Advertisement
Published: November 13th 2009
nepal
Hannah giving me a much needed haircut.So onto Nepal and into a place of sanctuary, if not normality, from the previous 10 days madness in India.
Another long bus ride to Pokhara, which entailed a 10 hour trip to the border, overnight stay and then the bumpiest 12 hour bus journey of my life to Pokhara. All this became worth it though as we arrived in Lakeside Pokhara in view of the spectacular himalayas and the beautiful Phewa Tal Lake. It felt so relaxed and the trekking, traveller vibe was infectious. While Hannah rested (it turned out she had gastro-entinitis), Durks and I (aka Christian my friend from uni) began planning our attack of the mountains, buying maps, hiring sleeping bags and...drinking everest beer (it's the sherpa beer of champions).
After a brief delay in our scheduled leaving date, due to han's stomach problems, we were ready to go. We had decided, after much deliberation, that we would do the trek without a guide, on our own, carrying our own stuff, plotting our own course and finding our own accomodation along the way. Although this all sounds intrepid we had been reassured by a few respectable, if a little drunk, trekkers in the bars around
town that it is possibly and rewarding to do it yourself despite the protestations of those guides that heard our conversations. Everybody, it seems, is a guide in Pokhara. We weren't to be disuaded though, we had made up our mind. This mountain was ours!!!
The map (our friend for the next 10 days) gave a brief outline of how far and where to stop each day. This was handy as we didnt really have a clue. Sat at the foot of the mountain we tucked into our trekking, power breakfast of dal bhat (well for me anyway, han and durks stuck to poached eggs...amateurs!). Dal bhat, a nepali meal consisting of rice and lentils, was to become our staple food along the route. You love it, i had it for breakfast lunch and dinner some days, but also begin to hate it after a while. I guess too much of anything isn't so good. Sat around the table I passed the map to Durks, who isn't known for his sherpa tendencies and hadn't really looked at the map until know, he studied it for a while before stating "this isn't going to be easy". He was not wrong.
This was to be no walk in the park!
They say the start is always the hardest and the first hour or so was a quadriceps nightmare. An unrelenting barrage of steep step after steep step. We were sweating buckets already and we couldn't even see the mountain. Slowly but surely though we got into a rhythm which consisted of walk, stop, breathe, water, look at view and then walk. This rhythm was intermittently disturbed along the paths, however, by blockades of children who wouldn't let us pass without a cash donation or sweets in some cases. This wasn't the 'mean kids of annapurna' but a singing and dancing ritual they perform for the diwali festival each October. Although at first a rather nice and entertaining occasion, the relentless pursuit of money and the annoyingly catchy song became rather tiring. On the bright side it was a welcome opportunity to have a rest for a minute.
We moved swiftly through the terrain, our legs getting used to the burn of the mountain and as the first views of the annapurna range greeted us it all began to feel worth it. I, personally, was loving the physical challenge of
it coupled with the desire to reach base camp. My enthusiasm and speed may not have always pleased my two trekking companions but a good pace was set and we reached our destination (where we got a room) before sunset. The guesthouse and hot shower, whch overlooked machupuchhre mountain, have never felt so welcome. We had trekked for nearly 7 hours and were in need of more dhal bhat and a much deserved sleep.
Having had the best nights sleep of my life (in bed by 6.30pm...it's the trekkers way out here), we were up and having breaky at 5.30am. In order to secure a room at guesthouses along the route you have to arrive early, especially as this was the peak trekking season. This did seem like a funny idea at the time though. How could there be competition for rooms in such a remote place. I'd seen more goats than people on the first day. We stuck by what we knew to be true though and made sure we left early.
The days past as we strode on, passing yet more beautiful scenery while the ever closer views of the annapurnas kept us going. We took
a short, but very steep, detour down towards the hot springs of Jihnu which were set against the raging rapids of the river. Soaking in the hot water was welcome relief for our aching muscles and the sight of us in our swimwear, especially hannah, kept the locals entertained. This bliss, however, was short lived as we then had the steepest ascent of the whole trip. A punishing 1000 metre climb to Chomrong village taking over 2 hours. One member of the group was almost persuaded, halfway up, to hire the services of a willing porter but after a brief pep talk we moved on. This proved to be the hardest stage of all. After that everything we did was always compared to it. "This isnt as bad as Chomrong".
