The Annapurna Circuit

I meant to spend a little more time on this post but I have been very busy meeting family and so on, so sorry if its a bit rough.

Here is the map again you might find it useful.

Day 1

I woke up feeling pretty nervous; I had done no research or training for the trek and didn’t realise quite how serious and hard it would be. At breakfast Navin’s mother told me she had heard on the news that 3 trekkers had died the day before doing the same trek that I was about to embark on. It was a sobering reminder that it wasn’t going to be easy.

I met my guide Raj at the bus station at 7am and said my farewells to Navin. The minibus to Besi Sahar took 6 hours, from there we had to find a bus to Bulebhule but all the buses were full so we ended up sitting on top of the bus on the luggage rack surrounded by bags of grain and luggage in true Nepali fashion. The roads were little more than rocky mud tracks. We held on tight as the bus tilted and pitched violently trying to shake us of like a giant mental bucking bronco. After an uncomfortable hour or so we reached Bulebhule and the beginning of our trek.

(some of these pictures were taken by my guide Raj. You can click on them to enlarge them)

Riding ontop of a bus to Bhulebule

More from the top of the bus.

Day 2

After a quick breakfast we set off at 7am heading north towards our first nights stop at Jagat. The route follows the Marsyandi River all the way to the Thorung La Pass. We walked along the path in the morning dew, surrounded by rice paddies and banana trees, the constant sound of crickets and the roar of the Marsyandi in our ears. We stopped for lunch at a little hotel in Syange, overlooking a beautiful waterfall that drops 111m. We reached Jagat at 1pm, we both felt like we could go a little further and as it was still early we walked an extra hour to Chamje.

At dinner I chatted to a group of 3 Indians we had passed earlier in the day who were doing the Thorung La Pass as well. One of the best things about the trek is how friendly everyone is. If you meet someone at a hotel or along the trek the chances are you will see them again as most people follow the same route and stops.

The water fall at Syange

Dal Bhat time!

The road just before Jagat

More of the road

Day 3

We set off from Chamje at 7am. The scenery had changed dramatically from the fertile green fields of Bulebhule. We were now in a narrow gorge; on either side were steep rock faces, the road had been carved into one side. Far below you could see the milky blue waters of the Marsyandi and marijuana plants grew in abundance along the road. As we reached Dharapani the gorge widened and forked. We had planned to stay here, but again we decided to go further to Thanchok. Exhausted we walked the many steps up to Timang nearly being run down by herds of goats.

View from Chamje

The new road just before Tal

The roads are a little rough.

The village of Tal

Another photo of the amazing roads

Goat herds at Thanchok

Manaslu? not sure

Day 4

The nights were getting colder. In the morning the ground was frosty and the sky’s clear which gave us great views of Manaslu Mountain. The days walk was easy in comparison to the day be fore’s. The valley was wide and the path was surrounded by tall pine trees. Here and there were wood cutting camps. Men with large old fashioned saws – the ones where there is a man on top and a man underneath – cut the pine trees into planks working from 7.30am to 5pm everyday. Around the wood cutting camps the smell of pine filled the cold crisp air and the floor was littered with dry needles and cones. As we walked we would occasionally hear the distant sound of bells which grew louder until a line of pack mules came into view, sometimes ladened with trekking equipment and sometimes with supplies for the local shops or guesthouses.

We reached Upper Pisang around 2.30am. Pisang is split into two parts, upper and lower. Upper Pisang sits on the side of the valley looking out over Annapurna 2 and 4. The walls of the houses are made from stones; the roofs are made of wood tiles with stones on to hold them down in the winter winds.

Most guesthouses advertise “hot showers” this is normally a trickle of lukewarm water coming from a shower head, it’s usually outside and the walls are made from planks with large gaps between that the freezing cold mountain wind cut straight through.

