Trekking & Teahouses

paddies on the first day
see all photos »

One of the reasons for us visiting Nepal was to do one of the many treks into the Himalayas on offer. We chose the 'Annapurna Circuit' because it was one of the longest treks and the highest but mainly because of the diverse scenery.

Annapurna Statistics

Normally walked anti clockwise that circles round the east/west Anapurna range, the trek is 125 miles long starting from Besisahar 820m and ending at the lakeside resort of Pokhara 820m. The highest point being 'Thorong La' pass at 5416m.

the supplies being carried up by porters
see all photos »

Crew

Gav, Gail, Emma & Prem - porter/guide we hired from Kathmandu.

Alex & Colby (Canadians we met 1st day trekking) and David, Sheeba their porters

Ghermu
see all photos »

The Trek - East Side

From day 1 the trek takes you through some very distinct lush scenery of rivers, flora, fauna, waterfalls, fields of marijuana and above all mountains. Life in the mountains is like stepping back in time, life goes on as it must have done centuries ago. There's no cars, motorbikes (though we did see the odd rescue helicopter) everything is carried in and out of the mountains by donkey or porter. It's sometimes hard to believe that these small and sometimes old Nepalese porters are carrying loads up to 150kg for up to 9 days. It's no surprise that the higher up you go, so does the price of everything apart from your bed. We stopped drinking beer around day 6 and resorted to local brews, until we had got over the pass.

waterfall at Chamche
see all photos »

The first half of the trek or the east side saw us walking for around 4-7 hours a day depending on the terrain. It was the heat from the sun, which was the main problem during the first few days, plus a few technical paths where there had been landslides. As soon as we started to hit altitudes of 3000m and above, it was the lack of oxygen that made the trekking both physically and mentally demanding, plus we were now starting to trek for around 5-9 hours a day.

The scenery was also changing, forests, baron lands and white peaked mountains. There is also a very distinct Tibetan/Buddhist feel to the villages we passed or stayed at with prayer wheels and Buddhist writing carved in stone in abundance along the way.

Tal
see all photos »

Teahouses

Or guest houses are scattered along the the route and at the major rest points. These can vary in accommodation but in most cases it's a basic room with shared bathroom. Some of the best places we stayed at were Braga for hot showers and the best veggie burgers & chips and also Muktinath at the 'Bob Marley' guest house, great food and plenty of Bob Marley tracks. Though there were many more times where we had to share our room with the local rats and spiders.

porters carrying roofing
see all photos »

The Pass

The most challenging part of the trek is from 'Thorong Phedi' 4850m or lower camp to 'Thorong La' pass 5416m. Many trekkers stay at lower camp and set off at 4am to climb the pass but this is not always recommended. As the group had completed the trek from 'Yak Kharka' to lower camp in good time and were not showing signs of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), we decided to trek the steep 400m ascend to high camp to acclimatise overnight. It took us 40 minutes to climb stopping every 20-30 meters to catch our breath. High camp was covered in snow and there's a few lodges for those prepared to sleep in the freezing temperatures. There's not much to do at high camp and as it had started to snow what better than a Brit vs Canada snow ball fight. Needless to say both parties got some blinding shots in, so we called it a draw in the end.

Prayer stones
see all photos »

Alex woke us up at 5am, as no one had set their alarm clocks, it was a good job we went to bed fully clothed. We set off at 6am to climb the 600m ascend to the pass. There was snow everywhere and some very icy paths along the route, the scenery was absolutely stunning as we climbed the first ridge. Thereafter were many false passes, just when you thought you were there, there was another climb. Past 5000m the air becomes impossible, thin and dry, it's a constant battle to keep going. Finally up in the distance you can see the pass marked with prayer flags and a large cairn (stone pile), there is also a stone to congratulate you. After a photo session to record our success, we went into a tiny shack at the top for a very expensive but well deserved hot chocolate, before descending 2000m to Muktinath.

bridge near Danaqyu
see all photos »

Dal Baht Anyone?

The staple diet of most Nepalese and on every menu on the trek is a tray serving of rice, lentils and veg curry. The locals love it and the serving keep coming that it becomes an endurance test after your 3rd / 4th serving.  After one,two many Dal Baht's we were excited when veg burgers started to appear on the menus and we also kept snicker bar profits up, with at least one bar a day, though Alex held the record of 4 in a day!

splitting the meat
see all photos »

The Trek - West Side

It's all downhill from now on, which also took its toll on our knees and blisters on our feet. The scenery was a reverse of the east side, very baron at the top with open valleys and dried river beds. You also got caught up in some strong dust/sand storms along the way. The west side is also famous for its apple growing at 'Marpha', which produces local brandy, cider and apple pie to name a few. We had timed to trek right to coincide with Emma's 28th birthday, most of the day was spent sampling the delights Marpha had to offer.

piggyback in Chame
see all photos »

The trek saw us all the way down to 'Tattopani' where we stopped for a rest day and bathed in the hot springs to relieve our weary legs.

Poon Hill

The trek should have ended just after Tattopani but we decided to take a detour to 'Poon Hill' near 'Ghorepani' 2750m to see Annapurna 1 and the Annapurna south range. It was another 5am alarm call to climb 'Poon Hill' 3200m, it was freezing cold at the top of the view point, as we watched sunrise creep over the range. It was well worth the early wake up call before setting off on our final days trek to Birethanti where we would catch a taxi to Pokhara.