We have another epic trek to add to the books. The Annapurna circuit is
regarded as one of the best treks in the world and I think Andy and I
will concur with the masses here. The Annapurna circuit starts at 820
meters and climbs up to the snow covered, arid Thorung La pass. Earning
every meter, we sweat through steamy jungles, crossed rushing rivers
over suspension bridges - some more reliable than others, frolicked
through fields of cannabis (literally) and walked through alpine
forests. The trail took us through villages that have been
there for years introducing us to more of the 102 ethnic/caste groups and other villages that have only been established to take advantage trekking tourism.
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| Here the trail goes through a family farm. |
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| River crossing |
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| Annapurna Base Camp with a view of Machapuchare |
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We heard the trekking routes have suffered from the construction of a
road on both sides of the pass and nowadays Trekkers compete with
passing jeeps and motorbikes for several days on either side of the pass. On day one, we started from Besi Sahar,
walking on the road. We weren't sure what to expect but this day in
particular didn't start well.
Our bus from Pokhara left at six in the morning. We were all ready to
go but when we left our room, we realized the main door of the hole
we were staying in was gated and pad locked. At most places around here
someone watches the place 24 hours. Well, lets just say that our
lodging left a lot to be desired (what do you expect at $5 per night).
Anyways, we are locked in and the guy "on watch" was unable to be
aroused to let us out. He had a little too much raksi (local, home made whiskey) the night prior. After about 15 minutes, Andy found the keys
to the pad lock and we freed ourselves. We were running late for the
bus but not too late to turn down the boy selling hot, fresh baked
pastries outside our door. We made it to the bus with a few minutes to
spare and the last two seats in the very back were waiting for us (never
a good thing for a 5-hour bus ride on unpaved Nepali roads). We
arrived in Besi Sahar with time left in the day so we hoofed it on the
road competing with jeeps, buses, and tractors. It wasn't the most
serene or beautiful start to the trek and thanks to the rain that
started almost immediately, we welcomed the short day of hiking and
stopped for night one at Bhulbule.
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| This happened a few hours before we arrived in Bhulbule and practically crushed the shop behind it. This is why you go hiking on a hiking trail. Screw the buses. |
| The first three days followed the road and it actually wasn't too bad
since the traffic died down after day one. These roads aren't
even close to being paved and have literally been blasted out of the
side of the mountain making it a pretty interesting route. One day, we
had to make our own path across a part of the road shared with a river
and waterfall. Thanks to Andy's superb rock hucking abilities, we
crossed with
dry boots and only the mist of the waterfall on our sunglasses. Once
off the
road, we started to get into alpine forests and terrain that looked,
smelled, and felt a lot like eastern sierras. We stopped in really old
towns made of stone and small alleys constructed like old medieval
villages. One in particular, called Gyaru, blends into the mountain and
at a glance could be missed if the pristine white and gold spire of the
stupa wasn't perched at the base of the small town on the top of a a
very steep
hill. To get there, we took the high trail and were surprised when we
hadn't really gained much elevation for most of the day. That was until
we crossed a
bridge and literally climbed straight up for a mile. With one glimpse
of the view from the top, the pain of the hill melted away. There, in
all their glory was the first view, and possibly the best of the whole
trek, of the Annapurna range. We sat in front of the stupa to take
it all in while some men carefully repainted the white and gold of the
spire. | | | | |
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| This is the road....oh yeah, and a waterfall! |
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| Road maintenance resulting in a traffic jam of porters and jeep |
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| Life is good! Annapurna II and Annapurna IV from the Bench at the top in Ghyaru. |
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| Men repainting the gold spire |
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| A view of Gyaru from the next day on the trail |
The next day we made it to Manang where most stay to acclimatize for a
day. We ran into a group of five guys from Indiana that we had seen
many times on the trail and who we quickly referred to as the "Indy
Five". They were five men from different backgrounds on a 'guys trip'
who we could always count on for interesting conversation. They all had
one friend in common, Dave. Only after a few days of talking with
them, I had an inkling that he may have summited Everest. He is a humble guy and when I asked,
he seemed reluctant to respond but indeed he had summited with some of
the most well known climbers in the world. Very cool! Tom is his family friend who decided to join the trip as more of a journey to face his fear
of heights and test his endurance but more importantly to honor his late
sister who died in a mountaineering accident in 1995. George, a
dentist, has been trekking everywhere in the world and gave us pointers for future
treks. Jay and Jeff were always there for the comic relief and give us pointers on how to negotiate more vacation time from future employers. (If any of
you read this, I hope you made it home safely to your families and that
your HAG has resolved itself).
