind to Annie a she had the first of three trips on this route....she's a tough cookie though and soldiered on regardless.
We were greeted by hot showers, the world's largest Rooster and great home cooked food, and met a group who had just arrived from Base Camp....can't wait to get there now!
DAY FIVE Bamboo to Deorali You guessed it, another early start, and we were off.
This section of the trek took us through a much sparser landscape. Trees thinned out with every step and soon we were left in a rocky landscape decorated by old landslides, scree slopes and waterfalls...luckily the path wasn't so steep, but watching where we stepped became all the more important as one false move might see us skidding down the cliff edge.
It was a shorter day than our previous ones, and we arrived at our next tea house in time for a lunch
of garlic soup (odd but tasty, and helps with altitude sickness apparently) Now at 3140m it was
a good time to relax and acclimatise for the big push tomorrow....Guy and I managed to sleep from about 4pm til breakfast the next morning!!!
DAY SIX Deorali to A.B.C. (Annapurna Base Camp) Base Camp here we come!
Strangely this last long section was a much gentler incline, just a rocky path with grass and mosses and thousands of ladybirds...but these hills are deceptive, as now we were at significant altitude each step required more effort and we all felt our breathing deepen in order to compensate for the lack of oxygen... it felt like the lightheadedness you feel after a glass of champagne on an empty stomach!
We paused for tea at a Machapuchare (MBC) (3700m) base camp, before the final long walk to ABC....A long wide pretty valley beckoned us onwards, and before long we could see the blue topped roofs of ABC, but as much as we marched on they never seemed to get any closer!!!
It took two hours for this final stretch, lungs working overtime, Guy and I triumphantly arrived holding hands as we took our first steps on the stone terrace...hurrah! 4130m.
We had a wonderful cup of
tea as we watched first GP and then Ling and Annie make it over the threshold....Team Anna had made it!!!!!
Sadly due to cloud cover we were only able to catch short glimpses of the mountains that now encircled us, and very quickly these clouds turned dark and rain then hail, then snow fell hard and fast, causing us to retreat to the mess hall.
We ate, drank rum that Guy had valiantly carried all the way and chatted the night away with all our fellow trekkers...Canadians, Americans, and French kept us entertained until the cold and tired overtook us and we put on our thermals, gloves hats, scarves........ and retreated to bed.
DAY SEVEN A.,B.C. The next morning sunrise was breathtaking... the skies were crystal clear and we finally could see where we were............................photos offer a hint of what it was like, but the scale and majesty of the mountains is hard to convey, we were all affected by what we saw, and I for was was strangely quite as we took stock of our surroundings.
Three glaciers pushed their way down the mountain and joined at the bottom to form a
massive, wide powerful frozen river of ice. As the sun rose and began to warm the snow, the silent glacier began to creak and groan with its heavy burden.
The mountains seemed to steam, with smokey wafts blowing from their peaks, and after an hour or so of power sun, we saw the first of several avalanches crash down the mountain......amazing.
With mugs of hot coffee keeping us warm (it was arctic!!), we spent the morning exploring, and building Cairns, watching Tibetan prayer flags blustering in the breeze, and gave ourselves sore necks from looking UP all the time!!
Annie, Ling and Lal decided to head down at this point (Annie was feeling a bit poorly with the altitude), and our gang was sadly halved.
Gp, Guy,and I were so in awe of the mountains we decided to stay on.....Mornings were spent scrambling around and watching the mountains, lunchtime GP and I built his first snowman, and evenings were spent star gazing into the clearest, brightest sky....we could see shooting stars, satellites, and the whole sky seemed to twinkle at us.
A truly magical place.
Annaupaurna 1 is the worlds 10th highest mountain
and one of only 14 peaks higher than 8000m, and I'm glad we have experienced it in so many ways.
Annapaurna 1, (8091m) has 3 times the death rate for climbers and only a 3rd of the assents of Everest.
We could see why as we watched 3 avalanches in one day come tumbling down the south face.
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Jill
non-member comment
WOW
Love the story and the pictures. Amazing. Think of you both often. Love, Jill x