18 days of walking 200 kms up to an apex of 5416m, passing through medieval-like villages, meeting friendly locals, capped off with elements of danger by walking along razor-sharp ridges with 100m drops, bomb blasts and even the minor threat of running into Maoist "terrorists". No, this isn't an idea for a Hollywood blockbuster, but just some of the interesting parts of our Annapurna trek.
KATHMANDU Our initial meeting in Kathmandu was very relaxed and there were 9 people in our group, just 2 guys. Immediately we knew the others in our group were fantastic people and everyone hit it off. 4 aussies, 2 brits, 2 irish and 1 swiss girl.
The first night after the meeting also happened to be Mairead’s 30th birthday, so it was off to a local bar/restaurant in Thamel for a sit down meal and a chance to get to know everyone in the group over a few drinks (beers here are gigantic!)
BHULBHULE The next day it was the start of the trip and a 6 hour bus ride awaited us. Along the way we went to the famous “Big Fig Tree”. Interesting. The bus trip was amazing. We ascended out of Kathmandu
valley away from the busy towns and as we hit the summit of the road, we had a great vista of a totally different side of life - the rural life.
The bus descended down a very steep, narrow, winding road into the valley. It was a little bit hair-raising, a few hundred metres drop on the side of the road, and just enough room for 2 trucks to squeeze past each other. Every time we came to a blind corner, the driver would need to toot his horn to warn the oncoming traffic of our presence.
Our stop for lunch introduced to the Nepali staple diet of Dal Bhat, basically a tray of food which included rice, lentils and curries. It was great and we expected this is what the food would be like for the rest of the trip.
We eventually arrived at our first stop of Besisahar and the trekking began - albeit for a short 2 hour walk to our first guesthouse. Along the bus journey we picked up our porters, and as soon as we hopped off the bus, they grabbed all our bags and a few lengths of string. To our
amazement, we watched tie together 3 bags each, put a cover over the top and begin walking. I had struggled to carry my rucksack which weighed about 12 kilos - 30 kilos must have been hell. But these guys come from rural backgrounds, such as farming, and in the off tourist season, would be doing this kind of lifting day in day out. What also amazed me was that they did this in simple running shoes or even sandals, not the fancy hiking shoes we had on.
The first night’s stop was Bhulbhule, a peaceful little village and our first suspension bridge crossing over a beautiful river. It was overcast when we arrived, but when morning came we got our first glimpse of the snow capped mountains that lie ahead. The first night was spent without electricity - something that we became accustomed to throughout the trip.
We got to know our tour leader Ram and he shared great stories on Nepal - history, people and politics. It was a very interesting night.
We had our first selection from the food menu that wouldn’t differ too much throughout the trip from one guesthouse to the next. Dal Bhat
was always available, as was numerous curry and rice dishes, even macaroni cheese (fried), omelettes, fried rice etc. It was all pretty basic food, but it was hot and we always had huge portions. Unfortunately I did get in the bad habit of having a choccie bar and coke at least once a day. Passan was the man responsible for taking everyone’s orders every meal. Each new restaurant he would hand out the menus, then jot down everyone’s individual orders, then add everyone’s order up at the end and have to sort out change etc. It made life very easy and when the tour was finished we were lost for the first few days without him with us for every meal taking orders and organizing payment.
The accommodation was plain but comfortable. To our surprise we had expected to be sharing in one room with the rest of their group, but each night we had our own rooms (although some rooms were separated by thin ply wood - almost like paper).
Sorry, got a bit sidetracked, getting way ahead of myself, but that gives you a basic idea of what we had throughout the trek - further on
I’ll explain the interesting differences between each guesthouse.
