Nepal

Kathmandu - Nov5-7 Pokhara - Nov8-9 Annapurna - Nov10-Dec4

The Annapurna circuit is Nepal's most popular trek. It's 330 km long and took us 3 weeks to complete. It was easy to see why it's so popular ... we saw a very diverse landscape with spectacular views of the Himalayan ranges. Also, we encountered a lot of people living in the various villages along the trail (most were Tibetan refugees). One big advantage of this trail is that there are accomodations available each night (primitive, but better than hauling a tent around for 3 weeks!). There were no telephones, no vehicles, sporadic electricity and "solar" heated showers (i.e. COLD). It felt like we had gone back in time a couple hundred years. But then that was part of the beauty too.

Besisahar, Nov 10 (820 meters above sea level)

Besisahar is the starting point for the Annapurna circuit. This small town reminded us of a border town (like Tijuana). There are many street vendors and people trying to sell you anything and everything. Our bus arrived here so late, that we had to spend the night and start the hike the next day.

Probably our most dangerous activity in Nepal was the bus ride from Pokhara to Besisahar. We changed buses about half way (in Dumre). We piled onto an already over-crowded bus. So much so that it broke an axel. We ended up riding on the top of the bus with many other locals and tourists. It allowed for a great view, but you really had to watch out for the telephone lines! The bus followed along a very windy and narrow dirt road ...of course we went along several unstable cliff edges (talk about an adventure!).

Ngadi, Nov 11 (930 meters above sea level)

Our first day on the trail, we walked from Besisahar to the small village in Ngadi. We had beautiful views of the Himalayan ranges. I look back on these photos and see how clean and warm we were just starting out ...that didn't last too long. Unfortunately, Lon was having a lot of pain in his knee. We knew that we were going to have to turn back. We were really upset ...we had planned our entire trip around peak season hiking in Nepal. Lon was especially disappointed because hiking the Annapurna circuit was his idea. And, who knows when or if we'd ever have this opportunity again ( an entire month off to hike)??

Instead of calling the entire trek off, we decided to hire a porter to carry Lon's bag to the next town. We were hoping that 1 or 2 days rest would help his knee.

Bahundanda, Nov 12 (1310 meters above sea level)

This town was BEAUTIFUL! The entire village was perched on the top of a hill overlooking the terraced hillsides. We spent almost an entire day just relaxing ...soaking up the views and enjoying the sun. It was clear that Lon's knee wasn't getting better anytime soon, and I really wanted to see a bit more of the mountains (and excersize). So, we decided that Lon would have a porter carry his bag back to Besisahar and I would continue hiking for a day or two further, then turn around and meet Lon back in Besisahar.

Tal, Nov 13 (1700 meters above sea level)

I got my excersize alright! I hiked for 8 hours from Bahundanda to Tal. The scenery was pretty, but I didn't get the views of the Annapurnas that I was hoping for. It was also a very steep climb! I later found out that the Annapurna mountains wouldn't come into view for another 4 days.

That night at the guest house, I met a French guy who had come down with AMS (acute mountain sickness) at Thorong Phedi (4450 meters). He had climbed up the mountain too quickly ...he developed a severe headache, lost his coordination, was shaking and vomiting. His friends sent him back down to a lower elevation with a porter in the middle of the night . Once he was at a lower elevation, all his symptoms went away.

He told me about a small airport near Manang. That gave me the idea of having Lon fly to Manang. That way, we could both enjoy what we came out here for ...being in the mountains and enjoying a up-close view of the peaks.

Ngadi, Nov 14 (930 meters above sea level)

The next day, I raced back down the mountain (another 8 hour day) trying to catch up with Lon. There were many traffic jams along the way. I met some very friendly locals ...in particular, these two old ladies that walked with me for about 3 hours (one was barefoot). These were the strongest old ladies I've ever seen! They were hiking up and down the mountains as if it was a walk around the park. And when they finally took a break, they smoked cigarettes! I couldn't believe it!

