Annapurna Base Camp and Goodbye Nepal

Dear Blog followers,

We have just waved goodbye to our cousin Sarah and Ed after completing what can only be described as the experience of a lifetime.  As you can probably tell from the title of this blog we all managed to trek and climb to the Annapurna base camp at 4130metres (for those of you who haven’t quite gone metric, that’s 12,390 feet!). This of course was the pinnacle of our trek, but like every journey it has a beginning, an end and great experiences along the way. I’ll start at the beginning.

Sarah and Ed flew to Pokhara from Kathmandu and after we missed each other at the airport, we found each other in a restaurant on the lakeside in Pokhara. After hugs, kisses and beer we returned to the campsite in Pame and promptly erected the tent; they wished to sleep under the stars and see how we lived in the van! The first night in the Nepalese countryside was certainly an experience. The mosquitos and leeches smelt fresh blood and had a little feast on Ed and Sarah, whilst we gorged on the gourmet snacks and red wine!

After a day relaxing in Pame we ventured into Pokhara to organize our trek and pick up the remaining gear we needed. We had originally thought to do the trek without a guide; it’s a very well-trodden route and the permits and trekking passes give you access without an informed guide. However, after realising that the difference between having a guide or not was 5 pounds a day for all four of us, it was a no-brainer! The guide was hired, the equipment bought and hired and the taxi booked for the next morning.

We returned to Pame to pack, eat and sleep. That evening Marion cooked a huge pot of soup and we all ate at their van. Sarah had bought some truffles and waffles from Fortnum and Mason and a lovely bottle of Port. We took them over to share – you can’t believe how good they tasted!

We set off the next morning as planned and met our guide, KB. Our first day was trekking from Nayapul to Gandruk. It was a seven hour day, mostly uphill and brought with it beautiful valley views but no mountain views, yet. We were at 1950 metres at the Trekkers Inn Hotel for our first night. After a filling Nepali dish called Dhal Baht (rice, lentils, vegetables, papad and pickle) we headed off to bed.

The next morning we awoke for Sarah’s birthday and an awe-inspiring view of the Himalayas. We were on the top of the hotel with a big balcony in which we all stood mouths gaping at the stunning Machhapuchhre, fishtail mountain. It has an almost text-book peak which twists. The Annapurna South mountain which stands at 7,129metres was to its left and leading up to these glorious white peaks were a set of dark green valleys, full of newly forming clouds drifting up towards us. 

After breakfast our guide showed us the valleys we’d be walking through and informed us that the base camp was the other side of Annapurna South. We got a vague idea then of how far we were going. I think in total we walked 75-80 miles, but that doesn’t really give you a good idea of distance as you go up and down so much to snake through the valleys.

That day we trekked for 8 hours from Gandruk to Chomrong. We chatted our way through villages, over rivers, and bridges, past water buffalo, goats, sheep, other trekkers, porters, donkeys and cyclists! It was a tiring but great day and we ended up at the Himalaya View Guest House. We celebrated Sarah’s birthday with a whiskey and coke and sat on the balcony of the guesthouse watching bright blue birds fly between the trees. We had a gaping set of valleys in front of us; the sheer scale of Himalayas really strikes you, that and the incredibly varied countryside and wildlife.

We all had a fantastic shower at the guesthouse, hot and powerful. It was just what tired and aching muscles needed, and this was only day two! After dinner we sat chatting, and it was then that we realised that we hadn’t brought with us as much money as originally thought.  Our guide borrowed some money for us, thankfully he had a lot of contacts!

The next morning was just as spectacular as the last, but the great thing was that we could see we were closer and our changing perspective of the mountains was illuminating. We could see from here the twist and twin peaks of the fishtail mountain, soaring 6,993 metres into the air. The sky was a brilliant blue and again we had the view of the next deep green valley we were to walk that day.

