A.B.C Trekking

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So I touched down in what would be the final country of my trip in the early afternoon of Saturday 12th December. I'd booked 2 nights at Hostel Alobar1000 (12-Bed mixed dorm for a whopping 3€/night) including the 8€ airport pickup service. However, on exiting the airport I was unable to find the hostel driver and instead was forced to bargain with one of the locals to take me there. Still, worked out well since I got it for less than what the hostel was charging! About 20 minutes later I was at the hostel and it was a great little place - perfectly located, nice vibe & a great rooftop bar/restaurant serving surprisingly good grub. My schedule in Nepal was optimistic to say the least - a had a total of 11 days (including the day I arrived) and in that time I wanted to get to know Kathmandu a little and do the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) trek. I just about managed to pull it off!



The Saturday that I arrived was spent settling into the hostel and exploring the nearby commercial neighbourhood of Thamel with its narrow, bustling and more-trekking-shops-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at alleyways. Despite the slightly chaotic traffic it's still an enjoyable area to stroll around and those shops certainly came in handy when it was time to stock up on trekking gear. The next day I gently strolled through Thamel again and kept on going before reaching the sacred site of Swayambhunath, also known as the Monkey Temple, home to a mightily impressive stupa painted with eyes of Buddha looking in all four directions. The site also consists of a variety of shrines and temples as well as fantastic views of Kathmandu in the valley below. It was a site well worth visiting despite the long staircase leading up to the main platform of the temple. The climb, however, just made it all the more worthwhile! I spent a good chunk of time at the top admiring the views and the architecture and it was sad to see remnants of the massive earthquake that hit Kathmandu in April 2015. Indeed, signs of this tragic event could still be seen throughout the city.



Following on from this visit my objective was clear - find a trekking agency / guide to take me to the ABC from Kathmandu and back again in 9 days - the trek would be just 7 days since 2 days were required to get to/from Pokhara. It ended up being speedy, and I certainly would've seriously struggled to do it with even one day less. I started my search on Tripadvisor, basically looking for the agencies with the best reviews and then finding them to see what they could offer me. I can't remember how many places I walked into but it must have been around half a dozen or more and nothing was really jumping out at me. The places on Tripadvisor looked good but were quoting me very inflated prices. Ironically, I finally opted to just use the agency in the hostel! They offered me basically the same schedule but for a much more reasonable price and I lucked out with my guide - an extremely friendly and knowledgeable local guide called Nirmal who since then has gone on to open up his own trekking company - Grade Five Adventures:

GradeFiveAdventures

So with the guide sorted all that was left was to go shopping - gloves, hat, jacket etc - basically anything that looked warm, and then the following day it was off to Pokhara. The folk at the hostel were nice enough to let me leave a small rucksack there with any non-essentials lightening my main rucksack for the trek. I would return to the hostel for one night before my flight back home. We were slow to get away mainly due to the fact that the bus taking us to Pokhara had to fuel up before leaving Kathmandu and due to the 2015 Nepal border blockade this was considerably easier said than done. Indeed, the line for the gas station was long and slow moving. It was actually quite sad to see and it was made worse by the fact that the blockade was stopping even building supplies and construction materials that were so desperately needed to rebuild the damage caused by the recent earthquake. It seemed Nepal really was going through some tough times!



We arrived to Pokhara later that day and Nirmal led me to the guesthouse we'd be staying in for the night - a private room in a comfortable place just off the main road. We got some dinner in town before an early night... it was gonna be a tough next day! We were up early to catch a local bus to take us to Naya Pul, 40 kilometres west of Pokhara. This is where the trek officially begins and after a quick stop at the tourist checkpost at Birethanti we were on our way. Rather than explain each step of the trek, I think I'm just gonna be lazy and write it out as a list:



Day 1 - Pokhara to Nayapul (Bus) to Banthanti (via Birethanti checkpost).

Day 2 - Banthanti to Poon Hill (Ghorepani) to Tadapani.

Day 3 - Tadapani to Chomrong to Sinuwa

Day 4 - Sinuwa to Deurali

Day 5 - Deurali to A.B.C

Day 6 - A.B.C to Ghorepani

Day 7 - Ghorepani to Hot Springs to Ghandruk to Pokhara (Bus).



