Advertisement
Published: October 6th 2007
Thorung La; ADam on Top
After more than a week of going up...we were finally at the top.The Annapurna Circuit can easily be divided into two halves. The Thorung La makes a nice crease betwen the up and the down of the trail. If you could imagine an equilateral triangle...The Thorung La would be the point at the top.
***Thorung Phedi...White*** Phedi means foot in Nepalese. This little outpost was situated at, 4,400 meters and this is where we continue our journey around the circuit. After leaving Tilicho Tal (lake) we headed towards the town of Thorung Phedi. The beautiful blues were replaced by sideways rain that was eventually replaced by sleet and then snow. The next morning we were supposed to climb over the pass...another 1000 meters up. It wasn't to be. The snow was higher than our knees and we knew that higher up the mountain anything could happen. The pass is well known for its high wind speeds and, with that much snow, a disorientating whiteout was in the works. This is the kind of weather that can kill. Talking amongst some of the others we decided to wait a day. A few groups went up, but I later found that all had to retreat to high camp after an exhausting hour or two.
***Thorung La...White cont.*** The next morning we were greeted with warmer weather and it looked like the snow was reducing by half. It was time to go for it! Thinking of safety, about 10 of us banded together in a ragtag group and headed up. The snow was a little slippery, but no real problem. Sarah, a British lady, was a real life saver. She lent ADam a walking pole which made the climb a lot easier. The Thorung La was physically a bit of an anti-climax. To be honest, it was a bit easier than I thought it would be. Racing up GeumJung San (GeumJung Mountain) with my riding buddy Chang Gu is usually a bit tougher. After about 4 hours of huffing and puffing, we were at the top (5,416m)! We both felt relieved and excited. After about 15 minutes of shivering and taking pictures we headed down...1,600 m to the town of Muktinath.
***Mustang...Mocha*** After descending down the pass we ended up in the Mustang province. This area is part of the Tibetian Plateau. It's arid, windy, and beautiful in a different sort of way. We stayed in the town of Muktinath at
Thorung Phedi; Snowman
Snow+a lot of time to kill= a lodge called the MonaLisa. It should have beem called the Moan-a-lisa because I got a wicked case of the bad belly. It felt like Chris Benoit was punching me in the gut every 10 minutes. I spent the next two days and nights searching for sit down toilets...squat down toilets... random bushes to hide behind. After a few days and some 75 proof apple brandy the problem seemed to go away and I was feeling great. To add to my physical improvements, the sun also came out and everything became sweet again.
***Beni...The End***The last few days we dodged landslides, donkey caravans, and one village idiot who tried to steal ADams hat. We did some long (8hour) days and finally that was it. 18 days in the books. ADam and I both loved the hike a lot. ADam and I are already trying to figure out a way to get back here in a year or two. Next time we want to take some family or friends along to go do Everest Base Camp. So, here's an open invitation! If anyone want to go for a long walk in a few years...let us know.
We're
now in Kathmandu. It's our 2nd wedding anniversary today!!! We're planning on having a few drinks and watching World Cup Rugby tonight...in Kathmandu! Can it get more romantic than that? We have a confirmed flight for Bangkok on October 10th. I hope to see some friends there.
Thanks for all your comments...Nate: I'll meet you in Myanmar next week.D: No prison yet...but there are still the Thai gogo bars on the horizon.Grano: ADam said, "Grano looks super fit like me!" BTW ADam weighed in at 42 kgs today.
That's all for now,Mike and ADam
Advertisement
Tot: 0.139s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 14; qc: 62; dbt: 0.0663s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Douglas
non-member comment
Great Photos
So, there's like, mountains there? Enjoy your time on the beaches of Thailand.