I think this is Annapurna 2

At Chame

On the way to Pisang

Just after Bhratang

Bhuddist Temple above Pisang

View from my hotel window in Upper Pisang

Day 5

The day started off easy, following the river through the deep wide valley. We passed Mring Tso Lake with its clear blue waters, prayer flags and amazing views of the mountains. A couple of Kilometres later the path suddenly turned, zig zagging up a steep 400m ascent to the small village of Ghyaru. As we continued the land became more arid. The pines grew shorter and had been twisted by the winds into unnatural shapes, here and there Yaks grazed on the short dry grass. We arrived at Manang, our last major stop before the pass at around 2pm. I bumped into the Indian’s again; one of them had gone home a few days before as it was too cold for him.

A little pond just after Pisang

Mring Tso Tal

Another view of Mring Tso Tal

One of the Annapurnas

and again

The village of Ghyaru

The village of Ghyaru on the left and an Annapurna on the right

Intesting rock?

View of Humde and Annapurna 3 behind

The village of Ngawal

Another view of Humde and the airport

Day 6

Today was rest and high altitude acclimatisation day, so we decided to walk up to a lake called Ice Lake. It was hardly a rest; the lake is about 1100m above Manang and the dust and loose stone path zig zags straight up with no flat or downhill parts to it. It took us 3 hours to reach the lake, one and a half hours less than the sign post said it would. We were the first to arrive that morning. It was extremely calm just the faint roar of the Marsyandi deep in the valley and the sound of wind in the feathers of a large white bird with brown tipped wings as it soared overhead. The lake offers some of the best views of the Himalayas I have ever seen.

After a knee killing hour and half of sliding back down the path to Manang, I attended the AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) talk that is given every day. It doesn’t do much to steady your nerves but its good information. The doctor said you are supposed to eat around 4000 calories a day just to break even as you’re burning so many more calories. Your heart rate goes up and you breathe more as the percentage of oxygen in your blood is far lower than at sea level, then he checked everyone’s oxygen levels, if yours was below 84% he suggested you didn’t go higher. If someone at sea level had 84% oxygen level he said they would be sent straight to intensive care. Luckily mine was 94%.

In the evening I took a stroll to Gangapurna Lake. A milk blue lake made from the melt waters of a glacier that comes down from between Gangapurna and Annapurna 3. After, I went to watch 7 Years in Tibet at one of 2 small projector halls in Manang. It was in a dusty cellar of a shop, two rows of wooden benches covered in goatskins and a small wood burning stove in the middle. It cost around £1.30 which included free tea and a bag of popcorn. After, I had dinner with an Australian and American I had met earlier in the day and played dice games.

View from close to Manang looking back at Braga

The village of Braga

Ice Lake and Annapurna 3

Another of Ice Lake

Annapurna 3 I think

From inside a shack at Ice Lake

Gangapurna, below it Gangapurna lake and Manang

Taken going down from Ice Lake. I dont have photoshop so its very roughly put together. Click to enlarge

View of Braga from above

Manang from near Gangapurna Lake

Gangapurna Lake

Day 7

Sleeping in high altitudes can be difficult, it gives you strange and vivid dreams, sometimes you will wake up gasping for breath or you just can’t sleep at all. After a bad night’s sleep and my day in Manang I couldn’t wait to get moving again. We set off pretty late; in the distance you could see groups of trekkers already winding their way up the mountain side.

It’s a humbling experience being in the Himalayas, surrounded by some of the world’s highest peaks, take the feeling you get when you stand below huge skyscrapers like in Manhattan then times it by 20 and you might get something of the same feeling.

As we walked I could hear what sounded like the distant rumble of thunder after a while I realised it was from small avalanches on the side of Gangapurna. We reached Ledar early at around 12.30 I wanted to go further but the doctor had advised against it. The higher we got the more basic the hotels became; the one we stayed in had no lights in the rooms and no shower. I spent the rest of the day finishing off Shantaram which I had been reading for the past 6 months.

Ledar

Another view of Ledar

Day 8

We left Ledar at 7.15am, the walk to Thorung Phedi went through narrow landslide areas, and you could see where huge rocks had slid down the sides of the valley and come to rest at the bottom or across the path causing the path to be re-routed around them.  We arrived at Phedi around 8.30am. Raj’s feet were hurting so he arrived about half an hour after me. Once he had caught up we started the 400m ascent to high camp where we would spend the night. The higher up we climbed the more the sky changed to azure blue.

