Annapurna Trek

I just got back yesterday evening from Annapurna, one of the world's most famous treks. My feet are slightly blistered, my legs are sore, and the stench from my 2 changes of clothes would make a skunk recoil. I'm going to spend the next few days recovering in a relaxed hostel near the lake in Pokhara.

Trip Details:

I was lucky enough to meet a great traveling companion, Julian, in a hostel in Kathmandu. He's from Germany and is here to do some Nepali exploring as well. We both wanted to hike Annapurna Base Camp (a 7-10 day hike). However, he had to do it fast because of a time restriction. Long story short, we made it in a hurried 5 days. I now understand the meaning behind the phrase "blistering pace." You walk so fast for so long, you literally get blisters. It was especially difficult for me because I was keeping up with Julian who, standing a solid 6'5", has much longer legs and thus a longer stride. I also was a newbie and brought too much gear, though he was nice enough to even our packs out and take some of the burden off my shoulders.

The Base Camp stands at 4,130 meters, which is a little more than 13,800ft. That was the highest I'd ever been, and I felt the altitude. You have to be careful because going that high without acclimatization can be dangerous. But I got used to it enough for our short stay there. It helped that each day got progressively higher. Though I still felt a little dizzy and it took a great effort to push the last couple hours to the BC, which was also the most beautiful part of the trip (pics on FB soon).

Sights and Experiences:

The route you take to BC is spotted with very tiny "villages," usually consisting of 0 to several places to eat or sleep. The people here are usually pretty nice and cook great food! I had some of the best Mac n cheese... Hot showers are rare, but appreciated! But food is expensive by Nepali standards because its so hard to get it there. In fact, everything gets there by either donkeys or porters, who carry things on their backs. It seems like a grueling job, though one that gets you in incredible shape.

As far as wildlife goes, there were a few new things for me. There were the typical animals you'd expect such as lizards and a variety of colored birds, but there were also many goats, water buffalo (these things were scary when blocking your path, which was often), donkeys, ponies, and, my least favorite, leeches. It was a constant fight at the lower altitudes to keep these things off my body. I tried all the local remedies (rubbing salt and tobacco on my boots, using deet, tucking my pants into my socks), but I still got one bite. I must have flicked 100 off my boots though. My poor companion Julian got about 7 bites, including one above the waist! But luckily they're pretty harmless. They just bleed a lot because the nature of the bite stops your blood from congealing.

After the leeches, we took a break at a natural mountain hotspring, definitely one of the trip's highlights. It was just what our exhausted bodies needed. The peaceful warm waters stood in marked contrast to the frigid river raging right next to us. We shared a conversation with an older French traveler and were on our way.

We saw more waterfalls than I could count. Small ones, but also ones that were hundreds of feet tall. This was in part because we were there during the end of monsoon season. The river cutting through this big valley (through which our path wound) was raging. There were some unnerving points where we had to cross very shaky, handmade plank bridges above these waters, hoping we didn't slip and the bridge held. Or else we would have been hurt badly or most likely killed. In fact, I'm sad to say 2 hikers died this way in the short time we were there. One went missing as he was hiking alone, then turned up further down the river. Another was hiking with friends, slipped into the water, and is presumed dead. I hope this isn't as common an occurence as it seems. The families and friends of the hikers were in the thoughts of the hikers and Nepalis. If anything positive can be said about this, it's that everyone on that trek cares for the others traveling the same path.

Heading Home to Pokhara:

When hearing about people's travels to developing countries, there often is that story about that "crazy bus" or "crazy taxi" ride, where you're careening around narrow roads high in the mountains at way too fast a speed, and are afraid for your life. I just had my first one. Riding in a jeep on dirt and rocks around a road that was wide enough for one car, but there was the occcasional one coming the other way. I was on edge the whole hour and a half it took to get out of the mountains. I tried to make peace with the possibility of death, but was finding it difficult. Guess I'm not ready to die yet. I've got to at least finish this trip first!

But for now, I'm going to relax in a $5 hostel by the lake, with a hot shower, a bed made for Nepalis less than 6ft tall, and plan the next adventure. And maybe buy a tailored suit, because apparently you can get a really nice one, even 100% cashmere for around $100! Traveling in style ;)