This was to be the day of steps. We had slept at 2,170 metres at Chomrong and were to stop at Doban at 2600m, however we descended at least 500m before starting the ascent of almost 1000 metres. It was a pretty tough day but the scenery had been stunning. We were walking through rain forest and deep, deep valleys. From almost every nook, cranny, crack and crevice in these fierce hills and cliffs came waterfalls. The sides of the valleys were scarred with a series of landslides, in which some incredible pieces of rock had been moved. It was a geologists dream. The different layers of time evident in these rocks brought an appreciation of the natural history of our planet (and distant memories of geography lessons!).

We stopped that evening in the Annapurna Approach Hotel. We met a guy named Peter from Switzerland who had first travelled to Nepal overland 25 years ago. Meeting people in the guesthouses was an unexpected bonus on the trek. In the evenings everyone would gather in the dining-room as it was pretty cold; we were already wearing puffer jackets and thermal underwear! There was a feeling of excitement about going to the base camp and at the end of each day you really felt chuffed that you’d come that far and were going higher.

Our fourth day was a climb of 900metres to the Macchupchre Base Camp, MBC for short, at 3700metres. It was the day when we really experienced the change in altitude. We were almost drunk or high at times. It became very surreal when we emerged out of the rainforest into much wider valleys where the surroundings became more Scottish; rust and brown coloured hills and valleys and far less vegetation. We were next to the Modi river and the huge boulders in the river seemed almost oversized. It felt like the landscape was becoming wilder and grander, preparing you for the vastness of the mountains ahead.

We entered what felt like a scene from Lord of the Rings. There were old trees with sparse vegetation covered in Spanish Moss, a weeping green moss that appears to blow in a non-existent wind. In our slightly inebriated state we headed for the MBC. We made it in good time. There are no hot showers this high up so we  just changed into our dry warm clothes, donned our hats and gloves and indulged in a cup of hot sweet milk tea whilst mountain-gazing.

We had almost come full circle on the fishtail mountain and she was there in full glory right behind the guesthouse. We turned 180 degrees and there in its magnificence was Annapurna South. Even as the sun was setting we could make out the glaciers that hung on to her sides and settled on to rolling rock formations that protruded before you. Which way to look? Even the valley we had walked up could stake a claim to your eyes as it produced different cloud formations and changed colour with the setting sun.

The winner was to be Machhapuchhre. The sun setting on its delicate, stark rock peaks and pristine snow covered sides and ridges, was hard to beat. It felt like you were sat in the presence of one of nature’s greatest offerings.

That evening as we sat in the dining room with a kerosene burner at our feet, we met four guys who had just climbed a peak of just over 6000 metres. Two Sherpas had assisted them in the climb. What an achievement. Two other teams were also on expedition; one to climb Annapurna South and another to climb Himachule. 

None of us slept too well that night. In fact most nights you felt that you had slept lightly – the effect of the altitude. I think this night was altitude and the fact that we knew we were getting up at 3.30am to leave in the 4 ‘o’ clock darkness to ascend the 430 metres to the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC).

We probably wore nearly every piece of clothing we had as we trekked to ABC. It was so cold that by the time we had reached ABC, the water in my bottle, runny at 3,900, was ice. It was a tough walk. We set off too fast and the affect of the altitude meant that half an hour in, we were puffing and sweating. We carried on after short break and made it in time to see the sun rise over the Annapurna range.

ABC has a few guesthouses at it and many people had got up to see the sunrise. We were sat next to Tibetan prayer flags, strung between little stupas and memorial piles of rocks commemorating someone who had died attempting to climb these mountains. It was a humbling and amazing experience. Milk tea in hand, we sat watching the mountains, waiting for the first glimpse of the sun on this magnificent array of peaks.

Annapurna 1 at 8,129 metres was the first peak to show the sun. No less beautiful, if not as tall, the rest of the peaks hosted the sun’s light one, by one until the whole range of mountains were sparkling at us. I don’t know if you could call it life-changing, but it has to be the experience of a life-time.

