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Published: October 15th 2005
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Marsyangdi river
The river valley seen from Bahundanda 28 days trekking the Annapurna Circuit and Annapurna Base Camp. Four weeks is a long time but there is so much to see that we didn't get bored at all. Every day is different and there's something new to see behind every corner.
Summary
28 days total, 3 days resting. Total of 120 hours and around 350 kilometers of walking. Total of 14000 meters of ascending. 30000 burned calories each and three kilos (Sami) and four kilos (Kirsi) loss of weight. Four unforgettable weeks in a unique environment.
Arrangements
We booked the trek as an all-included package through Unique Path Trekking Agency. A guide, a porter, bus ride to starting point and taxi from ending point to Pokhara, accommodation, three meals a day and all hot drinks were included. It costed 25USD/day/person and was worth it: excellent guide, good accommodation and no hassle. We didn't have to do anything but walk, eat and sleep 😊 Also the guide and porter were well equipped, which was not case with all the guides and porters we saw during the trek. Some porters don't have enough clothes and they walk in flip-flops. It would have been cheaper to contact a guide directly
Dal Bhat
Eating Dal Bhat, the most typical lunch during the trek but since we didn't know anybody it was easier to contact an agency. The next time we are going to do it straight with Prem (
www.trekkingtonepal.com ).
Walking
We started from Besisahar and walked the Annapurna Circuit all the way to Ghorepani. Then we continued towards the Annapurna Base Camp and ended the trek in Phedi. Some trail descriptions suggest 24 days for this trek but we wanted to take it slow so we had some extra days. And indeed, on several days we were just walking for three hours and just relaxing the whole afternoon. This is our holiday after all...
The daily routine was to get up around six and start walking between seven and eight. We'd stop for lunch at around 11 and maybe continue for an hour or two after that. Then we'd just take it easy for the rest of the afternoon, reading, drinking tea and doing short walks around the village. Dinner around 7pm and then to bed. There's not much activity going on in the villages after dark since most of them don't have electricity. Going to bed early and waking up early is not common for either of us but somehow
Playing cards
Every evening there's plenty of time to be killed. We played a lot of cards with Hadas and Yair. it all worked out quite naturally, basically living by the sun. That's how the life goes in the mountains.
During the walks our guide Prem lead the way and took good care of us and our porter Lal carried our backpacks, we only had a small daypack with us. This was our first time to heights over 3km so we wanted to take it easy. 😊
The Lodges
Trekking in Nepal is something different to what we are used to. We would sleep in a bed every night and take a shower, eventhough quite oftern a cold one, after sweating during the day of walking. The "hotels" in the mountains are a bit less than what you are used to, though. The room would be something from 4 square meters and two rock hard beds to a double bed with attached bathroom and a garden/mountain view. Nevertheless, it's more comfortable than sleeping in a tent as we usually do when hiking and the occasional hot shower was well appreciated.
The Food
The menu is almost the same in all the places. Dal bhat and any combination of rice, spaghetti, noodles, potatoes, vegetables, tuna and egg is available
Resting
Kirsi and Prem having a rest on the way somewhere between Chame and Pisang. and it's amazing how they make it all taste the same. In general, the higher we got the worse was the food, but after the pass it got much better. Most of the time the food was good but there's not much you can do when in lack of ingredients. This is understandable when everything has to be carried into the villages by foot.
The Climate
The first four days were hot and sweaty, then it got cooler and cloudy with occasional showers. This lasted for a week but when we got to Thorung Pass it was all sun and mountain views after that. The trekking season begins in October so we were a bit ahead, which got us the rainy week but also less crowded trails.
The Mountains
The best views are from Manang, Ghorepani and the Base Camp. While in Manang we saw no mountains because of the clouds but the view from Ghorepani and Base Camp was phenomenal. Usually it was clear in the morning and we could see all the mountains but the clouds gathered around the mountains during the day blocking the view. Actually there was not a single sunset when we would
Predators along the way
Kirsi got attacked by a predator on the trekking trail, luckily she didn't get hurt. have been able to see the mountains.
The People
While trekking most of the time was spent with our guide Prem and porter Lal. We talked a lot with Prem about the Nepalese people, the culture, the religion, the nature and the current political situation in Nepal. This gave us a good insight into the lives of Nepalese people. Lal's wife gave birth to their first child while we were trekking and we were a bit sad that he had to be there with us away from his wife. We celebrated the birth of a baby boy by having local apple brandy and salmiakkikossu in Muktinath.
We met a lot of people from different countries during the trek. It was nice to have a lot of time in the evenings to spend time with people. After all, meeting new people is one of the best things in traveling.
The Political Situation in Nepal
Before coming to Nepal we were a bit concerned because of the unstable situation and the news that we had heard. Now, after seeing this by own eyes and meeting and discussing with Maoists we feel there is no need for concern. This is
Upper Pisang
Looking down to Pisang valley from Upper Pisang. ofcourse a difficult situation for Nepalese people and they are the ones suffering the most and everybody wishes for it to come to conclusion. In Kathmandu, Pokhara and along the circuit there were army and police check-posts which were the only places where we saw armed forces. The tourists are well treated both by the army and the Maoists.
The Annoyances
The leeches. Do we have to say more. We met these little bastards near Landruk while walking down from base camp. They were on the trail and on the plants just waiting for us to pass by and grab into our feet, legs and arms. Luckily we run into them only during one day but that was bad enough.
The road works were another thing that made the circuit a bit unpleasant. They are building a road from Besisahar to Manang and another one from Beni to Jomsom. The road workers were doing demolition works which caused landslides and forced us to take alternative routes and be extra careful. One small landslide had blocked the trail in front of us and we heard from the locals it had happened only five minutes before we arrived there. A
Kamala hotel
A striking greeting on the hotel ("kamala" = "horrible" in finnish) good thing that we stopped for tee in the previous village.
The circuit goes on the only trail between the villages of the river valleys so all the traffic is on this same trail. All the supplies to the villages up the valley has to be transported by foot or by donkeys. We met several donkey caravans every day going up or down the trail, occasionally blocking us and filling the trail with biological waste. Some of the time we were more concentrating on avoiding the piles rather than looking at the views.
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henkka
non-member comment
COOL
Vau, interesting read and cool pictures. I only wish that I could see those views from your eyes. Best of regards! Keep up your spirits and take over the world.