BAHUM DANDA The next day we set out through rural villages with lush greenery everywhere. As we walked through these places, it was amazing to see how these people lived off the land. Not quite medieval, but very basic living conditions. We encountered our first of numerous mule trains and were told to jump off the path to avoid being knocked over. After seeing a few of these trains, we came to realize that these mules weren’t going to stray off their line at all - later in the trek was when we saw a mule get angry, but that was at the man guiding them that continually whacked the mule as hard as he could, something we couldn’t watch. The mule tried to get his revenge by giving a sharp kick backwards, but luckily for the man it didn’t connect. The trains were amazing, sometimes there would be 20-30 of them, and at the end of the line one man directing them, but the front mule wouldn’t stray off line. (Can’t believe I spent that long talking about mules!)
Night 2 was at the top of a hill in a
village called Bahum Danda. The restaurant for the guesthouse had an amazing view, it was set on the edge of the hill overlooking the river well below, but the scary thing was that the building had a slight lean towards that valley - wouldn’t want to be there in a storm.
CHAMJE Next stop was Chamje and the start of Shelley and Sarah’s foot blisters, which painfully would last for the rest of the trek. I’ve had bad blisters from running in the past and knew how bad they must have felt, especially walking every day. For Shelley and I, it became a ritual every morning to get a square of toilet paper, fold it so it made a nice protective pad and then tape it onto her heel.
The trek to Chamje was a contrast to the previous day’s sights, and we quickly became accustomed each day to the terrain changing drastically. We were enjoying the green of the rural areas, but knew it would soon become barren. As usually, there were numerous opportunities to photograph goat herds and mules.
Some parts of the trek here were a bit stressful. At one point we came to the
end of the path, then looked up about 50 metres and realized that the path was above us. They were building a new road in the area and had blasted away the side of the mountain to make way for it. What was left was very unstable rocks and a very thin trail. On the edge of the rocks was a very steep drop to the river below. The leaders continually kept an eye on any falling rocks above us as well as making sure the trail was stable. I’m not the best with heights and didn’t enjoy that part of the walk at all, I don’t know how the porters managed. When we reached the road above, the workers looked at us very strangely as if to say “what took you so long?”.
DANAQUE & CHAME The next few days were more of the same, slowly ascending, staying at Danaque and then Chame in the Manang district. I remember climbing at one stage through thick forest, then reaching a plateau where the trees disappeared and we were faced with a wide river bed and steep mountains on each side, this was the Manang province.
Unfortunately this is
when the fittest member of our group, Mark, developed the first signs of Altitude sickness. At first he thought it was something he would get over quickly, perhaps a dodgy beer or food, but when he was still ill a few days later, it was feared he might have to turn back. He was really tired and slept for long periods. Eventually the higher we climbed, the sicker he became, he started suffering severe vomiting and exhaustion, unable to stomach anything. The final straw was when we were all sitting down to a meal, Mark joined us and as soon as a plate of hot food went past him, the smell made him dash for the bathroom. Luckily the Ram had a huge medical kit and some Diamox - the medicine that will quickly fix altitude sickness for some people. Within 12 hours of taking Diamox, Mark was his usual self, it was amazing. For the rest of the trek to the Thorung Pass he was unstoppable. It would have been really disappointing to have seen someone turn back, thank god for Diamox!
PISANG The next stop on our trek was Pisang, the first sighting and consumption of apple
pie. It was good to eat something sweet that wasn’t a snickers or mars bar. The guesthouse even had a TV where we sat and watched Indian and Nepalese programs before they decided to frighten us with a movie based on a disastorous day on Mt Everest when a number of people died, just what you want to see when you are about to ascend to 5400m! During the afternoon that we arrived, we walked up to a monastery through what seemed to be a ghost town - it was a great sight.
MANANG Then it was onto Manang and a 2 night stopover. It was great to have a break and recharge. The views were amazing. We spent time playing cards and relaxing in the sunroom, exploring the local village and catching up on much needed rest. The second day we spent the morning walking up a nearby hill to aclimatise to the conditions that we would be experiencing over the next few days. On the way we passed a beautiful blue ice lake and saw a giant glacier on the side of the mountain. There were regular trips to the local bakery - cinnamon and chocolate scrolls
the favourites.