I finally did catch up with Lon in Ngadi. We agreed on the "new" plan. He would go back to Pokhara and catch a flight to Manang. I would continue on the trail by myself and meet him there. We spent the night in Ngadi and parted ways the next day (it was our first time apart in almost 9 months of being together 24 hours a day, 7 days a week).

At this point, my toe nails were starting to bother me.

Chamje, Nov 15 (1680 meters above sea level)

I was supposed to have a light day of hiking, but it was so easy to get carried away ...I ended up hiking for 8 hours again. There was lots of vegetation along the trail...very green and lush. I noticed some tourist "pruning" some bushes. I thought that was a bit odd ... until they started smoking it. Turns out there is a lot of wild marijuana growing along the trail. Hey, Nepal was popular with the hippies for a reason, right?!?

Besides a lot of marijuana, I saw some interesting local people ...in particular, one ancient looking old woman that was smoking on top of a cliff. She was quite the character! I also came across the slaughter of bull (if you can't stand blood, then don't look at this photo). The locals were collecting the blood to drink for good health ...I'll pass, thanks.

I was a little worried about hiking by myself ...mostly because if I were to fall off a cliff, no one would see it. However, it turned out that there were many other people on the trail. I ended up hiking a lot with Nisim and Asaf (from Isreal) and their porter Diepak.

Dharapani, Nov 16 (1860 meters above sea level)

From Dharapani and northwards, the villages were mostly Tibetan. The entrances to the villages were marked with stone gates and long prayer wheels. The architecture was markedly different ...the houses were made of stone and the roofs were flat.

We arrived in Dharapani on the last day of the harvest festival, so we joined in on some local singing and dancing. The flower necklaces were called "malas" ...these were given by the "didis" or sisters. They also put the "tikkas" on everyone's forehead. At the same time, Lon was participating in the same festival in Besisahar.

Chame, Nov 17 (2670 meters above sea level)

The trail to Chame had the first views of the Annapurna II peak. Chame was a fairly large town ...they even had a bank (a rare thing on the trail). I did have to cash a traveller's check here, so I ended up having to wait for the bank to open the next morning. Everyone else took off, so I was hiking alone most of the day (boo-hoo).

I was the first (and only) customer at the bank. They had a very antiquated system ...it took half an hour to cash one check ...they kept walking back and forth between rooms with an old piece of carbon paper that was falling apart.

Lower Pisang, Nov 18 (3200 meters above sea level)

The vegetation along the trail was getting more sparse, but there were still a lot of pine trees. It was starting to get pretty cold too. Along this section of the trail, there were plenty of views of the Paungda Danda rock face. It was a huge, sheer faced rock with snow on top. I found it interesting for about 1 minute, but Lon was really excited about it when his plane flew by it. It was an impressive site, but I enjoyed the other scenery more.

I had been averaging 6-8 hours of hiking a day and my toe nails were really hurting now.

Manang, Nov 19-22 (3540 meters above sea level)

Finally! The hike into Manang took us by the small, dirt strip "airport". The airport was closed (they only have 2 flights a week), but I checked to see if Lon signed in at the check-point. He hadn't arrived yet, but there was a flight coming in tomorrow and I was pretty sure he would be on it.

As you enter Manang, there are many warnings about AMS (acute mountain sickness). The volunteer doctors here give an excellent (and free) 1 hour lecture everyday to trekkers about AMS, HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) and HACE (high altitude cerebral edema). The idea isn't to scare anyone, but they do want trekkers to be informed about the symptoms. Every year, trekkers get very sick (and some die) because they go too quickly up the mountain and don't give their bodies enough time to acclimate to the high altitude. Ironically, it's usually the young and healthy ones that end up getting sick because they go faster. There are several monuments and even some graves along the trail (of other trekkers that died) ...these serve as a reminder to other s about the dangers of AMS.

