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Published: June 22nd 2007
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View from the top!
The Thorong La Pass at 5416m, finally, after 11 days of trekking. After 2 months back at ducktours after the last trip, I'm back on the road again for my last holiday before school starts, this time with Mr Victor Gan for a month in Nepal. This is our first post from the road after 15 days in the mountains.
There are tons of different treks in Nepal, each varying in terms of length, difficulty and beauty. We (or rather, I did) picked the longest one, the Annapurna circuit, which takes about 19 days to complete. Call it pride or ego, but yeah, I was bent on completing the hardest, longest one available short of mountain climbing. It's also the most interesting and beautiful trek in Nepal because the scenery and towns you pass by along the way are so unique. Victor, however, was completely unaware of my intentions and more than willingly agreed to join me in this adventure.. he would soon realise that he was in a lot more than he had asked for!
Suited up in my crocodile hunter outfit (which I wore every single day of the trek) - army boots, long sleeved flannel shirt, shorts and Singapore cap - we set off from the capital
Daal Bhat
Translates to Lentils and Rice. Tastes ok and it gets really boring after a few days, but it's trekking fuel packed full of carbs and protein and zero fat! Kathmandu to Besisahar, the start point of the trek. The circuit is in the shape of an open circle, starting uphill anti-clockwise at 5 o' clock all the way to the Thorong La pass (the highest point) at 12 o' clock and then going downhill all the way to Naya Pul at 7 o' clock.
After day 1 of trekking from Besisahar to Bahundanda, it became apparent that the scorching sun and rough, undulating terrain would become an everyday feature for the next few days as we gained altitude. Sitting in the balcony of our guesthouse that night, muscles aching (cramping, in Victor's case) , feet blistered and skin sunburnt, we realised that this was going to be one excruciating physical and mental challenge. Each day saw us waking at 6 and walking by 7 all the way to late into the afternoons. On the map, we were covering anything between 8 and 20km a day, but on the ground you can basically disregard map distance because of all the uphills and downhills which significantly increase the amount of time and effort required.
A point worth mentioning that made the trek so tough on bodies and morale was
Trail at sunrise
This was taken about half way to Thorong La. Tropical vegetation slowly gave way to temperate coniferous trees and shrubs. food - up the in the hills, it's basic at best. Daal Baht has no meat in it, and it's bland. Sometimes menus are supplemented by fried rice/noodles, momos (dumplings) and fried potatoes but they aren't much better. Also, since there are no roads up in the mountains, all supplies are carried by porters or donkeys. This equates to an inflated price of goods the higher up you go. Beer, coke, potato chips, chocolate, you name it. The guesthouses along the way also varied from town to town. On one hand you could have a bug-infested bed in a local's wooden house where the only electrical appliance is a lightbulb, you shower with cold water from a pail, and take a dump in little more than a hole in the ground; On the other hand, you could have a nice 3 storey concrete guesthouse with nice beds, a hot shower and a very impressive, extensive menu. On average, most of our nights were spent in guesthouses somewhere in the middle.
At the end of day 3 in Chamje, we met Nathan, a 20 year old American living in California. We got along and trekked together on and off all
Amazing Stuff.
Sometimes, the beauty is just surreal. the way to the end. That's him in the picture of us at the Thorong La Pass. As the days progressed we ran into more groups, some more Americans, an Israeli couple, a Spanish dude, a Finnish family, a Welsh guy, a French guy travelling with a Tibetan, 2 Japanese guys.. Well, June is the low season for trekking in Nepal due to the monsoon season (which coincides with summer) because the beautiful views of the mountans are blocked by thick, low lying clouds. This worked out in our favour because first of all, the entire trek was very peaceful, not crowded with tourists, and secondly, guesthouses were empty and dirt cheap!
At around 3000m, it started to get colder and the air was much thinner. I felt a bit nauseous and I lost my appetite, but thankfully that was about it. Victor brought some pills to counter Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and before long, I was feeling great, even at much higher altitudes. On day 11, we finally crossed the Thorong La Pass at 5416m. For most of the trek, we could see the snow covered peaks of the Annapurna range and it was really surreal to finally
be IN the snow.. isn't it summer time now?! If it is almost freezing during summer, the Annapurnas is the last place in the world I would want to be during winter!
So after finally conquering the Thorong La, we spent the next few days making out way back down, taking it easy by jeeping twice from Muktinath to Jomsom to Ghasa. Then followed the toughest day of the trek climbing mountains in the rain, getting lost, and finally having to abandon our initial end point of Beni as a landslide destroyed the road from Tatopani and adopting a longer route through Gorapani to Naya Pul. On day 15, exhausted after our last 2 days climbing uphill in the jungles and in the rain, we decided to reward ourselves with horse rides back to Naya Pul from Gorapani. Desperate to get back to the city, I approached a local Nepali herding family for a ride and after MUCH bargaining with their smart english-speaking son, I managed to get both Victor and I horses to Naya Pul for 5000 rupees or S$125.. and I even threw in my gnarly army boots! Haha, I was going to chuck them after the
trek anyway so it worked to our advantage. 8 hours on a horse and many mosquito and tick bites later, we returned to Naya Pul, got in a taxi and headed to Pokhara!
Being in the city for 2 nights now, gorging ourselves on meat and candy and beer, my nice washboard stomach has immediately reverted to its old state, much to my disappointment. Our bodies are obviously battered from 2 weeks in the mountains - I am covered in insect bites from head to toe - and that makes a great conversation piece.. "so you just got back from trekking ay?". Pokhara is accurately described in my lonely planet as being "unashamedly touristy" and we have been shopping and shopping and shopping! Yak wool blankets, winter gear, you want it, they have it! I'm trying to pace my cash for now because we leave tomorrow morning for Patan, then it's off to Bhaktapur and finally back to Kathmandu for a few days before flying home.
Till the next post from Patan!
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anonymous
non-member comment
Great job, son. Glad you are having a wonderful time. Say hello to Vic.