YAK KHARKA Next up was a half day walk to a tiny place called Yak Kharka, along the way we saw “blue” sheep way off in the distance on nearby hills. We had seen the skulls in all the villages, so we finally saw them in the flesh. The guesthouse was interesting. We thought we had all scored great accommodation when we arrived and saw 5-6 little huts or sheds, almost like large cubbies. They looked brand new and seemed very comfortable. How wrong were we! It was absolutely freezing inside, the walls simply made of thin wooden sheets, there was no way our body warmth would have even slightly heated the room. It easily would have gone down to minus 20 that night, everyone was rugged up with beanies, thermals and thick socks, but it didn’t keep out the cold, it was miserable! The next morning Sarah was very unhappy, but all of felt exactly the same way. We can look back and laugh now, but what a hell of a night.
To make things worse, Shelley had developed a cough that would suddenly get worse and stay with her until well after our trip.
The next day as we were walking was very scary and she almost lost her breath completely. On numerous occasions we had to stop for her just to get her breath back, it was almost asthma-like. The thin air was making things very difficult and we had considered turning around, but then again we would still be faced with the same problem. The best thing to do would be to go over the pass and get down low on the other side, which was only 2 days away, instead of 5-6 going backwards.
THORUNG PEDI Thorung Pedi was the last stop before tackling the Thorung Pass. Along the way we were able to get close to a herd of Yaks and also scale another unstable cliff path. When we arrived, we tried to keep warm in the sun and ventured out for some more acclimatizing. The next morning, we would be up early and ready to go over the pass. Everyone spent the afternoon relaxing and saving energy. That night was the first time I didn’t sleep, I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t sleep a second. Maybe it was the rats running around in the wooden
walls or the excitement of the next day.
THORUNG PASS At 4am we were up and having breakfast, with the plan to leave the guesthouse at 5am. We had our warm clothing in check, torches and walking sticks. It was going to be one of the toughest things we had done, but we had all been looking forward to it all trip. The reason we left so early was to beat the strong winds that picked up around lunchtime. As we ascended up, the porter crew were fantastic, keeping an eye on everyone. Eventually we split up in to 2 groups, Mark with his Diamox zoomed past everyone and arrived at the top with no problems. Unfortunately for Shelley and Clare, the breathing only got harder and harder with each step. They said without the porters help, they would never have made it. Everytime we came to a path covered in snow, they would run past and dig out footholes. I don’t know how the sherpas managed to walk all that way with those bags. As we climbed higher and higher, we could see in the distance different hills that appeared to be the summit, but each time we
got closer, another hill would appear behind it. It didn’t help that the porters kept saying that we were nearly there when in fact we still had an hour to go. Eventually after about 4 hours, we made it to the top - and nearly got blown back down as the wind was so strong. After coming all that way, we spent literally 5 minutes there before we had to start going down the other side. We tried to savour the moment - the achievement of reaching the highest mountain pass in the world - amid thousands of prayer flags. But it was freezing, a few times on the way up my fingers were aching because they were so cold, I don’t think I would have got frostbite, but I had to keep them wiggling to stop from hurting and freezing.
MUKTINATH The way down was long, much longer than we thought. It was very steep and we were surprised to see many other Nepalese people walking back up that way (it is supposed to be much more difficult). There were numerous rest stops and snow covered paths that held us up, but we were glad to eventually reach
the first guesthouse halfway down the hill. The descend leveled out a bit as we neared Muktinath and each time we looked behind us, were amazed not only at how high we had been, but how quickly we had descended - about the same distance down in 4 hours that we had ascended in a week beforehand. On our way down we saw a porter from another group run past us and into town to get a horse for his client who was sick on top of the pass. It wasn’t until about 2 hours later that he went back past us with the horse to collect his client. We found out later that the woman had been in hospital in Kathmandu for about a week following that day. It was a huge relief to finally arrive in Muktinath and sit down to relax and have a hot shower. I think we were all too exhausted at the time, but looking back, what a mighty achievement it was, definitely up there with finishing the marathon for me. That night I slept very, very well!