It's normal to spend a day or two acclimating in Manang. The town itself is very quaint and offers some of the best accomodation on the trail. Lon did show up the next day, so we spent another 2 days enjoying the spectacular views of Manang. The town is right next to several snow capped mountain peaks and a very large glacier. It's very picturesque! Unfortunately, I don't feel our pictures really captured the beauty of those mountain ranges ...but maybe that's asking too much from my camera.

We did a good acclimatization day hike - the forest tea house hike (next to the glacier). This hike offered fantastic views of the glacier and the town below. I also did the Praken Gumpa hike. This hike was on another mountain range and took about 2 hours to reach. There were great views of the mountain peaks just opposite the Gumpa. This Gumpa (or monastary) was actually a cave that was walled in. I got a nice surprise inside the cave...there was an 85 year old buddhist Lama (dressed in long robes) and his 84 year old wife. They didn't speak a word of English ...and my Nepali was very limited. However, we had a nice "chat" (complete with hand gestures) and the Lama blessed me (it was a neat ritual that included hitting me on the head with a prayer book) and gave me a good luck necklace for the pass.

The first day I was resting, I said "Let's go to Braga for lunch". It was only 30 minutes back on the trail. No problem. But when we got there, Martha discovered that going back ANY distance was intolerable after all the days back-tracking in the beginning. - Lon

Yak Kharka, Nov 23 (4016 meters above sea level)

Lon's knee was feeling good, but we hired a porter to carry his bag over the pass (just in case). The doctors in Manang recommended doing no more than 400 meters a day, so we stopped at Yak Kharka for the night. The views along the trail were really pretty. It was here that we saw our first Yaks.

It was also here that the cold really started to get to me. I was O.K. when we were hiking in the sun, but as soon as we stopped, it was really difficult to bear. Lon seemed to handle the cold a lot easier than me (even at the pass). It just felt bitter, BITTER cold! The hardest part of the day was getting into the sleeping bag (it was freezing!) ...and then getting OUT of it in the morning. We ended up hiking and sleeping in the same clothes for the next 4 days ...it was too cold to bathe (no facilities for it anyway). I also had a headache, was slightly dizzy, and could not sleep due to the change in my breathing pattern. I became a very grouchy and smelly person during those 4 days!

Letdar, Nov 24 (4200 meters above sea level)

Because of my mild AMS symptoms, we only hiked half an hour to the next town - Letdar. We decided to wait a day and see if my symptoms would go away ...and luckily they did (except for the not sleeping part) . Apparently, trouble sleeping is a common problem at high altitude ...your breathing speeds up as your body tries to get more oxygen. Just as you start to fall asleep, your breathing stops and you wake up gasping for breath. So, while the mountains were very peaceful, they were NOT restful.

Letdar was a very small town ...there were only 3 guest houses (that WAS the town). I spent most of the day trying to get warm. My toes nails weren't bothering me anymore ...because two of them had turned black and were going to fall off.

Thorung Phedi, Nov 25 (4810 meters above sea level)

Actually, we ended up staying at Thorung High Camp just above Thorung Phedi. The hike up to the high camp was pretty amazing. We were surrounded by snow capped peaks. There were 5 other people at the high camp...we were all very cold! We joked about how we were voluntarily putting our bodies through this torture.

I went for another warm up hike ...and the reward was not just staying warm, but witnessing the sunset on the mountain peaks. Lon also did a warm up hike and got some great "moon" photos. It was very sparse at this elevation ...no vegetation.

Thorung La Pass, Nov 26 (5416 meters above sea level)

We left at 6:00 am for the pass. It was a steep, 3 hour hike to the top ...then a very steep, 5 hour descent into Muktinath (the descent was 1600 meters!). The air was NOTICEABLY thinner! The uphill part was very difficult ...we couldn't walk more than 20 feet without having to stop and catch our breath. During one of our many stops, I looked down the trail and noticed that everyone was doubled over trying to catch their breath too. It was windy and cold ...everyone's water bottles were frozen.

