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Published: December 23rd 2009
ANNAPURNA CIRCUIT TREK
Duration: 12 to 19 days
Maximum elevation: 5416m
Length: 259km
Best season: October to November
DAY ONE - Kathmandu to Bhulbule
7am bus to Besi Sahar where you can take a bus or walk 2 hours to Bhulbule. There’s a couple of small guesthouses and the first tourist checkpoint where we picked up a really cool little map with all the altitudes and durations of travel between each location which came in handy when we wanted to know why each day was getting more and more tiring. It was also our first taste of the REALLY basic accommodation and food provided the WHOLE way along the circuit.
DAY TWO - Bhulbule to Jagat
Last week I said to Tom how one day I’d really like to cross one of those super dodgy looking Indiana Jones style rope bridge. Well, on the way to Jagat we crossed three of them!! And another few every day or so. Tom liked jumping on them to make them swing a lot - not funny. The scenery was still very green but slowly as the days progressed the warmth and greenery of the lower elevations became cold and dry and despite
the massive current in the river and it seemed more and more like desert landscape.
DAY THREE - Jagat to Dharapani
A lot of the way along the circuit route the Nepali Government are constructing roads, but because the land is so dry the workmen are continuously faced with landslides. Their job is stupidly dangerous, but most of the men come from the east of Nepal where work is limited and the offer of 200 rupees ($3.50) per day is too good to pass up. They’re constantly risking their lives and many people have died. On day three we had to clamber up and over a landslide. It was like walking up a vertical wall of dust. There we also herds of mules (basically the only form of cargo transportation in the mountains) that we had to try and keep dodging. The mules were overloaded with heavy bags that stick out on either side of them and they took up the whole path and knocked anything down that got in their way. The ground kept crumbling beneath our feet and there was nothing to hold on to to save us falling from the massive drop to a teeming river
below. But… we made it! Tired and covered in dirt. Nothing a hot shower couldn’t fix. At Dharapani Tom and I shared the last of the luke-warm solar heated water and a massive pot of tea.
DAY FOUR - Dharapani to Chame
Today was the first day we came to close to the snowcapped mountains. Annapurna Two was the first of the big ones we saw. An easier walk today but we stupidly took a shower and the hotel which was FREEZING! Luckily Chame provided us with the first heated dining room for dinner.
DAY FIVE - Chame to Pisang
One of the coolest days so far. Views of the massive expanse of Lamjung Himal (6986m) - a huge wall of a mountain that provided the spectacular views at lunchtime and the trapezium shaped Paungda Danda rock face, the backdrop of our photos for the next couple of days as we continued the trek along the river (see the first photo below). Lower Pisang is quiet and lonely in the off-season and shaded by the mountains in the early afternoon - so after dropping our bags at a guesthouse we walked up to the village at Upper Pisang
and the monestry there. It was well worth the extra walking. We found some of the most amazing views of the whole trek. I sat at the entrance of the temple watching ten Buddhist monks chanting, young smiling faces gesturing me to come inside. It was like something out of a movie and one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had. Truly beautiful.
DAY SIX to DAY EIGHT - Pisang to Manang
Manang was meant to be the half way point “oasis” of the trek with promises of German bakeries and cappuccinos. Clearly not in December. We managed to wangle one stale chocolate croissant each and a piece of chocolate cake that was so aggravatingly disappointing it nearly incited me to start WW3 with the scrote in the kitchen (aka chef). The next day pretty much everything was closed for winter. Got the chin up and for some reason got so excited about spending an extra day in Manang to acclimatize we ended up deciding to spend one more! Yep, three nights in an empty town instead of two. It meant that we ended up a day behind the people we’d met and had started walking with. But
it also meant we had a day to visit the Ice Lake. We took 3.5 hours to climb from town (3540m) to the lake (4600m) - killa. It was one of the toughest days but the Ice Lake itself was spectacular and the climb was apparently going to really help with the acclimatizing as we were nearing closer to Thorung La Pass (the highest point of the circuit). By this stage Tom was getting a headache when we climbed but we were hoping that would ease. The next day we decided to visit the 92-year-old Lama who lives on the hill. Apparently for about 100 rupees he’ll give you a blessing for crossing the pass. But on the way up we saw four little maroon figures, one with a walking frame, slowly coming down. Bless him, it was getting too cold so he was on his way down for the winter. We stopped and had a chat midway. He told us he was 92 three times and smiled a lot. No blessing tho… no 100 rupees. Bought a Mars Bar instead.