JOMSOM There was no 2 night stopover in Muktinath, the next day we were off
walking again. It was amazing how much the scenery had changed again, it was dry and a bit barren, still with the snow capped mountains in full view. For some reason it kind of reminded me of the U.S.A desert, don’t know why. The original plan for this day was to walk for 4 hours and stop for the night, but we all decided we wanted to walk further. In a few days we would again be faced with a steep ascend for 8 hours and we preferred to break that day up. The morning of this day was easy, mostly down hill to a large village on the edge of a dry river bed (it was a few hundred metres wide, but the water on arrives in the monsoon). Lunch was great, yet another vegie cheeseburger with fries and coke. Straight after lunch we took a quick walk to the other side of the village to see another Nepali district. This district is off limits to tourists, unless they are prepared to pay the equivilent of $750USD for a pass. Then we were back towards the river bed and a walk to Jomsom, perhaps one of the most memorable
parts of the trek. Ram had warned us that the wind picks up in the afternoon across the river bed, but we didn’t expect gale force winds! It was so tough battling our way through the wind - we were walking directly into it. The landscape to so arid, it felt as if we were walking on the moon. Only occasionly did you look up from the ground to see your surroundings, if you did then you would get a face full of dust. This was one of the few days I decided to leave Shelley behind and venture out with the frontrunners of the pack. We powered ahead through the wind, but had our guide Raju continually tell us to slow down. Ram was worried on the trek that we would all separate and it would be hard for his crew to look after everyone. At one stage Raju told us to stop and take a break, which was on the path above the river bed. We waited about 15 minutes, eager to get on the next destination. Little did we know that below us on the river bed, the rest of the group had already passed us, and
they would have easily been 15 minutes behind. We got up and started powering on again, Jsabelle was very annoyed with Raju as all she wanted to do was to get the final stop of Jomsom. About ˝ an hour later we made it to the town of Jomsom, which was much bigger than we had imagined. It was a busy town, with lots of friendly locals and of course luxuries like washing machines and even dryers. It was very funny when we arrived at the hotel and saw everyone’s faces showing the effects of the days walk in the dust, but Clare looked like she had just come up from the mines, she made the mistake of putting moisteriser on her face, then sunglasses, so all the dirt stuck to her face, it was very funny. Another night was spent enjoying a nice dinner, with electricity going in and out, the candlelight dinner was great and watching the kids playing with their torches outside on the street was a highlight.
KALOPANI The next day was an easy-ish day, and we enjoyed a relaxing night at Kalopani. It was a walk that was Nepali flat. A night of celebrity
head, charades and beers made for a great evening.
TATOPANI The next day it was another long walking day, but Nepali flat. I decided to stay back with Shelley this time and we ran into a little bit of a situation as we neared our stop. The rest of the group had already moved off well in front of us and suddenly we came to more workers building a road. They quickly ushered us back into a tiny hut as they were about to blow up the hillside. We crammed into this hut and Ram warned us to cover our ears. We didn’t think anything would be that bad, then BAM, the first bomb went off, we felt it hit us right in the chest, then BAM another, and another and another…. There was a young family sharing the hut with us and they found it very amusing they we had our ears covered and were laughing at us in Nepalese. The rocks rained down on the roof, but eventually we were let through. Our next stop was Tatopani, another big town and probably one of my favourite places. It had a good atmosphere, a place we could have
spent a few days at. The town was famous for it’s hot springs - something we had been waiting all trip for. Everyone was keen to soak their feet and tired muscles. The hot water was great and really enjoyable (but very, very hot). And the locals enjoyed it as well, the girls in our group certainly attracted more than a few onlookers. That night we all decided to hit the town - well, enjoy a night at the local pool hall! We all took it turns to play each other and it was time for Shelley and I to play together. It must have been the few beers I’d had, but for some reason I played really well. Suddenly the porters and guides thought I was the greatest pool player ever, they were cheering, it felt great. As we were about to leave, Leela grabbed me to play a game with him. It was very funny and enjoyable. A few nights later in Pokara at the local bar they actually saw what sort of average player I was, Leela was heartbroken that we lost - but more on that later.
