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| Villagers near Pokhara/ photo: Vijay Verghese |
IT's 5.30am,
pitch black and snowing as we begin the longest day of our trek.
The halogen beam from my headlamp catches a furry yak in the eye
and he grunts, possibly asking what the hell we're doing up so early.
A good question. Today we do Thorung La, a high pass and
the toughest day of the Annapurna Circuit, and we need to
make an early start or we'll still be walking when the sun goes
down. This is the day everyone talks about, worries about and plans
for in the days leading up to it. Will the altitude make me sick?
Will I slip off the icy trail? Will my knees make it down the other
side? The 1,200-metre climb to the top of the 5,450m pass and the
1,600m descent down the other side begs a lot of questions. Not
only is it a tough climb and a knee-grinding descent, but the thin
air at this altitude also makes it mentally grueling. We walk single
file, our boots making potholes in the fresh snow, grimly aware that trekking in Nepal is no walk in the park.
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Halfway to the
top we hook up with Ralph, a Tasmanian friend we met along the way.
While the trail is less steep here, it is now less than a foot wide
and skirts a long fall into steep, snow-covered terrain. This morning's
snow combined with the trekkers ahead of us has polished the trail
to a high gloss. My wife, Lisa, who hates walking on slippery gravel
is surprisingly at ease on the ice. So at ease she fails to notice
that I am slipping further behind her with every step.
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The Maoists were not known to harm tourists though a fair amount of freelance brigandage went on and now they have been elected
I dig my
walking poles in for each skittish jerk forward, my eyes searching
the trail for bits of gravel for my boots to cling to. Sweat pours
down my back as I try to keep my eyes off the plunge to my right.
Ralph, who brought an ice axe-which I had earlier mocked-stands
beside Lisa and watches me until I catch up with them. They are
both kind and exchange comments about how slippery it was.
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| Machapuchare at dawn/ photo: Roderick |
The Annapurna trek continues. Now the trail
rises and falls over a series of false summits. We pass several
trekkers suffering from altitude sickness and soon Lisa begins to
feel the effects of the thin air, panting for breath with every
step. But before it becomes a serious problem, we're at the summit,
celebrating with chocolate and water in a small shack. The wind
is howling, flapping the prayer flags as we photograph each other.
Soon the cold chases us off the pass and down the other side. All
that's left is six hours of walking until lunch and another week
of trekking. Every day is
an adventure on the Annapurna Circuit, possibly the world's most
famous trek. It is the place where the Dutch word "trek"
became synonymous with "hike". The circuit wraps around
the Annapurna range, a collection of mountains, anchored by Annapurna
1, which is 8,091m high. The peak was climbed in June 1950 by
Frenchman Maurice Herzog and represented the first ever 8,000-metre
conquest. Trekkers doing the complete circuit go counter-clockwise
to avoid altitude sickness. Another good reason to hike in this
direction is that lodging and food seem to improve on the far side
of the pass, and it's better to go from good to great than great
to good.
Trekking the
complete Annapurna circuit takes between 15 to 22 days, depending on fitness,
adaptability to altitude and desire to linger along the way. While
the trail has gained a reputation for being overrun with tourists,
it had quietened with the rise of a Maoist insurgency in
Nepal, post 9/11 travel jitters and the massacre of Nepal's royal family
in 2000. While some people
questioned the safety of trekking in Nepal, Maoists were not known to harm tourists though a fair bit of free-lance brigandage went on around the Annapurna Circuit. There were reported instances of trekkers being stopped, politely,
by armed guerrillas and asked to pay "taxes" of around US$20 each. Trekkers were then issued official receipts in case they got hauled up again further along the way. Those who could afford it chartered a helicopter or small plane to fly from Pokhara to Jomsom and beyond. Yet, times have changed. Following a popular uprising, the Maoists joined hands with the government - defusing conflict - and the country's much vaunted constitutional monarchy went into full-blown retreat. The country's transition to a secular democracy (as opposed to a Hindu monarchy) continues to pose issues, debate, and protest. In April 2008 the communist Maoists swept into power, peacefully, following elections in Nepal. It is likely then that the US$20 "tax" will be a thing of the past as the country continues down its avowed path to become a "capitalist democracy", a Switzerland of the East, perhaps to be followed, as classical theorists will opine, by communism, as originally adumbrated by Marx.
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| Only the women carry loads/ photo: Verghese |
Day 1 Pokhara
- Besisahar - Ngadi
To begin your stunning Nepal trek, take a taxi from Pokhara to a village named Besisahar. This is where
the road ends and it's your last chance to make an international call
for quite a few days. You'll find a lush green area, cut with small
streams and tiny rice fields. The small village of Ngadi is a good
first night's stopping point. (4 hours)
Day 2 Ngadi
- Chamje
Climb up the steep hill to the village of Bahundanda. A great lodge
greets you at the top of the hill. The whitewashed brick village
is one of the prettiest on the trail. Then the trail drops down
to Syange, before it cruelly forces you to climb back up the slope
to Chamje.
Day 3 Chamje
- Bagarchap
Some tough climbing today, through fields of marijuana, pastures
of goats. Tal is a great little town for a break and it's wide streets
and Dry Gulch atmosphere give it a very spaghetti Western feel.
