Annapurna Circuit Part 2 - From Manang to Tilicho Lake and the Thorong La Pass

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Day 10

I set off to Tilicho Lake. I walked the 2 hours from Manang to Khangsar and I thought I would be staying there, but when I got to the place, I didn't like it at all. I had seen in a rough map outside the village that there were other places to stay in, past the village, so I decided to keep on going. I was feeling very tired that day and did not feel like walking at all. The next place I got to was Siri Kharka. I was dead tired after the walk uphill and had something to eat and took a 2 hour rest there. I seriously considered staying there, but then resolved to keep going until I reached the Tilicho Base Camp (TBC).

From Siri Kharka to the TBC, it's mostly going down hill, but it has landslide areas that can be dangerous. They're not difficult to walk, but the trails are very narrow and if a person slips, they'll slip for a long way down. The trail goes through the middle of the landslide area. The rock formations along the trail are very impressive.

While I was walking and about an hour before reaching my destination, it started snowing. It wasn't too bad though - not a blizzard or anything like it. I arrived at the TBC and went straight to the first hostel I saw (there are 3 in total), got a room and a hot soup. There I ran into Thomas, the German guy I had met before (mentioned him in the first post).

I was exhausted and went to sleep straight away. That night I had an upset stomach and didn't get much sleep. It snowed most of the night and the room was freezing.



Day 11

I woke up the next day, late and they told me they had no rooms available for that day, so I changed to another hostel, which was much better anyway (didn't really like he people running the other hostel).

I took the day off to recuperate from the previous night and slept and read during the day. That night I had dinner with a Swiss couple that stayed in the hostel (CJ and Miriam, who I ran into the next few days as well) and with Thomas. There was a good fireplace in the dining room. The three of them had gone up to Tilicho Lake that day and told me there was a lot of snow at the top.



Day 12

Tilicho Lake day. It's about 800 to 1000 meter climb uphill. It drained my energy away and during a few times I thought about turning back (maybe because of the lesser oxygen), but stubbornly kept on going. It took me about 3 hours to reach the lake. Because of the snow 2 days before, everything was snow covered at the top, but there was a distinguishable trail marked by the footprints of people who had gone before me.

At the top everything was frozen, including the lake. Everything was white. A little disappointing considering that the lake is better seen unfrozen, of course and it wasn't the picture perfect postcard I was hoping to see.

It was sunny, but windy and cold. With two T-Shirts and a fleece sweater I was fine. Gloves were necessary though.

On the way back I saw some Yaks on the trail and some wild goats. I got back to the hostel at around 1pm and decided to stay until next morning.

Diving anecdote: In that same hostel, I saw a diving fin signed by the members of a Polish team that had made the world record for high altitude diving in the Tilicho lake, in 2007; very cool.



Day 13

Had breakfast at 8am. I had saved half a chocolate for breakfast which I left on the bed the previous night, only to realize that it had been partly eaten by a mouse during the night.

I set off that morning with no rush. My initial goal was to get to Siri Kharka, have a rest and then continue to Yak kharka. That I did. When I was finishing going through the landslide area, I ran into an English girl with her guide and I stopped to have a word and we took turns taking photos with each other's cameras.

In Siri Kharka I took a 1 hour break and had a chicken soup and a coke. There was a big group of Ukranians there with some good looking girls among them.

From Siri Kharka I took "the Shortcut" to Yak Kharka. It's a trail that goes through what looks like an abandoned village and then all the way up to a hill. From the top of the hill I had to walk all the way down to the bottom of the valley to cross a suspended bridge, back up another hill and finally get to the road to Yak Kharka.

In the hostel there wasn't a shower (and there wasn't a shower in the TBC either), so after 3 days of not having bathed, I had my first "bucket bath" (just what it sounds like - a hot water bucket for a 100 RS). The hostel I was staying at was nearly empty, except for an older German couple and 2 Dutch guys.



Day 14

I left the next morning late, at around 9am, not sure if whether to go to the Thorong La high camp or to Thorong Pedi.To avoid altitude sickness, it's advisable to not sleep at more than 400 meters higher than the night before. During the day it's alright to go up as high as one wants, but always staying the night at no more than 400 meters higher than the night prior. The high camp is about 600 to 800 meters higher than Yak Kharka and Thorong Pedi, just 400.

I slowly made my way to the next village, Ledar, then past a suspension bridge and uphill to a tea house where I took a rest. from there, it was just a 45 minute walk to Thorong Pedi. It was easy making a decision on the spot, because I didn't like Thorong Pedi at all. I had lunch there, took a short 25 minute power nap and then made my way up to the high camp, the 400 meters or so, which is quite steep, but doesn't take longer than 1 hour.



The hostel up there is quite big and efficient. I saw a few people I had recognized from previous days. I had a pot of hot chocolate with the Swiss couple I had met in the TBC (CJ & Miriam) and then played cards with an Indonesian couple (Lina & Yong) and their guides.

I also took the time that afternoon to go up a small hill that had an incredible view of the surrounding mountains, the base camp and of Thorong Pedi down below.

After dinner, off to sleep. I asked one of the guides with whom I had been playing cards if he wouldn't mind waking me up and asked the Indonesian couple if I could go with them in the morning, to which they agreed. It's advisable to start very early, because of the strong winds that can arise in the Pass.



Day 15

I was woken up at around 3:30am and got my stuff ready. After a light breakfast, with the Indonesian couple and their guides we were the first ones to begin the ascend. They were going at a very slow paced which suited me. It was a very good idea to have started the trail with guides; I wouldn't have been able to follow the trail in the dark, even though we all had head torches.

After about 45 minutes of walking, we stopped in a tea house. It was already dawn and there was plenty of light, so I decided to go along on my own from there. The trail is marked at the top with poles and flags, every 100 meters or so, so it's very easy to follow. the morning was clear. If it had been cloudy, it would've probably been a different story.

It took me exactly 3 hours to get from the base camp to the Pass. It was a great sensation reaching it and I had a good 45 minutes there of rest and took that time to take some photos. I arrived there with a group of porters and asked them if they could hold my Chilean travel flag for a picture.

Just before I left, I saw that Yong & Lina had made it, along with about 15 other people.



The way down took me about 2 hours and it was a good strain on the knees and ankles, as it's a 1800 meter walk downhill. The trekking poles I bought in Manang (for only 500 RS each) came in handy.

At the bottom and about 1 hour before reaching Muktninath (the village I was intending on staying at), there were a few restaurants and I stopped for a good hour and had something to eat.

After that, the walk 1 hour walk to Muktinath. At the entrance of the village, there was a temple and apparently mother's day was being celebrated that day.

Muktinath is a big village with big concrete buildings, which comes as somewhat of a shock after having been in much smaller, simpler villages. I stayed in the "Bob Marley Hotel". It was pretty decent and had good food. There I ran into CJ and Miriam again.

In my room I had to "battle" with a mouse to get it out of the room. Otherwise with all the scratching they do, I wouldn't have been able to sleep at night. It took me a good 30 minutes to get rid of it, after trying several tricks. Mice in the rooms are very common during the trek.

I still had about a week of trekking left.

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