SIKHA The next day we were off on
the first of 2 days of a steep ascend - total of 1500m. I was really struggling. I had received a coldsore earlier in the trip, but the exposure to the harsh winds, cold weather then the hot steam from the springs led to my entire lips being covered in coldsores and huge blisters. I had no medication to relieve them, so I wasn’t a happy boy for most of that day, probably the worst day of my whole trip. I hope I never have anything like that again - it took weeks to finally get rid of them. That night we stopped in a small town called Sikha, but along the way we were lucky enough to walk through a village just before a wedding was to take place. All the villagers were out, so bright were all the colours they were wearing, and a few musicians played Nepali tunes. One of our porters gladly jumped up and started dancing and before long Jsabelle and Sarah joined him. The hotel we stayed in was another classic Nepali “leaning” building. Dinner time was funny, there is no better way to clear a room than to receive a visit from the
local huntsman. Pasan thought he had killed the spider with his shoe, but it disappeared, ready to haunt the girls for the rest of the evening. The hotel even had internet, something I didn’t expect in this part of Nepal.
GHOREPANI Another half day of walking up steep hills saw us reach the village of Ghorepani. The scenery on this part of the trek yet again changed. The temperature was much warmer and we were covered in forests, with rhodedendrum trees everywhere. Still we had magnificent mountain views. The hotel we stayed at was quite big and had quite a few other tourists who we hadn’t met previously. We realized that these people had come from the other side of the the valley and were doing shorter treks. Ghorepani is famous for it’s lookout at Poon Hill. At 5am the next morning, we grabbed our torches and headed up to the summit of Poon Hill, about 3200m high. When we reached the top we were amazed to see the amount of people there - easily 200. Most places we had been to were lucky to have 20 people. The sunrise was amazing, we had full views all around of
the Annapurna range, I must have taken about 50 photos in an hour. After that, it was down for breakfast and the continuation of our trek.
TIKHEDHUNGA This day started to have a funny feeling, we knew we were getting close to the end of our journey. As we descended, we enjoyed the environment of thick forests covered in rhodedendrum trees. There were beautiful waterfalls and of course countless mule trains. It was a very peaceful day’s walk, and a chance to soak up the atmosphere on one of the last occasions. That night we stayed in a small village called Tikhedhunga. As we finished dinner, we were suddenly brought to the attention of a group of very loud Germans singing in the table behind us. The Germans started singing and we thought it was time to exit, it was very annoying at first. Then their guides started to sing and play some Nepali tunes, and the group were up and dancing traditional Nepali. Before long our guides had hijacked the drums and started singing and dancing and our group was up dancing. The Germans slowly disappeared one by one, until it was just our group and the guides
of both groups. We weren’t expecting to have this type of night until the end, but we were glad it came then, a lot of fun.