DAY NINE - Manang to Thorung Phedi
On the night after you leave Manang you’re meant to stay
in a small town called Yak Kharkha, again to acclimatize. We spoke to our guide and suggested that because of our extra day in Manang maybe it wasn’t necessary and asked if we could continue on - but all we got from him was “as you like” or “maybe”. We really only got a guide in the first place to advise us about crossing Thorung La Pass (because it was off-season and there was a high chance of snow) and also to help us with altitude sickness if one of us got it. It was really frustrating not to be able to get answers when we needed them. In the end we decided we’d continue on to the next town after stopping for lunch in Yak Kharkha. The walk to Thorung Phedi wasn’t hard but as we were approaching 4500m Toms headache got really bad. The last ten minutes of walking to the guesthouse he became dizzy and a bit disoriented. He sat down for a bit and he got better quickly.
When we arrived I asked for a big bucket of water so I could have a shower. It was so cold there the water in the toilet
had frozen. So I bathed quickly in the nuddy and lathered up and just as I was done I threw the last of the hot water from the bucket over my body “Wheeeeeeeeeeee”, looked down at my chest and I was covered in mud. The bucket they had given us was evidently used to carry dirt before they used it to give me hot water. Tom ran outside while I stood there dirty, freezing and naked (not as sexy as it sounds) and tried to explain what happened and get more water.
After dodging hypothermia we went in to get some tea. Because we missed the night in Yak Kharkha we had caught up again with the other trekkers we’d been walking with before. We explained to our guide that Toms headache had got worse and maybe we should stay two nights in Phedi - but again, no useful advice could be got. We quietly called the other groups guide over and asked him the same question and quite simply he explained that “it’s too late and too high now to try and acclimatize - the best ting to do is go over the pass tomorrow and head back
down the other side”. He said he’d give Tom some altitude sickness medicine and we’d all walk together - sorted.
DAY TEN - Crossing the Thorung La Pass and down to Muktinath
We set off at 4.30am - in the pitch black climbing narrow icy pathways all walking single file trying to tell each other when the next unstable rock or icy patch was. As the sun rose it was so beautiful. Everything was white and pink. We felt really in the thick of it. But each step to the pass grew tougher and tougher. My fingers we painful and numb, Toms head was killing and we were entirely out of breath. We were half expecting a ticker-tape parade and both our families waiting at the top to congratulate us. Nah. Not even an open teashop. Just a small sign and wayyyyyyyyy too many prayer flags. The way down was really hard on the knees. We stumbled down over nearly five hours like a couple of grannies. Tom’s headache was still pretty bad but the views were constantly stunning. We eventually arrived in Muktinath. Here the trouble with the guide got worse cause we wanted to join the other
trekkers in their hotel for a beer but he wouldn’t let us, saying he didn’t want to stay at the other place and that it would be best if we just stayed there.
DAY ELEVEN - Muktinath to Jomsom
We charged along to Jomsom by around 2pm. We’d really had enough of the guide by this stage so we did a Donald Trump and sent him packin’ back to Kathmandu. He got away with an extra weeks worth of pay and enough money for food and accommodation but really had the shits so we were glad to see the back of him. He refused to shake Toms hand when he left. We ended up finding a great hotel with a Movie Channel and had one of the best lunches and dinner on the trek. We wound down that evening with taste of Apple Brandy (takes your head off) and we watched Twilight and Pink Panther 2. Don’t know if it was just that we hadn’t seen a TV in nearly two weeks or what but Steve Martin was HILARIOUS.
DAY TWELVE to FIFTEEN- Jomsom, Tatopani, Gorepani to THE END!
A bus and a short walk got us to
Tatopani - the home of the hot springs. They were wonderful. We sank a couple of Everest Beers and hung about in the pool for about two hours getting wrinkly and red. The next day was REALLY exhausting. We were sharing the big pack (half a day each) after we ditched the guide but I went arse over tit and hurt my arm so Tom carried the bag all day but the road kept going up and up and up. It never seemed to end. That night we were in Gorepani, Tom was shattered but we woke up early the next day to see sunrise at Poon Hill. There were beautiful views of Annapurna Two, Annapurna South and Machhapuchhare laid out right in front of us. Later that morning we set off for another big day of climbing which took a downhill turn at lunch time into the low lands and jungles around Tadapani. We saw a few families of Langur Monkeys. It was great to see so much green again, and moss and vines and big trees, and a complete scene change from the dry upper elevations. We spent our last night in Ghandruk. Day fifteen was completely downhill
all the way to Naya Pul where the buses left for Pokhara. There were beautiful views all day of the coutryside and farm land... most of it looked just like Tuscany... or what I image Tuscany looks like 😊
Apart from two hours on a bus after Jomsom we’re pretty proud to say we completed the Annapurna Circuit (and without a guide… we can just pretend he was never there)!! Loving Nepal so far and there’s still so much great stuff to come.
PS: Tom and VV heart steak 😊
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