The Annapurna Circuit

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Namaste everybody. 

We just got back from a 21 day, 280 km trek through Nepal's Annapurna mountain region.  Our route is most commonly referred to as the Annapurna Circuit as the trail circles the entire Annapurna mountain range.  It's taken a couple of days to let our trek sink in and a couple of days more to get clean again.

There's no shortage of trekking companies in Nepal.  Lonely Planet counted as many as 400 agencies operating here.  Luckily, we had a recommendation for a local guide from a friend that trekked here last year.  Our guide, Hari, took care of all the trip arrangements and put us on a bus to the mountains.  He also brought along Ram Krishna, our awesome and ever dependable porter.

Most treks are done as "teahouse" style treks where you hike from one mountain village to another and spend the night in rustic lodges.  Meals are bought in the lodges and all you need to bring are warm clothes and a really good sleeping bag. 

A typical day of trekking involves 4 to 5 hours of hiking broken up by tea breaks and lunch.  The day usually starts early at 7 am so that we can get to the next teahouse early and beat the slower but larger trekking groups for rooms.

The most surprising thing about the trek was the different  landscapes we saw.  Most done-to-death photos of the Nepal wilderness are the usual snowcapped Himal peaks set against cloudless blue skies.  They are images ingrained in most people's minds.  But as we walked the trail we saw scenes of lush green pine forests, yellow terraced wheat fields, waterfalls and even desert sands.  It was a pleasant surprise.

As the landscape changed, so did the people and village culture.  In the lowlands, we walked through Hindu villages.  As we got higher, the villages became more  Buddhist.  The sheer length of the trail took us through a huge range of Nepali mountain life - from Tibetan monasteries past Hindu pilgrims to the galloping grounds of Manang horse riders.

Anything not grown in the mountain villages are carried up on the backs of Nepalese porters.  These porters are truly a site to see as they haul up unreal loads of supplies and goods in nothing but flip flops.  At times, it seemed absurd to be walking this trail for fun while Nepalese porters walked the trail to grind out a meager living.

An altogether different group of people using the Annapurna trail for their own reasons are the notorious Maoists.  Rooted in Communist ideologies, the Maoist insurgents have been waging a "People's War" in the rural hills of Nepal since 1996.  With more support in the rural areas of Nepal, the Maoists have commonly asked for mandatory "donations" on popular trekking routes like ours.

On Day 4, we encountered the Maoists.  As far as first impressions go, they looked pretty harmless.  We thought they looked like underfed accountants manning a lemonade stand.  They had a bright red banner that simply read "Tourist Checkpoint".  We're sure half a year ago, when there was no ceasefire, and these guys were carrying guns and machetes, they would have been way more intimidating.  But that day, we just paid our $30 donation and passed.  As if to legitimize our donation, they issued us a nice souvenir - an official Maoist donation  receipt.  Dad, would that be tax deductible?

The trekking highlight on the Annapurna Circuit is the Thorung La pass.  At 5,416 meters, the windswept mountain pass is one of the world's highest trekking goals.  Each time Hari  spoke of the pass it was with such seriousness and determination.  I couldn't help but attach the word "Dreaded" in front of its name in my head.  After a while it sounded like some fiery moutain peak out of the Lord of the Rings trilogy that swallowed up merry bands of trekkers. 

A more real concern at 5,416 metres is actually acute moutain sickness.  At that altitude, roughly ten times higher than the CN Tower, trekkers only breathe in half of the oxygen than they would at sea level.  The lack of oxygen does funny things to your body, the worse of which is death.

Both Jenn and I did our best to prevent AMS.  Drink lots of water and eat lots of carbs.  But on Day 10, just one day before crossing the Thorung La, I got AMS.

I actually got mild AMS that came in the form of a nagging headache, loss of appetite and nausea.  Aside from feeling completely ripped off from having a hangover without drinking the night before, it sucked to be the only one in our group with AMS.  Jenn was absolutely fine.  So instead of continuing to Thorung La High Camp at 4800 metres we stopped at 4600 metres in the village of Thorung Phedi.

An afternoon of rest didn't make me feel any better so we were left with two options - either retreat to lower altitudes and let my body re-adjust or take the wonder drug Diamox.

Ahhh... Diamox... the trekkers drug of choice.  Israelis and the Dutch, who come from altitudes below sea level, pop the little white pill like breathe mints after Indian food.  It's supposed to kick start the body's chemicals and help a person acclimate easier.  In some AMS induced haze I envisioned myself in the shadows of the teahouse looking for my first Diamox fix.  "Pssst... You got Diamox?  You know I'm good for it."

Turned out Hari had some just for cases like this.  So I took a pill and went to bed.  We'd see how I'd feel like in the morning and then make a decision then.  After a great night's sleep I woke up feeling like a million dollars.  No headache or nausea.  Hooray for modern medicine and an easy dependancy on chemical cocktails.

The time we woke up was actually 3:30 am.  An early start is the typical strategy so that trekkers can cross the pass before midday.  After midday, the pass gets notoriously windy making crossing even more difficult.

By 4 am the teahouse was already a buzz of activity as trekkers prepared for a pre-dawn assault on the Thorung La.  Plates of carb heavy pancakes were washed down with steaming cups of milk tea.  Everybody had their summit game faces on and with good reason.  Failing to cross the pass would mean a return trip back down the same way you came up.

We left Phedi just after 5 am and continued single file up a series of steep switchbacks under our headlights.  The first hour was definitely the toughest given the circumstances we were climbing in.  The trail was steep and rocky and we had to navigate it in the dark.  Without the sun, it was cold enough to numb our toes and fingers.  The hose to Jenn's Camelbak water system froze and getting water became a chore.  And as expected, breathing became more and more laboured the higher we climbed.

By 6 am, we finally stopped climbing and walked into Thorung high camp.  We took a quick tea break to warm up and set off again.  We huffed and puffed our way through valleys, glacier moraines and rolling ridges.

Hari failed miserably in his attempts to buoy morale.  He'd say, "You've done the toughest part already.  The rest of the way is flat."  By now, Jenn and I were well aware of the gaping difference between "Nepalese flat" and "Canadian flat".  When a Nepali says the trail is flat you should brace yourself for more climbing.

After what seemed like an eternity of climbing false summit ridges we clambered over the last ridge into the Thorung La pass at 930 am.  We hugged, tied Buddhist prayer flags in the wind and celebrated at the highest point we've been ever.  It took us another gruelling 6 hours to descend into the next town. 

We celebrated in the town of Muktinath with warm showers and cold beers.  The toughest part of the trail behind us.  Canadian flats all the way down.  Even so, Hari warned us gravely of an affliction they referred to as ABS.  ABS was known to plague trekkers in the days following the pass.  ABS - Acute Beer Sickness.  We survived a couple of bouts of those on the way back to the civilization as well.

Mitho Sumjhana.  Sweet Memories,

Lenny and Jenn