It was a great relief when we finally reached the pass. We were now at the highest part of the Annapurna circuit. Cruising altitude for a 747 plane is 7000 meters ...we weren't up that high, but it felt like it! The views from here were very beautiful ...but we were focused on the view down to Muktinath. It was a very long, knee-breaking descent. Along the way, we were shedding off layers of clothes, finally able to drink our water, and smiling a lot more!

Muktinath, Nov 26 (3800 meters above sea level)

We were finally able to drink our water as we climbed down to Muktinath. At first, we couldn't even make out the village below, but as we got closer it came became more clear. Muktinath was a very pretty town with views of the surrounding mountain peaks.

As you walk into the town, you pass a very old monastary (nobody knows exactly how old it is) ...there is an eternal flame (from a natural gas source) with a stream of water underneath it. This flame is described in some of Nepal's ancient scriptures.

We celebrated the success of our crossing with a well deserved beer and Yak steak! We hadn't touched alcohol or caffeine since the start of our trek.

Kagbeni, Nov 27 (2800 meters above sea level)

The hike to Kagbeni took us by several small towns. The mountains served as a beautiful back-drop for these towns. Our next stop was Kagbeni. This town is the gateway to Mustang ...a very restricted area. It costs $700.00 US for a visa (so, ofcourse we didn't go). Kagbeni was very much like a medieval town ...except for the electrical wires. There was electricity in these towns, but it wasn't very reliable ...just like the solar heated showers in some places. These showers did provide hot water ...for the first 2-3 showers. If you happen to be that third or fourth person (which usually was the case), you were back to glacier -ice cold water. Most of the time, we ended up taking "bucket-baths".

Jomsom, Nov 28-29 (2710 meters above sea level)

The hike to Jomson goes along a mostly dry river bed. Jomson is a "modern" town. It has a small airport with daily flights to Pokhara (small planes, morning flights) and a small museum. It's here that I got food poisoning ...we ended up staying an extra day until I was better.

Kalopani, Nov 30 (2530 meters above sea level)

It was a very long hiking day ...we over-shot our destination and ended up in Kalopani. We passed some really quaint towns along the way ... in particular, the towns of Marpha and Tukuche. We had a lot of new mountain views on the way into Kalopani. We even saw a controlled fire on the moutain side ...it looked like someone had put x-mas tree lights on the mountain.

Rukse Chhahara, Dec 1 (1630 meters above sea level) We hiked up and down along narrow cliff edges and over rivers to Rukse. This was a very small, quite town next to a small waterfall. The guest house we stayed in had the BEST daal baht on the circuit. We ended up playing cards most of the evening with Sandra and Christa (from Canada), and Pamila (from Germany).

Tatopani, Dec 2 (1190 meters above sea level)

The hot springs of Tatopani were a great reward for our many long days of hiking. We spent most of the day soaking in the hot springs ...eating ...and washing clothes!

Galeswor, Dec 3 (1170 meters above sea level)

We had great timing on this trip. After we left Tatopani, it started getting cloudy ...and it stayed that way! It was another long day of hiking, but the end was near and we were really looking forward to the "comforts" of civilization. We passed countless donkey trains that day! We learned early on that when a train of donkeys is coming your way, it's best to get on the wall side of the cliff...not the edge.

We spent the night in Galeswor and left early the next day for Beni (only a 40 minute walk). Beni is one of the finishing points for the Annapurna circuit. Rather than take an over-crowded, rickety local bus to Pokhara, we treated ourselves to a jeep ride. It was a good thing we did because the dirt roads were quite treacherous along the cliff edges!

It was a great hike and we really enjoyed most of it ...but that pass was a bit too much for me. It was a neat thing to do, but only once!

region	lodging	$US / night	rating	notes
Annapurna	tea houses on the circuit	$13.0*		Some were better than others. Most had primitive toilets. Prices increased with the elevation.