We’ve made it back from our trek to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). It was harder than we anticipated – lots of steep uphills and downhills and not a lot in between! But the views at the top made it all worthwhile. Here’s a quick update on the highlights of the trek…

Day 1: A rude start to the trek with a 600m climb from the very first step. The path weaved its way through lots of small villages -  it was interesting to see the Nepalese villagers going about their daily chores, tending to the crops and the kids going to school.  A long day, walking for about 7 hours  until we made it to the Landruk to enjoy a cold drink.

Day 2: The day started with fantastic clear views of the mountains and a nice easy downhill walk. It all rapidly declined from there with a gruelling uphill climb. We ascended 1200 m in total today!

Day 3: A long day of walking today with plenty of uphills. We ascended 1520m today but the views of the mountains helped us take our minds off the hard work! Had a good break for lunch where a kitten tried to eat Juanita’s dal baat. Then a tough climb up to Machhapuchhre Base Camp (MBC) which is at an altitude of 3700m. Starting to feel the effects of the altitude. Finally made it to MBC where it was super cold! Huddled in the dining room and watched the light slowly fade over the mountains.

Day 4 : Not a good sleep last night courtesy of a rat, people wandering around in the dark and Juanita’s strange dreams of herding giant seahorses through New York City (must be the altitude/Diamox!). Left at 5am to make it to Annapurna Base Camp. Kaji impressed us with his mountaineering skills by leading us in the dark guided only by moonlight. A tough, cold walk to get to Base Camp. We watched the morning light slowly light up the mountains as we walked.

We finally made it to the top where the views were spectacular – we were surrounded by 360 degree views of 8 snow capped mountains. Had breakfast up there where Praty had a tough battle with a boiled egg. The egg won. Stayed until the sun came up over Machhapuchhre and thawed out our fingers and toes.

Then a tough descent of 1830m back down to Dovan where we enjoyed a cold drink and popcorn (yes, popcorn!). We spent the afternoon marvelling at the green 80’s eyeshadow of one of the French trekkers. Praty said it matched her jacket, but it still doesn’t make it right.

Day 5: A slow start to the day with both of us nursing sore knees. Then a massive climb back up to Chomrong via a never-ending staircase. Juanita counted the steps up to around the 2000 mark, but then a combination of delusion, denial and lack of dal baat set in and she lost count. We think it would have been around 3000  stairs up to Chomrong. Spent the night in Jinhu where we enjoyed the hot springs.

Day 6: Last day of the trek – we took a shortcut back down the rest of the mountain.  A much easier walk today and we enjoyed some flat ground instead of the steep up and downs we’ve encountered over the last few days.

Caught a taxi back to Pokhara where we have checked into a hotel overlooking the lake with views of the mountains. Dinner at Moondance Restaurant (we went there last time with the Nepal crew) – the pizza made a nice change from all the dal baat we’ve been eating! We’ve both just had a massage and Juanita enjoyed a luxurious shampoo and blowdry – using face wash as shampoo doesn’t work too well.

We fly back to Kathmandu tomorrow morning where we then catch a flight the next day to Lukla to do the Gokya Lakes trek which is about 9-10 days.

 

PS – Happy Birthday Abuella!