POKHARA The next day was the day of walking - kind of sad in a way, but a huge relief. We soaked up the last of the environment, the landscape resembled day one, very rural and green. Eventually we made it to Nayapul - a huge line of taxis ready to ferry weary trekkers to Pokara. We had a bus waiting for us to take us on a few hours journey to Pokara. The bus started up and so did the Nepali music on the tape player. There was lots of singing and dancing in the bus - everyone was in very high spirits. However the songs seemed to last 20 minutes or more, very repetitive when you are clapping to every beat. The bus climbed out of the valley and as we got closer to Nepal we saw the landscape change again to larger villages and more people. Eventually we arrived at our hotel and were amazed by how beautiful they were. The hotel grounds had amazing gardens and it felt so
good to relax with a cool drink and take off the treeking boots. Soon after, we headed down to a local restaurant to have lunch, which was located right on the lakeside of Pokara river. Ram warned us not to swim in the lake because of danger to our health (he was quick to point out a water buffalo taking a bath nearby). The afternoon was spent sightseeing the tourist town of Pokara. It was such a relaxed place, we could have easily spent a few days there. In fact, our group split into 2 the next day, 4 of us went on to Bandipur while the other 5 stayed in Pokara for a few extra days. That night we celebrated the end of the trip with a traditional Nepali dinner and had the chance to say goodbye to the guides. More Nepali dancing was had and lots of laughs - even a chocolate cake with the words “Happy Nice Trek”. Afterwards we all headed back to the main street and into a local bar where many more drinks were had (this is where I disappointed Leela by losing pool with him). Some of the guides joined us which was
great.
BANDIPUR The next day those of us remaining on the tour group, jumped on the bus and headed to Bandipur. The bumpy roads were not good for the shocking hangover I had. 3 hours later we arrived high in the mountains to the picturesque town of Bandipur - it kind of reminded you of an old Mexican town. The buildings were very ornate, the locals very friendly and the views breathtaking. The hotel we stayed at was owned by the tour group and was very special. Shelley and I had a fantastic room that had old barn doors that opened to a view of the Annapurna range in the far distance, very romantic. At dinner time the electricity went out, but that didn’t matter, the candlelight made the hotel even more appealing. Our time there was spent in relaxing and recovery mode, only very short walks. We watched as 2 young foreigners played with the local kids and taught them fun games and songs. Even though Pokara was a great way to finish the trek, I’m still glad we decided to spend a night in Bandipur.
KATHMANDU Finally we were on our last day, and a long
trip in the local bus back to Kathmandu. The bus had come from Pokhara and Ram was very worried that Mark and Mai wouldn’t be on it. We were happy to see Mark’s face, but worried not to see Mai. It ended up that she caught a later bus back. After tying our bags to the top of the bus, it was into the bus and a slightly uncomfortable ride back. Climbing out of the valley seemed to be quicker than I expected and soon we were back in the Kathmandu valley and the chaos. At one stage we were stuck in a traffic jam for about half an hour. Unfortunately we had the misfortune of looking out the front window into the back of a truck that held about 10 buffalo. At first I thought they were dead, but when one of them tried to move in distress, it was a horrible sight. They were tied in tightly and over the top of each other, not a good sight. Eventually we made it to our destination and off the bus, only to be greeted by locals trying to sell things or offer taxi rides, something we had missed for
the past few weeks. Then it off to the Kathmandu guesthouse and time to check in, get the laundry done and visit the internet café. Those of us left on the tour caught up for dinner that night reminiscing on the great 3 weeks. We spent what remaining time we had taking one last look around the streets, trying to soak up the atmosphere. It was sad to think that we were leaving, but India was waiting…..
LAST WORDS My final thoughts on Nepal and our trip is that is definitely one of the best experiences of my life. I purposely didn’t read to much about the country before I left, I wanted to get that surprise factor. I was amazed to firstly see the poverty, but then felt so privelaged to meet the fantastic locals, all of them so friendly. The scenery of our trek simply can’t be described in a blog or captured in a photo. For those weeks that we walked, every 5 minutes you just looked up in amazement at the spectacular sight - these mountains were mighty. The achievement of making it over the Thorung Pass is also something I’ll never forget. The main
thing is that I’m so happy to have done it with Shelley, since the first time we met, she had always wanted to go to Nepal and I was so happy to take her there and be a part of her dream.
For anyone contemplating going to Nepal - do it. Be prepared for a culture shock but also be prepared for amazing sights, people and experiences. I’m determined to come back one day - hopefully to do the Everest basecamp. No matter what fitness level you are, there is something for everyone.
Next destination…. India and the Golden triangle!
To view the video highlights, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-swfplShqG0
Nepal's Flag
Map of Nepal