The worst part of trekking is the waiting. You spend hours sitting around waiting for it to get late enough to go to sleep. A pack of cards and a good book are essential; unfortunately I had finished Shantaram so I started re-reading it.

As soon as the sun goes down-which is always early as you are surrounded by huge peaks- the temperature plummets. I spent a lot of the nights wearing long johns, jeans a t-shirt and hoody inside a sleeping bag with a blanket on top but it still takes an age for your feet to warm to a comfortable temperature.

Half way up to high camp from Thorung Phedi

Looking up towards high camp. its steeper than it looks.

View from my window at high camp

My bedroom at high camp, pretty basic and very cold

Day 9

We left high camp at 4.45am, many people had already set off around 4am but after about 45 minutes we had passed them all. It was still dark but the moon was bright and the stars twinkled in the clear sky, behind us we could see small lights from people’s head torches like glow worms in the distance.

The path was steep, at that high altitude you get out of breath very easily, every small incline seems like a mountain and after you reach the summit there is always another one. You can rest for a couple of minutes to get your breath back but after taking another 20 steps your back to gasping for air like an asthmatic, which is painful when the air is so cold. I had a water bottle strap to the side of my backpack and after half an hour of setting off from high camp it had frozen solid.

As we reached the Thorung La Pass-an hour and a half after leaving high camp- the sun was just rising to chase the moon from the sky; Sunrise at 5,416m (for anyone needing something to compare that to, the highest mountain in the UK is Ben Nevis which is 1344m) is a pretty awe inspiring thing. We only stayed for 15minutes as it was so cold, we had been the first to reach the top and by the time we left there was still no sign of anyone else. The walk down to Mutkinath was very hard, it drops around 1600m on loose gravel paths, when you have an extra 15kg on your back it puts a lot of strain on your joints.

We got to Muktinath in the ancient kingdom of Mustang at 9am. I decided to do the next day’s walk to Jomsom that day, as I was pretty keen to get back to civilisation with hot showers, warm nights and internet. Raj’s feet were still hurting so he took a jeep to Jomsom and I walked.

It was all downhill to the little town of Kagbeni, and then the path follows the Gandaki River. The river bed is wide but at this time of year there is not a lot of water running through it.

The area is famous for Ammonite Fossils from the Jurassic period, it used to be the seabed of the Tethis Ocean before Eurasia and India collided into each other forming the Himalayas.

The wind through the valley near Jomsom is unrelenting, you constantly get buffeted by the wind that whips up great clouds of dust and sand that sting your eyes and face and forces you to stop and turn the other way until it passes.

By the time I reached the apple orchards of Jomsom, the blisters that had formed on the walk down from the Pass were painful and I was exhausted but extremely relieved to have reached the end of my trek and happy in the knowledge that I didn’t have to get up and walk the next day.

Me infront of the Thorung La Pass sign

My guide Raj infront of the Thorung La Pass sign

Sunrise looking down towards Mustang

The view looking back towards high camp

More sunrise photos

View looking out over Muktinath

Another from Muktinath

Heading down to Kagbeni

From Kagbeni looking down the Gandaki River towards Jomsom

Day 10

There are no direct busses from Jomsom to Pokhara. The first bus we took we had booked the day before so it wasn’t too crowded, it took 3 hours to get from Jomsom to Ghasa. From there we got on an overcrowded bus that the seats were so close together that my legs wouldn’t fit in straight, it was a very uncomfortable 6 hours to the town of Beni. From Beni it was 4 hours to Pokhara. The bus driver had a little accident with a truck that left me covered in the glass from the trucks mirror.

Once we arrived me and Raj got a drink and said our goodbyes. I must admit that it was nice to be back on my own again.

When I read this I realise that a lot of it seems like I’m just moaning about stuff. I have to say that the trek was one of the hardest things I have ever done but also one of the most amazing. It’s one of those things that you can’t fully appreciate until you have finished it. We had walked over 90 miles and been over 5000m above sea level in 8 days.