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I've just been the highest I've been in my life. 4130 metres. I slept at Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal, at the foot of Annapurna 1, the 7th highest mountain in the world! To wake up next to that and watch the sun rise at 5am is an unforgettable experience!
To get to that point, however, took a lot of effort and time. It's possibly the most demanding, exhilarating, grueling, rewarding thing I've ever done.
For the trek I hired a personal guide, Shalik, who would stay with me for the whole 12 days and guide me up the mountains. Our trek begins at Nayapul near Pokhara in the middle of Nepal. The first day is relatively easy along the river to Tikhedhunga. It hailstones hard that evening and the shock drop in temperature from India to Nepal makes me feel ill. Next morning it's a steep climb for 2 hours and my legs hurt and my pack feels heavy. At the top of the climb I get my first glimpse of Annapurna South and it's magnificent. After 6hrs of walking we arrive in Ghorepani and I get a room with a mountain view.
All along the trek are small guesthouses which provide a basic room with a bed and there's a dining room with a selection of hot meals. The local staple is Dal Baht - rice with lentil soup and vegetable curry. It's cheap, tasty and filling, and is eat as much as you like, so is very popular! After dinner we often played cards or got involved in discussion of religion or politics. Bed-time is early in the mountains, around 8 - 9pm, as we started early each day, often at 6 or 7am.
On day 3 we got up extra early, at 4am, to climb up Poon Hill to see the sunrise behind the Annapurna mountain range. It is quite spectacular but absolutely freezing at that time in the morning! After returning from Poon Hill, we had breakfast and walked 4 hours to Tadapani, and the following day 5 1/2 hours to Sinuwa.
I met some interesting people along the way. There was Stan, an English guy from Wales who I met on the bus from Kathmandu and who unfortunately felt unwell at the higher altitudes; Mike, a fun Californian, who was doing a 5-day trek;
Cristiano, a Japanese guy from Australia who I walked with on day 4 and played cards with many evenings; Anais and Sylvie, the French nurses, who I went all the way with up to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) and back down; and John, an English guy from Dubai who I met at ABC and talked with on the return leg of the trek; And, of course, I chatted a lot with my guide Shalik, and the guides of all the people I just mentioned, who told me about the Nepali language, the caste system and Nepali politics and religion. Thanks all you guys for keeping me company!
By day 7 we are walking the final uphill stretch from Deurali, past Machhapuchhre Base Camp, to Annapurna Base Camp, across glaciers and rocky terrain, to reach our destination at 4130 metres - the highest point I've ever been to in my life. The air is thin and I feel light-headed but I also feel a great sense of personal achievement. It is cloudy when we arrive, but at around 4pm it clears and Sylvie, Anais and I go out to see the stunning view surrounding us.
I find it difficult to sleep that night and after a restless night I get up at 4.30am to watch the sunrise. I struggle on the way back down, feeling stiff from so many days walking and tired from lack of sleep. I drop behind the others and it takes a lot of effort to reach Sinuwa, and I'm very grateful to Sylvie for lending me her walking sticks. After 3 more days walking, mostly downhill, which strains my knees, I finally make it back to Pokhara. That evening, John, Sylvie, Anais and I and our guides, all meet up in a restaurant in Pokhara to celebrate our achievement.
A great experience and one that I'm keen to repeat again soon!
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zorionak!
well done, mr. asten! next time warm up well before the climb, as you may seriously injure your knees otherwise. and warm up even better on the way down, because that is when most accidents happen. i am glad you are enjoying yourself. and i am thrilled you discovered mountains and like them. good luck with the rest of the voyage! agur!