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| The 'Indy 5' after the climb over the Thorung La pass. Lookin' good, boys! |
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| Baby yaks might be the most adorable things ever! |
The next few days we climbed even higher and took a side trip to Tilicho
lake. It took us across some of the more dangerous trails we've been
on. Looking up the valley ahead of us we weren't sure if this was the
right trail. A section of it was like a moonscape but at a 45 degree
angle with barren boulders jutting out of sand slopes. There was a
small ledge with just enough space for one foot. The only problem was
that once you stepped, it triggered a small landslide from 6 ft higher
up the slope. Andy would walk 20 meters while I watched for falling
rocks, then he would do the same for me. One time he yelled, "Faster!
No wait! Watch out!" and as I'm awkwardly doing a jig around the
side of this steep landslide, a shoe sized rock passed by my head with
the sound of a propeller. Close one. When the landslide area is over,
the trail makers were nice enough to make saying 'Thanks!'. The part
missing was, '...for not dying!' The next morning we made it up to
Tilicho Lake and the winter wonderland that surrounds it. It's boasted
as the highest lake in the world. We still haven't figured out exactly
the definition of a lake (geography buffs help me out here) but it was
high and a definitely worth the views.
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| Death Trap Trail |
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| Thanks!?!?! |
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| Icy Tilicho Lake |
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| A view down the valley from Tilicho |
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| Not only are the people around here resourceful, they up-cycle their coffee and milk powder cans to be used as prayer wheels! |
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| Mani Wall - stones carved with prayers and mantras and placed as offerings to the spirits. You must always walk on the left. |
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| Andy, you will have to wait until we are home for your steak. |
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| This is a typical room in a tea house and our usual set-up. Attack of the smelly laundry! |
On the way out of Tilicho and back onto the main trail we crossed paths
with a herd of wild blue sheep. We knew to look for them in the area
because above a certain elevation, its necessary to purify your water
with twice the amount of iodine tablets to ensure no run-ins with
giardia. They aren't blue nor do they look like sheep but that's not
the point. They are beautiful animals and Andy had a photo shoot with
them for the better part of an hour.
The whole trek leads up to the Thorung La Pass at 5450 m (17,880 ft). We
started early in the morning and after a couple hours made it to the
top! I couldn't believe that at the top of the pass in the Himalaya
there's a tiny dilapidated building selling tea to cold hikers. What a
luxury! Thanks to the frozen,
windy conditions, he makes a killing. About 20 shivering hikers can fit
around the table to sip on pipping hot tea out of tin mugs. The STEEP
descent had us in the busy town of Mukinath before lunch leaving us with
little transition out of the mountains. We were back to civilization
and a surplus of motorbikes. Muktinath is a dusty town and home to the
Muktinath temple where many Buddhist and Hindus make pilgrimage to the
holy, cleansing waters spouted from 108 fountains in the temple.
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| Approaching the top! |
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| Made it! |
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| Wooooo! |
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| View of Daulgiri from the Mukinath temple |
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| On the dirt road again...This is the Tibetan side pretty much of the Annapurna Circuit. The Mustang Region. |
The next 10 days took us to the western side of the Annapurna range and
into the Annapurna sanctuary away from the chaos of the road. The trial led us to hot springs, through
rhododendron forests, and to Chomrong Cottage, a tea house with a write up in Time Magazine famed for
warm chocolate cake and a proud, gregarious owner that everyone calls
didi, meaning older sister. The cake was an unexpected, delightful treat on the trail and worth every penny.
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| A beautiful walk in the woods at the end of the Rhododendron season |
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| well, when you put it that way... |
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| Making Mr. Miyagi proud |
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| Woman separating barley |
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| View of Annapurna from Gorepani |
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| Andy loves goats! |
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| These signs all over. Interpret how you please. |
The Sanctuary trail ends at Annapurna base camp (ABC). A
truly spiritual place surrounded by a cathedral of mountains rising 4000
meters (13,200 ft) higher than the view point. We spent almost 24
hours here to await the sunrise on Annapurna I and the sacred mountain,
Machapuchare (Fishtail mountain). In the morning we sat for a few hours watching avalanche after avalanche as the sun warmed the snow. It was hard to leave knowing this
was the last highlight of trekking in Nepal. Until next time, Himalaya.
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| Our view from the tea house. Usually it is only clear in the very early mornings but every hour or so the clouds would break and Machapuchare would make an appearance |
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| Annapurna South |
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| Sunrise on Annapurna I |
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| Making smaller stones from larger stones in a field of stones. Don't really know what to say here cause we're not really sure what the point was. We saw quite a bit of this though. She is about a kilometer away from anything here and there isn't any apparent new construction going on so seriously, if anyone knows the point, fill us in. |
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| Typical house on the trail |
We hiked out to Naya Pul to in two days feeling completely humbled, happy, and healthy much like the woman below. All in all 180 miles in 20 days.
