Trekking in Nepal: the Annapurna Circuit

I just returned from six weeks in China, Tibet, and Nepal where I did a fabulous 19-day trek, the Annapurna Circuit, in the Himalayas. I had wanted to trek in Nepal for years. It was spectacular with many snow-covered mountains over 8,000 m/26,000 ft. I hiked with an Australian friend, Gypsy (Janice Iredale) that I had met on a tour in Egypt in l992; we had gotten together in Australia in 2000, and then biked along the Danube in 2008.  We had fun and laughed a lot. Our guide, Bhairav, took very good care of us, as did our singing porter, Gopal. Some of the trek is now on mountain roads because roads carved out of mountainsides in the last 3-4 years have connected the villages, so people can travel from village to village in jeeps. The roads are rough, however, and there are often landslides. Before goods were carried entirely on people’s backs and on donkeys. One still sees many donkey caravans and hears them coming by the melodic ringing of their bells and the clomping of their feet.  There were many trekkers, mostly Germans and French, even though the season was practically over since the monsoons come in June. 

We started out in the village of Beshishar at 823 m/5980 ft. Our days were usually 4-6 hours of hiking; the trails were rocky, often with uneven steps built into the mountainside; villagers with huge bundles or baskets on their backs were on the trails, as were goats, cows, dogs, and donkey caravans. Villages dotted the mountainsides with both wide and narrow terracing. There were corn and wheat fields, and vegetable gardens with greens, potatoes, cabbage and carrots. We stayed in guest houses, usually quite primitive, but with comfortable beds and clean. We had sleeping bags that we laid on top of a sheet, and since it was often cold at night (in the 40’s F) a blanket or quilt was provided. Occasionally we had a western toilet in the room (our guide kept promising them), but usually it was down the hall, and squat toilets were the most common. Showers were available, sometimes heated by solar energy or gas. Finding a sink, a place to brush one’s teeth or wash one’s hands was often a challenge; there would be a concrete area in the yard on ground level where one could wash clothes, wash, and brush teeth; water is plentiful in Nepal.

The guides always ate Dhal Bhat, the national dish, for lunch and dinner; I usually had it once a day, a huge mound of rice and a bowl of watery dhal (lentils), curried vegetables, depending on what was available, but often potatoes, carrots and cabbage, and a few pieces of a raw vegetable chili salad. Food choices were limited. Chapatti was the best bread available, or Tibetan fried bread.

We were climbing steadily, then on Day 9, we reached Manang 3440 m/11,286 ft. where we stayed for two days to acclimate instead of the usual one because Gypsy was having problems with the altitude. Manang is a larger village so we hiked the hills and cruised the village, the shops, and the coffee shops with bakeries. Here there was an Internet connection, in some of the villages there was Wifi, but sporadic at best. In the afternoon, for $2.50, we watched the film, Into Thin Air about the Everest disaster, in a funny little theater where we were served popcorn and tea.

The most difficult day by far, was Day 12 when we went over the pass, Thorung La 5416 m/17769 ft. It was also the most impressive, spectacular day being surrounded by snow-covered mountains. Gypsy decided to hire a horse. I left at about 4:45 with the porter and we started up the mountain. It was difficult, especially when we came sections with snow because it was slippery and crusty. Gypsy had to walk these sections because the horse sank down too far.  Eventually, breathing very hard, I made it to the top. I was exhausted and I look it in all the photos, but I felt very proud, and Gypsy was there to give me a hug and congratulate me. Then began the almost equally challenging part to go down on the extremely steep endless trail to Muktinath 3802 m/12,473 ft. We finally arrived late afternoon. What should have taken 6-7 hours, ended up taking us 11 hours (including lunch and breaks). It was hard on the knees going downhill, and the path at times was a narrow ridge. Muktinath was a nice town with lots of souvenir stands with woven and knitted items, jewelry and religious objects. Most of the previous mountain towns were entirely Buddhist with prayer flags on the tops of the buildings, on bridges, and  other places, and prayer wheels. Muktinath is a pilgrimage city primarily for Hindus so there were many people who had come to the temple to burn incense, make offerings and pray.

Since we had lost a day for acclimation in Manang, we needed to make up the day, so we took a local bus from Marpha to Tatopani  It was a very bumpy, sometimes scary ride over rocky road cut out of the mountainside. After that it was hiking up up up again with amazing views. We stayed in Ghorepani 2855 m/9366 ft. and then hiked up Poon Hill for a view of many mountains. Eventually, however, we had to come down and that was the second hardest day, Day 18. We spent the whole day going down over 3000 uneven rocky steps or uneven path. As we passed villagers, they would ask our guide where we had come from, and when he told them that we had gone over the pass they were very impressed. We were also impressed with ourselves since everyone else on the trail was 30 to 40 years younger than we are. We felt very proud and very strong. That night we went to bed with aching legs at 7:15.

The last day, after a few hours of hiking, a car  picked us up in Naya Pul and drove us to Pokhara, a lovely relaxed tourist town. We spent one night there and then went to  Chitwan National Park, a jungle area in the south of the country for two nights. We stayed at a very nice all-inclusive resort where it was very hot, 40 degrees C/104 degrees F. We visited an elephant-breeding center and observed baby elephants, walked in the jungle, rode in a dugout canoe, and went on an elephant safari. We didn’t see any tigers, but we saw the one-horned rhino, wild boar, monkeys, peacocks, a Gharial crocodile with a long snout, lots of deer, and birds. It was a relaxing way to end the holiday.

Nepal is beautiful and the people are lovely. All in all it was a fantastic trip. I feel very proud that I was able to successfully complete the trek staying healthy. The total distance is 210 kilometers, so I did about 188 kilometers /116 miles on foot. I had trained extensively before I left and my training paid off.