The next couple of days involved more early risings, yet more snickers (our trekker fuel) and utterly beautiful scenery. There were many ups and downs literally and emotionally. The comic peak came when crossing one of the many, slightly dodgy, waterfall stepping stones where gushing water accompanied by a big drop made choosing the correct route essential. I was first across followed by a relieved Hannah. Further behind was
Durks who looked rather bemused by the prospect of crossing with a heavy backpack. I acted on instinct and whipped the camera out and began videoing his crossing. What followed proved to be video gold as a wobbly stone left him shin deep in the flowing river as he eventually made his way to safety. Han and I were in tears on the side and even more so in the knowledge that we could watch it over and over again.
By the end of our fourth day of trekking we reached Machupuchre Base Camp (MBC) at the foot of the towering snow covered mountain. It was the longest days trekking we'd had, over seven hours, and we got there just in time as the clouds descended and the temperature dropped. The feeling having reached MBC, just two hours away from Annapurna Base Camp (ABC), was of sheer elation. Four days of trekking and we were pretty much there. I was literally buzzing, maybe it was the altitude (3700 metres). We celebrated that evening with dhal bhat but more importantly with the whisky that we had hiked all the way up there. It was a great, if not cold, occasion
shared between us and the other trekkers.
Today was the day, we were woken up early by someones dodgy alarm clock and various degrees of snoring. We discovered that Durks hadnt been dreaming about rats and upon inspection found that the little buggers had actually eaten into Han's backpack. Damn those snickers! The walk up to ABC was longer and harder than it looked and the altitude played its part but after a couple of hours we had made it. Reaching the sign pronouncing 'Annapurna Base Camp 4200 metres' was monumental and we dually took pictures of ourselves in view of it (just in case there's any doubters out there). We congratualted each other and headed up for the lodges unable to stop smiling or panting.
Base Camp was an amazing place to be. There was a 360 degree panorama of the awe-inspiring annapurna mountain range. The sounds of the mountain (we saw a mini avalanche) and the wind whispering through them was eerie and beautiful. There was a shared happiness between everyone up there, we had all made it and were all enjoying the same things. The shared goal of making it to base camp had been
achieved. We found a boulder (it became known as durks' rock) overlooking the mountains and the base camp scenery of tents, sherpas and a volleyball net (crazy i know) where we sat and toasted our victory with more whisky.
After a celebratory evening which included pizza and an early night (it was so cold even kerosene heaters didnt keep you warm) we got up, sleeping bags in tow, at 4.30am to see the stars set against the most dramatic backdrop. We saw the most shooting stars in just ten minutes than i have in my life so far making the cold wake-up more than worth it. Back to bed for an hour or so we rose again for sunrise, perched ourselves on durks' rock and enjoyed the colours that began to hit the peaks of the mountains in front of us.
Leaving Base Camp and those we had acquainted on the way was sad, like leaving the Taj Mahal but worse. The experiences never to be forgotten though and even without the help of pictures the image of the mountain, in all its lights, is imprinted firmly in our minds.
Contrary to popular belief, going down is
not as easy as it sounds (although durks may disagree), however we made good progress and made it down the mountain a damn sight quicker than we did going up. It was certainly a more relaxed affair as the trekking times from village to village got shorter and we were able to sit back and enjoy a beer or two (thats if i didnt drop them!)in the quaint and medieval townships.
It had been an amazing 9 days and i think we all felt stronger, fitter and healthier than before. We reached Naya Pul, our last stop and subsequent pick up point for rafting, another journey began this time on water (our feet could do with a rest).
Advertisement
Tot: 0.047s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 8; qc: 22; dbt: 0.0238s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 3;
; mem: 1.1mb
Gordon
non-member comment
Wow
Hey you two thats all looks brilliant XXX