We breakfasted at ABC before our descent and took the opportunity to try our first ever fried mars bar and snickers!! Maybe they should twin with a Glasgow chippy! As Mark reminded us, it wasn’t deep fried in batter, it was shallow fried in pastry. It was great. We consumed this and fried Tibeten bread with honey.

We’d left our bags at the MBC, so we packed and set off for our return journey. We stopped that afternoon at 2pm at the Himalaya guesthouse and napped, read books and met other trekkers, including a really nice Australian family, going in the other direction to us.

We decided to set-off slightly earlier the next morning and have breakfast at the next guesthouse down. We left at 6 and made Dovan by 7.30 for breakfast. It was a different feeling coming down. I’m sure that seems obvious, but you don’t realise how much the expectation and anticipation lures you forward. When you’re walking away from the mountains it feels a bit heavier and you sort of know what’s coming. We knew we would end that day by climbing those ominous steps we had descended from Chomrong on day three of the trek.

We were all dreading it, but not least Mark, who had been ill with an Asthmatic cough since being in Kathmandu. The great thing was that his lungs had felt clearer the higher he climbed. He was determined to climb those steps, all 2282 of them (Sarah counted!). When we caught him at the top in the guesthouse, he had managed it in 45 minutes. I bet you can’t guess his mantra to get him up the steps: ‘milk tea and coconut biscuits, milk tea and coconut biscuits!’

Sarah’s strategy as previously mentioned had been to count the steps! We all made it, knee injuries, tight muscles and heaving lungs withstanding. Ed could contain himself no longer; that night we had beer and Pringles before dinner!! We had a really nice evening in the dining-room and met Fran and Dart who were Aussie-English and a couple of Canadian guys, all trekking together. 

The next morning we were headed for the hot-springs. We climbed down and stopped at a guest house, left our bags and began the half-hour descent towards the Modi river, next to which were natural hot springs. They had captured the hot water in two granite pools and through three pipes coming out of a stone wall. It was the first hot bath Mark and I had had since Turkey, fourteen months earlier!

It was lovely to bathe your aching muscles in this hot pool. We also enjoyed the contrast of the cold river crashing over boulders next to us. We were pretty deep in the valley and followed the course of this river onto our next and final guesthouse of the trek; the Beehive.

Being the last night of the trek, we indulged again. Beer, Pringles and Raksi, the local wine got us all pretty merry, not least KB. He entertained us that evening with local folk and love songs and very amusing dance with plates! We met a fellow group of trekkers from China who had also been to ABC. 

Our final day was short, in terms of the trek. We had reached Nayapul, our starting point, in time to catch the 11’o’clock bus to Pokhara. It was a bit strange to come from a place with stunning scenery, no roads, cars, or motorbikes and hardly any people, to a local Nepali bus with music, kids, noise and diesel fumes. It was a quick transition back to the modern world, which included getting laundry done, checking into a new hotel, going back to the van and collecting things, unpacking and re-packing, shopping, showering and relaxing before going for a meal at 7 that evening.

Mark and I had been waiting a long time to eat steak at the Everest Steak house. We’d heard mouthwatering reports from other travelers about the fillet steak. We also needed to celebrate Sarah's birthday in a bit more style. The steak was fantastic - it was three months since we'd eaten any meat and we enjoyed it with a lovely bottle of red wine. We had a lovely evening and we all felt thoroughly chuffed with ourselves for having done the trek. 

We said goodbye to Ed and Sarah the next day. We were so sad to see them go, but what an experience to have had together.

We returned to Pame that day to start the slow process of packing up and getting things ready to go. A few last jobs, some issues to resolve on the home-front, the last bicycle rides around the lake, and the last appreciation of this beautiful and green country. The rice has grown in the few months we've been here; in two weeks they can harvest. The countryside is changing colour with the rice, from a deep green to a light green and golden yellow. The weather is changing; sunnier and less rain. We'll miss Nepal, but the beach in India beckons and who knows, maybe we'll come back next year!

lots of love,

Jo and Mark