The trail then climbs steeply, across a suspension bridge and up
to Bagarchap. Bagarchap was all but destroyed by a landslide in
1995 that killed many of the town's people and trekkers. It is a
pleasant place to overnight in. (6 hours)
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| Views at every turn/ photo: Vijay Verghese |
Day 4 Bagarchap
- Bhratang
This is a tough day of hiking and some people will want to stop
earlier. There is some very steep terrain where the trail is narrow
and loose. Bhratang is an old village surrounded by apple orchards
and barley. There are only two inns and it is a good place for a
quiet night. (6 hours)
Day 5 Bhratang
- Humde
This day was one of my favourites, featuring a walk in a peaceful
forest of pine and cedar. The high point is the view of the valley
before descending into a wide open plain, dotted with small corrals
for horses. We decided to stay the night in Humde, about an hour-and-a-half
short of Manang. Tired from four long days, we found a great deck
for lunch and decided to laze in the sun reading and relaxing. (4
hours)
Day 6 Humde
- Manang
A short day that passes through the village of Braga. Recurring
signs throughout the trek advertised the Braga bakery, promising
the world's best cinnamon buns and coffee. We marched up to the
door only to find a "Closed until Thursday" sign. This
forced us to figure out what day of the week it was. Tuesday. Waiting
around two days for cinnamon buns was out of the question. An hour
later, we arrived in Manang home to the most Bavarian bakeries this
side of the Black Forest. (2 hours)
Waiting two days for cinnamon buns was out of the question. But an hour later we found a stash of Bavarian bakeries
Day 7 Manang
Rest Day
Manang is at 3,600 metres and a two-day stay here is necessary in
order for your body to acclimatize. During the trekking season lectures
are held here each afternoon by the Himalayan Rescue Association.
All you need to know to get safely over the pass is shared here.
Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is the official name for the various
forms of altitude sickness. Loss of appetite, headaches and sleeping
poorly are all signs of mild AMS. Drinking at least three litres
of water per day and going no higher until symptoms stop is the
only treatment. It is possible to take a pill called Diamox to aid
in acclimatization, but consult a doctor first.
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| Prayer
flags/ photo: Daffyd Roderick |
Day 8 Manang
-Yak Kharka
The hike up to Yak Kharka at 4,200 metres, is steep and brief. The
air grows thinner and colder and soon there is little aside from
grass for vegetation. The Gangapurna Lodge offers a warm place to
bed down for the night. (3 hours)
Day 9 Yak
Kharka - Thorung Phedi
Not a long day, but you really feel the gain of another 350m. The
Base Camp Lodge at Thorung Phedi is built at the edge of a tall
cliff and peers out across the valley below. There is a "High
Camp" lodge that will save you an hour of climbing the next
day, but it is cramped and uncomfortable. (3 hours)
Day 10 Thorung
Phedi - Jharkot
This is the big day. The trail is closed in bad weather and with
good reason. A slip can have horrible consequences. If the sun smiles
on you, you're in for incredible views all around. It takes about
four hours to reach the summit from Thorung Phedi, with many false
summits on the way. The higher you go, the more barren the landscape
is until at the top it is nothing but scree and rubble. Once you
reach the prayer flags at the summit, the day really gets tough.
The descent to Muktinath is a brutal 1.6km vertical plunge that
lasts close to five hours. The mustard yellow and rust brown hills
of the Mustang district offer visual distraction. Stop for lunch
at Muktinath, but if you can force yourself to move after eating,
the old city of Jharkot is only about an hour away and is another
200 metres lower. (10 hours)
Day 11 Jharkot
- Marpha
We opted to skip the old town of Kagbeni for a direct route to Marpha,
famed for its apple pie, apple brandy and beautiful architecture.
It's best to leave early for the hike up the valley to Jomsom as
the wind picks up in the afternoon and blows straight into your
face. Jomsom is home to an airport where those in a rush can catch
a flight to Pokhara. It's a sprawling, charmless army town and while
it's a welcome rest from the wind and dust, it's better to move
on to Marpha. I've made no recommendations about guesthouses up
to this point as they seem to all be equal, but in Marpha I must
make an exception. The Nehru Guesthouse had food and service of
a quality above and beyond anything else on the circuit, or in Kathmandu
for that matter. The manager is a wonderful woman who seems to know
what you want before you do. (7 hours)
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| Author
pauses for a cuppa |
Day 12 Marpha
- Kalopani
Our Nepal trek continues with a pleasant day of walking on good flat ground. The only
mistake you can make is to take the local shortcut and end up having
to wade through the river. Twice. It saves you about 20 minutes
but you end up with frozen feet. Kalopani has amazing views of Dhaulagiri
(8,167m), Tukuche Peak (6,920m), Nilgiri Central (6,940m), South
(6,839m), Annapurna I (8,091m) and Baraha Shikhar (7,647m). (4 hours)
Day 13 Kalopani
- Tatopani
This is a tough day, covering almost 24 kilometres and a stiff descent
that will leave you in need of a hot bath. Good thing that Tatopani
translates into "hot water". The hot springs here are
amazing and lure many trekkers into taking an extra well-deserved
rest day. The Dhaulagiri Lodge has great rooms and is located closest
to the hot springs. (6 hours)
Day 14 Tatopani
- Ghorepani
This is another tough day with the climb back up to Ghorepani taking
close to six hours. It's steep and there isn't much in the way of
places to stop for tea. But the reward is Poon Hill in Ghorepani.
Many people do short treks coming from the opposite direction to
see the view from the top of the hills. It's one of the best sunrise
views on the circuit and is worth the pre-dawn hike to take in the
entire Himalayan chain, especially Dhaulagiri and Manaslu.
Day 15 Ghorepani
- Hille
This is another tough day of downhill and you're bound to run into
an army of shiny fresh package trekkers coming the other day, wheezing
their way up the hill to Ghorepani. According to porters, this descent
has close to 1,000 steps and your knees will really feel it.
Day 16 Hille - Birethani - Pokhara
A short hike along the burbling river through rice terraces will
take you to Birethani, the last checkpost on the Annapurna Circuit.
From here it's a quick hike out to the scuzzy highway town of Beni
where you can catch a cab to Pokhara to celebrate your journey.
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