As I sit here now typing this up it's easy to look back at the experience with great fondness and I often say to friends how amazing it all was. I do, however, also remember how painful those first couple of days were! I remember on Day 1 on our way to Banthanti we had to climb about 3 million stairs (give or take) and expecting my legs to drop off at any moment. Then there was the cold - Nepal at the tail end of December. The nights were freezing and all I could do was stay wrapped up as much as possible. As time went on however, the legs started to loosen up a bit and get used to the constant strain and even the cold didn't seem that bad after a while. At the beginning I foolishly attempted to stay fresh by showering at our first lodge but I soon realised that this was pointless. If you're going to do this trek or one similar you just have to accept the fact that you're gonna smell for a few days!



Poon Hill on Day 2 was absolutely stunning and I can see why many people chose to only go this far before heading back. If time is limited, then Poon Hill is a great option as it gives you at least a little taste of what's out there. We were waking up early (6am ish) every day and trekking until around lunch time (12pm ish) and then putting in another 3 or 4 hours after lunch until around 4pm when we'd settle into a new lodge for the rest of the evening. I have to say that the lodges were waaaay above anything I'd expected. Each one I stayed in was comfortable and all served great locally-grown food and hot beverages and each had a cosy common room perfect for a bit of socialising with fellow trekkers.



It goes without saying that the scenery was just stunning and, since I was getting up early, I was treated to some spectacular sunrises too. Nirmal made the whole experience a pleasure - always on hand to offer up some of his knowledge and always happy to take a break whenever I felt like my weary legs needed a rest. It's true that, looking back, I probably could've done the route on my own. The paths are well signed and it would be extremely difficult to go the wrong way or get lost. But it just wouldn't have been the same - unshared happiness is not happiness indeed. We climbed higher and higher until we finally reached Annapurna Base Camp at around 4130 metres above sea level. Nirmal had advised against staying there overnight on account of the altitude and cold but I nagged a little bit and managed to twist his arm. I don't regret that decision at all but boy was he right about the cold. That night I think I slept with every single item of clothing I was carrying with my not to mention having about 3 blankets on top of me and I was still shivering all night long! Still, it was worth it. So very very worth it!



On the morning of Day 6 it was time to head back down. I have to say that it was a poignant moment for me. When I took that first step back the way we came, I wasn't just going back to Pokhara; it was the first step of the start of my trip back home. I took a deep breath and savoured for one final moment where I was and what I'd achieved and then, with Nirmal by my side, started making my way. Obviously, the way down was considerably quicker and easier than the way up. In just one day we made it all the way back down to Ghorepani where we stayed in the same place that we'd slept in coming up. The final day (Day 7) was a relatively easy stroll down to some local hot springs that literally couldn't be anymore perfect after 7 days trekking and from nearby Ghandruk we were able to pick up a local bus that took us back to Pokhara, cutting out probably another couple of hours of walking - which I wasn't gonna complain too much about!



One final afternoon & evening in Pokhara was just enough for a stroll around Phewa Lake and some very much-needed beer with my guide and then the next day, on Tuesday 22nd December, we were back on the bus to Kathmandu. On arriving back to Hostel Alobar I thanked Nirmal for all that he'd done, gave him a tip and donated the things that I'd bought in Kathmandu. As it was still fairly early I even had time to do a final bit of sightseeing - a visit to the extremely sacred Bouddha Stupa to the east of town.



And so, on the morning of Wednesday 23rd December, 2015 I took my final taxi ride of what had been a truly amazing journey. From Tokyo to Mandalay and Bangkok to Mumbai it had been a trip of phenomenal experiences . I'll never stop travelling for a long as I live although I very strongly suspect this has been my final trip as a backpacker. This was my fourth outing with my backpack over a period of about 8 years. I've seen all 7 of the New Wonders of the World, stayed in God knows how many hostels and walked God knows how many miles. There have been good times and great times and there have been bad times and awful times. But would I change any of it... never in a million years!



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